The jangle of Dewey’s tags woke me just enough to brace for the giant tongue that slurped across my face. I groaned and wiped away doggy spit with my bedsheet.
“We need to work on your wake-up techniques, buddy.”
My faithful golden retriever woke me every morning at precisely 4:30 AM, even on days I didn’t have to be at the tea shop. He nudged my leg with his nose, tail wagging.
I sighed and sat up, then leaned over and kissed the top of his head, scratching his soft ears. When I stood, Dewey bounded out my bedroom door.
I pulled on the jeans and green Tea-rex dino t-shirt I’d set out the night before. My best friend Annie had gifted me the shirt after I’d been hired as the baker for Primrose Tea Shoppe. Never a whimsy deficit when Annie was around.
Dewey was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs with his leash in his mouth. While we took a quick turn around the block, I thought about the candied ginger blueberry scones I’d created during yet another insomnia baking session the night before. I liked the direction the recipe was heading, but it wasn’t quite ready to present to Rose for approval. A little less ginger and a little more blueberry, perhaps.
Back home, I filled Dewey’s water and food bowls, then scribbled a quick note to Maggie, my 16-year-old, who was still asleep upstairs: Help yourself to the scones.
The dark stillness on the three-block walk to the tea shop was broken only by the occasional coo of a mourning dove, or the flutter of a tiny bat making its way back home before sunrise. Primrose Tea Shoppe stood just on the other side of Pine Creek Town Square Park, and before long I was unlocking the kitchen door at the back of the two-story building.
I flipped on the lights, illuminating a spacious kitchen with large metal worktables and ovens. My happy place. I put on a clean apron and checked the baking list Rose had left on the whiteboard hanging next to the massive sink.
I was pulling out the ingredients to start a batch of vanilla scones when my phone buzzed with a text.
Don’t think I’m going to make it down today. Can barely get out of bed.
I frowned. Rose hadn’t missed a day of work since I’d started. Her back had been bothering her the day before, but it was clearly worse than I’d realized.
I’m so sorry, Rose. Is there anything I can do?
Can you manage the shop?
I felt queasy. The correct answer was no. I’d never run the register or waited on customers. Not to mention the fact that I’d have to work extra fast to be done with the baking before we opened at 7:00.
Of course! You rest. I’ll check on you later.
No need to come up. I’ll be fine.
Rose would be fine. But would I?
DARJEELING DECEPTION
Series: A Primrose Tea Shoppe Mystery, Book 1
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: February 2026
Format: Print, Digital
Purchase Link
A charming Texas tea shop, a clever cat, and a recipe for murder.
In Pine Creek, secrets are like a pot of tea—the longer they steep, the more bitter they become.
Three years after losing her husband, former librarian Jane Merriweather is finally finding her place in the historic Texas town his family founded. As the baker for Primrose Tea Shoppe, she prefers the comfort of whisking up scones and pastries in the kitchen to the bustle of the tea room.
But when her boss and mentor, Rose, is laid up with a back injury, Jane has to step out of her quiet kitchen—and her comfort zone—and into the customer chaos. Overwhelm turns to heartbreak when she discovers Rose dead in her bed, and when the police suspect her of poisoning the cookies that killed Rose, she’s forced to add another job title to her resume: sleuth.
With the help of her notebook-toting best friend Annie, the quiet support of her late husband’s oldest friend Ben, and the perfectly timed meows of the tea-sipping shop cat Daisy, Jane is determined to strain the truth from the lies.
But in Pine Creek, some secrets are better left steeped in the past. If Jane isn’t careful, she might be served her final cup of tea.
Meet the author
Mollie Gynn grew up by the ocean in Rhode Island, dreaming of solving whodunits with Lord Peter Wimsey and Miss Marple. After raising three wildly creative children in the heart of rural Texas, she now pours her energy into crafting charming mysteries featuring insomniac baker-sleuth Jane Merriweather and her friends in the Primrose Tea Shoppe Cozy Mystery series. Mollie lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, her empty nest feathered with an abundance of tea, yarn, and books. You can find her at molliegynn.com where you can also download a free copy of Trouble Steeping, a Primrose Tea Shoppe Cozy Mystery Prequel Novella.