Crime and Poetry: A Magical Bookshop Mystery by Amanda Flower

Image obtained from www.penguinrandomhouse.com.

               I have found yet another mystery series.  This time it’s by the same author as The Amish Quilt Shop Mysteries but writing under a different name.  While I don’t immediately go for every series an author I like writes, I didn’t know how I could pass up a mystery series centered around a magical bookshop.  Something like that is right up my alley.  

                After a desperate call from her grandmother, Violet Waverly returns to her hometown for the first time in twelve years.  An incident surrounding the death of her best friend has kept Violet away, but her Grandma Daisy claiming she is sick forces Violet to set aside her aversions to the place where she grew up, and return to the town she never wanted to see again.  That’s why it should come as no surprise that when Violet finds Grandma Daisy in perfect health, Violet’s first instinct is to turn around and go home.

                Not understanding why Grandma Daisy has tricked her, Violet angrily vows to pack up and drive home the very next morning.  If she had not been so tired, Violet would not have waited even that long, but she is.  Then something completely unexpected happens.  Grandma Daisy’s boyfriend, a man Violet knew nothing about, is found dead in her grandmother’s front yard.  Grandma Daisy is the prime suspect, and Violet knows she cannot leave town until her grandmother's name is cleared.  The problem is, one of the police officers seems determined to have Daisy be guilty of the murder.  Not trusting the police to do their job correctly, Violet sets out on her own to find out who killed Grandma Daisy’s boyfriend.  Along the way, Violet is forced to deal with her past; something she never wanted to face again.

                As Violet deals with those two things, she also finds out why Grandma Daisy really called her home.  According to her grandmother, it is time for Violet to take over as caretaker of the bookshop.  That means the books will now talk to Violet, letting her know which book she needs at just the right time.  The books will not directly tell Violet what their message is, but they will keep trying to get through to her until she finally figures their message out.

                Books magically sending messages and her having to be their caretaker sounds completely farfetched to Violet.  She does not believe this could possibly be true.  At least she doesn’t until the books start to help her solve the murder.  With each bit of help the books give her, Violet finds it harder and harder to deny what is going on.  She is then forced to decide what she is going to do with this new-found knowledge once the murder is solved and she is scheduled to go home.  Does she accept what her grandmother believes to be her destiny, or does she continue to run as she has done for so long?

                I really liked this book.  The premise of a magical bookshop is really exciting and I look forward to seeing how it is used in future books, as well as what other mysteries the books help solve.  Something else I’m looking forward to is watching the relationship between Violet and the chief of police develop.  Chief Rainwater seems like a really good man, and after all that Violet has gone through in her life, she deserves that.  Now, if only her high school boyfriend would stop getting in the way.