At Wick's End

Rating:
Summary: Delightful Mystery!!
Review: "At Wick's End" is Tim Myers' first book in his candlemaking series and I had ordered it expecting a light, fluffy read. I was not familiar with his work, but thought that I might learn a little about candles and enjoy a pleasant mystery as well.

I thoroughly and completely enjoyed this book! And while, yes, I did learn a lot about candlemaking (at least enough to want to make me want to try the craft), I was absolutely enchanted with the characters that Tim Myers has brought to life!

This introductory mystery details the life of Harrison Black who has unexpectedly inherited his Great Aunt's estate. Although the bank owns most of it, this estate includes River's Edge - a shopping mall of sorts, that houses eccentric tenants as well as his Great Aunt's candle shop, "At Wick's End" and an apartment to boot.

Retiring quickly from his less than thriving job of selling junk computers, Harrison moves into the apartment. He soon comes to believe that his aunt's death was not an accident. Simultaneously, while immersing himself in learning how to run a candle shop, Harrison attempts to solve his Great Aunt's murder.

What captured me so thoroughly was not only the great plot and the long list of "suspects," but Tim Myers' accurate and very realistic portrayal of the problems that confront someone who has suddenly become the owner of a store.

"At Wick's End" is such a terrific book that I can't wait to read the sequel, "Burning at Both Ends." Great job by a fine writer!


Rating:
Summary: Interesting Characters Pull You into This Mystery
Review: Harrison Black is upset to hear about the death of his Great Aunt Belle in an accident at her shop, At Wick's End. He's not too surprised when she leaves everything to him, since they are the only relatives they have left. The will includes the stipulation that he must keep the store open for at least five years and not sell it or River's Edge, the building the shop is in which he now also owns.

Since Harrison was at a dead end in his life, he moves the few miles to his new business. He's greeted his first morning there by a break-in at his great aunt's apartment on the premises. Since the place had obviously been searched, he begins to suspect that Belle's death may have been more then an accident and is determined to find out what really happened to her. Thinking it might be one of his new tenants, he becomes paranoid that their offers for help are really offers to search again. Add to that a new business he knows nothing about and an employee at the store who he seems to upset regularly and he has his work cut out for him.

I really did enjoy this new series debut. Harrison and his new friends are interesting and believable characters. I especially appreciated Harrison's habit of putting his foot in his mouth on a regular basis, something I tend to do myself. This book puts us in an interesting position. The prologue actually starts with Belle's death, so we know the what and the why, but not the who. As a result, we spend parts of the book waiting for Harrison to figure out what we know and I figured out one major plot point long before Harrison did. Still, the characters were interesting enough to keep me entertained, and the ending was completely believable, both who the killer was and how Harrison figured it out.

The characters in this new series debut already feel like friends already. I can't wait to see them again. I haven't read this author in a couple years, but I'm going to have to go back and read his other series as well.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting Characters Pull You into This Mystery
Review: Harrison Black is upset to hear about the death of his Great Aunt Belle in an accident at her shop, At Wick's End. He's not too surprised when she leaves everything to him, since they are the only relatives they have left. The will includes the stipulation that he must keep the store open for at least five years and not sell it or River's Edge, the building the shop is in which he now also owns.

Since Harrison was at a dead end in his life, he moves the few miles to his new business. He's greeted his first morning there by a break-in at his great aunt's apartment on the premises. Since the place had obviously been searched, he begins to suspect that Belle's death may have been more then an accident and is determined to find out what really happened to her. Thinking it might be one of his new tenants, he becomes paranoid that their offers for help are really offers to search again. Add to that a new business he knows nothing about and an employee at the store who he seems to upset regularly and he has his work cut out for him.

I really did enjoy this new series debut. Harrison and his new friends are interesting and believable characters. I especially appreciated Harrison's habit of putting his foot in his mouth on a regular basis, something I tend to do myself. This book puts us in an interesting position. The prologue actually starts with Belle's death, so we know the what and the why, but not the who. As a result, we spend parts of the book waiting for Harrison to figure out what we know and I figured out one major plot point long before Harrison did. Still, the characters were interesting enough to keep me entertained, and the ending was completely believable, both who the killer was and how Harrison figured it out.

The characters in this new series debut already feel like friends already. I can't wait to see them again. I haven't read this author in a couple years, but I'm going to have to go back and read his other series as well.

Rating:
Summary: A fantastic new series by a great author
Review: Harrison Black's great-aunt Belle has died and left him her candle shop, At Wick's End. He knows nothing about candlemaking. She also left him River's Edge, the building that At Wick's End and other shops and businesses reside in, as well as her apartment on the 2nd floor.

Harrison has held many dead-end jobs and is happy to stop selling computers to begin a new chapter in his life.

It appears that Belle accidentally fell off a ladder. Eve, Belle's assistant and friend, does not know why Belle would have been on a ladder. She says that Belle was afraid of heights. So, Harrison begins to wonder if foul play could be involved. Then her apartment is broken into before he can even move in.

Eve begins teaching Harrison all about candlemaking and running the shop. Good thing because he has a very important client come in wanting classes who will only work with the proprietor.

Harrison starts looking into why someone would have wanted a harmless old lady dead. Everyone becomes a suspect until he can get to know them and find out if they have an alibi or motive. And believe me, there are some real characters to investigate.

Many things begin to happen. Some of them are good, but many of them are upsetting and or bad. To attempt to prove his theory, he has to put himself in danger.

The characters are well written and the plot is very well developed with plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing.

This is a great new series by Mr. Myers. I have always enjoyed his lighthouse series. This is a great new addition to the cozy mystery genre.

I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read about more escaped into candlemaking and sleuthing with Harrison!

Rating:
Summary: A fantastic new series by a great author
Review: Harrison Black's great-aunt Belle has died and left him her candle shop, At Wick's End. He knows nothing about candlemaking. She also left him River's Edge, the building that At Wick's End and other shops and businesses reside in, as well as her apartment on the 2nd floor.

Harrison has held many dead-end jobs and is happy to stop selling computers to begin a new chapter in his life.

It appears that Belle accidentally fell off a ladder. Eve, Belle's assistant and friend, does not know why Belle would have been on a ladder. She says that Belle was afraid of heights. So, Harrison begins to wonder if foul play could be involved. Then her apartment is broken into before he can even move in.

Eve begins teaching Harrison all about candlemaking and running the shop. Good thing because he has a very important client come in wanting classes who will only work with the proprietor.

Harrison starts looking into why someone would have wanted a harmless old lady dead. Everyone becomes a suspect until he can get to know them and find out if they have an alibi or motive. And believe me, there are some real characters to investigate.

Many things begin to happen. Some of them are good, but many of them are upsetting and or bad. To attempt to prove his theory, he has to put himself in danger.

The characters are well written and the plot is very well developed with plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing.

This is a great new series by Mr. Myers. I have always enjoyed his lighthouse series. This is a great new addition to the cozy mystery genre.

I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read about more escaped into candlemaking and sleuthing with Harrison!

Rating:
Summary: Lighten up with this wonderful new mystery! :)
Review: This is a terrific new mystery series set in the fictional small town of Micah's Ridge, North Carolina.

After his great Aunt Belle is killed in a mishap in her candle shop, At Wick's End, her nephew Harrison Black inherits not only her shop but the entire shopping complex that she owned along with it. Harrison settles into his new roles as both shopkeeper and landlord but soon discovers that the facts surrounding his aunt's death just don't measure up. One of Belle's tenants may have had a reason to kill her and Harrison soon learns that he has inherited more trouble than he bargained for as he tries to uncover the truth!

This is a very entertaining mystery and I'm looking forward to the next entry! The information about candlemaking was fun and informative ( I've never had any interest in making candles but might have to give it a try!) and I also liked the setting of North Carolina and the local characters in the town. A delightful book!

Rating:
Summary: Murder with a Twist
Review: When Harrison Black unexpectedly inherits his great-aunt Belle's candle shop, he really has no idea what he's getting into. Harrison soon discovers that not only did his great-aunt leave him the candle shop "At Wick's End", she actually willed him the entire building containing the shop. On his first tour of the building though, Harrison discovers that his aunt's upstairs apartment has been ransacked. Harrison begins to suspect that his aunt's fall in the candle shop may not have been an accident.

As Harrison tries to determine who might have murdered Great-Aunt Belle, each tenant of the building becomes a suspect. The author does a great job with each of the characters, and the reader quickly feels like the other shopowners are old friends.

This is the first mystery in Tim Myers' candlemaking mystery, and I must say that I really enjoyed the candlemaking information woven into the story. I'm looking forward to the next volume in this series as much for the candlemaking instruction as for the mystery!