The Tea Ladies by Amanda Hampson

It's 1965 and Hazel Bates works as the tea lady at Sydney's Empire Fashionwear in the garment district in Surry Hills. In her job travelling between the floors of the dress company, Hazel gets to know the dressmakers, the machinists, the people in accounts, and the owners--the Karps. One day Hazel sees a woman in the window at the abandoned bond store across the street. Soon after, the bond store is on fire and one of Hazel's coworkers is found dead. It's up to Hazel and her fellow tea ladies, Betty, Irene, and Merl to find a murderer. The Tea Ladies is the first book in the series and gives the reader a great sense of place of working class 1960's Sydney.