For years, Ashley-Ruth Moolenaar Bernier built a reputation in the mystery writing world one short story at a time. Her work appeared in some of the genre’s most respected publications, including “Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine” and “Black Cat Weekly,” and one of her stories was selected for “The Best American Mystery and Suspense” anthology – a distinction that introduced her work to a national audience while helping establish her as one of a growing number of Caribbean voices in crime fiction.
Now, the St. Thomas author and educator is inviting readers to step into that world. Bernier will appear at Island Booksellers at Buccaneer Mall on St. Thomas this Tuesday from 3:30-5:30 p.m. for a book signing and discussion celebrating “The Bush Tea Murder,” her first traditionally published novel with Crooked Lane Books, a leading mystery publisher whose titles are distributed by Penguin Random House.
The novel blends cozy mystery with Virgin Islands culture, placing local food, traditions and community – not just the crime itself – at the center of the story.
“It’s everything I hoped it would be,” Bernier said of the traditional publishing journey, which began with nearly a year spent securing a literary agent before her manuscript was submitted to publishing houses. Once Crooked Lane acquired the novel, several more months of editing, formatting and production followed before the book reached readers.
At the heart of “The Bush Tea Murder” is Naomi Sinclair, a Virgin Islands food journalist whose investigation into a decades-old murder unfolds through a series of interconnected mysteries centered on the territory’s food traditions.
Bernier said the idea grew out of an unexpected inheritance following the death of her grandmother, the late Virgin Islands educator, historian and author Ruth Moolenaar.
Among the treasures she inherited was her grandmother’s personal library – filled with decades of books documenting Virgin Islands history, culture and cuisine. She found herself drawn first to the cookbooks, including fragile volumes dating back to the 1950s filled with traditional recipes, herbal remedies and dishes that have largely disappeared from modern kitchens.
Those books became the inspiration for a mystery built around a stolen johnnycake recipe before evolving into something much larger.
“Food brings us together,” Bernier said. “It’s something that spans generations.”
While the novel follows a murder investigation, Bernier said the real story is about community.
She describes the book as a “novel in stories,” with six interconnected mysteries tied together by a larger cold case involving the owner of a bush tea house. Several of those stories were originally published independently before an editor encouraged her to create the overarching mystery that ultimately became the book’s title.
Just as important to Bernier was creating a protagonist she rarely encountered growing up reading mysteries.
She recalls devouring the works of Agatha Christie, the Nancy Drew novels and other classic detective stories but says she almost never saw Caribbean characters leading those investigations.
Instead, she wanted Naomi Sinclair to be a young Virgin Islands woman solving crimes in a place that feels immediately familiar to local readers.
“I wanted to write stories where Virgin Islanders were the center,” she said. “Where we were the ones solving the cases.”
That commitment to authenticity extends throughout the book. Bernier worked with her publisher to ensure even the smallest details reflected the Virgin Islands, requesting that local spices such as mace and pounded seasoning replace generic labels on the cover and suggesting the addition of the bananaquit, the territory’s state bird.
For Bernier, those details mattered because they reinforced what she hopes readers experience throughout the novel: a mystery that could only take place in the Virgin Islands.
Balancing writing with teaching and raising a family – including welcoming a new baby earlier this year – hasn’t always been easy, she said. Short fiction allowed her to continue writing during busy seasons of life, and those stories eventually became the foundation for the novel readers are discovering today.
And Bernier says she’s far from finished.
Several Naomi Sinclair mysteries didn’t make it into The Bush Tea Murder, including one set on St. John, and she’s already hoping they’ll become future books.
For Bernier, however, the larger goal extends beyond solving fictional crimes, but rather showing that Caribbean writers belong in every corner of literature – not only historical or literary fiction, but also romance, fantasy, science fiction and mysteries.
“Telling stories rooted in the Virgin Islands isn’t just about preserving culture; it’s about expanding where that culture can be found,” Bernier said.
Whether the genre is mystery, romance or fantasy, she believes Caribbean voices deserve a place on every bookshelf.
“We belong in those spaces,” she said. “Our stories belong in those spaces.”
