Stella Wright loves creating candles at her Nantucket store—and she also has a burning passion for justice. Now, after visiting a perfume conference, she must solve a vial crime . . . Stella and her globe-trotting mom, Millie, have come home from a perfume industry conference in Paris, where their trip was marred by witnessing the stabbing death of a young man. It’s a relief for Stella to be back … Stella to be back on her picturesque island, with the comforting company of her cat, Tinker. But lingering danger may have followed them back across the ocean.
After someone breaks into her candle store, the Wick & Flame, Stella starts feeling spooked. And just as things threaten to ignite, Millie suffers a blow to the head. Stella receives an anonymous note claiming that her mother smuggled a secret formula out of France—and threatening her life if it isn’t returned. Now Stella’s picked up the scent of a cold-hearted criminal and an intriguing puzzle, and things are about to get wicked . . .
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On Sale February 25th, 2020
The second book in Christin Brecher’s “Nantucket Candle Maker Mystery” cozy series, Murder Makes Scents, arrives on February 25th from Kensington Books.
I will start by saying that I feel this was a fun cozy to read. There is plenty of action, loads of suspects and some very outlandish scenes that readers will either smile and laugh over or will frown and shake their heads in dismay. The characters are original, the story even more so. The writing is fluid and easy to read. The setting of Nantucket is an excellent choice of location.
I enjoyed the first cozy book in this series and looked forward to this second book. However, I had some problems with the story overall. My first issue is because of the trusting nature of Stella. Just because someone shows you an ID that says they are FBI or other justice department personnel does not mean it isn’t fake. The mere fact that Stella didn’t question its authenticity troubled me a great deal. The entire scene of the parachute is just too unbelievable all the way around. If someone was internationally famous as a spy or a villain, it is unlikely that an amateur candle maker would have been the only one capable of catching this person.
All of the above-stated Murder Makes Scents is a good cozy book that will keep readers coming back for more. In general, this book reads more like an action-suspense novel and will appeal to those who enjoy a more intense murder mystery. I highly suggest that readers go back and read the first book in the series to get a better idea of who the characters are and the role they play.
I liked this entry even more than the first in the series. When Stella and her mother are off to visit Paris but homicide isn’t part of their travel plans. Both mother and daughter make their living using scent and that’s the reason for the trip to attend a perfume conference. What could any of this have to do with spies? Especially spies who follow them back to Nantucket. Things heat up when Millie is attacked and Stella is threatened. The list of suspects is long due to the fact that spies who are cold blooded killers, who will stop at nothing to get what they want and neither Stella nor her mother have any idea who it could be. Male? Female? Who knows but they better figure out fast before there are international repercussions.
This was a fast paced and very satisfying mystery filled with characters I enjoyed spending time with like Stella and her mother. Plus a twist here and there with some red herrings to spice things up. I already have the third in the series, 15 Minutes of Flame (25 August 2020) on my TBR list.
My thanks to the publisher Kensington and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.
This is the second book in the Nantucket Candle Maker series and I found it to be as enjoyable as the first. Ms. Brecher takes Stella and her mother from Paris to Nantucket on an adventure that inadvertently involves international espionage. For the second book in a series, I can see how some may find the storyline too fantastical, but I thought that given Stella’s mom’s over-the-top personality and adventures that it did fit the characters. With a lot of new people in Nantucket, there were plenty of suspects to chose from and the author did a nice job of providing plausible clues and twists for each of the suspects. While I was not surprised by the identity of the killer, this person was not so obvious to me that they were at the top of my list.
I like the characters in this series and think there is a lot of potential for Stella, her friends, and her family. With the addition of her mother, I think that the author provides the possibility for many more adventures, some of which could take place outside Nantucket. I especially like Tinker, Stella’s cat, and her mother’s reaction to him. I think he plans to make a new friend despite her protests to the contrary.
I voluntarily read a digital ARC provided to me by the publisher, Kensington, through Netgalley.