Starlit Bookshop Mysteries

In the Event of Murder (A Starlit Bookshop Mystery)
by Cynthia Kuhn

About In the Event of Murder

In the Event of Murder (A Starlit Bookshop Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Colorado
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crooked Lane Books (August 20, 2024)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 304 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1639100709
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1639100705
Digital https://amzn.to/3xRh1X8

It’s the star-studded event of the season in Silvercrest, Colorado—but some of the guests might not make it to the last dance alive in the second charming installment of the Starlit Bookshop mysteries from Agatha Award-winning author Cynthia Kuhn.

Nestled on the banks of a breathtaking Rocky Mountain river and dotted with delightful boutiques and galleries, Silvercrest, Colorado, is a book lover’s paradise. Bookseller and literary event planner Emma Starrs is looking forward to attending the annual Silvercrest Library Gala, a glamorous evening with celebrities including the legendary Whitney Willton, currently on the hit crime show Chasers, and her niece, party-planner-to-the-stars Lyra Willton. Gala Week is full of exciting activities honoring both page and screen, and library board president Tabitha Baxter is basking in the glow of her successful launch—until Lyra is found dead.

With the gala only days away, the board asks Emma for help, despite Tabitha—her longstanding nemesis—bristling over the choice. Emma agrees, even though she is already in charge of a classic mystery panel at her family’s bookstore, Starlit Books, which turns out to have its own challenges. Meanwhile, Whitney, who is aware of Emma’s sleuthing skills, begs her to find the killer. The case grows more complex with the disappearance of several priceless objects, an attack on one of the attending celebrities, and other predicaments. Emma searches for clues while handling every unexpected twist and turn leading up to the extravagant affair. But when the guests step onto the red carpet, a killer still lurks in the shadows—and murder just might become the main event.

GUEST POST

Not Always The Way We Think

I have gone back and forth about this post.

This is a cozy, after all! Blue skies and butterflies.

But I keep feeling as though I need to share something a little different. So here goes.

All books are challenging to write, in the sense that they require effort and energy. But In the Event of Murder was more difficult. Not because of the content—I loved writing these characters and telling their stories!—but because of what was going on during the development of it.

I even had surgery the day after I turned this book in the first time. Can still remember how happy I was to have made it, to have hit the deadline.

And I thought once the surgery was over, I’d just get back into the swing of things. Write up a storm. Produce, produce, produce.

But I had no idea that it would take over a year to heal. And right when I could see the light at the end of the tunnel: surprise–I had to have another surgery!

This was bigger and took longer to heal (still happening, actually).

Point is: it took far too long to finish.

But I learned something. It may not look like we planned, but as long as we keep going, we’re going to get somewhere new.

It’s not unlike the amateur detectives of the cozy genre, when you think about it. They don’t zoom straight to a solution…they bob and weave, go up and down, and just keep pushing.

Slow and steady wins the race, as they say. Doing the best we can do is enough.

(Can anyone relate? Wishing you all the best with your projects too.)

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Cynthia Kuhn writes the award-winning Starlit Bookshop Mysteries and Lila Maclean Academic Mysteries. Originally from upstate New York, she lives with her family—including one very sweet, very barky springer spaniel—in Colorado. For more information, please visit cynthiakuhn.net.

About Cynthia Kuhn

Cynthia Kuhn writes the Starlit Bookshop Mysteries, which focus on a bookseller solving crimes in an artistic mountain community, and the Lila Maclean Academic Mysteries, featuring a professor-turned-amateur-sleuth. Her work has also appeared in Mystery Most Diabolical, Mystery Most Edible, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, Copper Nickel, Prick of the Spindle, Mama PhD, and other publications. For more information, please visit cynthiakuhn.net.

Author Links

Website: https://cynthiakuhn.net

Blog: http://chicksonthecase.com

Twitter/X: http://www.twitter.com/cynthiakuhn

Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Bookshop.org – PenguinRandomHouse

TOUR PARTICIPANTS

August 20 – Mystery, Thrillers, and Suspense – SPOTLIGHT

August 20 – Boys’ Mom Reads! – SPOTLIGHT

August 21 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR GUEST POST

August 21 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT

August 22 – Books, Ramblings, and Tea – SPOTLIGHT

August 22 – The Mystery of Writing – CHARACTER GUEST POST