Death by the Bookcase
(2025)(The third book in the Grape Expectation Mystery series)
A Story by Maisy Marple and Wendy Winchester
When the spine cracks, someone's story ends.
When rare book dealer Alastair Montgomery arrives in Prose Valley claiming to possess a manuscript that will "revolutionize literary history," vintner-turned-bookseller Vivian Barnes sees an opportunity to put her newly opened rare book room on the map. But Montgomery's authentication event quickly turns sour as he publicly humiliates local collectors, including prestigious vineyard owner Sophia Dixon and the distinguished Harrison Winters.
The morning after the contentious event, Vivian arrives at The First Edition to find her orange tabby, Shakespeare, howling frantically by the rare book room door. Inside lies Montgomery's body, crushed beneath a toppled antique bookcase that had been deliberately sabotaged.
As Detective Reynolds investigates, a tangled web of literary deception spanning generations begins to unravel. Montgomery's mysterious "discovery" is missing, along with Mayor Thompson's potentially valuable books. A threatening note warns Vivian to "stop digging through old pages," and a hidden journal reveals shocking connections between Prose Valley's most prominent families.
With Shakespeare's uncanny ability to sniff out clues and the Mystery Mavens' literary expertise, Vivian must determine who silenced Montgomery permanently before the killer decides she's read too much between the lines.
Curl up with a glass of wine and lose yourself in this cozy literary mystery where family secrets, forged manuscripts, and fatal ambitions prove that in Prose Valley, some chapters are better left concealed.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
When rare book dealer Alastair Montgomery arrives in Prose Valley claiming to possess a manuscript that will "revolutionize literary history," vintner-turned-bookseller Vivian Barnes sees an opportunity to put her newly opened rare book room on the map. But Montgomery's authentication event quickly turns sour as he publicly humiliates local collectors, including prestigious vineyard owner Sophia Dixon and the distinguished Harrison Winters.
The morning after the contentious event, Vivian arrives at The First Edition to find her orange tabby, Shakespeare, howling frantically by the rare book room door. Inside lies Montgomery's body, crushed beneath a toppled antique bookcase that had been deliberately sabotaged.
As Detective Reynolds investigates, a tangled web of literary deception spanning generations begins to unravel. Montgomery's mysterious "discovery" is missing, along with Mayor Thompson's potentially valuable books. A threatening note warns Vivian to "stop digging through old pages," and a hidden journal reveals shocking connections between Prose Valley's most prominent families.
With Shakespeare's uncanny ability to sniff out clues and the Mystery Mavens' literary expertise, Vivian must determine who silenced Montgomery permanently before the killer decides she's read too much between the lines.
Curl up with a glass of wine and lose yourself in this cozy literary mystery where family secrets, forged manuscripts, and fatal ambitions prove that in Prose Valley, some chapters are better left concealed.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Used availability for Maisy Marple's Death by the Bookcase