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Mystery Book Annotation

 


Author: Amanda Flower

Title: Crime and Poetry

Genre: Cozy Mystery, Gentle Reads

Publication Date: April 5, 2016

Number of Pages: 345

Geographical Setting: Cascade Springs, New York

Time Period: 2010'ish

Series (If applicable): Magical Bookshop Mysteries

Plot Summary: Violet Waverly finds herself back at her hometown in Cascade Springs, when her grandmother Daisy calls and says she's "dying". Violet finds that Grandma Daisy is in perfect health, and Daisy then asks Violet to help her work in her magic bookstore "Charming Books" whereas its stated "Books tend to fly off the shelf and pick you." (Flower, 2016). Violet trying to finish her Doctorate back Chicago is then forced to stay and help her Grandma Daisy when a well-known carriage driver is found dead with a book from Charming Books. The victim is Benedict Raisin who upon discovering put Daisy in his will and now Daisy is the prime suspect. Now it's up to Violet and her new feline friend Emerson to help Grandma Daisy from going to jail and find the one who caused this crime. However, how does Emily Dickinson's poetry help solve a murder in a small town?

Subject Headings: Women Booksellers, Fiction

                               Cats, Fiction

                               Magic, Fiction

                               Murder, Fiction

                               Mystery Fiction

Appeal: Fast-paced: This book was whimsical and easy to follow, it kept me involved along with trying to figure out who did the deed. A Sabrina, the Teenage Witch meets Hallmark mystery in a wonderful mystery.


3 terms that best describe this book: Cozy, Engaging, Charming (literally)

Similar Authors and Works (why are they similar?): Edith Maxwell, Laurie Cass, and Ann Claire. With the use of NoveList, all three of these authors have gentle read/cozy mysteries that involve small town settings with heroines involving themselves as amateur sleuths. Some have magic involved while others have feline companions, but all appeal in similar fashion to this book.


3 Relevant Non-Fiction Works and Authors

A Homemade Life by Molly Wizenberg

A History of the World in 6 Glasses by Tom Standage

Agatha Christie: A Mysterious Life by Laura Thompson
 

3 Relevant Fiction Works and Authors


Secret, book & Scone society by Ellery Adams

Old town antique mysteries by Cordy Abbot

Kitchen Witch Mysteries by Lynn Cahoon

*This was such a great series, I continued on and now on the last book. I got through these over the course of a month with everything else in between I read.   

References

Flower, A. (2016). Crime and Poetry. Berkley. 


Comments

  1. Brooke DeBoestFebruary 24, 2023 at 2:35 PM

    Hi Bre, I’m so glad you did a cozy mystery! I have read some of Amanda Flower’s Amish cozy series, but I haven’t read this one. I usually avoid ones with magical elements just because I like the more realistic settings. I may have to try this one though!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Bre WeeksFebruary 25, 2023 at 11:34 AM

    Brooke,
    I just finished the final book in the series. I really enjoyed this very much, especially the development for Violet and her love interest David

    ReplyDelete
  3. Laurie FancherFebruary 25, 2023 at 2:04 PM

    Hi Bre, I have to say I have honestly never read a cozy mystery but I obviously see them constantly go in and out of the library I work at. They're clearly super popular! And I love the punny titles they tend to have. This seems like it was a great representation of the genre, complete with a cat which seems almost necessary for cozy mysteries. It's good to hear the whole series was enjoyable too!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Emma Q NordenFebruary 26, 2023 at 8:11 PM

    Brie,
    I have always wanted to read one of these book, but I want to read it on a rainy day when I have nothing else to do in a big comfy chair with tea and butter cookie. It seems like the best situation for these cozy mysteries. I love the plot, with Grandma being locked up in prison and Violet needs her cat to solve the mystery of who killed the carriage driver. It is also such a grandma move to say she's dying so her grand-daughter will come for a visit and help her in her bookstore. I am very intrigued as to what the poetry as to do with the resolution of this book.
    -Emma

    ReplyDelete

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