The Jasmine Moon Murder
Book 5- Tea Shop Mysteries
In the opening scenes of The Jasmine Moon Murder, Theodosia (proprietor of Indigo Tea Shop) is with her two coworkers and friends, Drayton Conneley and Haley Parker, at Jasmine Cemetery in Charleston. They are catering a Ghost Crawl organized by Jasper Davis, Jory Davis’ (Theo’s boyfriend) uncle. The event, though, ends in tragedy when Jasper collapses and dies. It is discovered that someone injected him with a syringe filled with fentanyl; thus, making it a murder investigation. The murder is complexing to Theo and Jory because Jasper was well-liked, so a motive is difficult to ascertain.
Jasper works for a medical company who just created a device called the Novalaser, which is an intercoronary device used in heart surgeries. The device has not been FDA-approved, but it has been approved for some trials. His coworker wanted it to be used by some hospitals, but Jasper thought that was risky. Was the murder related to this? Or was it something more personal? Jasper had an estranged wife who was in the middle of divorcing him.
Jory is desperate to find out who killed his uncle, so he asks Theo to help investigate. Wanting to be there for Jory, Theo does not hesitate to investigate, even though the police warn her about interfering.
This was an engaging and interesting read. The author introduces a red herring towards the end of the novel that I think works well. But my favorite aspect of this novel and the series is the friendship between Theo, Haley, and Drayton. It is an endearing friendship that brings character and heart to the series.
Rating: 5/5
Next Novel In Series: Chamomile Mourning (Tea Shop Mysteries- Book 6)
Next Novel to Review: A Deadly Judgment (Murder, She Wrote Mysteries- Book 6)