I started reading the first tea mystery by Laura Childs. I'm bored! I can't get into it. Does it get better?

I have some holiday books I want to read, I think I may read some of those and then go back to those.

I am soooo relieved to hear someone else say this, Mary!    I've actually collected all of the books, thinking that with my love of tea and the fact that Laura Childs is such a well-known author then I was sure to love them, right?

Well, I just read the first one - Death by Darjeeling - about a month ago.   And like you I found it kind of boring - WAY to easy to put down.   And I thought that the heroine (sorry, can't remember her name) was just tooooo perfect.  She needed a few flaws.

I'm going to read at least a few more before I give up on the series, though.  And hopefully someone else will chime in to tell us that they DO get better.

I don't have that problem much, but will give it another shot sometime too.

Well, I got through the second one and I have a couple more on my shelf. They aren't very gripping are they? But I have hope they get better and will eventually get to the other ones on the shelf.

Has anyone read any of her other series? How do they compare?

I've read all the tea shop mysteries and I really liked them. IMO they do get better. I started to read the Scrapbooking series and had to throw it on the floor by page 50.  I did not in the least like the heroine in this series and I found the book too slow on action and too long on minute descriptions.  But I know there are others that really love them. 

I like the tea shop series but more for reading about the teas and the location than the actual mystery, if that makes any sense! I've only read one of the scrapbooking mysteries and liked the mystery but hated the character and location....

I love the tea series... but I too don't read them for the actual mystery... more for the ambiance & atmosphere  (I got my first two at a tea shop in Savannah.... that appears in my mind  to be identical to the one in the book, so I can close my eyes and picture it.. which is what I like about them)... I have them all in Hardcover as keepers for the inspiration they've given me... and because I read not for the plot they are the only books I've ever gone back and re-read, ever.  They do move slow, and aren't as humous or character driven as a lot of other cozy series.

I don't care for them, either.  I got about 50 pages into the first one and then reposted.  That's the great thing about having such a big TBR stack -- I don't feel compelled to finish a book that's just not doing it for me.

Booooooo-ooooooo-ooorrrrring. But I did finish the first, because...like you, I kept waiting for it to get better.....

You are not alone! I tried reading that first one because the author is local to me and I wanted to do my part to support local authors....but I only got about 50 pages in before I set it aside. I love tea and I love mysteries but there was just something...yawn-worthy...about that book. LOL I did manage to keep quiet about my opinion when I was at a booksigning at a local Twin Cities mystery bookstore last year--it was for several authors and I'd come to see someone else, but Laura Childs walked up and introduced herself. I chatted politely and never mentioned that I wasn't really interested in her new book because the first one bored me to tears. Some days I *can* be good! LOL

Cheryl

I've generally found that just because I drink tea (or something) isn't enough to sustain my interest in a book series :)  I've looked at these a few times, read reviews and passed. 

What works much better for me, although still not great literature, is when the author changes the topic but keeps certain elements the same.  You know, young woman goes somewhere to do something involving old house, I get to learn more about something like antique roses, quilts, etc., there's a ghost (I like ghosts), a bumbling young man, a bumbling dog or maybe a cat (these are good), and I will read the same book several times if it's spaced far enough apart, lol. 

But, I don't really want an entire series on old roses, etc., although I do wish there were a good gardening-related mystery series.  All the ones I've tried have come up short.

Diana, if you live watching dvds there's a British series someone told me about called 'rosemary & thyme'..2 women end up as a team of gardeners and they're  nosy and solve mysteries while they're doing it. I have 3 series so far (deepdiscount.com). and they show the garden at the end all fixed up nicely. I've enjoyed the ones I've watched though I haven't seen them all yet.

I have to agree with BookShopGal...you hit the nail on the head with these books, reading them is more about the ambiance, than the actual mystery...they are an easy read and I can usually finish one in 2-3 hours.

i love them i was addcit to them had to read them all.

carol  

the first one was hard for me to get into reading but once I did the rest were much better (or seemed to be to me!)

yeh, they had me buying celestial seasonings and wanting to search for teapots on ebay!

I've only read the first one and haven't had much interest in continuing.  I agree it's dull, and like others I read it mostly for the tea information.  I've enjoyed the coffee mysteries by Cleo Coyle more, more action, but she seems to me to be too perfect and why men are falling all over themselves to be with her is the real mystery to me.  All she talks about is coffee, coffee and more coffee.  But I enjoy the setting and the other characters.  Funny, that I like the scrapbooking mysteries when others don't.  The characters don't bother me, although I agree they aren't too pleasant.  I really like the setting though, it makes me want to go to New Orleans.

I also bought quite a few in the series before I actually tried one.  So when I started the first one, I was extremely disappointed and couldn't even finish it.  I don't like the scrapbooking series either, so I just crossed this author off my list :(   (Of course I put all the books on PBS and they got adopted quickly).

I enjoyed the Child's tea shop series - but only as brain candy - a light fluffy read.  As for her scrapbooking series - I didn't care for those at all.  The references to the scrapping were stupid and seemed not to be well researched; sort of like she was writing to people who never heard of the hobby.