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The Heritage Society's Poets Tea was designed to be an event of taste and refinement. It was such a pity about the body that splattered into the middle of the tea service. Suspicion soon settles on Gracie, the proprietress of the new hat shop down the block. The clues certainly point her way; she'd been involved with the dead man, had argued with him over her lease, and was one of the last people to see him alive. But the other person who saw Roger was Theodosia Browning, owner of the Indigo Tea Shop, and she's sure that the police are focusing on the convenient suspect instead of the correct one. What about the temperamental antiques dealer who thought Roger had cut him out of the prestigious auction? And there's Roger's wife, who is working so hard to spread gossip about Gracie? Or even his business partner -Ð would he gain from Roger's death? Obviously, it's time for Theodosia to solve her sixth mystery. Southern charm oozes throughout CHAMOMILE MOURNING. I tend to be cynical about theme mysteries, because most of them only convince me that publishers think that readers will buy any old thing as long as it contains recipes, instructions, or a pattern for their favorite hobby. So I was pleasantly surprised by this competent cozy, which is long on atmosphere while containing a serviceable whodunit. Theodosia comes across like a reasonable, concerned woman instead of a Cabot Cove caricature, and while she is attitudinal about Detective Tidwell, the police aren't treated as buffoons. They are actively working the crime and occasionally they are the ones who get the clues. I appreciate that; dealing with the problem of the police in an amateur detective story can be very tricky but Childs handles the issue with deft tact. The hook isn't stunted either. At the end of the story we get 13 recipes (the almond cake looks particularly luscious, as do the blueberry sour cream muffins), flower drying and millinery tips, plus ideas for several tea party themes. That's pretty generous. CHAMOMILE MOURNING is exactly what a theme cozy should be and so rarely is -- a solid mystery with interesting instead of cliched characters and useful, varied instructions.
Reviewed by Linnea Dodson, May 2006
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