In the Wick of Time

October 23, 2023

In the Wick of Time

In the Wick of Time (Magic Candle Shop Mystery)
by Valona Jones

About In The Wick Of Time

In the Wick of Time (Magic Candle Shop Mystery)
Paranormal Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Savannah, Georgia
Crooked Lane Books (October 17, 2023)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1639105077
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1639105076
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B0BSKWTKZN

Tabby Winslow will help her twin sister Sage with anything and everything—and that includes putting out the flames of suspicion when Sage’s boss is found murdered in this magical mystery, perfect for fans of Amanda Flower and Sofie Kelly.

December in Savannah, Georgia, is a sight to behold. With all the festivities—including the traditional riverfront luminary display during the boat parade—twin sisters Tabby and Sage Winslow are busier than ever setting up for the big celebration. But that isn’t the only thing on the sisters’ minds. Both Sage and her fellow employee Mary Nicole are vying for the sought-after assistant manager job at the plant nursery. But when Loren Lee, their boss, is found dead, and Sage becomes the police’s favorite suspect, both Winslow girls know that they’ll need more than a flicker of magic and their sisterhood to solve the murder and clear Sage’s name.

Soon, Tabby realizes that this is just one of the many problems they have. If being a suspect for murder wasn’t enough, there are more magical problems that they have to fix: Sage’s boyfriend is having a paranormal experience of his own he can’t control, there’s an energy vampire searching for his supposedly lost cousin, her cat suddenly dislikes her, and oh—every time Tabby hiccups, she turns completely invisible. The suspect list grows with each day and it seems everyone has a reason or a connection to Loren Lee.

Tabby and Sage are burning the candle at both ends—but will it be enough to keep their friends safe and find this killer? Or will they be burned by their efforts?

About Valona Jones

Valona Jones, also known as Maggie Toussaint, writes paranormal cozy mysteries set in coastal Georgia. A former scientist, she’s drawn to the study of personal energy. She sharpened her people-watching skills as a lifelong introvert and had a bank vault of personal observations when she began to write fiction. Her newest release is In The Wick of Time, book 2 in the A Magic Candle Shop Mystery, preceded by Snuffed Out, which released Jan. 2023. She’s a member of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime with more than twenty-five published works of fiction. She lives in coastal Georgia, where she’s seen time and tide wait for no one.

Q&A With the Author

What did you enjoy most about writing this book?
First, thank you to Literary Gold for having me here on their site. And now for the answer to the question: One of the challenges of being a crime writer is deciding which means of death to use. Sometimes authors stick with one thing, like someone gets coshed in the head. Others of us like to mix it up. For many years at Malice Domestic, I have enjoyed sitting in on the talks with Lucy Zahray aka “The Poison Lady.” She has quite an interest in poisons and often stops between the airport and the hotel to buy ordinary household items that can be used as poisons. Long story short, I’ve been wanting to try a poisoning story for some time. As a native of the area where IN THE WICK OF TIME is set, I have long known of poisonous plants that grow naturally here. I considered several for my choice of poison in this book, settling on one that grows quite near my sleuth’s shop. Don’t want to divulge the exact poison just yet, but the opportunity of it growing nearby and the fact that the back of the candle shop is outfitted like an apothecary shop, well, you can see why the cops are interested in Sage Winslow, the resident herbalist, who also worked for the deceased and argued with him the day before he passed. Budding amateur sleuth Tabby Winslow, Sage’s fraternal twin, answers the call to action because she knows her sister is innocent.

Do you have any other books you are working on that you can tell us about?
I am in the process of finishing the rough draft of another book in this series. So far in the series, there’s SNUFFED OUT and IN THE WICK OF TIME. Book three is on submission, and book four is nearly completed/ready for bigtime edits.

Can you tell us about what you have planned for the future?
I have five books planned for this series. One of my critique partners has suggested several times that I create a spinoff series of the talking cat from this series. I’m thinking seriously about it. And if that idea doesn’t take root, I have plenty more to draw from.

How long have you been writing?
Since I came from a scientific and technical writing background, and because I’m a bit stubborn about some things, it took me nearly ten years to break into publication. There were a lot of details from technical writing that I had to unlearn. Because I’d changed genres during this “discovery” period, I suddenly had books published by romance and mystery publishers. Trying to sustain the pace of dual careers in publishing was exhausting, so I moved quite comfortably into mystery writing, with the exception of a mystery trilogy set in the future that I wrote using my scientific background. Agents called it an “ecothriller with an alien twist.” Again, I had the misfortune of being pubbed in two genres, complete with two readerships, different conferences, different professional organizations, and a pen name of Rigel Carson. I didn’t set out to write in science fiction, but I really wanted to fix our transportation problem… Oh well. At this point I have more than 24 books in print and digital format under my real name of Maggie Toussaint, and this new series is written under a pen name at my publisher’s request. Valona is actually where I grew up and Jones is a nearby community in the same county. All in all, I’ve been professionally published for 17 years.

Anything more you would like to say to your readers and fans?
I enjoy connecting with new readers and fans. If you enjoy one of my books, please tell a friend or share it with a friend. Also, another way readers can help a writer is to post reviews online. The number of reviews is now a criteria for ad placements and other advertising perks. It doesn’t have to be an essay either. Just the star rating you think it deserves, and something like “I enjoyed this book.” Easy peasy. Also, encourage your library to order IN THE WICK OF TIME. It’s in hardcover, digital, and audiobook. Thank you!