Steeped in Secrets: 02/15/25

Steeped in Secrets by Lauren Elliott and Stephanie Richardson (Narrator) (2022) is the first book in the Crystals & CuriosiTEAS mystery series. Shay has returned to Bray Harbor near Monterey in California.

Shay has inherited a crystal and tea shop and a nearby cottage from the woman who recently died. She's not sure why and doesn't have time to figure it out because there is the body of a murdered man in the upstairs greenhouse garden.

Essentially there are two mysteries. Who committed the murder (and why). And why were the properties left to Shay? There's also the matter of Shay's apparent abilities to read tea leaves with the help of crystals in the same way that the previous owner could.

The set up to this series has an older feel to it, similar to the early cozies of the early 2000s. I'm especially reminded of the Needlecraft mysteries by Monica Ferris but with a paranormal bent.

My only quibble is the placement of the fictional town. The Monterey Peninsula just isn't that big.

The second book is Murder in a Cup (2023)

Four stars

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