Murder's No Votive Confidence
(Nantucket Candle Maker Mystery)
by Christin Brecher
About the Book
Cozy Mystery
1st in Series
Kensington (June 25, 2019)
ISBN-10: 149672139X
ISBN-13: 978-1496721396
Digital ASIN: B07HVYJNRD
Nantucket candle store owner Stella Wright specializes in creating unique candles for every occasion. But someone sets the stage for murder when a Memorial Day celebration becomes a wedding to die for . . .
Jessica Sterling’s candlelight-themed nuptials promises to be the perfect kick-off to the summer’s first official holiday weekend. Stella’s thrilled to have been chosen to provide the decorative centerpiece for the wedding ceremony: a two-foot-tall scented unity candle—a symbol of the happy couple’s love. But it looks like the bride-to-be’s uncle won’t be walking his niece down the aisle after he’s found dead. The murder weapon is Stella’s seemingly indestructible candle, now split in two.
When a beloved local bartender is arrested, Stella’s sure a visiting police captain running the case made a rush to justice. With superstitious brides-to-be canceling orders and sales waxing and waning at her store, the Wick & Flame owner decides to do some sleuthing of her own. Abetted by a charming reporter and challenged by the town’s sexiest cop, Stella’s determined to shine a light on the truth and uncover a killer who’s snuffing out her own flame.
About the Author
Christin Brecher was born and raised in NYC, where her family and many childhood friends still reside. As such, she feels she is as much of a small-town girl as any. The idea to write the Nantucket Candle Maker series sprang from her life-long connection to the small island off the coast of Massachusetts. Spending summers there as a child, Christin read from her family’s library of mystery novels, after which she began to imagine stories inspired by the island’s whaling heyday, its notoriously foggy nights, and during long bike rides to the beach. After many years in marketing for the publishing industry, followed by years raising her children, Murder’s No Votive Confidence is Christin’s debut novel. Visit her at www.christinbrecher.com.
Author Links
Website - http://christinbrecher.com/
Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/christinbrecherbooks/
My Thoughts
Murder’s No Votive Confidence by Christin Becher is the first A Nantucket Candle Maker Mystery. Stella Wright owns Wick & Flame on Nantucket Island. She has been commissioned by bride-to-be, Jessica Sterling to create candles for her wedding including a one-of-a-kind unity candle. On the day before the wedding, the unity candle is found broken on the floor next to Jessica’s uncle, Simon Sterling. Someone took the candle and bashed in the man’s head (talk about crime of passion). When family friend, Bill Duffy is arrested by a visiting police chief for the murder, Stella sets out to find the real killer. I thought Murder’s No Votive Confidence was nicely written and it had steady pacing. The story is told from Stella’s perspective. I like the lovely setting of Nantucket Island. The author provides beautiful descriptions of the island flora and fauna, the shops, homes and, of course, the ocean. Stella is an affable character who prefers comfort clothes over fancy (much to her friend’s distress), a wee bit clumsy and has a contingent of cousins (I like Kate who forbade the others from cursing—good for her). The secondary characters are introduced with the barest of details. I am sure we will learn more about Stella and the others as the series progresses. I especially want to know more about the Candleers (Stella’s candle class students). I love that Stella is a candlemaker and I hope we get more information on the process of creating candles in future books. Stella provides some helpful candle tips and her creations sound lovely. The mystery was interesting with a unique twist. While I could identify the killer early in the game, I was curious to know more. I had questions and I wanted the answers. Tinker, Simon’s cat, was a great addition to the book. I like how he was involved in the investigation. I enjoyed Christin Becher’s debut cozy mystery and I look forward to reading more of this engaging new series. Murder’s No Votive Confidence is a delightful new cozy mystery that has a scenic setting, a nosy newspaperman, a nervous bride, a meddling mama, a mysterious feline, handcrafted tapers, and one determined amateur sleuth.
Murder's No Votive Confidence is available at the following online retailers: Amazon, B&N, Kobo, BAM, IndieBound, Hudson Booksellers, and Google Play. The next novel in this series is Murder Makes Scents which comes out February 25, 2020. To win a print copy of Murder's No Votive Confidence (sorry, but US only), enter via the Rafflecopter form below or click here. Good Luck! Visit the other stops on the tour for character guest posts, reviews, excerpts, character interview, candle making 101 notes and author interviews (schedule below). Thank you for visiting today. I will be back tomorrow with my review of A Patchwork of Clues by Sally Goldenbaum. Take care, stay cool and Happy Reading!
Kris
The Avid Reader
Tour Participants
July 8 – The Pulp and Mystery Shelf – CHARACTER GUEST POST
July 8 – Books Direct – SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT
July 8 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT
July 9 – The Book Decoder – REVIEW
July 9 – I'm All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
July 9 – A Blue Million Books – GUEST POST
July 9 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW
July 10 – Socrates Book Reviews – REVIEW
July 10 – A Wytch's Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
July 10 – The Avid Reader REVIEW
July 11 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
July 11 – Author Teresa Watson – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
July 11 – Babs Book Bistro - Candle Making 101 Notes Post
July 12 – Book Club Librarian – REVIEW
July 12 – A Holland Reads – REVIEW
July 12 – Elizabeth McKenna - Author – SPOTLIGHT
July 13 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT, EXCERPT
July 13 – Celticlady's Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
July 14 – StoreyBook Reviews – REVIEW
July 14 – Cozy Up With Kathy - REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
July 15 – eBook Addicts – REVIEW
July 15 – The Book Diva's Reads – CHARACTER GUEST POST
July 15 – Readeropolis – SPOTLIGHT
July 16 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
July 16 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
July 16 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW
July 17 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
July 17 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW, GUEST POST
Thanks for hosting, Kris, and thanks to Christin for the giveaway! The book looks awesome!
ReplyDeleteThank you for your review on "Murder's No Votive Confidence" by Christin Brecher and for being part of the book tour.
ReplyDeleteSounds like a fabulous book and I'd love the opportunity to read it. Love starting a new series and then reading all the books in it.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
Okay, can I just say that the pun in the title is just a bit of a stretch for me? GROAN!
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