Lauren Elliott, author of the Beyond the Page Bookstore Mysteries, launches a new series with Steeped in Secrets. It features a likable heroine, an appealing supportive cast, and paranormal elements, including one of the most interesting dogs I’ve come across recently in a mystery. Spirit, a white German Shepherd, is actually the one who provides the most support for Shay Meyers, the amateur sleuth.

Shay is broke and divorced. Her husband swindled her out of her gemstone and jewelry company, and ruined her reputation in the gem business. Now, she’s back home in Bray Harbor on California’s Monterey Peninsula to learn why she inherited a New Age tea and crystals shop from a woman she didn’t really know. She hasn’t even told her sister, Jen, about her inheritance yet. Bridget Early disappeared, and her body washed up on the beach by the pier a month later. She left her shop to Shay. The lawyer didn’t tell Shay she also left her one of the historic beach cottages.

Before the realtor can even show her around the shop, they find a body on the roof. The local sheriff immediately arrests Liam Madigan, owner of the pub next door. It’s Shay’s brother-in-law, Deputy Dean Philips, who tells her Liam is actually one of the good guys, a deputy for ten years with the San Francisco Police Department who helped to bring down six dirty cops there and send them to prison. But, the local sheriff hates him, and does everything he can to make Liam’s life miserable. Shay has a feeling, though, that Liam isn’t a killer.

Shay hasn’t yet learned to rely on her feelings. But, Bridget, an Irish seer from County Clare, left the shop to Shay for several reasons. It’s just one of the secrets in Bray Harbor. With Liam’s help, the assistance of a teenager who idolized Bridget, and Spirit’s sensory gifts, Shay will have to learn to trust her gifts. And, she’s going to have to learn to trust Bridget’s own instincts if she’s to find answers and a killer.

Steeped in Secrets is a compelling mystery, if you’re a fan of paranormal cozies, as I am. Spirit welcomes Shay to her new career, and the reader into the secrets of Bray Harbor. The book leaves possibilities for future storylines that I won’t go into without spoiling the current mystery. But, anyone who reads the book will see the potential. I’m looking forward to the second in the Crystals & CuriosiTEAS series.

Lauren Elliott’s website is https://laurenelliottauthor.com/

Steeped in Secrets by Lauren Elliott. Kensington, 2022. ISBN 9781496735201 (hardcover), 304p.

FTC Full Disclosure – The publisher sent an ARC, hoping I would review it.