Title Leprechauns & Larceny
Author Lucinda Race
Genre Paranormal Cozy Mystery
Book Blurb
Bookstore owner and witch Lily Michaels has a never-ending list of to-do items as the maid of honor for her best friends’ upcoming St. Patrick’s Day wedding. The last thing she has time for is another mystery. But with a missing wedding dress, the discovery of a pair of leprechaun boots, and a body in a bathtub, she’s ready to mesh her love of puzzles and a little magic to help solve the crime. Even if her fiancé —Gage Erikson of the Pembroke Cove police department— is determined to keep her out of trouble and safe.
Good luck with that.
Lily is going to need more than the luck of the Irish to solve the murder while a group of treasure hunters, friends of the deceased, are in town. Only they’re not grieving. They’re focused on finding a pirate captain’s gold, which—according to legend—the rocky coast of Pembroke Cove keeps hidden…and is only accessible during three days in March.
Will Lily’s luck hold with a wedding in shambles and a murderer skulking in the shadows? She needs to follow the clues to solve the case but can her witchy skills save her when the final clue leads her to the murderer?
Leprechauns and Larceny is the sixth novel in A Book Store Cozy Mystery Series, although each book can be read as a standalone—a sweet and clean cozy mystery with a guarantee that the culprit is caught. Happy reading!
Excerpt
I double-checked the time. It was just noon. I added the notebook to my tote bag. It had a never-ending list of to-do items for the upcoming wedding of my best friends, Nikki and Steve. As the maid of honor, I had taken on the bulk of the last-minute details while Nikki conjured up ideas for her wedding cake. As one of the best kitchen witches in our small town of Pembroke Cove, Maine, I knew it was going to be the most delicious cake ever, even if the theme was St. Patrick’s Day and all things Irish. Not that I had a lot to compare it to since I had shied away from weddings. You know the saying, ‘Always a bridesmaid, never a bride’? Well, I thought I was in that category until last fall when my forever crush and I finally made it official. Detective Gage Erikson and I started dating, and even more recently, we got engaged.
“Milo,” I called out to my gray tabby cat, who also happened to be my familiar. He was nowhere to be found. I wandered down the mystery aisle in my bookstore, hoping I’d find him snoozing in the soft kitty bed I had tucked into the corner for him. But it was empty.
“Milo?” He hadn’t mentioned he was going out and I needed to get next door to the Pembroke Cove B & B to start decorating for the wedding reception. The flowers were going to be delivered tomorrow, so things needed to get organized. But not before I knew what had happened to Milo.
I stood in the middle of my bookstore with my hands on my hips and tilted my head back before saying in a loud and clear voice, “Milo, what kind of witch would I be if I left without talking to you?”
“Can’t I get a catnap in without being interrupted?” His deep kitty grumble from behind me caught me off guard. I twirled around, thankful I was wearing jeans and not a long skirt which would have tripped me up, and I’d be on the floor with my familiar.
“There you are.” I scooped him up and crushed him to my chest. “Where were you hiding?”
He tapped his paw, sans claws, to my cheek. “I’m not telling you since I’ll never have a peaceful moment when the store is open if you know where to find me.”
He rubbed his head under my chin so I knew he was just being cantankerous and not annoyed with me. We had come a long way in the last nine months or so when I discovered I was a witch after my family’s book of magic, Practical Beginnings, had clonked me on the head.
Kissing the space between his ears, I set him in one of the wingback chairs at the front of the store. “I need to run next door and see how the tables are set up for this weekend. Aunt Mimi was going to come down and watch the shop but had something else to do. Not that I know what’s more important than this wedding.”
“I assume Nikki is up to her wand in icing?” Milo stretched his body across the chair and got comfortable for his next nap.
I couldn’t help but laugh. He knew her so well. “She’s trying to come up with the perfect flavor combination that not only is fitting for a wedding but will also enhance the theme.”
It was only recently that I had discovered wands and witches were a thing. Much to my delight, I had been to a charming shop in Boston called Wanderlings. It was there I selected my wand, and I took it with me everywhere. Even now, it was safely tucked into the bottom of my tote bag. Not that I was very good at using it yet, but I would be someday.
He rolled over onto his back and gave me a look. I knew what was coming next.
“I will scratch your tummy later. I’m already late.” Slinging my tote bag over my shoulder, I gave him a quick pat. “I’ll be back soon, so keep an eye on the shop.”
“No worries, my dear witch. You can count on me.” He yawned and I chuckled. “Maybe I should invest in security cameras to keep a watchful eye.” I crossed to the door, and my hand was on the knob.
He opened his eyes and looked up again. “Now that’s a great idea, or better yet, find the spell that will give you access to your store whenever you want.”
“That’s a thing?”
He sighed. “Tonight, try asking the book. You’ve made great progress over the winter, but you might need to challenge yourself in the coming days.”
That stopped me in my tracks. “Are you clairvoyant? Is there something specific I need to be ready for?” Since I discovered my powers, we’d had five murders in our sleepy little town and broken up a fraud scheme that had been brewing right under the police department’s nose. My newly acquired skills had come into play along with my love of solving puzzles. Thank heavens, Gage discovered working with me only helped him solve the cases quicker than without me. In the process, a new witch and our friend, Dax Peters, had moved to town and joined the police force.
“Do you remember what Nikki mentioned at Halloween?”
Racking my brain, I couldn’t bring anything to mind except that I had been focused on the haunted house the town put on as a fundraiser, the murder of Mathias Slone, solving said crime, and my almost demise. “You can’t mean the casual mention of other kinds of paranormals coming to town.”
“Anything is possible, and now you need to hurry. You said it yourself—there is much to do before the big day.”
Instantly, kitty snores filled the room. I had to wonder, how did he fall asleep so fast and what did he know that he wasn’t telling me? He hinted at information but never divulged the tidbits, letting me discover things as I got into a bit of trouble.
I opened the door and locked it, then added an extra protection charm around the building and Milo. He had become a part of my heart. Not that he wouldn’t harass me about that later if he knew, but there was no way I could imagine life without him.
I hurried up the walk, and three men dressed like leprechauns grabbed my attention as I slowed my steps. I couldn’t make out what they were saying, but their tones were laced with anger. They approached a dark SUV parked on the street. As the driver got in, he said, “I am not spending any more time waiting for John Bailey. We agreed, and—” The other two men got in, doors slammed, and tires chirped as they pulled away from the curb.
Pushing all thoughts of them aside, I entered Pembroke Cove Bed & Breakfast, and it was like stepping back in time to a home from a hundred or more years ago. A large fireplace dominated one wall of the spacious lobby. There was a small counter for guests to check in, and several tables to enjoy afternoon tea or morning coffee completed the space. Katherine Reese-White, the fourth generation of the Reese family to run the inn, was sitting on a small settee near the crackling fire. She looked up and smiled as I closed the oversized wooden door. She was ageless with her porcelain skin unlined, and her red hair cascading around her shoulders in a riot of curls. I knew she was older than me by at least ten years, but she didn’t look it. What she did look like was an advertisement for an Irish lass.
Buy Links (including Goodreads and BookBub)
Barnes & Noble https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/leprechauns-larceny-lucinda-race/1144149362?ean=2940185937310
Author Biography
Award-winning and best-selling author Lucinda Race is a lifelong fan of fiction. As a young girl, she spent hours reading cozy mystery and romance novels and getting lost in the fictional worlds. While her friends dreamed of becoming doctors and engineers, her dream was to become a writer—a novelist.
As life twisted and turned, she found herself writing nonfiction but longed to turn to her true passion. After developing the storyline for the McKenna Family Romance series, it was time to start living her dream. Her fingers practically fly over computer keys she weaves stories with strong, quirky characters, snarky humor, and toss in a bit of romance. To date, she has published over 30 novels paranormal cozy mysteries, and romance.Lucinda lives with her two little dogs, a miniature long hair dachshund and a shitzu mix rescue, in the rolling hills of western Massachusetts. When she's not at her day job, she’s immersed in her fictional worlds. And if she’s not writing novels, she’s reading everything she can get her hands on.
Social Media Links
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Amazon Author Page https://www.amazon.com/Lucinda-Race/e/B00Q0MMNUM
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