The Counterfeit Caddy: A Coastal High-Tea and Luxury Goods Cozy Mystery
About The Counterfeit Caddy: A Coastal High-Tea and Luxury Goods Cozy Mystery
Hattie Sloane thought the worst part of opening her dream tearoom would be surviving the startup chaos. She did not expect murder to become a recurring problem, or for her newest business partnership to involve a tarot reader who can spot a lie before she finishes reading the fine print. But Kettle & Cards is finally finding its rhythm.
The tea service is booked. The regulars are loyal. The shop is starting to feel like a real future instead of a fragile gamble.
Then a high-end coastal event drags Hattie into a world where everything looks expensive, polished, and perfectly curated, right up until you touch it. When Hattie agrees to help a local entrepreneur prepare for an invitation-only High Tea showcase, she expects a long day of delicate pastries and picky guests. Instead, she stumbles into rumors of counterfeit luxury goods being traded through pop-up events, charity auctions, and private tastings.
Handbags that feel wrong in the seams. Watches with serial numbers that don’t match. Pearls that look flawless until you know what to look for.
It’s messy. It’s embarrassing for the town’s elite. And it’s turning serious fast.
Before Hattie and her tarot-reading partner Caspian Locke can decide how involved they want to be, a middleman tied to the counterfeit pipeline is found dead. The official story is simple. The suspect pool is not.
Everyone with status has a reason to keep the scandal quiet, and everyone with money has the power to make problems disappear. Except Hattie doesn’t disappear. As she and Caspian start asking questions, they’re pulled from elegant tea parties and waterfront boutiques into warehouse backrooms, vendor contracts, and a web of “legitimate” business relationships that fall apart under scrutiny.
Hattie follows the paper trail: shipping logs, consignment agreements, event vendor lists, payment reversals, and subtle wording that protects the wrong people. Caspian follows the human trail: the sponsor who smiles too easily, the volunteer who knows more than they should, the anxious seller who keeps changing their story, and the buyer who acts like murder is just bad publicity. The deeper they dig, the clearer it becomes that the dead man wasn’t simply involved in fraud.
He was either ready to expose someone, or he was threatening the wrong person. And now the same people who profit from counterfeit goods are turning their attention toward the two amateurs who won’t stop looking. With the town’s reputation on the line, pressure builds from every direction.
The police want cooperation, not interference. The wealthy want silence. And someone behind the scenes wants Hattie and Caspian to learn the difference between a friendly warning and a real threat.
Too bad Hattie has never been good at taking hints.