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Laura Childs is the pen name that author Gerry Schmitt uses to releases the bulk of her fictional writing output. Previously, she worked as a CEO and Creative Director for her own marketing firm, and also wrote many screenplays. Her husband is a professor of Chinese art history; and she loves to travel around the world. Childs is known to raise funds for different non-profit organizations, ride horses, and she has two dogs that are Chinese Shar-Peis.
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Order of Tea Shop Mysteries Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Death by Darjeeling | 2001 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Gunpowder Green | 2002 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Shades of Earl Grey | 2003 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | The English Breakfast Murder | 2003 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | The Jasmine Moon Murder | 2004 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | Chamomile Mourning | 2005 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | Blood Orange Brewing | 2006 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | Dragonwell Dead | 2007 | Description / Buy | |
| 9 | The Silver Needle Murder | 2008 | Description / Buy | |
| 10 | Oolong Dead | 2009 | Description / Buy | |
| 11 | The Teaberry Strangler | 2010 | Description / Buy | |
| 12 | Scones & Bones | 2011 | Description / Buy | |
| 13 | Agony of the Leaves | 2012 | Description / Buy | |
| 14 | Sweet Tea Revenge | 2013 | Description / Buy | |
| 15 | Steeped in Evil | 2014 | Description / Buy | |
| 16 | Ming Tea Murder | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
| 17 | Devonshire Scream | 2016 | Description / Buy | |
| 18 | Pekoe Most Poison | 2017 | Description / Buy | |
| 19 | Plum Tea Crazy | 2018 | Description / Buy | |
| 20 | Broken Bone China | 2019 | Description / Buy | |
| 21 | Lavender Blue Murder | 2020 | Description / Buy | |
| 22 | Haunted Hibiscus | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
| 23 | Twisted Tea Christmas | 2021 | Description / Buy | |
| 24 | A Dark and Stormy Tea | 2022 | Description / Buy | |
| 25 | Lemon Curd Killer | 2023 | Description / Buy | |
| 26 | Honey Drop Dead | 2023 | Description / Buy | |
| 27 | Murder in the Tea Leaves | 2024 | Description / Buy | |
| 28 | Peach Tea Smash | 2024 | Description / Buy | |
| 29 | High Tea and Misdemeanors | 2025 | Description / Buy |
Order of Scrapbooking Mysteries Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keepsake Crimes | 2003 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Photo Finished | 2004 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Bound for Murder | 2004 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | Motif for Murder | 2006 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | Frill Kill | 2007 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | Death Swatch | 2008 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | Tragic Magic | 2009 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | Fiber and Brimstone | 2010 | Description / Buy | |
| 9 | Skeleton Letters | 2011 | Description / Buy | |
| 10 | Postcards from the Dead | 2012 | Description / Buy | |
| 11 | Gilt Trip | 2013 | Description / Buy | |
| 12 | Gossamer Ghost | 2014 | Description / Buy | |
| 13 | Parchment and Old Lace | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
| 14 | Crepe Factor | 2016 | Description / Buy | |
| 15 | Glitter Bomb | 2018 | Description / Buy | |
| 16 | Mumbo Gumbo Murder | 2019 | Description / Buy |
Order of Cackleberry Club Mysteries Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Eggs in Purgatory | 2008 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Eggs Benedict Arnold | 2009 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Bedeviled Eggs | 2010 | Description / Buy | |
| 4 | Stake & Eggs | 2012 | Description / Buy | |
| 5 | Eggs in a Casket | 2014 | Description / Buy | |
| 6 | Scorched Eggs | 2014 | Description / Buy | |
| 7 | Egg Drop Dead | 2016 | Description / Buy | |
| 8 | Eggs on Ice | 2018 | Description / Buy | |
| 9 | Egg Shooters | 2021 | Description / Buy |
Order of Afton Tangler Series
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Little Girl Gone | 2016 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Shadow Girl | 2017 | Description / Buy |
Order of Laura Childs Non-Fiction Books
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Low Carb In The Back Yard | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
| 2 | Slow & Low | 2015 | Description / Buy | |
| 3 | Low Carb High Fat No Hunger Diet | 2016 | Description / Buy |
Laura Childs Anthologies
| # | Read | Title | Published | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Cozy Cookbook | 2015 | Description / Buy |
She has found her way onto the New York Times bestseller list. Childs has written the “Scrapbook Mysteries” series, “Cackleberry Club Mysteries” series, and the “Tea Shop Mysteries” series (this last is series probably the one that Childs is most known for writing). This series also the series that she made her debut as a published novelist with, in the year 2001, with the novel “Death by Darjeeling”. The “Scrapbook Mysteries” are a bit edgier than her other work because it talks of spookier things like above ground graves, and is set in New Orleans. Her novels have the pace of a thriller, but are cozy mysteries. In all of her series, there are few central characters that are vital to each novel. Under her own name, she distances herself from her cozy mysteries and writes the “Afton Tangler Thriller” series, which is a bit more gruesome and a touch more sharp edged. Even more than the “Scrapbook Mysteries”.
BEST LAURA CHILDS BOOKS
If you are looking to get into the writing of Childs, here are some books that can help you get started. This list will show the first novels in each of Laura Childs’s three novel series. These novels are: “Death by Darjeeling”, “Eggs in Purgatory”, and “Keepsake Crimes”.
Death by Darjeeling: This is the first book in the “Tea Shop Mystery” series written by Laura Childs that was released in the year 2001. Theodosia Browning owns her own tea shop in Charleston called Indigo Tea Shop. Theo has a dog, named Earl Gray that she has taken in. Theo is quite the businesswoman who takes on and solves crimes in her spare time. Her southern hospitality mixed well with her wonderful blend of delicious teas makes her a hit with customers. Theodosia loves that the town is steeped in both history and mystery, and she gathers with about two hundred or so at an annual garden party that takes place at historic homes throughout the town. She is there as caterer, serving everyone teas and scones while everyone tells her how delicious everything is. Everything sours when one of the guests turns up dead and is clutching an empty tea cup. This puts all the guests’s eyes right on Theo, who must try to save her reputation and track down the real killer. She must do so, before someone else takes another sip, what may be their last.
Eggs in Purgatory: This is the first book in the “Cackleberry Club” series written by Laura Childs that was released in the year 2008. Three women (Petra, Suzanne, and Toni) are all widows and they are all in their forties, but are able to find their independence by opening a cafe known as Cackleberry Club. It used to be a spur station that is now used to serve eggs to customers in the morning, but people can work with yarn and read there as well. A lawyer dies in their cafe, making it the scene of a crime, and he dies with a secret on his lips. Apparently, tied up in the murder is a religious cult and something from Suzanne’s past comes up into the present.
Keepsake Crimes: This is the first book in the “Scrapbooking Mystery” series written by Laura Childs that was released in the year 2003. Carmela Bertrand, who owns a scrapbooking shop that is called Memory Mine, in New Orleans, makes some sophisticated scrapbooks that her customers just love the sight of. Carmela’s life is a cozy one, with not much excitement in it. That is something that if she did not like it before, she will want to return to it after the events of this book. During Mardi Gras, there is a killing and her estranged husband is suspect number one. He comes to her for help, and she tires to, even though they have split up. And even though they are split up, likely to divorce, she does not really believe that he could kill anyone. She finds something out, while putting together her latest book together that has something to do with the murder.
When Does The Next Laura Childs book come out?
The next book by Laura Childs is High Tea and Misdemeanors and will be released on March, 4th 2025. It is the newest book in the Tea Shop Mysteries Series.