book cover of Strife over Spells
 

Strife over Spells

(2026)
(The fifth book in the Mystic Haven Tea Shop Mystery series)
A novel by

 
 
Midlife magic lessons are humbling enough without your instructor getting murdered halfway through the semester.

Fiona Shaw traded a not-so-predictable life for enchanted textbooks, a cozy tea shop that runs on carefully brewed magic, and the weekly adventure of being the oldest witch in Professor Cordelia Blackthorne's special classes. The lessons were designed for Mystic Haven's magical late starters, the witches whose powers came in sideways, fizzled at the worst possible moments, or simply never cooperated the way the books promised. Fiona fit right in.

Cordelia never made Fiona feel like a failure. She made it feel like a beginning. Then someone killed her.
Found in her warm, cluttered study with traces of scorched magic still lingering like smoke from a snuffed candle, Cordelia left behind hidden research, personal secrets, and a small circle of students who all had complicated feelings about a woman who knew their struggles better than anyone.

Now Fiona is juggling a murder investigation with the help of the distractingly handsome local handyman who notices things others miss, and her talking cat familiar whose opinions about every suspect are as loud as they are unsolicited. Her quirky barista is brewing tea while seeing flavors as colors.

Between comforting her fellow classmates, keeping the tea shop running, and following a trail of clues that winds through Mystic Haven's most charming corners and most guarded secrets, Fiona is learning that the hardest lessons aren't found in any textbook.



Genre: Cozy Mystery

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