Grey Hawthorne sits down for a question-and-answer session with dru’s book musings so that we, the readers, can get to know him better.

What is your full name?
Grey Lane Hawthorne. My sister and I both have our mother’s maiden name, Lane, as our middle name.

How old are you?
29. Knocking on 30’s door.

What is your profession?
I’ve done a little of this, a little of that. I worked in construction after high school and did renovations for a while. I renovated Sea Captain’s Inn. Now I own a custom woodworking business on Devil’s Cove.

Do you have a significant other?
Currently unattached. I kind of have my eye on someone. I think there’s a little spark, but I don’t want to get ahead of myself. She’s got a lot on her plate. A romance with a chronic bachelor may not be something she wants.

Do you have any children?
No. Our family is cursed. Any of my children will carry on that curse, so kids are not in the plan—At All—unless Pippin and I can break the curse.

Do you have any siblings?
My twin, Pippin. I’m a little older than she is. Haha.

Are your parents nearby?
They’re both gone now. Our mom died giving birth to our baby brother. He didn’t make it. Our dad disappeared 20 years ago. That’s a long story.

Who is your best friend?
My sister, hands down. What people say about twins is true. She’s the other half of me.

Do you have any pets?
No. Pippin recently rescued a dog. She’s pretty cute and their relationship has been really good for Peevie (that’s my nickname for my sister). It’s tempting me to consider a dog.

What town do you live in?
I live on the island of Devil’s Cove on the Outer Banks.

Do you live in a small town or a big city?
It’s a small town. Beachy. Touristy. But also deep community roots.

What type of dwelling do you own or rent?
I bought an old barn with a silo on the east side of the island. It’s my workshop. . .and I live there.

What is your favorite spot in your home?
The workshop in back, especially when I’m working on refurbishing my boat. It’s a spot of contention between me and Pippin. The curse takes the women in our family during childbirth. The men are taken by the sea. So of course she wants me to have nothing to do with the ocean. I still have to live my life, though, and the sea calls to me.

What is your favorite meal and dessert?
Give me fish and I’m happy. There’s a hole in the wall restaurant in town off Main Street. It’s called Amberjack Grill. A mile or so down from the fishing pier. They have killer fish tacos with a zesty slaw and avocado cream, equally killer Triggerfish, and—man, pretty much anything you get there is killer.

Do you have any hobbies?
My job is my hobby. Anything to do with wood. I love the smell, the touch, being connected to the earth through the organic material. Also fishing and kayaking. I love the water. Which sucks for me.

What is your favorite vacation spot?
I live in a vacation spot. Also I haven’t had the opportunity to go on many vacations. My sister and I were raised by our grandparents. They didn’t travel much, so we didn’t either.

What is your idea of a really fun time?
Fishing while kayaking.

If you were to write a memoir, what would you call it?
Hmm. Not sure about that. Something to do with surviving a 2000 year old Irish curse. Assuming I do survive. Otherwise, something like: Yet Another Victim of a 2000 Year Old Irish Curse.

Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
My sister is ALL IN on trying to break this curse. She’s a bibliomancer—somehow related to the curse—and she uses that to try to guide her. Plus our father worked for years on the same thing, researching and trying to figure out how to break it. Peevie is carrying on his work, and I’m helping. I guess that falls into the amateur category.

What is a typical day in your life like in general and when you are on a case?
There is no typical day. I promised Peevie that I’d steer clear of the water. I am, for the most part, but I admit I sneak out to the harbor once in a while to kayak, or I’ll do some shore fishing. Taking a fishing trip from Moorehead City is on my list of things to do once the curse is broken.

Aside from those once in a whiles, I get up and work on whatever project is on the docket. I have customers from as far as Winston-Salem, and down into South Carolina, and even one up in Virginia. I’ve got a waiting list now. Word of mouth is a powerful thing.

I work. Then I work some more. Once in a while I go have dinner with Peevie at the inn. If something new arises—like our cousin, for example—then I drop everything.

Really, there just isn’t a ‘regular’ day. The only constant is working in my shop.

Murder Through an Open Door, A Book Magic Mystery #4
Genre: Cozy
Release: February 2022
Purchase Link

To stop the curse that has plagued her family for centuries, Pippin Lane Hawthorne has enlisted the help of authors Tolkien, Homer, and Dickens. How? Through bibliomancy, a practice by which passages in books speak to her in cryptic code that only she can decipher. When she finds a message from her mother in an old copy of The Secret Garden, she hopes this book might hold the answers she so desperately seeks.

The book leads Pippin to a vital clue, but before she can figure out what it means, she stumbles upon a dead body. Though the authorities deem the death is from natural causes, the books found scattered around the body tell Pippin a different story—the victim was murdered. And the death is connected to her family and the curse. Now, to solve a murder in the present, Pippin must dig deeper into her family’s troubled past, even if it means staring danger in the face.

About the author
Melissa Bourbon is the national bestselling author of more than twenty-five mystery books, including the Book Magic mysteries, the Lola Cruz Mysteries, A Magical Dressmaking Mystery series, and the Bread Shop Mysteries, written as Winnie Archer. She is a former middle school English teacher who gave up the classroom in order to live in her imagination full time. Melissa lives in North Carolina with her educator husband, Carlos, and their two dogs, a pug, Bean, and a chug, Dobby. She is beyond fortunate to be living the life of her dreams. Learn more about Melissa at her website, on Facebook at Melissa Bourbon / Winnie Archer Books, and on Instagram at @bookishly_cozy.

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