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BOOK ONE
TEA, TECH AND MURDER
In a quiet English village, old-fashioned charm meets very modern secrets.
When a suspicious death unsettles the village, retired tech expert Julian Blackwood and tea-room owner Yumi Hayashi find themselves drawn into an investigation where digital clues, village gossip and carefully hidden motives collide.
MEET JULIAN & YUMI
Two very different minds. One very inconvenient habit of finding trouble.
JULIAN BLACKWOOD
Retired tech expert
Brilliant with systems, awkward with people, and far too curious for his own good.
YUMI HAYASHI
Owner of The Hidden Crane
Observant, composed and quietly formidable. She notices what other people overlook.
THE HIDDEN CRANE
Tea, tranquillity... and the occasional murder.
Yumi Hayashi’s tea room is one of the village’s quietest corners — a place of carefully brewed tea, a Japanese-inspired garden and conversations that linger longer than expected.
It is also where Julian and Yumi often begin to notice the small things that don’t quite fit: an odd remark, a nervous visitor, a piece of technology behaving strangely.
BOOKS IN THE SERIES
Village secrets. Modern mysteries. Tea is essential.
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TEA, TECH AND MURDER
BOOK ONE
A suspicious death, digital clues and a village where everybody knows everybody — or thinks they do.
THE DEEPFAKE DECEPTION
BOOK TWO
A convincing fake. A very real death. And a village suddenly unsure who — or what — to believe.
THE ATHENA PROTOCOL
IN DEVELOPMENT
Julian and Yumi return for another mystery where technology, secrets and village life collide.
FREE STORY:
TEA BEFORE TROUBLE
Discover how Julian Blackwood first found The Hidden Crane.
Before the murders, the deepfakes and the village secrets, there was tea, technology and one very unexpected friendship.
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