Death by Darjeeling

Death by Darjeeling is the first book in the Tea Shop Mysteries series. It was written by Laura Childs and was originally published on January 1st, 2001.

Description
"Ordinarily, Charleston's Indigo Tea Shop is an oasis of calm. But when tea shop owner, Theodosia Browning, caters the annual Lamplighter Tour of historic homes, one of the patrons turns up dead. Never mind that it's Hughes Barron, a slightly scurrilous real estate developer. Theodosia's reputation is suddenly on the line. Aided by her friends and fellow tea shop entrepreneurs, Theo sets about to unravel the mystery of the deadly Darjeeling and encounters a number of likely suspects. Tanner Joseph, the fiery environmentalist, held a grudge against the developer for his misuse of land. Timothy Neville, the octogenarian major domo for the Heritage Society, opposed Hughes Barron's election to the board. And Barron's unsavory partner might very well profit from a cleverly written buy-sell agreement!"

Dedication
"This book is dedicated to Peg Baskerville, true friend and voracious reader. May you rest in peace and enjoy all the time heaven allows for reading."

Chapter 1
In her office at the Indigo Tea Shop, Theodosia Browning enjoys a cup of Lung Ching tea. She has just received bad news: three cases of tea from India had been left out in the rain on a New Jersey dock. There was also the question of setting up and maintaining a website for the shop, as well as a last minute call for Drayton Conneley- her resident tea expert- to host a tea tasting. In addition to these dilemmas is the fact that preparations for this year's Lamplighter Tour were still incomplete.

At that moment, the phone rings. Haley Parker- the shop's baker- pops in to announce that Delaine Dish is calling. Picking up the phone, Theodosia listens to Delaine talk about Hughes Barron, a real estate developer that had just recently made an offer on the Peregrine Building. Theodosia intuits that Delaine wishes for Drayton to speak to Hughes. After exchanging goodbyes, Theodosia hangs up.

Grabbing her cup and saucer, Theodosia stands up and walks into the kitchen. Haley is in the process of baking butter cookies, the scent of them filling the room. They both briefly discuss Delaine. Theodosia asks how Drayton is holding up and Haley responds in the positive.

Theodosia walks to the curtains that separate the public section of the shop from the kitchen and office. Peering out from behind, she sees Drayton entertaining and lecturing six tea tasters about the art of making tea. For this lesson, Drayton has made six different teas, each in their own teapot, with every teapot being of a particular make and brand.

One of the tea tasters asks about steep times. Drayton gives some general advice; that certain teas should only be steeped for short times otherwise their taste will change drastically whereas other teas are fine being steeped for much longer times. Another taster expresses her uncertainty regarding how to tell when the water is ready. Drayton responds by telling her the beginning of an old Japanese phrase which Theodosia finishes as she joins the group. The group gives her a short round of applause.

As Theodosia grabs an apron and wraps it around her, the sound of a horse-drawn carriage signals the end of this session. Theodosia reminds the group about the Lamplighter Tour; how historic homes that are normally for private use only were being opened to the general public for this one night. Drayton puts in his own recommendation while simultaneously giving a plug for the Indigo Tea Shop.

Theodosia shares a quick glance with Haley, who is carrying an armful of hand-woven, sweetgrass gift baskets. Right on cue, Drayton takes a decorated tin from one of the baskets and encourages the group to browse before they depart to their respective inns and hotels. By the time the last of the tea tasters has left, three of the gift baskets have been sold and carefully placed in the carriage.

As soon as the shop door is closed, Theodosia asks Haley if she brought Earl Grey down from her apartment. At Haley's nod, Theodosia calls for Earl Grey. A black and white, Dalmatian-Labrador mix peeks out from behind the curtains. Earl Grey walks across the room to Theodosia then lays his head on her lap.

While Haley works on organizing the rest of the sweetgrass baskets on a shelf behind the cash register, Theodosia asks her if she could make more; fifty more before now and Christmas, twice that much if the website launches in time. Haley replies that she could potentially make another twelve with the help of her friend, Bethany Shepherd, but they would have to buy the rest.

Theodosia wonders how Bethany is doing; her husband had died earlier that year. Haley says that Bethany is hanging in there with the help of an internship that Daryton had managed to get for her. Haley starts to tear up at Bethany's misfortune. Theodosia lays a reassuring hand on Haley, pointing out that Bethany will heal with time.

Chapter 2
Night has fallen on Charleston's historic district. In the gardens of the Avis Melbourne Home, Theodosia and her employees are seeing to the distribution of tea and scones to Lamplighter Tour guests. Theodosia surveys the scene of Haley and Bethany waiting on the tourists while taking a moment to catch her breath.

Samantha Rabathan- the chairwoman for this event- catches Theodosia's attention. They discuss the success of the tour before Samantha walks off, her phone ringing. Drayton pops up to whisper a critique of Samantha into Theodosia's ear. Theodosia lightly chides Drayton then asks for a report. Drayton informs her that the Lamplighter Blend she had made for this tour has proven popular. Theodosia is thrilled by this news; it was the first tea she had made on her own.

Picking up a teapot in front of Theodosia, Drayton starts to walk into the house. He invites Theodosia to come along with him, but Theodosia decides to stay out for a bit longer. Before she can savor this achievement for long, however, two women appear behind Theodosia, one of them asking for her attention.

Turning around, Theodosia shakes hand with one of them who identifies herself as Mavis Beaumont; Theodosia assumes the other women is her sister.

More to be added...

Chapter 3
Coming soon...

Chapter 4
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Chapter 5
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Chapter 6
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Chapter 7
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Chapter 8
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Chapter 9
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Chapter 10
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Chapter 11
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Chapter 12
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Chapter 13
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Chapter 14
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Chapter 15
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Chapter 16
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Chapter 17
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Chapter 18
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Chapter 19
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Chapter 20
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Chapter 21
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Chapter 22
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Chapter 23
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Chapter 24
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Chapter 25
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Chapter 26
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Chapter 27
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Chapter 28
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Chapter 29
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Chapter 30
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Chapter 31
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Chapter 32
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Chapter 33
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Chapter 34
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Chapter 35
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Chapter 36
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Chapter 37
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Chapter 38
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Chapter 39
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Chapter 40
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Chapter 41
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Chapter 42
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Chapter 43
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Chapter 44
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Chapter 45
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Chapter 46
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Chapter 47
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Chapter 48
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Chapter 49
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Chapter 50
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Debut

 * Theodosia Browning
 * Drayton Conneley
 * Haley Parker
 * Earl Grey
 * Bethany Shepherd
 * Delaine Dish
 * Burt Tidwell
 * Hughes Barron
 * Jessica Todd
 * Jory Davis
 * Samantha Rabathan
 * Tanner Joseph
 * Timothy Neville

Locations

 * Indigo Tea Shop

Recipes

 * Main article: Theodosia's Tea-Marbled Eggs

Tea Information
Coming soon...

Trivia

 * The German title for this novel is "Tod beim Tee." Literally translated, it means "Death at Tea."