From the USA Today bestselling author of the Beyond the Page Bookstore Mysteries comes the first in a new series featuring an intuitive gemologist and owner of a New Age tea and crystals shop in beautiful coastal California’s Monterey Peninsula.
“Appealing characters, surprising twists, a bit of magic, and the promise of romance. Lovers of paranormal cozies are sure to get on board.” – Publishers Weekly

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.

Lauren Elliott's profile page

Lauren Elliott is the USA Today bestselling author of the Shay Myers Tea Shop Mysteries and the Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery Series. She grew up devouring Nancy Drew, graduated to Agatha Christie, and then began writing her own mysteries, as well as bringing her passion for storytelling to careers in professional theater and journalism. She can be found online at LaurenElliottAuthor.com.

Praise for Steeped in Secret
“Elliott delivers appealing characters, surprising twists, a bit of magic, and the promise of romance. Lovers of paranormal cozies are sure to get on board.” —Publishers Weekly
Praise for the Beyond the Page Bookstore Mysteries
“A fun, festive whodunit!” —Woman’s World Book Club Pick for To the Tome of Murder
“A well-delineated cast of characters and plenty of information about rare books enhance the story.” —Booklist on Under the Cover of Murder
“Her highly organized approach to sleuthing will be a hit with cozy fans who like a strong emphasis on the puzzle.” —Kirkus Reviews on A Page Marked for Murder
"This lighthearted, wintertime mystery [is] the perfect story to pair with hot cocoa and a night spent curled up on the sofa." —FIRST for Women on Murder in the First Edition
“With a quirky heroine, a lovely setting and a literary crime, this is a story that will intrigue cozy readers.” —The Parkersburg News & Sentinel on Prologue to Murder