Stella Wright is enjoying Paris, where she is attending the World Perfumery Conference and getting to spend precious time with her mom, Millie. Millie is a perfumer and loves to visit places like the rainforest in order to discover new and exotic scents. Unfortunately, the convention takes a nasty turn when a man is murdered. Stella is relieved to return home to Nantucket, but it seems that danger is still following Stella and Millie. Can Stella sort out who she can trust before she or her mom ends up dead?
MURDER MAKES SCENTS is the second book in the Nantucket Candle Maker Mystery series and can easily be read as a standalone. Christin Brecher does a marvelous job at filling readers in on both the characters and the town so it’s easy to jump right in and appreciate the story line. Many of the characters we meet in MURDER MAKES SCENTS are also new to Nantucket, making it even easier to enjoy the story line while increasing the suspect list at the same time.
I’m a huge fan of crafts, even ones I haven’t tried, and MURDER MAKES SCENTS delves into the art of candle making. I absolutely love the idea of the Wick & Flame store and would love to visit one of their candle making classes, although I’m sure I would be just like some of their other customers and overdo the scents. Oh but the sheer fun of creating such a unique piece of usable artwork sounds like so much fun and Christin Brecher helpfully includes some tips about molds at the end to entice the reader further!
MURDER MAKES SCENTS is a fun, action-packed read. The story line is a bit more internationally based than many cozy mysteries, but Christin Brecher delivers a solid and very entertaining story line. I look forward to future visits with the characters, the town, and the Wick & Flame shop!
Stella and her globe-trotting mom, Millie, have come home from a perfume industry conference in Paris, where their trip was marred by witnessing the stabbing death of a young man. It’s a relief for Stella to be back on her picturesque island, with the comforting company of her cat, Tinker. But lingering danger may have followed them back across the ocean.
After someone breaks into her candle store, the Wick & Flame, Stella starts feeling spooked. And just as things threaten to ignite, Millie suffers a blow to the head. Stella receives an anonymous note claiming that her mother smuggled a secret formula out of France—and threatening her life if it isn’t returned. Now Stella’s picked up the scent of a cold-hearted criminal and an intriguing puzzle, and things are about to get wicked . . .