THE ENGLISH BREAKFAST MURDER (Laura Childs)

This is one of Laura Childs' tea shop mystery series, starring former financial wizard, now tea shop owner Theodosia Browning. One of the things that struck me most about this cozy was the likability of the characters; another was Childs' great talent for setting and atmosphere. By the time you are done reading this book you will feel as if you have always known Theo and her cronies and as if you have spent the afternoon in a tea room sipping all sorts of exotic blends and sampling some heavenly edibles. I have to confess that I never suspected the person who actually commited the murder. This isn't really my strong suit when it comes to mysteries, though. I read for characters and setting and usually don't even care if I know the ending because, fo me, it is more enjoyable seeing how the author arrives at the conclusion than actually trying to solve the crime while I read. In fact, if I CAN solve it you can usually be assured that it is a really bad book! This one, however, is not. I will have to try out Childs' other series (in addition to this one and her scrapbooking series - see my June 30th post). I'll bet it's great!