Guest Post & #Giveaway: The Bush Tea Murder (A Caribbean Island Mystery #1) by Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier
- Archaeolibrarian
- 13 hours ago
- 9 min read
Book Details:
Genre: Culinary Cozy Mystery
Published by: Crooked Lane Books
Publication Date: April 21, 2026
Number of Pages: 336
ISBN: 9798892425230
Series: A Caribbean Island Mystery, Book 1
@crookedlanebooks @partnersincrimevbt
@armbernier @crookedlanebooks @partnersincrimevbt
Culinary journalist Naomi Sinclair is cooking up a maelstrom of trouble upon her return to the blue waters of her native Saint Thomas.
A new cozy mystery set in the US Virgin Islands, this charming amateur sleuth will enrapture readers of Joanne Fluke and Carrie Doyle.
Food journalist Naomi Sinclair doesn’t expect a side of murder with her passion fruit juice. But when her return to Saint Thomas heralds a series of troubling cases, ranging from petty theft to cold-blooded murder, that threaten her tight-knit community, that is exactly the kind of unsavory treat she must sink her teeth into.
Luckily for her neighbors, Naomi is as adept at solving puzzles as rolling johnnycake dough—a good thing, since her island community, though small, keeps serving up plenty of trouble. With the help of her friends and her crush, Mateo, Naomi must navigate the tumultuous turquoise waters of life in the Caribbean, all as her beloved father battles an illness that keeps tugging her back to her island amid her rising career stateside.
Rich with mouthwatering recipes, lush landscapes, and a hefty dose of fun under the sun, The Bush Tea Murder has all the ingredients to make up the perfect beach read.
Bookshop.org | StoryGraph | Goodreads | Smashbomb | BookBub
Amazon - https://pictbooks.tours/jjhF8YHv
Kindle - https://pictbooks.tours/oXNpKq9n
Penguin Random House - https://pictbooks.tours/BtqYdUwR
Present
I’ve been told my entire life that the perfect cup of bush tea is magic, and this morning I hope with every fiber of my being that this is true. There are some hard truths I have to spill, and I’ll take every ounce of help I can get. I’m settled in one of the scarlet chairs in the EAT TV conference room, directly across the table from Travis Spriggs and his nauseating brand of bright, crisp-cut perfection—just right for television, but less like sunshine and more like a fluorescent spotlight at four in the morning. He’s flanked by two people whose names I’ve only seen in producer credits at the end of some of the highest performing shows on network television: my boss’s bosses, both sporting dark suits and expressions like cliff faces. Bronwyn, the studio exec who oversees me, Travis, and the other on-air talent at EAT TV, sits in the plush chair at the head of the table, her usual pleasant expression as drained as the tumbler of coffee in her hand.
They’re all here for me.
“I’ll get things started, Miss Sinclair,” Bronwyn says, looking at me but speaking to the executives. She hasn’t called me Miss Sinclair since the interview when she hired me three years ago. “Mr. Revilla and Ms. Abbott called this meeting. I’m sure you know why. They’re very ready to start work on the show—”
“My show,” Travis murmurs with a smug smile.
“That hasn’t been officially decided,” Bronwyn says. “We can’t have a conversation about our next steps because—well— because we don’t have your ending yet, Naomi.”
“You’ve given us a lot, Miss Sinclair. Lord knows—” Mr. Revilla gestures with a meaty hand at the chunky beige file folder in front of him. “You’ve given us a hell of a lot here.”
“But you haven’t closed the case,” Ms. Abbott speaks up. Woman’s got a twist-out with impressive volume, and I’m glad I’m not the only hair naturalista in the room. Her coils jiggle as she leans toward me. “You still haven’t told us who killed Ursula Merchant.”
I glance at my mug. The Universe seems to be following a recipe for an uncomfortable morning, blending each ingredient together artfully like the chefs I interview on A Word from the Kitchen. But if there’s a recipe for a poisonous morning afoot, I’ve got the antidote here in the cup in front of me. Bush tea—balsam, mint, and lemongrass—picked from the window herb garden in my townhouse kitchen, and brewed fresh daily the way my parents and Virgin Islanders before me have done for generations. Even with the early morning, smarmy coworker and hard truths, one sip can take my mind away from the over cast Charlotte cityscape beyond the conference room window straight to the sunny green hills of Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. I’ve lived in North Carolina for eight years now, but St. Thomas will always be home—and anything that gets me there this fast is magic indeed.
But not right now. I need to stay here, in everything this moment means. Immersed in all that’s led to it. Focused on the possibilities it will usher through. A sip will have to wait.
“That’s what you’ll get from Naomi, Ms. Abbott,” Travis says, injecting his tones with the most bored affect he can muster up. “She’s supposed to be giving you the details for one story, but instead you’ve got—what, five of them in here?”
“Six,” Mr. Revilla mutters.
Travis’s brown eyes go wide. “Well, damn, sir, she’ll go off on a tangent or two, but I wouldn’t have guessed as high as six! For a journalist like me, who focuses like hell on the one story he’s got, that’s incomprehensible.”
“We read all six. And we enjoyed them,” Ms. Abbott is quick to assure me.
“But that’s not the point, is it?” Travis asks. “We were each asked to investigate one unsolved food-based mystery for this show you conceived. I gave you that. Naomi’s brought more stories than you can count on one hand, but she hasn’t given you what you asked for. She hasn’t answered the big question.” There’s enough sauce in the smile he beams at me to cover ten full racks of ribs. “You even know who killed her, Nay?”
Bronwyn looks caught between checking Travis’s tone and waiting out my answer. Her bosses follow suit. I sip my tea, still piping hot, and decide to address both. “Of course I know who killed Ursula Merchant,” I answer. “It’s right there in that folder I gave Mr. Revilla. That’s what these are—my notes on the investigation.”
Mr. Revilla and Ms. Abbott exchange a look. She’s ultimately the one who responds. “There’s . . . certainly a story here. Several. You’ve solved quite a few problems on St. Thomas over the past year. But when it comes to the story of Ursula Merchant, the one you were supposed to be investigating the whole time . . . there doesn’t seem to be much of anything.” “Nothing at all,” Mr. Revilla echoes.
“Naomi, they’d really like to make a decision,” Bronwyn says. “Travis presented a fine investigation on the Barbecue Sauce Killings—”
“The Carolina Barbecue Murders,” Travis speaks up. Bronwyn waves him away.
“He’s given us history, interviews, and a compelling hypothesis . . . along with a deep sense of the process, flavor, and sizzle of both styles of Carolina barbecue,” Bronwyn says. “The case you’ve been investigating, this—tea maven in St. Thomas being shot to death in her locked office—it’s equally intriguing. But while you’ve given us so much, you still haven’t given us an ending.”
“You’re right. I haven’t,” I say. “That was intentional. I’m hoping to do that today. Right now, as a matter of fact.” I clasp both hands around my mug.
Travis leans back in his seat, pressing the tips of his fingers together. “You sure that’s what you want? Naomi’s going to take you on a circular journey, which is the way she operates on A Word from the Kitchen. A ton of loose threads—”
“—which she always weaves together. The connections are there,” Bronwyn interrupts. “The best thing we can do right now is just hear you out, Naomi. You say you know how the story ends and what happened to Ursula Merchant. So let’s hear it. Who killed her, and how did all of this lead you there?”
I’m not at the head of the table, but all eyes are on me— Bronwyn’s perfectly lined and shadowed gray eyes are full of hope and curiosity, Mr. Revilla’s and Ms. Abbott’s are expectant behind their eyeglasses, and Travis seems to be trying to will his into lasers capable of slicing me to shreds. I take a deep breath, letting the scent of the brew in my cup ground and fortify me. I’d had a hot cup of bush tea that morning, too. The morning that started it all. The magic in my mug was what set this whole thing into motion—as bush tea always manages to do.
There’s an old adage that cautions against going grocery shopping while hungry, but these days, perhaps that warning should extend to the bookstore as well. I’m not only talking about the section full of cookbooks and nonfiction musings on regional cuisine. Right now, walking through the mystery section can also take a reader on a culinary journey sound the world. The popularity of food/cuisine-based mysteries, particularly in the cozy and traditional subgenres, is evident on bookstore shelves—there are multiple series about chefs, bakers, food bloggers…and yes, culinary journalists, like my St. Thomian sleuth Naomi Sinclair—who enjoy their dishes with a heaping side serving of intrigue. Readers can’t seem to get enough of the mash-up between stories about murder and mayhem and recipes for cozy goodness they can try in their own kitchen. Authors can’t seem to get enough of writing them, either.
So why this? Why food?
I spent some time thinking about this as I wrote the stories that serve as the backbone for my novel length debut, THE BUSH TEA MURDER. Why are there so many series about food, especially regional or cultural cuisine, in the cozy space? The answer may have to do with the nature of cozies themselves.
Cozies are all about communities. Sure, there’s a murder or some other major crime that takes place, but ultimately, one major hallmark of a cozy series is a community readers can return to again and again. The towns and “villages” both literal and figurative in a cozy universe are populated with memorable characters readers love to spend time with over multiple stories. Cozies are about ripples in these placid communities, and how justice, peace, and harmony can be restored afterwards. They’re about how communities stay connected while trying to solve a problem.
What better way to do this than with food?
Food brings everyone together. Regional and cultural cuisine tie a community together over miles and generations. Even if characters in a cozy town can’t agree on their opinions of the murder victim, the sleuth’s love life, or the sleuth’s methods in solving the case, they can certainly agree on a menu. And what better way to get characters all in one room than to have them sit down to a meal together?
When I first began to write the different stories that pull THE BUSH TEA MURDER together, I knew I wanted to highlight my Virgin Islands culture in a major way. Our islands are so much more than rum, Carnival, and the beach—although those things are a lot of fun!—and I wanted readers to experience this on the page. The discovery of old cookbooks in my grandmother’s decades-old library made the way forward clear for me. No matter the changes that might happen for my characters, personally or in their larger role in my stories’ “universe”, the food the community provides remains the same. It provided a way to showcase Caribbean delicacies and make connections within the story and among characters as well.
Stories about food are, at their heart, stories about people…and mystery stories involving food are all about the complicated ingredients that make up both. THE BUSH TEA MURDER is available now from Crooked Lane Books. Read hungry.
Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier’s work has appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Weekly, Stone’s Throw, Smoking Pen Press, Malice Domestic's Mystery Most Devious and Mystery Most Humorous, The Best American Mystery and Suspense 2023, and other esteemed anthologies. Originally from St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, Ashley-Ruth writes mysteries highlighting the vibrant culture of her home. Ashley-Ruth is a 2022 winner of NCWN’s Jacobs-Jones award, a 2023 SMFS Derringer finalist, a Killer Nashville Claymore finalist, a 2024 recipient of MWA’s Barbara Neely grant for Black mystery writers, and a 2026 Agatha Award nominee. THE BUSH TEA MURDER (Crooked Lane Books, 2026) is her first novel-length work. She currently lives with her family and teaches first grade in Apex, North Carolina.
Catch Up With Ashley-Ruth M. Bernier:
Tour hosted by: Partners in Crime Tours
Excellent guest post! I totally agree. Food is... comfort, families, get togethers, festivals, making memories. It is the definition of cozy.
I love cook books and it is the first section I go to in a book store, especially used book stores. :-)