I didn’t think it would every really happen. Not really, but I dreamed it would. All those lonely days in one of the most beautiful cities of the world, San Francisco, and I was pretty sure it wouldn’t happen.

But then it did. I got up my gumption and got my life together. I left behind a man who would never love me enough to put me first and drove across the country with my best friend Mart to open my own bookstore. A dream come true in every way.

Now, it’s Tuesday, new release day at my shop All Booked Up, my favorite day of the week. I arrive a bit early to peruse the new titles: two new thrillers from some of the most well-known names in the book world, a beautiful memoir about swans and childhood, a lovely travel book about Laos, a brand new history of our own Eastern Shore, and of course, the mystery novels, including a new book in the yarn cozy series that I love and recommend to any mystery love.

My assistant manager Marcus arrives right on time and greets our first customers, including my favorite mystery lover, Galen Gilbert and his English bulldog Mack. They’ve been coming in since we opened a few months back, and I look forward to their weekly shopping spree. Galen is one of the few men I know who loves cozy mysteries, but he is an aficionado, not to mention an Instagram Influencer. At 68. I love it.

After Galen buys his usual stack of titles and Mack gets to give her regards to my dog Mayhem, Marcus and I get the new title table reoriented with the newest books in the very front. I can’t afford to get everything that’s new, but I do try out a lot of books that many people might not think would sell in a tiny nautical town in Maryland. Surprisingly, or maybe not, there’s a real market for erotica here. I try not to ask questions.

I love every minute of what I do, but those minutes become even better when a certain handsome mechanic named Daniel stops by with his basset Taco. In fact, it’s Taco Tuesday and we’re headed to Lu’s Taco Truck for some of the best food I’ve ever eaten. While we’re there, Luisa catches us up on what her husband Sheriff Tucker is doing these days – planning a major prank with the librarians of the local branch. They want to celebrate the head librarian’s birthday with a fake break-in and the “theft” of all the paranormal books from the library shelves. According to Lu, they haven’t decided yet whether the burglary will be committed by a local cult or a local coven, but either way, I plan to be on hand for the morning when she makes that discovery. You better believe it.

Daniel and I scarf down our usual carnitas tacos and thank Lu for her goodness to us before we separate and go back to our own businesses. Only this time, I’m taking Taco with me. He and Mayhem get cranky if they don’t get to share an afternoon nap.

By closing time, I’m ready to just relax with our friends from town and decide to dine at our local French restaurant. The food is very good, but it’s also the only restaurant open late enough for me to close at 7 and then go out. Max, the owner, has a bit of a crush on me and apparently is unswayed by my relationship with Daniel, and tonight, he shows his affection by showering my chair with red rose petals before I sit down. I’m very glad I didn’t wear white pants.

After dinner, I wave goodbye to our friends, kiss Daniel goodnight, and walk home with Mart. She’s offered to hold Mayhem’s leash since the dog pulls hard enough to tug a semi down the street. As I see our little cottage there on our quiet street, I sigh. It sure is good to live in a place I love, doing what I love, with the people I love. Home.

Publishable by Death is the first book in the NEW “St. Marin’s” Cozy Mystery Series mystery, released November 25, 2019. Entitled To Kill, the second book in the series, released January 21, 2020.

A bookstore, a grumpy newspaper woman, and a murder. Quiet St. Marin’s has just gotten a little more lively . . . and a little less alive.

All Harvey Beckett wants to do is read books, help the residents of St. Marin’s find the perfect book for that moment, and snuggle with her hound dog Mayhem. But when the small, waterside town’s newest resident discovers the body of the community’s persnickety reporter in her bookshop storeroom on opening day, Harvey finds herself bound and determined to figure out the crime. Her task won’t be easy, though, since the town is flooded with visitors for the first annual Harriet Tubman Festival to honor the community’s most famous resident. Plus, a quiet but charming mechanic named Daniel isn’t helping with her concentration at all.

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About the author
ACF Bookens loves a good mystery, a quaint bookshop, and a good cup of coffee. She lives in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia with her car-loving husband, book and car-loving son, and their three dogs, Meander, Mosey, and Etta.

All comments are welcomed.