Customer Reviews

Snuffed Out (Candlemaking Mysteries, No. 2)

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

In this second story in Tim Myers'Candlemaking mystery series, young Harrison Black is enjoying his new life in Micah's Ridge, North Carolina, running the candle shop which he inherited from his great-aunt Belle. Tragedy strikes the River's Edge community again when there is a power outage one evening, and Harrison discovers that the power outage is caused by the electrocution of one of the other tenants in the building, the potter Aaron Gaston. Harrison can't help but wonder whether or not Aaron's death is really an accident when he learns that the potter always did his work on a manual potter's wheel, and didn't use the electric wheel in his store.

Harrison Black is a wonderful character, and in this second story we get to know him much better. After inheriting At Wick's End, Harrison finds himself a very busy young man, with "a business to run, a complex to watch over, and, if time permitted, a murder to solve." Not to mention trying to find a date in Micah's Ridge. As far as I'm concerned, the story line of "Snuffed Out" dealt a little too much with Harrison's every day schedule of running the business, and didn't spend enough time on solving the mystery. Poof! In the last ten pages he suddenly solves the mystery. However, the book was fun and enjoyable. I hope the next book in this series will spend a bit more time on developing the mystery and giving the reader some clues as well.

The recipe for Cranberry Muffins is very good!!

I've enjoyed both of Tim Myers's candle shop mysteries--AT WICK'S END and SNUFFED OUT--because the series is crafted as the perfect cozy. The main character/sleuth, Harrison Black, has inherited a candle shop as well as the building his and several other cozy shops (antique store, coffee shop/bakery, pottery shop, New Age shop) occupy. This gives the books a closed community of characters, and with Harrison living upstairs in an apartment over the candle shop, gives the readers a place they'll want to come back to again and again. One of the reasons I and many other mystery readers love cozies is that we do get to live the main character's life vicariously, and how comfortable it is to return to Harrison's comfy building to hang out with his friends, learn new ways to make candles, and, oh yes, track down a murderer now and then.

When the power goes out at River's Edge, Harrison stumbles on a dead body. Looks like Aaron was electrocuted when water spilled on the chord of an electric potter's wheel he was using. The police are quick to rule it an accident, but Harrison isn't so sure. Especially when his other tenants keep telling him that Aaron hated electric potter's wheels. With the small police force being struck down by the flue, Harrison starts investigating. Meanwhile, his choice of a replacement tenant causes hard feelings and tensions to rise around the complex. Will Harrison be able to keep the peace, solve the murder, and run his shop?

I loved the debut in this series and have been looking forward to this book since February. I was disappointed because this book was a very poor follow-up. The mystery was so poorly plotted that it felt like an after thought. And the climax left me with too many questions. The redeeming factor of the book is the main character. I really identify with Harrison and enjoy spending time with him.

I sure hope the mystery in the next book is better. I really wanted to like this book, but I just couldn't.

In the 2nd book in the Candlemaking Mystery series, Harrison Black, the owner of At Wick's End, a candle shop in North Carolina, is finally settling into his new lifestyle. His great-aunt Belle had died recently, and being her only relative, Harrison has inherited both the shop and the entire building in which it resides. He quit his dead-end job as a computer salesman, and moved to the small town to start his new life. Unfortunately, Harrison knew nothing about candles, and he had to rely on his aunt's employee and friend, Eve, to teach him as he works along side her. He had come along way from his first days at the shop, and is beginning to enjoy being a shop-owner and landlord. It all comes to a screeching halt when one of is tenants, Aaron, is found dead, and Harrison starts to suspect foul play. It seems that the deceased potter never used an electric wheel, but had died when the frayed cord on the wheel he had supposedly been using had gotten wet. Then, Harrison agrees to let the ex-wife of Aaron take over his old shop, and infuriates quite a few tenants in the building. When a series of mishaps happen to the shops in River's Edge, Harrison begins to work overtime to catch a killer before he loses both his business, and possibly his life.

This was a fun, light addition to an interesting cozy series. I love the setting of Micah's Ridge, North Carolina, and the interesting characters that are a part of Harrison's life. Reading many books of the genre, I normally stick to female protagonists, but really enjoyed the character of Harrison in this book. It was nice to see that he was human, in the fact that running his business and never seeming to get away from it was fraying his nerves. Many times in books, the characters don't seem to get frazzled like 'real' people do...and it was nice to see a human side to Harrison. These books are definitely a light, quick read, and would be great for a lazy day at the beach.

The first book in the series is called "At Wick's End". Enjoy!

This is a wonderful follow up in this candle making series.

In this go around, as soon as the power goes out, so does a life and Harrison has to find out who the killer is, because it happened on Harrison's property. The thing is that most everyone thinks that this is an accident, so nobody really wants to believe that it was a murder. WIth all of this is going on, Harrison rents out the victim's rental space to the victims wife, and nobody wants her there, and old anger runs deep and resurfaces.

Myers has such a nice writing style. Granted, there are not any plot twists, but for some reason, this series doesn't need it. Myers has a way of making the reader "feel at home" and when they read this series, it's like seeing old friends that you haven't seen in a while. You can't help but to have such a good time reading this series.

If you like cozy mysteries, then you really have to start this series. It's nothing deep, but you'll have a good time reading it.