Murders and Metaphors (Magical Bookshop #3) by Amanda Flower
January means ice wine season in the Niagara Falls region, but the festivities leave Charming Books owner Violet Waverly cold, still reeling from a past heartbreak. Little do either Waverly women know, the ice wine festival will turn colder still when Violet finds Belinda in the middle of the frozen vineyard – with a grape harvest knife protruding from her chest.
Belinda grew up in Cascade Springs, but she left town years ago after a huge falling-out with her three sisters. One of those sisters, Violet’s high school friend Lacey Dupont, attends the book signing in the hope of making amends with her sister, but Belinda and Lacey end up disrupting the signing with a very public shouting match and Lacey quickly becomes the prime suspect in the sommelier’s murder.
Violet is sure Lacey is innocent, and to keep her friend out of prison, Violet asks for guidance from her magical bookshop. The shop’s ethereal essence points her to Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women, but what have the four March sisters to do with the four Perkins sisters? If she can’t figure it out, Violet, herself, may turn as cold as ice.
For the Reading Challenge(s):
2024 Bookish Books Reading Challenge
2024 Audiobook Challenge
The Reason
Third in a series. The first is Crime and Poetry, the second is Prose and Cons.
The Narrator(s)
Rachel Dulude. Still all good! I’m really enjoying her narration.
My Thoughts
I’m going to quit while I’m ahead. I really love the idea of this series; the magical elements, the bookshop and all the books, the smarter than average animals, the cozy mystery, the romantic tension… But I’m getting more and more annoyed with the MC, Violet Waverly, because she keeps doing (and saying) stupid things. I like the romantic tension but it feels a little forced this time. And the fact that all these murders are happening in a small town like this; we are running out of victims and suspects, and if it’s not the usual suspects, it’s going to be the new characters, which makes it too obvious.
Oh, I don’t know. I love the idea and all the elements of this series, I just wish they were put together better. Feeling a little sad about it, but I do think it’s smarter to quit while I’m ahead and still enjoying what I got out of the books.
My Rating
⭐⭐⭐/5 stars.
Have you read this book? Would you read this book? Did you like the book or do you think you would like it?
