Thursday, April 4, 2019

Review ~ MURDERS AND METAPHORS by Amanda Flower

Murders and Metaphors (Magical Bookshop Mystery, #3)
by: Amanda Flower
Series: Magical Bookshop Mystery
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release Date: February 12, 2019
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Amazon | Hardcover | Paperback | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads

USA Today bestselling author Amanda Flower is back with the third in her more-charming-than-ever Magical Bookshop mystery. Fans of Sofie Kelly and Heather Blake, prepare your bookshelves!

Niagara region booksellers Violet Waverly and Grandma Daisy sleuth the slaying of a sommelier whose book signing turned into her sayonara.


January means ice wine season in the Niagara Falls region, but the festivities leave Charming Books owner Violet Waverly cold, still reeling from a past heartbreak. A past heartbreak who will be present at the annual midnight grape-harvest festival, and no magic in the world or incantation powerful enough could get Violet to attend. But Grandma Daisy, an omniscient force all on her own, informs Violet that she’s already arranged for the mystical Charming Books to host celebrity sommelier Belinda Perkins’s book signing at the party. Little do either Waverly women know, the ice wine festival will turn colder still when Violet finds Belinda in the middle of the frozen vineyard—with a grape harvest knife protruding from her chest.

Belinda grew up in Cascade Springs, but she left town years ago after a huge falling-out with her three sisters. One of those sisters, Violet’s high school friend Lacey Dupont, attends the book signing in the hope of making amends with her sister, but Belinda and Lacey end up disrupting the signing with a very public shouting match and Lacey quickly becomes the prime suspect in the sommelier’s murder.

Violet is sure Lacey is innocent, and to keep her friend out of prison, Violet asks for guidance from her magical bookshop. The shop’s ethereal essence points her to Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, but what have the four March sisters to do with the four Perkins sisters? If she can’t figure it out, Violet, herself, may turn as cold as ice. Violet, Grandma Daisy, Emerson the tuxedo cat, and resident crow Faulkner are back on the case in Murders and Metaphors, USA Today bestselling author Amanda Flower’s enchanting third Magical Bookshop mystery.



I’m so excited to return to Amanda Flower’s Magical Bookshop Mystery series and the Charming Books bookstore where the right book picks you.

Murder and Metaphors finds Violet investigating the murder of Belinda Perkins, the sister of her best friend Lacey, when Lacey is suspected of her murder. This is a story where everyone has secrets and money controls all.

It has been years since Belinda has been in Cascade Springs, New York and just as long since the sisters have spoken. The sisters haven't gotten along since their mother died and Lacey was put in charge of raising their younger sisters. Belinda makes her triumphant return to Cascade Springs as a best-selling author of wine books. She's in town to promote her latest book and do a book signing at Morton Vineyards, which ties into the Morton's annual ice wine harvesting party. You would think this would be a time of celebration for the Perkins. However, it isn't.

Belinda and Lacey get into a very public argument during the signing. Later, Violet stumbles upon the dead body of Belinda. Violet doesn't know Belinda very well or the reason why the four sisters seem to be estranged. She just knows Lacey would never kill anyone, let alone her older sister. As Violet works to figure out who killed Belinda and why the bookstore becomes insistent that Violet reads Little Women. But what does the book have to do with Belinda's death? This is a mystery Violet intends to solve, even if it almost costs her her life.

Amanda has written a good mystery. I had no idea who the killer was until the big reveal. I was disappointed in the budding relationship of Violet and Police Chief Rainwater. It seemed to have stalled just when they were making progress. In Murders and Metaphors, Violet's life is changed with a definitive revelation. I'm looking forward to the next book to see how her life progresses.

**Received a copy from the publisher and voluntarily reviewed the book.**

Rating: 4

Purchase Murders and Metaphors from:

The Magical Bookshop Mystery Series:

Crime & Poetry ~ Review
Prose and Cons ~ Review

Verse and Vengeance releases November 12, 2019

Places to find Amanda Flower:

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2 comments:

  1. I enjoyed the first book and need to get back to this series. So happy to see you are enjoying them too.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Enjoy the books. This one surprised me. Thanks for stopping by.

      Delete

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