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Book Review
Reviewed: 25 November 2025

Bush Tea Murder

by: Ashley-Ruth Bernier

Caribbean Island Mystery, Book 1

  • Rating: full starfull starfull starfull starstar outline (4.0/5)

A cup of tea brings clarity.

This was a first time read of this author. I was attracted to the concept, several stories within a story with Virgin Island food roots.

The characters were interesting, diverse and engaging.

The intertwined stories were good but I felt at one point that I didn’t care as much for the primary mystery of who killed Ursula Merchant. I felt that the ending though appropriate was a little abrupt.

I look forward to reading more by this author.

Thank you #NetGalley and #CrookedLaneBooks for the opportunity to read and share my thoughts on this book.

Happy Reading!

Release Date: 21-April-2026
Cozy Mystery, Food Mystery, Female Sleuth, NetGalley

Plot Summary

Culinary journalist Naomi Sinclair is cooking up a maelstrom of trouble upon her return to the blue waters of her native St. Thomas. 

The first in a new cozy mystery series 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 St. Thomas heralds a series of troubling cases, ranging from petty theft to cold-blooded murder which 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 deft 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.