An aspiring suspense novelist lands in the middle of a real crime in the first Writer’s Apprentice mystery. Lena London’s literary dreams are coming true—as long as she can avoid any real-life villains… Camilla Graham’s bestselling suspense novels inspired Lena London to become a writer, so when she lands a job as Camilla’s new assistant, she can’t believe her luck. Not only will she help … can’t believe her luck. Not only will she help her idol craft an enchanting new mystery, she’ll get to live rent-free in Camilla’s gorgeous Victorian home in the quaint town of Blue Lake, Indiana.
But Lena’s fortune soon changes for the worse. First, she lands in the center of small town gossip for befriending the local recluse. Then, she stumbles across one thing that a Camilla Graham novel is never without—a dead body, found on her new boss’s lakefront property.
Now Lena must take a page out of one of Camilla’s books to hunt down clues in a real crime that seems to be connected to the novelist’s mysterious estate—before the killer writes them both out of the story for good…
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I loved this book! The author’s sense of humor really comes through and the story is just great! I never did figure out who the culprit was until the reveal, which is when I know I’ve read a great mystery. I enjoyed each and every page.
This book was my first foray into this series and I must say that it hooked me from the beginning and I couldn’t wait to get to the end. When Lena’s friend finds a dead body in her backyard she immediately calls Lena for help, you see the dead man was her mailman and her husband had been seen fighting with him the previous day. Allison is worried that her husband will be the only suspect in the mans death and she doesn’t know what she should do. Lena rushes over to help and comes to find a letter opener stuck in the mans chest, the letter opener she gave her boyfriend Sam. She knows Sam couldn’t be the killer, hes out of town, but who would want to frame him and why? Sam had never met the man so what reason would he have for hurting him. His ex-wife’s child is still missing, along with the child’s father. Could someone be trying to keep him from finding his ex’s child? There are still so many questions that need to be answered. Follow along as Lena and Sam hunt for those answers and turn over some secrets along the way. The author did a wonderful job in helping me not only get to know the characters but also helping me connect with them. I appreciated being able to get a sense for who each was, especially since I hadn’t read the previous two books. I can’t wait to pick up the first two to find out what all I missed and look forward to seeing more of this series in the future.
What person wouldn’t love to meet their idol and better yet, end up working for her?
So Lena ends up in Blue Lake working gor her favorite author, Camilla. And to make it near perfect, Camilla has invited Lena to live in her home overlooking a lake while they work on Camilla’s new book.
Lena happens to bring Lestrade, her big cat, with her and ends up meeting a very good looking cop. Doug Heller likes Lena and his small but cute town. And then there is Sam West, an investor, living next door to Camilla…..and he seems to like Lena a bit also.
And to top it off, Lena finds a dead body on the shoreline…..Lena is one busy lady.
As Lena looks over the town with Camilla’s two big dogs, she meets Lena, Marge Bicks, and others. You see the Bick’s Hardware store and smell the coffee and muffins from the cafe, and see the nice restaurant called Wheat Grass run by Adam. Adam seems to visit Camilla often, and then you have prople like new friend Lane wanting to visit Camilla’s home…why??
You have intruders, stories about secrets in the house, Bob and his horrible son working around the place and Lena looking at everyone carefully. The tension builds as does the humor and you get a feel for the town, the people, and the home on the lake. Secret passages, tunnels, gossip and a bit of romance take place including the brand new waffle maker….a clue in itself to feelings kept under wrap.
This is a cozy mystery and ends with the promise of more to come. A nice way to soend an afternoon
Super read
Aspiring novelist Lena London has been given the change of a lifetime, helping her idol, best-selling author Camilla Graham, polish up her newest novel. But Lena has hardly arrived in town when she finds the dead body of a young man near Camilla’s house. What is going on?
There is a strong element of wish fulfillment in this novel, and I must admit I enjoyed that real life fantasy. Camilla writes gothic novels, and there are elements of those here as an homage to the genre. Even though I’m not familiar with that genre, I still spotted a few; I probably missed others, but it wasn’t that big a deal to me. The characters are fun and the plot was strong. I did have some issues with the pacing at the end, but overall, I enjoyed this. It certainly left me anxious for the next one.
This book and its sequels are wonderful modern gothic romances with lots of mystery and intrigue mixed in. If you love Victoria Holt you’ll love this series. I can’t say enough about Buckley’s writing — so seamless and vivid you forget you’re reading words. Not a single jolt in phrasing, punctuation or sentence structure. Never found a section that dragged or seemed to ramble. I was just blown away — to the extent that I went ahead and bought the rest of the series after getting #1 at a discount, rather than wait to get them from the library–and then read them all in one weekend.
A simple “curl up and read something entertaining” kind of book.
A Dark And Twisting Path is the third book in the Writers Apprentice Mystery series.
I love this series that is set in Blue Lake, IN. I always try to start a new series, to me, with the first book and I feel that this is one that should be read in order. Readers will be able to see the character and story development as it takes place.
Lena London gets a frantic call from her friend Allison asking her to come over right away. When Lena arrives at her home, Allison takes her to the back of her property near a wooded area. Lying just in the woods is the lifeless body of mail carrier Eddie Stack. Allison is concerned that her husband, John, might be a suspect as he had had an argument with Stack the day before. But when Lena goes to check for a pulse, she becomes more concerned that her boyfriend Sam West might be suspected of murder as a letter opener that Lena had given Sam is sticking out of Stack. The feeling is that someone is trying to frame Sam for the murder and that somehow Nikon Lazos has his hand in the murder.
Most all of the characters from the previous books are back once again. In addition, there are some new characters appearing in this book. Clifford Blake is a somewhat mysterious character. Cliff has recently joined the Blue Lake Police Department and early on the reader only learns that he has family in the area. Also to the series are Eric and Tabitha London, Lena’s father and stepmother. They have decided to come to Blue Lake to celebrate Lena’s upcoming birthday and also give Lena a chance to get to know her stepmother.
Another well-plotted and told story with an interesting and believable cast of characters.
I am anxious to for the next book to see what adventures Lena and Sam are up to. Also what Camilla and Lena’s next book will be about.
looking forward to reading the next book!
This book really reached out and grabbed me from the beginning and then developed several secondary plot lines which complemented the overall plot and didn’t stretch my limits of believability. I met several excellent characters that I will look forward to seeing again in the next book in the series, which I already purchased.
A little slow to start because the beginning of each chapter started with a passage from the book being written I. The book. Once I figured this out it became hard to put down
very good book
Great book. If you like mystery books this should be on your to read list
Was a good read. Nice characters that were well developed. Believable.
Likeable characters.
Can’t wait to read next in series
Want to read the next book in series. The characters are engaging
This story has everything. It is fun, exciting, thrilling, suspenseful, and fast paced. I love the characters. Great mystery
The plot
Really enjoyed for light reading