A Lease on Murder: A Beachside Tea-Room and Tarot Cozy Mystery
About A Lease on Murder: A Beachside Tea-Room and Tarot Cozy Mystery
Hattie Sloane is this close to getting her life back on track. After years of making do, cleaning up other people’s messes, and putting her own dreams on the back burner, she’s finally ready to open the tearoom she’s always wanted. A bright storefront near the beach.
A menu built around real comfort. A business that’s hers. The lease is signed.
The deposit is paid. The scone recipes are ready. Then Hattie unlocks the door and finds out she isn’t the only one who thinks the space belongs to her.
Caspian Locke is a tarot reader with impeccable timing, unnerving people skills, and a firm belief that the universe doesn’t make mistakes. He has his own contract, his own keys, and absolutely no intention of letting go of what he’s convinced is his destiny. The broker who arranged both deals promised each of them the same thing, then vanished the second questions started.
Before Hattie can decide whether she’s been scammed or cursed, the broker turns up dead. Now Hattie’s dream storefront is a crime scene, her money is tied up in paperwork that doesn’t add up, and the landlord is already looking for a reason to toss them both out. The police want quick answers.
The town wants quick gossip. And someone out there wants this whole mess buried before anyone looks too closely at the contracts, the deposits, and the names connected to the deal. Hattie and Caspian can’t stand each other, which makes them a terrible pair to share a business and a perfect pair to spot what everyone else misses.
Hattie is all receipts, timestamps, and red flags in the fine print. Caspian reads people the way she reads documents, catching the hesitation, the rehearsed lines, the sudden anger when the wrong question lands. Between them, they start to see the same pattern everywhere: missing addenda, signatures that don’t match, refunds that appear out of nowhere, and “helpful” locals who want the story to go a certain way.
With Hattie’s sharp-edged grandfather keeping one eye on town history and the other on who’s suddenly paying attention, and a bossy rescue terrier who keeps trotting off with suspiciously important objects, the investigation pulls Hattie deeper into a coastal community that runs on charm, favors, and quiet pressure. The broker didn’t just con two tenants. He stepped on the wrong toes, stole from the right people, and left behind a trail that could expose a much bigger scheme.
If Hattie wants to keep her business, clear her name, and avoid becoming the next problem someone solves, she’ll have to do what she never planned on doing. Trust the tarot guy. Follow the paper trail.
And prove that in this town, murder isn’t the only thing that can steal your future.