New novel out April 2023!
Very excited to announce the upcoming release of my new novel The Tea Ladies which is a fun (and funny) murder mystery set in 1965 in Sydney’s Surry Hills rag-trade district. It's about three tea ladies who get together to solve a crime.
The idea came from a Facebook post on a page called 'Australia Remember When' showing a tea lady with her trolley serving morning tea in an office. There were over 400 comments remembering tea ladies of begone days with great affection. Someone had commented 'the tea lady knew where the bodies were buried'. It struck me that the beloved tea lady (trusted by all) would be the only person in the company who knew everything that went on. So what if she also knew other tea ladies? And what if there was a murder to solve?
It was interesting researching the garment industry in that era and learning about the history of Surry Hills. I went on a ‘murder walking tour’ with a historian, which was fascinating. I’ve used both real and imaginary locations in the book, settling on the Hotel Hollywood as my tea ladies local.
The Tea Ladies is a lot of fun and if you enjoyed Richard Osman’s book, ‘The Thursday Murder Club’ you’ll love this home-grown one (hopefully even more). It’s a frolic through the sixties fashion revolution with three characters you will become fond of – each for different reasons. There’s lots of twists and turns, daring rescues, lashings of homemade wine and, of course, plenty of tea and biscuits.
THE TEA LADIES by Amanda Hampson,
A wickedly witty cosy crime novel set in Sydney in the swinging sixties, ideal for fans of Richard Osman and Bonnie Garmus.