The mystery's a mess, but I still love the characters, and the descriptions of food, clothes, homes, and, in this case, china patterns. ( )

Sophie Winston attends a fundraiser at the new tea shop in town. She and friends love the atmosphere and all things tea that they can indulge including gossip about neighbors and friends. When the proprietor of the antique store across the street ends up dying from botulism, not just the tea shop but other eating establishments need to prove they aren't to blame. Sophie supports the neighborhood while they work to find out who was clever enough to use botulism as a murder weapon.

I'm really enjoying my binge of the Diva! Sophie is her usual sweet self while Natasha and Mars have changed in this installment. ( )

While I did like the book, I needed to create a flow chart to keep up with the way too many characters. Truthfully, I am confused in places. ( )

In this one mystery surrounds Botulism. Natalie and Mars relation also in focus. Tips for tea, bone china and tea sandwiches. ( )

This is # 10 in the Domestic Diva Mystery Series, featuring two rival “divas” in Alexandria VA. Sophie Winston is the rational one. Her “friend” and rival is Natasha is the Diva (with a capital D) at a local TV show, and a drama queen if ever there was one. When the handsome and charming owner of a new antiques shop is found dying of botulism poisoning the morning after he attended a fund raiser at the new tea shop in town, everyone assumes it was accidental. But as Sophie learns more about Robert Johnson she finds there were many people who disliked the man, and for good reason. It’s soon apparent that this was no accident, someone managed to deliberately poison him using botulism toxin. But how? And who?

I love cozy mysteries because they are so ridiculously implausible, and typically have a cast of colorful characters. They are just fun to read. This one is no exception. Sophie is a really likeable character, and I like how her relationships with ex-husband Mars and attorney (and boyfriend) Alex play out. However, I am so tired of Natasha’s over-the-top reactions to everything. I’ve only read a couple of these, and I jumped ahead to # 10 simply to satisfy a challenge task. That’s probably the only reason I’ll subject myself to Natasha again. When is SHE gonna be the murder victim?

A couple of the recipes at the back seem interesting…. ( )