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Crime and Publishing
The pen is deadlier than the sword, especially when it’s filled with poison.
Mina Wilde is thrilled to be invited to a prestigious writers' retreat at Meddleworth House. Heathcliff, Morrie, and Quoth decide to come along to keep her company and indulge in some of the estate’s many activities.
Mina is excited to get feedback on her first novel, but her dreams of writing stardom are shattered when the other writers tear her work to pieces. A little criticism never hurt anyone, right?
Wrong.
Their picturesque country holiday soon turns deadly when a violent storm closes in. As the writers gather around the fire to critique each other’s work, the power goes out. When the lights come back on, they discover one of them has been murdered by his own pen!
The only people who could have possibly committed this crime were the other writers, and with no way in or out of the manor house, Mina throws herself into solving this locked room mystery. But as our favorite sleuth eliminates her suspects, she must face a terrifying truth.
There are three other people who could have got into the room and committed the murder – her boyfriends. How far will Morrie, Quoth, and Heathcliff go to save Mina’s literary reputation?
Crime and Publishing
Crime and Publishing
Cozy Pairings
Speakeasy is a rich and layered fragrance that opens with warm spice and soft smoke, blending cardamom, incense, and pimento berry. At its heart, notes of saffron, plum blossom, and tobacco leaves create a deep and slightly sweet warmth, while hints of licorice add a subtle intrigue. The scent settles into a smooth, lingering base of palo santo, patchouli, vanilla, and dark chocolate, bringing a soft sweetness to its darker edges. Complex and atmospheric, this fragrance feels warm, enveloping, and quietly captivating.
Why we chose this: A cursed bookshop is bringing fictional villains to life, Heathcliff is grumpy and tattooed and six feet four, Moriarty is sophisticated and evasive, and somehow Mina is both the prime suspect in a murder and the only one who can solve it. From banned book clubs turning murderous to Shakespeare festivals gone deadly to a writers' retreat where someone ends up killed by their own pen, the mysteries never stop coming and neither does the chemistry. Speakeasy is the candle for every book in this series, rich with smoky cardamom and dark chocolate and the deep warmth of palo santo and vanilla, a scent as layered and atmospheric as Nevermore itself. Light this candle and let the complex, slightly forbidden warmth fill the room like a bookshop where the stories have decided they are no longer content to stay on the shelves.