The wedding of Violet Waverly and David Rainwater was set to be a big event for the small town of Cascade Springs. Two days before the wedding bells are set to ring, a woman comes to Violet, caretaker of the local bookshop Charming Books, to sell her an unbelievable book. When Violet refuses to buy the book, the woman angrily leaves the shop and isn’t seen again until the wedding day. After the ceremony, when Violet is ready to enter the reception on the arm of her new husband, they see something floating in the river. The mysterious woman had returned, or her body had anyway. Violet starts the new chapter in her life trying to find the book that seemed to lead to the woman’s death.
As the fifth book in the Magical Bookshop series, this book does not disappoint. It is full of twists and turns and a little bit of magic. A magical bookshop that helps the caretaker to solve crimes? I’m automatically sold. It was such a fun concept and very well written. The descriptions of the shop and the other places in Cascade Springs helped to add to the complexity of the mystery itself. It was nice to see a mystery that didnt just get solved after a few questions, there was a lot of legwork involved.
The characters were both lovable and dynamic. It was more than just ‘this character did this’ or that character did that’. There was a realness in watching the relationships develop. Though this is the fifth book in the series, it was the first one I had read. I appreciated that I could jump in and still understand everything that was happening within the characters lives. It made me really want to get the rest of the series so that I can see it from the beginning. Violet was a great protagonist and her relationship with the animals in the store was hilarious. There were a few times that there were seemingly insignificant details that were focused on for a bit too long, but it didnt take away from any enjoyment of the story.
I guessed the culprit pretty early on, but I still managed to be surprised in the end. There was much more to it than I originally would have guessed. It was complex enough to to be interesting, but still maintained a level of easy to understand that made it hard to put down. There were a few red herrings that felt a little unresolved, and it left me wondering if those would be resolved in future novels.
I loved this book, and as I said, I can’t wait to read more in the series and more by the author. 4.5/5 stars rounded up because I loved the atmosphere so much.
I received this eARC from netgalley and the publishers, all opinions are my own.
The Novel Llama 