by Libi Astaire
“Come in and I shall ask my sister.”
The old man, whose name was Jeremiah Schneider, entered the room and Mr Taylor quickly closed the door. “Have a seat, sir,” he said to the elderly Jew. “Elisheva, is there still some salop?”
The old clothes man sat down, while Elisheva went to the hearth and removed the kettle from the hob. She poured some of the hot water into two mugs, and then into each added a spoonful of powdered orchid root. When the powder had dissolved, she added a few drops of rosewater, to sweeten the brew.
“Will you not join us, Elisheva?” asked the old man, after Elisheva had placed the two mugs on the table.
“I am not thirsty,” she replied.
“She was invited to take tea at Devonshire Square,” Mr Taylor added.
The elderly Jew raised his bushy white eyebrows. “Devonshire Square? That’s a fine place to wet your whistle. So is Bury Street, for that matter. But I have not come to pay a social call. I am in trouble, Gabriel.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Hanging trouble.”
Your have reached the end of this free excerpt.
To purchase Tempest in the Tea Room, visit your favourite online bookseller.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Libi Astaire is an award-winning author who often writes about Jewish history. The first book in her Ezra Melamed Mystery Series, The Disappearing Dowry, was a Sydney Taylor Notable Book. Other volumes include The Doppelganger’s Dance, Tempest in the Tea Room, and The Ruby Spy Ring.
She is also the author of Terra Incognita, a novel about modern-day descendants of Spain’s crypto-Jews, The Banished Heart, a novel about Shakespeare’s writing of The Merchant of Venice, and several volumes of Chassidic tales. She lives in Jerusalem, Israel.
For updates about future books in the Ezra Melamed Mystery Series, visit her website at www.libiastaire.weebly.com.
COMING IN 2015
A New Mystery Series Featuring
General Well’ngone & the Earl of Gravel Lane
Join the Mailing List
and be the first to hear when The Moon Taker is published
