What a great cozy mystery! The dialog reads like someone is actually speaking and the quirky characters are fun.
Tempest in the Tea Leaves takes place in Divinity, New York which is actually any small town USA. Everyone knows everyone, everyone knows your business, and you can't get away with anything. The books opens as 29 year old Sunshine Meadows packs up her on VW, moves out of her parent's penthouse in New York and, against their wishes, moves to upstate New York to open a fortune telling business in a haunted home she bought with her trust fund. Needless to say, Sunny's lawyer mother and heart surgeon father do not approve of her lifestyle choices anymore than they approve of her changing her name from Sylvia to Sunshine.
Sunny's first customer is the town librarian. While reading the tea leaves, Sunny tells the librarian that a man is going to murder her, and sends her on her way with some tea leaves to relax her. She then calls the police to report the predicted murder, unfortunately she waits about 30 minutes to long and when the police detective arrives, the librarian is already dead, poisoned by the tea Sunny sent home.
Of course, Sunny is the number one suspect and, of course, the detective is good looking, and thinks Sunny is a flake and a murdered. When the mayor tells the detective he must utilize Sunny's physic abilities to solve the crime, mayhem ensues.
