by: Amanda Flower
Series: Magical Bookshop Mystery
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release Date: December 6, 2016
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Magic, books, and cats collide in a village near Niagara Falls in the latest mystery from the author of Crime and Poetry...
In Cascade Springs, New York, Violet Waverly and her grandma, Daisy, are the proprietors of Charming Books, where the power of the written word is positively enchanting...
October in Cascade Springs means tourists are pouring in for the annual Food and Wine Festival, and Daisy hopes to draw those crowds to the store. She asks Violet and the local writing group, the Red Inkers, to give a reading of the works of Edgar Allan Poe on the shop’s front porch to entertain the revelers. Everyone eagerly agrees.
Yet their enthusiasm is soon extinguished when Violet discovers one of the writers dead in the shop moments before the event. After the shop magically tells Violet she’ll need to rely on Poe’s works to solve the murder, she enlists the help of her trusty tuxedo cat, Emerson, and the shop’s crow, Faulkner. But they must act fast before someone else’s heart beats nevermore…
Hi Amanda. Welcome to Read Your Writes Book Reviews. How are you?
I’m great! Thanks for letting me stop by your site!
You’re more than welcome. Your Magical Bookshop Mystery series with Berkley Prime Crime is one of my favorite series. I love the paranormal aspect of it. Tell me about Violet Waverly. What is she like, what drives her?
Violet Waverly is an overachiever. Sometimes that gets her in trouble because she wants to do too much and help too much. However, it also makes her the person she is. She is someone who doesn’t give up and wants to help others anyway that she can. She also is a little bit wound. She lost her mother at an early age, never knew her father, and her first love broke her heart into a thousand pieces. Despite that, she is resilient and has a great sense of humor.
I love Emerson the cat. I’m a bit surprised that he has something magical about him, since his previous owner wasn’t a person blessed with abilities. Are Emerson and Faulkner the crow in fact magical beings?
This is a great question, and one I can’t actually answer. As the series has gone on, Emerson and Faulkner have revealed more of themselves to me. I’m not the kind of writer who has it all figured out before writing a novel. Honestly, I don’t know if they will be magical. I will be as surprise as anyone if they are.
(Okay, rubbing my hands together.) Police Chief David Rainwater….Sigh… What’s going on with him and Violet?
Rainwater definitely likes Violet, and she likes him too. However, Violet is cautious and guarded. She doesn’t want to get hurt again. It’s going to be a long road for Rainwater, I’m afraid…
And, you’ve just deflated me. What's your writing style like? Do you start out with an idea of how the person is going to die and then figure out who dies and why? Or do you just somehow let the story play out?
I usually start with the murder. I know the victim, and how he or she is going to die. What I don’t know when I start writing a book is who did it or why. I let the story play out in the writing. This leads to LOTS and LOTS of rewriting, but it’s the only way I know how to get the story right. I have to make a lot of mistakes along the way to reach the end that both my readers and I will enjoy.
When and where do you write?
I work full time as a librarian, so for the most part I write any time I can. Most often though, it’s on my bed at night. Yes, I know this is not good for sleeping or for my back. Someday, I will have enough time to clean off my desk to write there…
What’s next for you and this series?
My next novel coming out is The Final Vow, it’s the third and final book in the Living History Museum Series. I’m very happy with the end of that trilogy. As for the Magical Bookshop, we are waiting on a decision from a few editors to see what’s next for that. Keep your fingers crossed!
I will definitely keep my fingers and toes crossed. I love this series. Amanda, thank you so much for taking time to answer some questions for me.
Thanks for having me! Great questions!
You are more than welcome. Readers, if you haven’t had the opportunity to check out Amanda’s Prose and Cons, have a look at this excerpt.
Prose and Cons
By Amanda Flower
Chapter One
A petite teenage girl stood in front of the display of sports biographies that was tucked away in a small corner of the bookshop Charming Books, which I co-owned with my grandma Daisy in the village of Cascade Springs, New York, and chewed on her lip.
I set a stack of picture books decorated with smiling pumpkins and mischievous squirrels on the top of one of the lower bookshelves a few feet from her. “Can I help you?” I asked in my most polite bookseller voice. The trick was to sound friendly and helpful, not too eager for a sale.
The girl turned to me, and tears glistened in her big green eyes. “I don’t know. I’m supposed to pick up a gift for my boyfriend’s father. It’s his birthday, and the party starts in a half hour. I’m doomed!”
“I’m sure he would love any book that you give him,” I said encouragingly. “It’s the thought that counts, right?”
She shook her head and her brown hair covered her face. “You don’t know his parents. They’re horrible. Nothing I do is right. I just want them to like me or at least pretend to.”
I straightened a row of books that sat unevenly on the shelf. I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if Grandma Daisy had moved the books just a little to drive me crazy. She and I had different ideas on the proper way to keep the books organized. I wanted everything in its place, preferably in alphabetical order. Grandma Daisy was satisfied if books were on the correct floor of the shop. She always said the books would find the person who needed them most no matter where they were in the shop, so precision didn’t matter. That might be literally true in Charming Books, but still the alphabetizer in me couldn’t handle the lackadaisical shelving method. After the books’ spines were all sitting precisely at the edge, I said, “That sounds familiar.”
She wrinkled her nose. “What does that mean?”
I gave her a half smile. “My high school boyfriend’s parents didn’t like me either.”
“What would they have bad to say about you?” She blinked at me. “You’re so tall and pretty.”
I chuckled. “Being tall isn’t everything. Neither is being pretty. That’s sweet of you to say that I am, though. You’re a beautiful girl, so if that argument didn’t work for you, it most certainly wouldn’t work for me.”
She blushed at the compliment and said, “If your boyfriend’s parents didn’t like you, I really am in trouble. Maybe I should just go to his birthday party empty-handed. Why waste my money when it’s not going to do any good?”
“Maybe you just need to let your subconscious pick the book,” I said.
She wrinkled her smooth brow. “What do you mean?”
“Close your eyes and reach for the books. I think the right book will find you.”
She gave me a dubious look.
I shrugged. “It’s just a hunch. What do you have to lose?”
“Oh-kay.” Her voice was still heavy with doubt.
While the girl’s eyes were closed, a book flew across the shop from the history section and appeared in her hand.
Her eyes snapped open, and she stared at the tome with Abraham Lincoln on the cover. “How did this get in the sports section?”
“Oh,” I said unconcernedly. “It must have been misplaced. Would you prefer a sports-related title?” I moved to take the book from her.
“No!” She jerked the book away from me and held it to her chest. “No, this is perfect. His father is a history buff, and I’ve seen a picture of Lincoln in his office. I’m only afraid he might have already read this one.”
I fought to hide a smile. “I’m pretty sure he hasn’t read it.”
“How do you know?” She stared up at me with those big green eyes again.
“Call it bookseller intuition.” I smiled.
She hugged the book more tightly to her chest. “This is the right book. I just know it. Thank you so much . . .” She trailed off.
“Violet,” I said.
“You really saved my life with this.”
“Happy to help. Let’s ring you up, then, so you can make that party.” I led her across the room to the sales counter.
Faulkner, the shop crow, walked across the counter. His talons made a clicking sound on the aged wood. I clapped my hands at him, and he flew over the girl’s head, cawing, “Four score and seven years ago!”
She ducked, and her eyes went round. “Was the crow quoting the Gettysburg Address? Does he know about this book?”
I forced a laugh. “We’ve been playing a lot of historical audiobooks in the shop lately. He must have picked it up from that.”
While she reached in her purse for her wallet, I glared at Faulkner, who landed on one of the low branches of the birch tree. The crow smoothed his silky black feathers with his sharp beak and ignored me. I wondered where my tuxedo cat, Emerson, had gone off to. He usually was able to keep the crow in line. Also it was never a good sign when Emerson wandered off. The cat was up to something or wandering around the neighborhood. I hadn’t yet figured out how to keep my cat in the shop. His previous owner took him all around town.
She swiped her credit card through the machine.
“Would you like me to gift wrap the book for you?”
“Can you? That would be great and save me so much time. I’m already running late as it is.”
“Of course.” I cut off a piece of brown paper stamped with orange and red leaves from the roll behind the counter.
After the girl took the newly wrapped biography out the front door, I locked the door behind her and winked at the birch tree that grew in the middle of the bookshop. A spiral staircase led up to the second floor of Charming Books, where the children’s fairy book loft and my one-room apartment were. My ancestress Rosalee had built the original house around the tree after the War of 1812. “Nice work.” I gave the tree a thumbs-up.
My seventy something grandmother, who with her trim figure could easily pass for a woman half her age if not for the sleek silver bob that fell to her chin, came around the side of the tree, shaking her head. “Violet, my dear, you’re becoming a little showy with helping customers choose books. What if another customer was in the shop when you pulled that stunt? It would not do for customers to see books flying across the shop.” As usual, she wore jeans and a Charming Books sweatshirt, which was orange that day in celebration of the nearness of Halloween. To complete the outfit, she’d added a gauzy infinity scarf decorated with cheerful jack-o’-lanterns.
“Grandma Daisy, it’s after seven. The shop was supposed to close fifteen minutes ago. There was no else in the shop.”
“Still, you need to be careful.” She tucked a lock of silver hair behind her ear. “Remember the most important job of the Caretaker is to keep the shop’s secret. No one outside of the family can know.”
“Four months ago you were arguing with me because I didn’t believe in the shop’s essence. Now I’m in trouble because I do and make use of it.” I couldn’t keep the whine out of my voice. I knew I sounded like a stubborn four-year-old, and I knew it wasn’t attractive on a woman nearing her thirtieth birthday.
Grandma Daisy adjusted her cat’s-eye glasses on her nose. “You’re not in trouble. I just want you to remember your duty as the Caretaker.” She turned and headed in the direction of the kitchen, which was separated from the shop by a thick swinging door.
Like I could forget? Being the Caretaker of the huge Queen Anne Victorian house and its birch tree had been a duty of the women in my family for the last two centuries, ever since Rosalee watered the tree with the mystical and healing waters from the local natural springs. The water manifested itself in the shop and the books, and now the essence of the water was able to communicate with the Caretaker through cryptic messages sent through the books themselves. Trust me—I know how unbelievable that sounds.
My mother should have been the Caretaker after my grandmother was relieved of her post, but fate had other plans, stealing her from me when I was only thirteen. As a result, the Caretakership skipped a generation and landed directly on my shoulders. Since I had no children, female or otherwise, it was unknown what would happen to the shop when it was time for me to pass it on to the next generation. I would love to have a child . . . someday. I rolled my eyes at Grandma Daisy’s receding back. There was really no way I could forget my duty as the Caretaker of Charming Books even if I wanted to.
I saw you roll your eyes at me,” Grandma Daisy called over her shoulder.
“The essence doesn’t give you the ability to see out the back of your head,” I countered.
She glanced over her shoulder. “How do you know? You’ve only been the Caretaker for a few months. How do you know everything the essence can and cannot do?” Before I could think of a smart remark, she said, “Don’t you have some cookies to be picked up from La Crepe Jolie for the Poe-try Reading tomorrow?”
I smacked myself on the forehead. “Oh, right, I forgot. I’ll go collect them now.”
She nodded. “The Red Inkers should be here by the time you return. Be careful. The traffic will be horrid on River Road with the start of the Food and Wine Festival tomorrow.”
“I’ll be careful,” I promised.
The Cascade Springs Food and Wine Festival was the biggest event for the small village, which depended on tourism for its survival. It was held annually the third week of October. This year at Grandma Daisy’s urging, Charming Books was participating in the festivities by hosting a Poe-try Reading, highlighting the work and life of the master of the macabre, Edgar Allan Poe. I couldn’t think of a more perfect author to showcase this close to Halloween. Grandma Daisy and I were able to recruit the help of the Red Inkers, a local writers’ group that regularly met in Charming Books after shop hours to discuss their work.
I grabbed my coat from the coat-tree by the kitchen door. “I should be going, then.”
“Don’t be too long, I know everyone in the group is looking forward to seeing you . . . ,” she said in a teasing voice.
This time I rolled my eyes to her face, so there was no mistaking it. Grandma Daisy’s bell-chime laugh rang through the empty shop, and Faulkner joined in on the chuckle fest. Her comment about the group wanting to see me was much more pointed than it sounded. She implied—not so subtly, might I add—that the village police chief, David Rainwater, wanted to see me.
The truth was I was looking forward to seeing him too.
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I enjoyed the interview. The book sounds like one I could get in to.
ReplyDeleteThanks Janine. I love the animals, Emerson and Faulkner. Emerson is definitely a bit of a handful at times.
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