Part of Bookstore Cafe Mystery, book 9
First published 2021
Krissy Hancock owns a bookstore cafe in Pine Hills, Ohio. She teams up with the local library to host their autumn festival. Krissy supplies hot cider while her employees run the apple bobbing station. The celebration takes a dark turn when a festival visitor dunks his head into the bobbing tub and drowns. Police rule out poisoned cider, but Krissy finds herself drawn into the investigation. Her police officer boyfriend wants to make detective and needs to solve this case. The victim had created numerous adversaries throughout Pine Hills. He constantly criticized Krissy's bookstore, the library, and local schools for carrying books he considered objectionable. His censorship crusade angered many residents. Now someone has permanently ended his moral crusade. Krissy faces a pool of potential murderers, each with reason to want the man dead. The killer walks among the very community members who endured his book banning efforts.
Genres: mystery, crime, contemporary, adult-fiction, cozy-mystery
Vibes: community-driven, cozy, lighthearted-mystery, suspenseful
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, community-suspects, small-town-setting
Setting: Pine Hills, Ohio
Period: autumn
304 pages · Mass Market Paperback · Kensington
Content warnings: death, murder