A Dead and Stormy Night

Fired from her dream job in fashion, the narrator slinks back to her home village and takes a post at the Nevermore Bookshop. She expects an easy few months while she sorts out her life. The shop has other plans.

A curse on Nevermore pulls infamous villains out of classic literature and into the real world. Her days now involve pulling customers away from Heathcliff, who is grumpy, tattooed and six foot four. She also shares tea with the sophisticated Moriarty while dodging the authorities. In her spare time she makes art alongside Quoth, the shy and cheeky raven shifter from Edgar Allan Poe.

Then her former best friend turns up dead with a knife in her back, and the police look at the heroine first. To clear her name she has to play detective in the style of Agatha Christie. The three villains, who are happy to share her attention, are part of the problem and part of the help.

This is the first of the Nevermore Bookshop Mysteries, a spicy cozy fantasy with a murder to solve in each book. The love interests are morally grey. The heroine has a big heart and a bigger book collection. The dynamic is grumpy and sunshine, and the men fall first. The tone is kooky and spooky, with humor throughout.