Steeped in Shadow

A body at the harvest fair. A debt three centuries overdue. And a found family determined to finally pay it.

Rue Ashworth-Voss runs the Ember & Oak, the tea-and-tonic shop that's anchored Emberfall's Founders' Green for over a hundred years - but when the town's beloved historian collapses at the autumn fair, surrounded by a scattering of rowan berries that Rue instantly recognizes as far more than decoration, it's clear something old and dangerous has finally caught up with a debt Emberfall has spent generations quietly forgetting.

With their found family of shop-siblings at their side - a baker who never stops feeding people through a crisis, a tea sommelier too busy pining to notice he's in love, and a bookkeeper hiding a gift she never knew she had - Rue has to untangle three centuries of buried history, a rival shopkeeper with his own painful family secret, and a development scheme that wants nothing more than to bulldoze the truth for good.

What's inside:

• A richly atmospheric autumn setting - harvest fairs, old woods, and small-town folklore

• A found-family ensemble centered on a non-binary protagonist, warmly and naturally portrayed

• A slow-burn romantic subplot blooming alongside the mystery

• Real small-town history, old bargains, and the quiet cost of forgetting on purpose

• A complete, satisfying standalone mystery - no cliffhangers, no series required

Perfect for readers who love atmospheric autumn mysteries, small-town folklore, found-family stories, and heroines (and heroes, and everyone in between) who solve murders with tea in hand. A lovely gift for anyone who wants their cozy mystery steeped extra dark with a little genuine wonder.