Author: Lauren Elliott
Narrator: Stephanie Richardson
Publisher: Tantor Audio
Publication Date: November 2022
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Buy The Book: Amazon | BN | Audible
Description: Flat broke and divorced, intuitive gemologist Shay Myers has changed since leaving her artsy hometown of coastal Bray Harbor sixteen years ago. But when she moves back under strange circumstances, old instincts may be the only key to spilling the tea on a deadly mystery.
Even with her life in ruins in New Mexico, Shay feels uneasy about settling into the small seaside town where she grew up on California’s Monterey Peninsula and taking over an estate bequeathed to her by Bridget Early, a woman she had barely known. Her heightened senses—an empathic gift she’s had since childhood—go into overdrive upon touring Crystals & CuriosiTEAS, Bridget’s eclectic tea and psychic shop brimming with Irish lore and Celtic symbols. They reach a boiling point when Shay looks up to discover a stranger’s body sprawled across the shop’s greenhouse roof . . .
With her new business a crime scene and questions brewing over Bridget’s so-called accidental death, Shay fears she’s also inherited the attention of a killer. The terrifying realization sets her on an impractical investigation for answers aided by her sister, an elusive pure-white German Shepherd, a strikingly handsome pub owner who speaks in a gentle brogue, and a misunderstood young woman with perceptive talents of her own. As Shay struggles to figure out her true purpose in Bray Harbor and the powerful connection she has with the tea shop, she must trust her judgment above all else to identify a ruthless murderer and save herself from becoming victim number three.
My Thoughts: Just an OK read for me that die-hard fans of cozy mysteries with paranormal elements will likely enjoy. The book’s pacing was just too slow for me and there seemed to be too many extraneous details thrown in to fill up time that could have been handled better.
This book is the first in the Crystals & CuriosiTEAS series that introduces us to Shay Myers, who after a brutal divorce that not only cost her every penny to her name but her professional reputation as a gemologist is back in her hometown to accept an inheritance of a teashop and cottage from Bridget Early. The why wasn’t too hard to figure out, but the story took forever to get there. While touring the shop with the realtor, they discover a stranger’s body on the greenhouse roof. Again, the story dances around who the deceased is, why he is in Bray Harbor and what his connection is to Shay. By the time the story got around to solving the murder, I was a little surprised. ”Oh yeah, there’s a dead guy from the beginning of the story. Wonder whatever came of the murder investigation…”
I liked Shay and the addition of Liam, the pub owner with the slight Irish brogue who assists Shay in discovering the truth and Spirit, the solid white German Shepherd dog who adopts Shay and seems to be her guardian angel. The audio narration by Stephanie Richardson was just OK too. Her performance of Shay was done well, but the Irish brogue of Liam sounded forced.
My Final Verdict: A story that doesn’t deliver a lot of surprises and takes too long to get there isn’t one I can wholeheartedly recommend. The series may improve as it goes but I don’t need my tea leaves read to know that I will probably take a pass.
Disclaimer: I received a complimentary copy of Steeped in Secrets from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
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