Crimes and Covers: A Magical Bookshop Mystery

Crimes and Covers by Amanda Flower is the 5th A Magical Bookshop Mystery. I always love visiting Cascade Springs, New York with its delightful characters and the magical bookshop. I thought Crimes and Covers was well-written with developed characters. I just love Violet. She is a friendly woman who knows her books. She is the perfect caretaker for the store and its special tree. Violet and David make a good couple. I am glad that he is supportive of her investigations and appreciates her help. David is still learning about the magic that inhabits the bookstore. Faulkner and Emerson are adorable and humorous. Violet will never win with this pair. Grandma Daisy is a delight and I like how she welcomed David to the family Sadie, Violet’s best friend, is amusing with her unique outfits. In each book A Magical Bookshop Mystery series, a different classic is featured. This time it was Walden by Henry David Thoreau. I enjoyed the references and how they tied into the crime. I liked the whodunit, but the solution was obvious. I identified the guilty party before the crime took place. However, that did not hinder my enjoyment of this engaging cozy mystery. The story had a good ending that nicely wrapped up the story. Readers will be very satisfied with it. I can always count on Amanda Flower to provide me with hours of reading pleasure. Crimes and Covers is magical tale with a secretive seller, a wondrous wedding, a curious crime, an absent tome, a direct descendant, and a hindered honeymoon.

This is the latest of the books by Amanda Flowers in the Magical Bookshop Mysteries, and is a winner right out of the gate. If you have read the other books, you have been waiting for the wedding of Violet and David, but if you have not read the others, do not worry. The author does a great job with the characters, and this book can stand alone! A strange woman is found dead and it turns out she is a woman who mysteriously tried to sell a first edition of Walden to Violet in her shop. With quotes from the book being used to direct Violet to discover more about the death, you are magically pulled along with Violet to find out how and why the woman died. The story is well woven and does a great job of bringing in some historical facts about Thoreau to make the mystery more exciting. I recommend this book to read if you are already a fan of this author, but if you have not read anything before, you will be in for a treat. As I said, it can stand alone, but after reading, you may wish to read the rest of the series, as believe me, it is also very good!

law-enforcement, amateur-sleuth, romance, family, family-dynamics, bookseller, small-business, small-town, magic***** Although this is book 5 in series, I was fine with that because of the way that the past was covered in this story. I like all of Amanda's writings regardless of which series as they are a sure antidote to news in the world (or WW2 nonfiction). Of course the characters are well done, as is the sleuthing (complete with twists and red herring). But I absolutely love the magically imbued books with minds of their own. I loved it from beginning to end! I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!