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 in the shop’s back garden to entertain the revelers. Everyone eagerly agrees.
Yet their enthusiasm is soon extinguished when Violet discovers one of the writers dead during 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 . . .
Amanda Flower, a USA Today bestselling and Agatha Award-winning mystery author, started her writing career in elementary school when she read a story she wrote to her sixth grade class and had the class in stitches with her description of being stuck on the top of a Ferris wheel. She knew at that moment she’d found her calling of making people laugh with her words. Her debut mystery, Maid of Murder, was an Agatha Award Nominee for Best First Novel and her children’s mysteries, Andi Unexpected and Andi Under Pressure, were an Agatha Award Nominees for Best Children’s/YA Novel. Andi Unstoppable won the Agatha Award for Best Children’s/YA Novel 2015. Amanda is a librarian in northeast Ohio. Visit her at http://www.amandaflower.com.
My Impressions:
I loved my return trip to Cascade Springs, NY and the magical bookstore Charming Books! The cooler temps and cozy mystery Prose And Cons made my morning walks a treat. Author Amanda Flower has certainly created a charming setting, fun and quirky characters, and a real puzzler with Prose And Cons. I love a mystery that keeps me guessing, and this one’s ending was a complete surprise. I never suspected whodunit! In addition to the mysterious goings on in the village, Violet discovers long-held family secrets. Main character, Violet, is an intelligent and intrepid sleuth, who is assisted by her houdini-feline Emerson, and an insistent bookshop that literally throws the clues at her. There’s also a hunky chief of police I am cheering on for a future romance for Violet. And for fans of literary-themed cozies, Prose And Cons cleverly combines classic literature and clues to the murder. The first person narrative is complemented by the reader of this audiobook — I felt I was in the midst of the action. Prose And Cons is the second book in the Magical Bookshop Mystery series and can be read as a standalone, but you really need to start at the beginning. Book 3 releases in a few months — I can’t wait to find out what Violet faces next.
Recommended.
Audience: adults.
To purchase, click HERE.
(I purchased the audiobook from Audible. All opinions expressed are mine.)
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