Shelby Cox first appeared in Trouble on the Books and one of the best ways to learn about a person is by asking questions, so let’s get to know Shelby.


What is your full name?
Shelby Cox

How old are you?
31

What is your profession?
Bookseller

Do you have a significant other? What is their name and profession?
Not yet but I have hope. Zack Griffin, Coast Guard Investigative Service officer

Do you have any children?
No.

Do you have any siblings?
No.

Are your parents nearby?
My Dad has passed but my mother lives in Georgia, as I’ve just recently found out.

Who is your best friend?
Erica Bryant, owner of Chocomania coffee shop, the most perfect place in Alexandria Bay, next to Bayside Books, that is.

Any pets?
I’ve been adopted by J.T. (short for Justin Timberlake), a Maine Coon cross who has taken over my life, and my heart.

What town do you live in?
Alexandria Bay, NY.

Type of dwelling and do you own or rent?
Rent a houseboat docked in the bay.

What is your favorite spot in your home?
On the upper deck of the houseboat, lounging in a chair, watching the sunset. Or sunrise.

Favorite meal and dessert?
Salmon filet, grilled by Zack; for dessert – anything chocolate.

Do you have any hobbies?
Reading.

Favorite color?
Orange.

Favorite author?
I have to say Essie Lang, don’t I? Otherwise, I wouldn’t be here. Okay, Linda Wiken will do as a seconder. 🙂

Favorite vacation spot?
Alexandria Bay. It has everything – water, beaches, islands and castles.

Favorite sports team?
Must admit, I don’t really have one. I love watching ice skating though. Does that count?

Movies or live theater?
Movies win out but I do enjoy amateur live theater

Are you a morning or a night person?
Morning – I love the harbor at first light

Amateur or professional sleuth and whom do you work with?
I guess I’m sort of an amateur sleuth and I get into trouble on my own, but I do run my ideas by several people in my life – my aunt, Matthew, Erica, and of course, Zack when I’m sure he’s not going to yell at me.

In a few sentences, what is a typical day in your life like?
It starts with breakfast with my favorite feline, JT, then a quick stop and gab at Chocomania with Erica. Armed with the most delicious latte in town, I hop on the morning shuttle and head to Blye Island and castle, opening the bookstore for the first customers around 10. After a busy day of handselling (my favorite) and schmoozing with customers and some of the castle staff and volunteers, I head back to Alex Bay and may or may not spend the evening with Zack Griffin. Like I said, there’s always hope.


Giveaway: Leave a comment below for your chance to win a signed copy of Death on the Page, limited to U.S. residents. Contest ends March 14, 2020. Good luck everyone!


Death on the Page is the second book in the “Castle Bookshop” cozy mystery series, released March 10, 2020.

Thousand Islands bookstore owner Shelby Cox sleuths the slaying of a true-crime writer who may have learned too much about a murder case that should have stayed shut.

There are a thousand stories in New York’s scenic Thousand Islands, and Bayside Books co-owner Shelby Cox stocks them all. But lately, the Blye Island bookseller’s life is more about investigation than inventory. True-crime writer Savannah Page caps off two successful signings at Bayside Books with a night in Blye Castle. She’s there to research Joe Cabana, a colorful Prohibition-era mobster who owned the castle–until he was found dead in the island Grotto.

But crime becomes all too true for Savannah. Her body turns up the next morning, in a secret passage at the bottom of the stairs. The last thing Shelby Cox wants is to sleuth another murder, but she’s intrigued about how a killer could have reached the island after hours. She’s not at a lack for suspects either. It could have been anyone from Savannah’s fiancé, Liam Kennelly, who argued with her the evening before, to island caretaker Matthew Kessler, recently cleared of his wife’s murder. Can Shelby keep regular store hours, elude the police chief, and assemble the clues into a hard-bound case without getting permanently shelved?

Purchase Link
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About the author
Adding a second pen name, Linda Wiken writes the Castle Bookstore Mysteries as Essie Lang, for Crooked Lane Books. As Linda she wrote the Dinner Club Mysteries; as Erika Chase, the Ashton Corners Book Club Mysteries. Nominated for an Agatha Award for Best First Novel and an Arthur Ellis Award from Crime Writers of Canada for Best Short Story, she’s a former mystery bookstore owner and avid chorister. Visit Linda at www.lindawiken.com.

All comments are welcomed.