Author: Cynthia Kuhn
Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Digital Book (Audiobook Available)
ISBN #: 9781643858593
Crooked Lane Books
336 Pages
$23.99; $14.99 Amazon
December 7, 2021
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
To help save her family's floundering Colorado bookstore, Starlit Bookshop, newly minted Ph.D. Emma Starrs agrees to plan a mystery-themed dinner party for her wealthy, well-connected high school classmate Tabitha Baxter. It's a delightful evening of cocktails and conjecture until Tabitha's husband, Tip -- hosting the affair in the guise of Edgar Allan Poe's detective C. Auguste Dupin -- winds up murdered.
In a heartbeat, Emma and her aunt Nora, a famous mystery writer, become suspects. Emma is sure the party's over for Starlit events, until celebrated author Calliope Nightfall, whose gothic sensibilities are intrigued by the circumstances, implores the bookseller to create a Poe-themed launch event for her latest tome. Throwing a bash to die for while searching for additional clues is already enough to drive Emma stark raven mad, but another shocking crime soon reveals that Silvercrest has not het reached the final chapter of the puzzling case.
Someone in this charming artistic community has murder on the mind, and if Emma cannot outwit the killer, she and her beloved aunt will land behind bars, to walk free nevermore.
✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽
I have read all of Ms. Kuhn's books, so was excited to see this one and couldn't wait to read it. I must tell you that I was not disappointed.
Emma Starrs has returned home to Colorado after her parents died in a tragic accident to help her older sister Lucy run the family's struggling bookstore. She's also trying to figure out ways to make money to help, when an old school nemesis named Tabitha Baxter enters the store, looking for a book on Edgar Allan Poe for her husband to read, due to an upcoming event they are hosting at their home which will be a murder mystery based on Poe. When Emma hears her complain that her events planner quit, she offers to step in -- and Tabitha hires her, but has plenty of instructions, which is no surprise to Emma.
When she arrives at the function, she discovers her aunt Nora is attending. Nora is an English professor at the local college, and on a committee that has been arguing steadily. All the members are in attendance, along with Tabitha's friends. But suddenly there is a change in plans -- after cocktails, Tabitha's husband Tip is found murdered, and Tabitha immediately points the finger at Nora.
Knowing that it is done in spite because Tabitha hates her, Emma is determined to find the killer before she or her aunt are jailed for the crime. But with Tabitha spouting to anyone that they are murderers, it doesn't make it easy. On top of that, one of Nora's colleagues, Calliope Nightfall, is an author who is charmed by Emma and wants to hold the latest launch of her newest book at the bookstore, but insists that Emma turn it also into a Poe-themed event.
With two problems on her plate -- neither one easy to handle, is she going to be able to solve the murder? Will she be able to pull off the book event? And more importantly, will she be able to figure everything out before the killer puts her next on the list?
Edgar Allan Poe is my favorite author. So when I found that this book centers around his works and murder, I knew I couldn't resist. I love Ms. Kuhn's writing; it is eloquent, descriptive, and wonderfully imaginative. She has a way of easily pulling you into the story and becoming part of it. I instantly detested Tabitha and her friends; but this, I hope, is the feel that Ms. Kuhn was going for.
The book has many things going on at the same time, and this is not a bad thing, since you are getting to see what Emma's life is like, and it's definitely busy. More busy than I would like my own life to be, and I don't know that I would be able to remain calm with all the demands upon her time (and I am a fairly patient person). Emma has not only stamina, she has the determination of a woman who wants to help her aunt and save the bookstore. It's a touching combination. Her ideas are inventive, and I wish I could have been at Calliope's launch. I also loved Calliope's character. Full of wit and oddness, she seems like someone I would still like to know.
As we get closer to figuring out who the murderer might be, there is another occurrence that might change everything altogether. Emma is trying to connect everything and come up with answers, which are eluding her. But when the ending comes and Emma starts to put it all together herself, we see the many threads that are woven have finally united into a taut tapestry that shows us everything. It is a surprise ending, and one that makes it all worthwhile.
This is a wonderful mystery, and I look forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.
I received an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Cynthia Kuhn's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/k/cynthia-kuhn/
No comments:
Post a Comment