(c) Lauren Elliott, Kensington Publishing Corp., 2022. STEEPED IN SECRETS excerpt shared with permission from the publisher.
“Then see if this is more to your liking.” Julia yanked on the corner edge of the back curtain and revealed an ornate wrought-iron spiral staircase.
“Now that’s what I was waiting to see,” Liam said. “Access to the second floor.”
“Why?” Shay eyed him warily. “Are you hoping it’s filled with the bodies of her customers?”
“Now that would make a good tale to tell tonight in the pub, wouldn’t it?” With a flash of humor in his eyes, he shuffled past her toward the staircase. “Actually, I have a rooftop patio on my second floor, and at night I could hear her singing. When it was a quiet night in the pub, I would just sit for hours, listening to her Irish songs. She had quite the voice, sad but really good.” He stepped up onto the first metal stair. “Always wanted to see what she was working on up here till the wee hours of the morning.”
“What’s that?” Shay pointed to the wall behind Liam.
“What?” Julia looked to the spot Shay had indicated.
“That, poking out from behind the edge of the curtain.” Shay whipped the drape back farther. “Wow. Look at that. The colors are so vivid; the picture could be alive.”
Liam stepped down and stood back to get a full view. “Wow is right. That’s a painting of Titania, queen of the fairies, and the fairy princess.”
“How do you know that?” Shay glanced at him.
“It’s in an old book of Irish folklore that my gran has.” Liam stood back and studied the large framed print. “You know, if I didn’t know better, I’d say ye posed for this, Shay. The model has the same long, wavy, red hair and the same delicate features that you do.”
He thinks I have delicate features! Heat from her blush spread across her cheeks. She touched her fingers to her face to make sure she hadn’t spontaneously combusted.
“Did you ever do any modeling in Santa Fe?” Julia stared wide-mouthed at Shay.
“Not for this one at least,” Liam interrupted over Shay’s head. “Unless she’s over a hundred years old. I can’t remember who the artist is, but my gran’s had her book since she was a wee babe.”
Shay leaned closer to the picture. “What’s that she’s holding in her right hand and giving to the princess?”
“It’s bluish-red, whatever it is,” said Julia, squinting as she leaned closer. “Just looks like a glowing ball of blue light to me.”
“Yes, it does, doesn’t it?” Shay’s knees began to give away. She had seen that same glowing light image somewhere before but couldn’t remember where. The memory swirled around in her head like a thick fog, and she grabbed on to the wrought-iron railing beside her.
Liam’s hands grasped her shoulders and steadied her. “Are ye okay?”
She nodded. Her eyes remained steadfast on the print. “Yeah, I think all the scents in here are just getting to me.” She weakly smiled up at him.
His eyes narrowed as he studied her face, then his lips turned up ever so slightly at the corners. “Okay, if ye say so.” His smile broadened, and he released his hands.
The air crackled and filled with the spine-chilling howls of a dog. Shay jerked. All three of them spun toward the open back-room door that allowed a clear line of sight to the glass-front entryway.
“My word!” Julia patted her chest as if she were trying to halt the same palpitations that sent Shay’s heart hammering. “It’s only Spirit.” She laughed.
“I haven’t seen him around for awhile.” Liam looked down at Shay. “Must be something about this shop he’s attracted to.” He arched a sly brow and grinned.
Julia shivered. “Well, now that we all have our hearts back in our chests, shall we take a look at the pièce de résistance?” She climbed up the circular stairs.
Shay glanced back at the now empty front doorway alcove and then at the print on the wall. A shiver rippled across her shoulders. Out of the corner of her eye, she caught Liam watching her, a puzzled expression on his face. She flashed him what she hoped was a smile worthy of an Oscar and headed up the stairs behind Julia. With Spirit’s howls still fresh in her mind, her insides churned more with each rung of the metal stairs. When Shay reached the top, a heady, earthy scent tickled her nose, and she grinned with delight. Aside from a small alcove office near the top of the stairs, the remainder of the entire second floor was bathed in brilliant, warm sunlight. This definitely was not what she expected to find up here.
Liam reached the landing and whistled. “Now I get it.”
“Pretty awesome, isn’t it?” Julia made a sweeping motion around the room. “This is where Bridget grew some teas and all the herbs and spices she used in her shop.”
“Pretty unexpected.” Shay stepped farther into the massive greenhouse. “The entire ceiling has been replaced with glass, and look at the back wall. The original brick has been removed, and it’s glass too.” She scanned the rows and rows of waist-high wooden box planters filled with vegetation. Her fingers toyed with a spiked marker labeled Thyme.
“Look at that.” Liam pointed upward. “There’s even sprinkler heads over each row.”
“That answers my question about the humidity level in here.” Shay’s gaze traced the intricate system of overhead water pipes, and she stood in awe of the hanging irrigation system Bridget had installed. “This must have taken years of work to complete.”
“I did remind you she was here for well over thirty years.” Julia winked.
“Yeah, it’s pretty amazing.” Shay scanned the breadth of the large space and gasped. Her heart thudded to a near stop and then galloped in her chest.
“What?” Liam’s eyes narrowed as he looked in the general direction she gestured toward.
“What’s wrong, Shay?” Julia scanned the room. “What are you looking at?”
“There . . . there in the far corner of the greenhouse ceiling.” The fine hairs at the back of Shay’s neck prickled. “Just past that last white pipe. From here you can just make out a pair of—sprawled legs.” Wide-eyed, she looked at Liam, who had already set off, skirting his way around the rows of planters. Shay darted after him and skidded to his side when he stopped short to retrieve his cell phone from his jeans pocket.
Julia’s high heels clicked across the brick floor as she approached them. “What is it? Did someone climb up from your patio, Liam, to spy on us or worse yet, break in—” She screamed, and her oversized handbag thudded to the floor.
Shay choked on the deep breath she’d sucked in. “Julia, remember earlier when you told me that if I find any problems to let you know, and you’d have someone on your staff take care of it?”
“Uh-huh,” grunted Julia, backing away.
“You weren’t talking about body removal, were you?”
USA Today bestselling author Lauren Elliott makes her hardcover debut with a new mystery series sure to appeal to fans of Laura Childs and Ellery Adams: the Shay Meyers Tea Shop Mysteries!
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.
Mystery Cozy [Kensington Books, On Sale: November 29, 2022, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9781496735201 / ]
USA Today Best-Selling author Lauren Elliott grew up devouring the entire Nancy Drew series and then graduated to Victoria Holt, Agatha Christie, Barbara Erskine, Lynn Kurland, and Michael Crichton to name a few of her favorite authors. When it came time for post-secondary education, journalism seemed like the logical choice as she had written for as long as she could remember. Soon after graduation, while working for a small publication, she discovered that reporting wasn’t what fueled her writing passions. As someone with an additionally strong background in professional theatre who had the love of storytelling and captivating and holding an audience, her fiction-writing career began to take center stage.
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