Spring has bloomed across Normal, Kentucky, and the Historical Society's elegant tea fundraiser at The Milkery Bed-and-Breakfast is supposed to be the social event of the season. Fancy hats, polished silver, and enough gossip to keep the church prayer chain busy for months have the whole town buzzing.

Then Southern etiquette expert Florence Sparks winds up dead at the bottom of the staircase.

At first, Sheriff Al Hemmer believes Florence took a nasty tumble in her heels. But when toxicology reveals poison, suspicion quickly lands on Tex Randal, the campground's shirtless chiropractor, Reiki healer, and local flirt, after one of his signature roller bottles from Cascades Mobile Spa is connected to the murder.

Mae West Sharp knows Tex may be many things, but a killer is not one of them.

So with the ever-nosy Laundry Club Ladies at her side, Mae starts digging through dangerous secrets, shifting social circles, suspicious seating charts, and enough small-town drama to make a casserole supper go dead quiet.

The deeper Mae digs, the clearer it becomes that Florence knew far too much about Normal's most influential residents. Someone was willing to poison her to keep those secrets buried beneath sweet tea smiles and Southern manners.

Because in Normal, Kentucky, good etiquette might get you invited to the tea party, but it will not keep murder off the guest list.