Stephanie Pierce has a system for everything.

Keys go in the bowl. Shoes go in the closet. Lavender goes in the diffuser. Feelings, ideally, go somewhere quiet where they cannot make a mess.

Then she finds her apartment manager murdered in the stairwell.

Now her spotless world has a crime scene in it, her goldendoodle may be in danger, and the detective assigned to the case is the kind of calm, observant man no amount of lavender can fix.

Detective Mark Wellborn notices everything.

The things moved in her apartment, the white van that keeps reappearing. The fear Stephanie tries to organize into something manageable.

And worse, he notices her.

The more Mark tries to protect her, the harder it is to pretend he is only part of the investigation. He is comfort when her world feels unsafe, complication when she needs control, and entirely too good at making her feel seen.

But someone is slipping into the safest corners of her life, and the murder in the stairwell was only the beginning.

The Lavender Thief is a clean romantic comedy suspense with cozy mystery twists, essential oils, murder, mishaps, a lovable goldendoodle, and a detective who sees far more than Stephanie wants him to.

She has spent her whole life getting everything exactly right. The question is whether she is brave enough to let it all go wonderfully, beautifully, sideways.