Death Waxed Over (Candlemaking Mysteries, No. 3)

Harrison Black, owner of At Wick's End, decides to have a table at the Founder's Day celebration in New Conover, NC, to try to increase his business in the face of possibly being run out of business. Gretel Barnett has recently opened Flickering Lights and had vowed to put At Wick's End out of business. At the Founder's Day celebration, Harrison doesn't hear the shot that kills Gretel, but he is soon the prime suspect of the shooting. Although Harrison would rather leave the investigating to the police, he is soon pulled in to help clear his name. In the process he gets pulled in deeper and deeper. Can he uncover the killer and save At Wick's End? I thought was a great installment in the candlemaking series. I really like Harrison Black. I don't know anything about candlemaking, so I always feel like I learn something when I read the books in this series. This cozy series is wonderfully set in a small town. The author has captured the feel of a southern small town. The interaction between Harrison and Eve, his employee who was thrust upon him when he inherited At Wick's End, is progressing at a very believable pace. I look forward to reading more in this series. I highly recommend this book.

I recently stumbled upon this series, and I have really enjoyed it. The characters are sympathetic, and it has been enjoyable getting to know them. I recommend this series to anyone who enjoys reading cozies.

As many times as I tried (honest!) I just couldn't quite warm up to the author's much-appreciated previous series-The Lighthouse Inn mysteries-set in the mountains of North Carolina. The premise of a candle making shop sounded interesting, though, so I thought I'd give it a try. I'm so glad I did. This third book in the series is a winner, hands down. It's still in North Carolina, but in Micah's Ridge, a small town on the Gunpowder River. Harrison Black has inherited not only a small shopping center from his aunt, but also her dearly-loved candle-making shop, At Wick's End. As he gets his feet wet in learning the business and trying to keep the books for River's Edge in the black. As always, there are the other shop owners and their personal problems to deal with, along with a somewhat contentious customer and-good grief! Competition rears its ugly head when another candle shop opens just a couple of miles away. Gretel Barnett seems to want to run Harrison out of business, so although he'd not planned to have a booth at the New Conover Founder's Day Celebration, he can hardly leave the field to his competitor, now can he? Unfortunately, Gretel ends up dead, and Harrison is named as the killer! What follows is an intriguing look at life in a small town, with its rampant gossip mills. Ups and downs-including a former lady friend of Harrison's-and other complications ensue before finally, with the help of several of his tenants, Harrison traps the guilty party. I'm looking forward to the next episode in this delightful series. Hope it's soon!

There's competition moving into Micah's Ridge, North Carolina. Gretel Barnett has moved into town and is opening Flickering Lights not even two miles from Harrison Black's store. In an effort to increase traffic, he decides to set up a booth at the annual Founder's Day festival in nearby New Conover. On the day of the festival, he is surprised to see Gretel setting up a table not too far from his own. The two get into a loud argument, but Harrison tries to think nothing of it. Until Gretel is shot, however. Naturally, he finds himself the chief suspect, especially when an eyewitness says she saw him throw away the gun. Too make matters worse, the witness is the wife of the editor of the local paper, so naturally the paper proceeds to paint Harrison in the worst light possible. With the customers fleeing At Wick's End because of the notoriety, Harrison reluctantly begins to investigate. One of the first suspects he turns up is Mrs. Jorgenson. Even worse, when he tries to talk to his best customer about the case, she gets mad and storms off. Has he just made a bad situation worse? As if all this weren't enough, Harrison's ex-girlfriend Becka is back in his life, turning to him when someone starts stalking her. Is there really someone after her? Who? Is this one case too many for Harrison to solve? After the disappointing second book in the series, I'm happy to report the series is back on track. The plot in this novel is strong and once again has the forefront. The killer is a little obvious with several major clues pointing to the villain, but the story is strong enough to keep the reader engaged even once they've figure it out. Harrison continues to be a wonderful main character. His quick temper and bluntness are easy to identify with and create some nice complications as he tries to get information out of suspects who have no desire to cooperate. Unfortunately, several series characters only make brief appearances in this volume, especially potential love interest Erin. Those who do appear continue to be likable, and the suspects are interesting if not quite as well defined as they might have been. As always, Tim Myers provides a quick, easy read. My biggest complaint is that the book felt like it needed one more edit. A few things fell through the cracks in the race to resolve things for the climax. The season also seemed to change from fall to winter over a couple days, but that could just be me. One more pass through the book would have smoothed out these minor but annoying problems. This book is a light, quick reads. Nothing too deep, but perfect if you want a couple hour's escape.