USA Today bestselling author and Agatha Award winner Amanda Flower turns the charm up to ten in her fourth Magical Bookshop mystery.With the help of Walt Whitman’s works, magical bookshop owner Violet Waverly puts her pedal to the metal to sleuth a bicycle-race murder that tests her mettle. A bicycle race is not Charming Books proprietor Violet Waverly’s idea of a pleasant pastime. But police … Waverly’s idea of a pleasant pastime. But police chief David Rainwater wheelie wants them to enter the Tour de Cascade as a couple, so she reluctantly consents.
The Tour de Cascade is the brainchild of Violet’s Grandma Daisy. The race is a fundraiser to build the Cascade Springs Underground Railroad Museum. But not everyone in this Niagara Region village supports the race. As if the bike race weren’t tiring enough, pesky private investigator Joel Redding is snooping around Charming Books. It takes all of Violet’s and Grandma Daisy’s ingenuity to keep Redding from discovering the shop’s magical essence–which communicates with Violet through books.
When Redding perishes in an accident during the race, David discovers that the brake line of the private eye’s bike was cut. Worse, Violet tops his list of suspects. As Emerson the tuxedo cat and resident crow Faulkner look on, Charming Books steers Violet to the works of Walt Whitman to solve the crime. But no other names ring a bell as culprits, and as David’s investigation picks up speed, Violet will have to get in gear to clear her name.
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Ms. Flower is one of my favorite cozy mystery authors and I was particularly happy to see that this series found a new home with Crooked Lane Books. This is a wonderful series with likable characters, a quintessential cozy mystery setting and a plot that will keep the reader engaged throughout the story. Violet and her grandmother Daisy are charming characters that are instantly likable with a bit of the paranormal in them. Once again, Violet is involved in another murder mystery, this time it the victim is someone she didn’t particularly like and thought was about to discover her secret as caretaker of the Tree. I love the animal characters in the story. Both Faulkner and Emerson are portrayed with some human qualities and provide a bit of mystical help, along with the Tree to help Violet with the clues she needs to solve the murder.
The murder mystery is well crafted and kept me guessing throughout the story. There are not too many suspects in this case but I have to say the killer was not on my radar and came as a surprise in what was a climactic reveal. There are also some nice surprises with respect to Violet’s relationship with Chief Rainwater that I think readers will like.
Ms. Flower is a gifted writer who has created a terrific series, placed it in what I consider the quintessential cozy mystery setting and provided her readers with likable, well-rounded characters. Whenever I pick up a book by this author I know I am going to be entertained and transported to a place where I feel like the characters are old friends. I am looking forward to more to come in this series.
I voluntarily read a digital ARC provided to me by the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, through Netgalley.