Dragonwell Dead, a review

This has been a crazy busy week. All I have had time to do was post a baby announcement and a couple of pictures of Matthew (why is it that so many newborns look like little old men?). I think he's adorable now but I'm looking forward to pictures when he's just a tiny bit older. After great and serious discussion, we think he looks a lot like Faith (who looks like "our side of the family").

Okay, you know I had to get some talk about the newest member of the family in each post for awhile. :) Now, about the book...

I was so happy when Dragonwell Dead became available at the library. I stayed up past midnight to begin the book but the remainder was read waiting in the car and while drinking coffee at McDonald's as I chauffeured my son the past few days. We have one more very busy week (until the play he is in finishes) and then I think I can take a break from chauffeur duties.

To be honest, I was disappointed with this book in the first few chapters. It was as if I was rereading a couple of her previous Tea Shop Mystery books...been there and done that, thank you. It opens with them doing some "volunteer" catering, there is a death during the event, it is discussed with Delaine (who has another boyfriend) back at the tea room the next day...yawn. Come on Laura, you're a wonderful writer...give us a new opening! However, it picked up after that and I thoroughly enjoyed the mystery and was quite surprised at "whodunnit".

By now, I feel like Theodosia, Drayton, and Haley are old friends, not to mention good old Earl Grey (the dog). I like the way Laura Childs brings in the peripheral characters in the various books, sometimes making them a central part of a plot and at other times giving them just a mention. Her descriptions of the tea room make me feel as if I've actually been there and the recipes in the back are quite good.

I do recommend this book and all of the others in the series. Except for each brand new book, all are available in paperback at a very inexpensive price so they make perfect summer reading. I appreciate inexpensive paperbacks to carry with me and most of the "cozy mystery" books are good for that purpose. I need my sofa and a cup of tea when reading deep books!

I'd never heard of the cozy mystery genre before reading this series but I now enjoy them as light reading very much. These are much like the Diane Mott Davidson mysteries. I recently got my husband hooked on the Davidson books, which he thoroughly enjoys. He read one chapter of a Laura Childs' book and said they were too "girly" for him. How can he call tea time, pretty little china cups, and finger sandwiches...girly?