Writer’s apprentice Lena London is back and better than ever when her friend bestselling suspense novelist Camilla Graham needs help solving a town murder that hits a little too close to home…It’s summertime, and Lena and Camilla are busy working away while a town vandal runs amok. Things get even more complicated when Jane Wyland pays Camilla a not-so-friendly visit and gives her an ultimatum: … her an ultimatum: reveal Camilla’s husband James’s family secret, or she will. Lena assures Camilla that nothing will come of the woman’s threats, since the family has no secrets to hide.
When Jane Wyland is later found dead, they’re convinced that whatever secret she was planning to expose led to her death. With Lena’s assistance, Camilla is determined to solve the case before the finger points at her…
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Summer has come to Blue Lake, Indiana, and with it the heat. Lena London and her mentor, bestselling author Camilla Graham, are trying to finish their latest manuscript, but the heat is making it hard to concentrate. However, a visit from Jane Wyland doesn’t prove to be a welcome distraction. Jane and Camilla were acquainted when Camilla first moved to the United States from England, but the two haven’t spoken in decades. Jane arrives to tell Camilla that she knows the secret the Graham family has been hiding, and Jane is going to share it with the world if Camilla doesn’t step up and acknowledge it first.
The trouble is, Camilla doesn’t know what secret Jane is talking about even when Jane implies that it is something from Camilla’s husband’s past. The next day, Camilla and Lena go to try to get more information from Jane so they can figure out what has the woman so upset. However, when they arrive, they discover that Jane has been murdered. What was this secret from the past, and did it get Jane killed?
As much as I enjoyed the first three books in this series, it was nice to see the plot move away from Lena’s boyfriend and focus on another character. This change also allowed the book to have even more of a gothic feel to it than the first three. While I’m not super familiar with that genre, I was definitely able to recognize elements of it as the book unfolded, and I enjoyed seeing how it was combined seamlessly with elements of a cozy mystery. The result works and we get a story that drew me in each time I picked up the book and made it hard to put down. The usual cast of characters are still here, and it was great to see them. The suspects didn’t get much page time, but they work perfectly for the story as it is told here since the main drive was to figure out what secret from the past upset Jane so much. This is a fun twist on the cozy mystery, and if you are looking for something slightly different, be sure to pick it up.
If you’re looking for spine-tingling events in a cozy mystery, the Writer’s Apprentice series satisfies in all ways. It’s summertime in Blue Lake, Indiana, and someone starts a killing spree. Both Lena Gregory and Camilla Graham possess excellent instincts and they’ll need every nuance when life actually mirrors the fiction they write. I opened the pages and settled down to read this amazing plot where a murderer attempts to silence two of my favorite cozy mystery protagonists.
A woman from the past surfaces and threatens to expose a huge secret about Camilla’s deceased husband, James. Someone doesn’t want the secret revealed. My heart began pounding as Author Julia Buckley ambushed me chapter after chapter with unexpected plot twists that kept me on the edge of my seat. The wonderful men in Lena and Camilla’s lives work overtime to keep them safe until a madman is caught and put behind bars. These men are great secondary characters and heroes for their ladies. I tried to decipher all the clues in hopes of figuring out the assailant’s identity, however, I was stymied right up to the author reveal.
Relatable, flawed characters; dogs and kitties; intense suspense; and a swooner of an ending make this fourth book in the series a top-notch reading experience!
I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Berkley Publishing. Thank you.
A wonderful addition to the series.
What a wonderful book! I wanted it to go on and on.
With the Writer’s Apprentice Mysteries, author Julia Buckley continues to show that a cozy mystery can be a little more intense without going too far. It’s almost as if she has channeled the great traditional mystery authors who have come before her.
DEATH WAITS IN THE DARK is by far my favorite story in this series to date. That’s saying something considering how much I enjoyed the first three. Julia Buckley just seems to have pulled out all of the stops with this one. I was so caught up in every aspect of the story. It’s a wonderfully plotted mystery for sure, but it was so much more than that to me.
I was enthralled with the past correspondence between James Graham and Camilla Easton at the beginning of each chapter of DEATH WAITS IN THE DARK. I honestly could read an entire book of nothing but that. (Hmmm…Ms. Buckley, what do you say? “THE LETTERS OF JAMES GRAHAM AND CAMILLIA EASTON”. I’ll be the first to pre-order it!)
I could go on and on with my review of DEATH WAITS IN THE DARK. I have so much I want to say! But I think it’s best to just say this . . . Read this book! If you are a fan of the series already, you are in for such a treat! If you haven’t read any of this series yet, please, get them all now and read them back to back.
There’s an excerpt from book five in the series, DEATH WITH A DARK RED ROSE at the back of the book that will leave you feeling tortured waiting for its release. With every Writer’s Apprentice book better than the one before, it’s sure to be amazing!
I have been a fan of this series from the beginning and each one continues to deliver a well plotted mystery full of artfully crafted characters. This installment is my favorite one yet. Ms. Buckley has crafted characters that are genuine, flawed and mature. The relationship between Lena and Camilla is one that continues to grow and evolve which is part of what keeps me coming back. I like that as the series continues we are getting to know the secondary cast of characters as the mysteries are no longer centered on Sam West, Lena’s boyfriend. The mystery was well done and grabbed me from the start. This author knows how to wind clues throughout the plot to keep her readers guessing. The mystery in this story involved something that happened in the past, causing Lena and Camilla to revisit the time when Camilla first came to Blue Lake and married James.
This is a terrific series and if you haven’t given it a try I would highly encourage it. It is well written with smart characters that pay an homage to the Gothic genre and mysteries that keep the reader engaged and interested until the final reveal. This series is an automatic pre-order for me and I look forward to many more hours of enjoyment from this author.