Strife over Spells
(2026)(The fifth book in the Mystic Haven Tea Shop Mystery series)
A novel by TJ Costello and Kat McGee
Fiona Shaw knows the difference between a proper Earl Grey and liquid disaster. Unfortunately, someone's been brewing the latter and slapping her name on it.
For months, Fiona's been building her reputation one perfectly steeped cup at a time. Her "Morning Clarity" blend wakes people up without making them levitate. Her "Evening Calm" settles nerves without inducing catatonic sleep. Her magical tea ratios are precise, tested, and absolutely nothing like the amateur-hour disasters currently making the rounds of Mystic Haven.
Someone's been selling bootleg versions of her signature blends, and their idea of magical brewing apparently involves throwing random herbs into hot water and hoping for the best. The results range from mildly embarrassing (Mrs. Peterson's temporary blue hair) to downright dangerous (the book club's collective memory loss). When prominent witch Cordelia Blackthorne is found dead clutching a tin of counterfeit "Serenity" blend, Fiona stops worrying about her local reviews and starts worrying her barista's murder charges.
The killer's been using her recipes like a toddler uses finger paints, with about as much skill and twice as much mess. With her barista blamed, Rowan, the handyman, helping her analyze the magical train wrecks masquerading as tea, and Theo providing his usual commentary on which disasters smell the worst, Fiona must track down a counterfeiter who's graduated from ruining her reputation to ruining lives.
Someone thought they could steal her carefully perfected recipes and get away with it, but they clearly never met a witch who measures her tea leaves to the gram and her revenge by the pound.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
For months, Fiona's been building her reputation one perfectly steeped cup at a time. Her "Morning Clarity" blend wakes people up without making them levitate. Her "Evening Calm" settles nerves without inducing catatonic sleep. Her magical tea ratios are precise, tested, and absolutely nothing like the amateur-hour disasters currently making the rounds of Mystic Haven.
Someone's been selling bootleg versions of her signature blends, and their idea of magical brewing apparently involves throwing random herbs into hot water and hoping for the best. The results range from mildly embarrassing (Mrs. Peterson's temporary blue hair) to downright dangerous (the book club's collective memory loss). When prominent witch Cordelia Blackthorne is found dead clutching a tin of counterfeit "Serenity" blend, Fiona stops worrying about her local reviews and starts worrying her barista's murder charges.
The killer's been using her recipes like a toddler uses finger paints, with about as much skill and twice as much mess. With her barista blamed, Rowan, the handyman, helping her analyze the magical train wrecks masquerading as tea, and Theo providing his usual commentary on which disasters smell the worst, Fiona must track down a counterfeiter who's graduated from ruining her reputation to ruining lives.
Someone thought they could steal her carefully perfected recipes and get away with it, but they clearly never met a witch who measures her tea leaves to the gram and her revenge by the pound.
Genre: Cozy Mystery