Prose and Cons: A Magical Bookshop Mystery by Amanda Flower

               I’m so happy that once I finished the first book in the Magical Bookshop Mystery series that there was another one already available for me to read.  This series has such great plot lines surrounding its mysteries that I look forward to reading every page.  I also think it would be exciting if this magical bookshop actually existed.  Unfortunately, if it did, the owners wouldn’t be able to tell us about it.

                Despite her original protests, Violet has decided to stick around her hometown of Cascade Springs for awhile.  She is now teaching at the local community college while figuring out how to be the caretaker of her family’s bookshop; a magical bookshop that somehow always picks the perfect book for each customer.  It also helps Violet solve the murders of the town.

                This time, the murder happens in the bookshop itself.  One of the Red Inkers, a writing group that meets at the shop, is found having fallen down the stairs.  At first this looks like a terrible accident.  Then it is discovered that liquid nicotine was on her dress, which would lead to disorientation and, most likely, her fall.  The main suspect is the owner of the dress, Sadie, a young woman no one could ever truly think was guilty.

                Determined to help Sadie, Violet goes about trying to find the true culprit of the crime.  When a secret of the victim’s is revealed, Violet’s list of suspects gets much longer.  With so many possible angles to this mystery, Violet finds she would have a much easier time narrowing down her list of suspects if she could simply figure out what the books are trying to tell her.

                What is so great about these books are all the characters.  I like pretty much all of them, and even the ones I don’t like are tolerable.  I will, however, be very happy once Violet’s old high school boyfriend goes away.  Nathan’s the mayor, so it’s not likely that he’ll ever fully go away, but he can stop trying to get back together with Violet.  I don’t know why he has such a hard time figuring out that if you let someone be accused of a crime when you know they are innocent, that person is not going to want to date you.  It is really not that hard of a concept.  I certainly would not want to date someone if they did that to me, and Violet does not want to either.  Unfortunately, Violet keeps remembering her old feelings for Nathan, which makes her struggle with what is going on in her heart now.  That is her feelings for the chief of police, David Rainwater.  She has true feelings for this man, but she is not telling him.  For so many reasons she isn’t telling him, including the secret she is holding about the bookshop.  I really hope that Violet figures out how to have her secret and be with Rainwater.  He is a really good man and I would hate to see Violet not with him because of the bookshop or because of Nathan.  That would make for a disappointing series.

                  I suspect that sad ending will not be happening, though. Not that I know for sure, of course, because at the end of this book, none of Violet’s love life is resolved, and so far, a third book has not been released. It’s just that, in my experience, those types of sad endings don’t usually happen in a mystery series like this. The love interests somehow always get together in the end. When that moment actually occurs, changes depending on the series. If there is a third book in this series, I would be okay if Violet and Rainwater are not fully together by the end. I would, however, hope that they are at least well on their way.