In the Wick of Time (Magic Candle Shop Mystery)
Paranormal Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Savannah, Georgia
Crooked Lane Books (October 17, 2023)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages

Synopsis

Tabby Winslow will help her twin sister Sage with anything and everything—and that includes putting out the flames of suspicion when Sage’s boss is found murdered in this magical mystery, perfect for fans of Amanda Flower and Sofie Kelly.

December in Savannah, Georgia, is a sight to behold. With all the festivities—including the traditional riverfront luminary display during the boat parade—twin sisters Tabby and Sage Winslow are busier than ever setting up for the big celebration. But that isn’t the only thing on the sisters’ minds. Both Sage and her fellow employee Mary Nicole are vying for the sought-after assistant manager job at the plant nursery. But when Loren Lee, their boss, is found dead, and Sage becomes the police’s favorite suspect, both Winslow girls know that they’ll need more than a flicker of magic and their sisterhood to solve the murder and clear Sage’s name.

Soon, Tabby realizes that this is just one of the many problems they have. If being a suspect for murder wasn’t enough, there are more magical problems that they have to fix: Sage’s boyfriend is having a paranormal experience of his own he can’t control, there’s an energy vampire searching for his supposedly lost cousin, her cat suddenly dislikes her, and oh—every time Tabby hiccups, she turns completely invisible. The suspect list grows with each day and it seems everyone has a reason or a connection to Loren Lee.

Tabby and Sage are burning the candle at both ends—but will it be enough to keep their friends safe and find this killer? Or will they be burned by their efforts?

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Guest Post

Stillrooms and Apothecary Shops

By Valona Jones

In every book of A Magic Candle Shop Mystery Series, I share a bit about the room behind the candle shop . It’s where the magic happens, literally. Tabby Winslow is the family’s resident candle and soap maker, and she instills her good energy in the products she creates.

The label for candles and soaps with heavy-duty energy infusions is “aromatherapy.” Technically, all of the shop’s candles fit the description of aromatherapy since they are created using essential oils and natural ingredients, but most of the shop’s candles are diffused with the ambient current Tabby radiates. The aromatherapy ones get a walloping dose of goodness.

Through time, candles have earned the reputation of creating a calm and relaxing atmosphere. Some essential oils used in candlemaking, such as eucalyptus, lemon grass, patchouli, and lavender, to name a few, have therapeutic qualities and are known to relieve stress and anxiety. The candles and soaps Tabby makes continue her family traditions.

Tabby is very protective of her workspace. She won’t let just anybody in there, and especially not cops. When the wrong person enters her stillroom, she must smudge it with sage sticks to get rid of bad vibes.

Historically, a stillroom was one part science lab, one part infirmary, one part kitchen, and another part work room. It has typically been a female’s domain, but in contemporary times gender lines are blurred. Items created in a stillroom include medicines, cosmetics, household products, and homebrewed ale. Even further back in time, a stillroom wasn’t attached to the main house. It was an out-building.

The Book and Candle Shop caters to customers who prefer products made with natural bases and herbal products. If you added crystals to the inventory, the shop would be considered a metaphysical shop, but there are no crystals. Thus, the Winslows hold fast to the claim that this proves they aren’t witches.

Tabby’s stillroom is painted in a robin egg blue color. The dark counters contrast with the radiant windows across the alley side of the building. Above the industrial sink drying herbs hang n clumps. Electric green ferns line the windowsill, and the room itself radiates good energy.

As an author, I made these choices to give my amateur sleuth, Tabby, a respite from the world, a safe haven where she can let her hair down and create at will. She’s already conditioned not to be forthcoming in public because she’s got a boatload of family secrets to hide. The stillroom isn’t just the hub of the shop, it’s the lifeblood of her family. It’s the key to their success, especially those old recipe crafting books that go back generations.

Here’s something few people know. With its painted concrete floor, the stillroom is essentially a slab atop one of the three mass graves from Savannah’s three epidemics of Yellow Fever. So many people died each day that they couldn’t dig graves fast enough. (Note that the mass graves and Yellow Fever epidemics really happened, but the location of a mass grave under the candle shop is artistic license.)

The upshot of the shop being perched atop a mass grave is the constant emission of energy that revitalizes all but one of the Winslows every night. The character with the recharging issue is Sage. No wonder she’s often grumpy and a bit spiteful. Poor thing! As the family’s resident herbalist and plant grinder, she quickly becomes the target of a homicide investigation in this book.

About the Author

Valona Jones, also known as Maggie Toussaint, writes paranormal cozy mysteries set in coastal Georgia. A former scientist, she’s drawn to the study of personal energy. She sharpened her people-watching skills as a lifelong introvert and had a bank vault of personal observations when she began to write fiction. Her newest release is In The Wick of Time, book 2 in the A Magic Candle Shop Mystery, preceded by Snuffed Out, which released Jan. 2023. She’s a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime with more than twenty-five published works of fiction. She lives in coastal Georgia, where she’s seen time and tide wait for no one.

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