In the Company of Witches (An Evenfall Witches B&B Mystery, Band 1) - Softcover

Wallace, Auralee

Softcover

ISBN 10: 059333583X ISBN 13: 9780593335833

Verlag: Berkley, 2021

Inhaltsangabe

When a guest dies in the B&B she helps her aunts run, a young witch must rely on some good old-fashioned investigating to clear her aunt's name in this magical and charming new cozy mystery.

For four hundred years, the Warren witches have used their magic to quietly help the citizens of the sleepy New England town of Evenfall thrive. There's never been a problem they couldn't handle. But then Constance Graves--a local known for being argumentative and demanding--dies while staying at the bed and breakfast Brynn Warren maintains with her aunts. At first, it seems like an accident...but it soon becomes clear that there's something more sinister at work, and Aunt Nora is shaping up to be the prime suspect.

There's nothing Brynn wants more than to prove Nora's innocence, and it hurts her to know that even two years ago that might have been easier. Brynn, after all, is a witch of the dead--a witch who can commune with ghosts. Ghosts never remember much about their deaths, but Constance might remember something about her life that would help crack the case. But Brynn hasn't used her powers since her husband died, and isn't even sure she still can. Brynn will just have to hope that her aunts' magic and her own investigative skills will lead her to answers--and maybe back to the gift she once thought herself ready to give up forever.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Auralee Wallace is the author of multiple novels, including the Otter Lake mystery series. She has an undergraduate degree in psychology and a Master's degree in English literature, and she worked in the publishing industry for a number of years before teaching at the college level. She lives in Ottawa with her family.

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Chapter 1

I'm going to kill her."

The corner of my mouth twitched, but I kept my gaze on my book. I was very cozy curled up in the green velvet sofa by the fire. I did not want to encourage the tear my aunt was working herself up to.

"I never should have agreed to this," she went on, completely ignoring the fact that I was ignoring her. She was also ignoring the annoyed cat on the chaise lounge behind her, thumping his tail. He was trying to sleep. "You know I can't tolerate the vast majority of people for longer than a day or two-"

I would have said a couple of hours tops, but who was I to quibble?

"-but to let that woman stay for five days? Madness."

I reached for my mug of Honeybush orange tea. It was very soothing. I probably should have made a pot to share. And I don't know if I would call it madness. The woman in question was paying for her stay while her historic home was undergoing some much-needed renovations, and when you run a B&B you have to expect that on occasion you are going to have demanding guests. Although some guests really were more demanding than others.

Case in point, Constance Graves.

Constance had been staying with us at Ivywood Hollow the past week, and it hadn't taken long for us to discover it was not going to be an easy stay. Evenfall, Connecticut, was a small town, so we knew Constance could be demanding, but we really hadn't been concerned. After all, we had always been able to win over hard-to-please guests in the past-we were very good at what we did-but Constance turned out to be a special case.

To begin, she insisted there be no other guests staying at the B&B while she was there. It was a completely reasonable request given she was willing to pay for all the rooms, and it seemed like it would make our lives a whole lot easier. Less people, less work, right? Not so. Not. So.

Personally, I knew we were in for trouble when I showed her where she'd be staying. The Rosewater Room. It's gorgeous. Four-poster bed. Floor-to-ceiling windows. Silk upholstered divan that was perfect for reclining when life became too much. What Constance saw, however, was the white Egyptian cotton sheets peeking out from under the damask comforter on her bed. They were too white. She was afraid of the glare they might give off in the morning sun. When I changed them to a lovely taupe, she found the shade a bit too muddy. I was able to get away with a blush-colored set, but I'm pretty sure that was only because she couldn't think of an objection to throw at them quickly enough.

And it didn't end there.

The meals were always too hot. Or too cold. Too spicy. Or too bland. And all these complaints usually came before she had even lifted her fork, if she lifted it at all. Oh! And her room temperature. We could never get that right. Seventy-four degrees at Ivywood Hollow Bed-and-

Breakfast did not feel like the seventy-four degrees she was used to in her house. My absolute favorite, though, was when she told me she found the antique blue inlay of the fireplace to be a little garish. I asked her if she'd like to change rooms, given she was paying for them all, but she told me with a drawn-out sigh that she'd suffer through.

I couldn't help but feel for her though. She was obviously unhappy, and someone that unhappy deserved a little leeway.

"I could push her off the balconette."

Or not.

I smiled at my aunt Nora. She couldn't help herself. She was fiery by nature. Constance had just asked for the flower arrangement in her room to be replaced because the fresh-cut hydrangeas were a little much, and it was a miracle Nora hadn't finished her off then and there. Most people had the good sense not to trifle with my aunt and her plants.

Nora, along with her sister Izzy and I, ran the B&B together, but she was the one who took care of the gardens and general ambiance of the bed-and-breakfast. It was amazing how she could take the simplest of places and transform it into something warm and welcoming, especially given the fact that warm and welcoming were probably two words that had never been used to describe her. When she walked down the street, usually dressed in black with her red hair flowing, you'd find at least two or three kids following behind. It was a game of bravery for them. Nora was a lot like a tiger in a rickety cage, beautiful to look at and dangerous. Those kids knew at any moment she might turn and lunge at them, giving them the thrill of a lifetime. Not that she ever really lunged. The turn was enough to send them off in peals of terrified laughter.

"I don't think pushing anyone off of anything will be necessary, Nora," a voice came from the top of the stairs. "I believe I finally have Constance settled for the night. She just needed a little help with the bath water."

My aunt Izzy came down the stairs, tucking some wayward strawberry blond curls back up into the loose bun on her head. Izzy did the cooking and baking at Ivywood Hollow, and she was fabulous at it. She knew it too. Izzy could get anyone to do just about anything with her culinary creations. Thankfully, she was also just about the sweetest woman to have ever lived, given it wasn't uncommon for guests to promise their firstborns for another bite of dessert. Izzy sat herself down beside me on the sofa and patted my leg companionably.

"Oh, you think you have her settled, do you? I'll believe that when I hear it," Nora drawled. "And by the way, I will never forgive you for giving that woman a bell."

My smile widened. That's right. Izzy had given Constance a bell. Our esteemed guest had found all the stairs of the house difficult to manage, and she felt she required a way to get ahold of us should she need anything. I didn't really think the stairs were that much of an issue for her, but Constance needed a lot of things, so if she had to go up and down the stairs every time she needed one of those things, well, that would be a lot. For an Olympic athlete it would be a lot.

"Did you hear it ringing last night at 3:00 a.m.?" Nora asked me. "No, of course you didn't. Tucked away in your little nest."

I lived in the loft above the old carriage house, now garage, of the B&B, unlike my aunts whose rooms were in the house. The small loft certainly wasn't as beautiful or as impressive as any of the spaces inside Ivywood Hollow, but it was cozy, and I had come to believe a little bit of privacy was good for the soul.

"She needed me to fluff her pillow. At three in the morning. Oh! I just realized I could have smothered her with it, and this would all be over."

"Evanora," Izzy chided with a laugh. As the older sister, she was the only one permitted to use Nora's full name. It wasn't a harsh reprimand though. We both knew Nora was just being Nora. "What a terrible thing to say. And, really, she's a lovely woman. She just knows what she likes."

"Don't be ridiculous," Nora replied. "She's a horrible woman, and you know it. Brynn and I were just discussing how much we'd both like to strangle her."

"What?" I asked in the high-pitched voice of the falsely accused. I straightened up on the sofa, which wasn't easy because it was ridiculously plush. "We'd both like to strangle her?" I was pretty sure Nora had had that particular conversation all by herself.

"She finally speaks." Nora collapsed dramatically back against the chaise lounge and draped her arm over her forehead. The cat resting above her peeked one eye open, probably trying to determine if my aunt was actually settling down or just resting momentarily before she worked herself up again. "And yes, you might not have said the words, but I could tell you...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Berkley
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2021
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 059333583X
• ISBN 13: 9780593335833
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 336
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: BERKLEY; https://www.penguin.com/?s=BERKLEY; ; Unit 2 Limavady Business Park; Limavady; County Londonderry; BT49 0HR; Vereinigtes Königreich
• Verantwortliche Person: Buchpark GmbH; gpsr@buchpark.de; ; Krügerweg 1; Trebbin; Brandenburg; 14959; Deutschland