Review of Crime and Poetry by Amanda Flower

Crime and Poetry, published in 2016, is the first book in the Magical Bookshop Mysteries series.  Currently, there are five books in the series.

Violet Waverly returns to Cascade Springs, New York after being away for twelve years.  She grew up in the small town near Niagara Falls but left after graduating from high school because she felt shunned by the town.  She has only returned to assist her Grandma Daisy, who owns Charming Books, the magical bookshop at the center of the series.  Not long after Violet returns, Daisy’s beau, Benedict, is murdered.  Grandma Daisy becomes a suspect, and Violet starts investigating.

In the meantime, Grandma Daisy wants Violet to take over the bookshop, but first she has to explain the shop’s magic, a conversation requiring a pot of tea.  Violet knows this must be serious because “[a]ll of Grandma Daisy’s serious conversations require a pot of tea.”  I don’t want to give away the source of the magic, so I’ll just give a hint – the bookstore’s motto is “Where the perfect book picks you.”

There's a lot that's good about Crime and Poetry.  For example, there’s Faulkner, the talking crow, who lives in the bookshop.  Grandma Daisy found him injured, rescued him, and nursed him back to health.  He decided to stick around and learned how to mimic human speech.  He’s not very charming, but his outbursts are chuckle-worthy.

Next, there’s the birch tree growing inside the bookshop, which makes the shop’s atmosphere very treehouse-like.  It’s quite charming, unlike Faulkner.  I feel like I could spend hours roaming the shop and reading under the tree.

Then there’s Benedict’s daughter Audrey.  She and her father were estranged.  Yet, she’s convinced Grandma Daisy killed her father and isn’t shy about letting everyone know how she feels.  In the space of a few pages, she calls Grandma Daisy “old crow,” “harlot,” and “trollop.”  In a word, Audrey’s a hoot.

If you’re a fan of cozy mysteries, you probably won’t find much that’s bad about Crime and Poetry.  The only thing I can say is the mystery behind the tragic event that drove Violet away from Cascade Springs and Grandma Daisy is revealed too abruptly.  I think it would have been interesting to see this mystery dragged out through a few more of the books in the series.