Member Review

Murder’s No Votive Confidence by Christin Becher is the first A Nantucket Candle Maker Mystery. Stella Wright owns Wick & Flame on Nantucket Island. She has been commissioned by bride-to-be, Jessica Sterling to create candles for her wedding including a one-of-a-kind unity candle. On the day before the wedding, the unity candle is found broken on the floor next to Jessica’s uncle, Simon Sterling. Someone took the candle and bashed in the man’s head (talk about crime of passion). When family friend, Bill Duffy is arrested by a visiting police chief for the murder, Stella sets out to find the real killer. I thought Murder’s No Votive Confidence was nicely written and it had steady pacing. The story is told from Stella’s perspective. I like the lovely setting of Nantucket Island. The author provides beautiful descriptions of the island flora and fauna, the shops, homes and, of course, the ocean. Stella is an affable character who prefers comfort clothes over fancy (much to her friend’s distress), a wee bit clumsy and has a contingent of cousins (I like Kate who forbade the others from cursing—good for her). The secondary characters are introduced with the barest of details. I am sure we will learn more about Stella and the others as the series progresses. I especially want to know more about the Candleers (Stella’s candle class students). I love that Stella is a candlemaker and I hope we get more information on the process of creating candles in future books. Stella provides some helpful candle tips and her creations sound lovely. The mystery was interesting with a unique twist. While I could identify the killer early in the game, I was curious to know more. I had questions and I wanted the answers. Tinker, Simon’s cat, was a great addition to the book. I like how he was involved in the investigation. I enjoyed Christin Becher’s debut cozy mystery and I look forward to reading more of this engaging new series. Murder’s No Votive Confidence is a delightful new cozy mystery that has a scenic setting, a nosy newspaperman, a nervous bride, a meddling mama, a mysterious feline, handcrafted tapers, and one determined amateur sleuth.