Book 107, 2025

[chez_jae]

Murder in a Cup by Lauren Elliott

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


View all my reviews

I took a vacation day today and used my downtime to finish reading Murder in a Cup by Lauren Elliott. It’s the second book in the “Crystals and CuriosiTEAS” series of paranormal cozies. Main character is Shayleigh “Shay” Myers.

Things are going well for Shay. She’s settling in as the owner/proprietress of a shop that serves tea and goodies as well as offering tea leaf readings, crystal healing, etc. She has a group of regular customers that come in each morning, and when they push for a group reading, Shay reluctantly agrees. She isn’t comfortable yet with her abilities, but she is determined to do her best. The evening is going swimmingly until one of the ladies drops dead. When it’s determined that Jasmine was poisoned, Shay’s shop is shuttered, and her lively young assistant, Tassi, becomes the prime suspect. Shay is determined to prove that Tassi is innocent. To do so, she’ll need to learn to embrace her gifts and trust her instincts.

There was a lot going on in this story other than the murder: Tassi’s father is in town and seems keen on establishing full custody of her, Shay’s neighbor Liam is having trouble with his girlfriend, Zoey, Liam’s Gran has moved from Ireland to spend time with him, his trouble-making cousin shows up, Tassi’s father (a prominent lawyer) plans to bring a civil suit against Shay for practicing witchcraft, and Shay’s ultra-efficient new employee is making her feel inferior. Characters were portrayed well and the plot made sense, even with so much going on. I would have thoroughly enjoyed the story except for two main things: One, it’s not the 1600’s. You can’t sue someone for being a witch. And, even if Shay qualified as a witch, so what? Freedom of religion, yadda yadda yadda. Two, Liam and Shay are so perfect for one another, but once Zoey was out of the picture, clearing the way for Shay, another woman emerged on the scene for Liam. WTF? Most maddening.

Favorite lines:
♦ We all have our small daily rituals.
♦ “He really did save you from death by teapots?”

Engrossing and entertaining, four stars. Might have been five, but for the annoyance factors.