With the help of Walt Whitman's works, magical bookshop owner Violet Waverly puts her pedal to the metal to sleuth a bicycle-race murder that tests her mettle.
A bicycle race is not Charming Books proprietor Violet Waverly's idea of a pleasant pastime. But police chief David Rainwater wheelie wants them to enter the Tour de Cascade as a couple, so she reluctantly consents.
The Tour de Cascade is the brainchild of Violet's Grandma Daisy. The race is a fundraiser to build the Cascade Springs Underground Railroad Museum. But not everyone in this Niagara Region village supports the race. As if the bike race weren't tiring enough, pesky private investigator Joel Redding is snooping around Charming Books. It takes all of Violet's and Grandma Daisy's ingenuity to keep Redding from discovering the shop's magical essence--which communicates with Violet through books.
When Redding perishes in an accident during the race, David discovers that the brake line of the private eye's bike was cut. Worse, Violet tops his list of suspects. As Emerson the tuxedo cat and resident crow Faulkner look on, Charming Books steers Violet to the works of Walt Whitman to solve the crime. But no other names ring a bell as culprits, and as David's investigation picks up speed, Violet will have to get in gear to clear her name. (Summary via Goodreads)
Verse and Vengeance is the fourth book in Amanda Flower's Magical Bookshop Mystery series and the first that I have had the pleasure of reading.....and let me tell you..... I AM HOOKED !!! There is so much to fall in love with in this series.....
You have main character Violet Waverly and her Grandma Daisy, the bookstore they own called Charming Books, Grandma Daisy is the mayor of their little village of Cascade Springs, they are close to Niagara Falls, Violet is dating the police chief, everyone knows everyone and they help each other out, there are a cat and bird in the bookstore, there is a tree in the middle of the store and the bookstore is magical !!!
I know that is a lot to take in and I haven't even mentioned murder yet !!! And in Verse and Vengeance there are TWO deaths that shake this little town !!!
Grandma/Mayor Daisy is doing everything she can to raise money for renovations to the village hall and the town is getting ready for a bike race.....unfortunately in the middle of the race, a private investigator crashes his bike. After police chief David Rainwater investigates it is ruled murder because the brake lines were tampered with. When a friend and past student, Jo Fitzgerald, becomes a person of interest but is no where to be found, Violet takes it upon herself to try to find her before someone else ends up hurt or dead.
Violet, with the help from the magical bookstore giving her "hints" through putting books in her path, will have you wishing you were in Cascade Springs with her. And Flower knows exactly what to write to have you turning the pages so fast, it will seem like magic.....and if everything else in the book and story don't grab you, the very LAST page will leave you breathless and on the edge of your seat......
Review by Missi M.
I enjoyed your review. You've definitely piqued my interest by conveying your own enthusiasm for this series. Loved your comment on the surprise ending.
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