Hexes & Hardcovers : Blackwater Quay Mysteries — Book One

Description

The Wrong Weight of Ink

Blackwater Quay Mysteries — Book Two

Someone has learned to weaponise ink.

And Elowen’s great-aunt’s stolen journals taught them how.

A Bookshop Keeper Learning To Trust Her Gift

Three months after the harbour wall murder, Elowen Finch is finally settling into her new life.

Finch & Fable is hers now. Atlas the cat remains unimpressed, but at least he is still present. The brass key Marigold left her still hangs at her throat. However, its lock remains unfound.

Most importantly, Elowen is no longer hiding from her gift.

She can read the emotions people leave behind in ink. Grief, fear, love, guilt, and deception all remain on the page. Now, she is learning to trust what the ink tells her.

A Break-In With Nothing Missing

Then someone breaks into Elowen’s restoration room.

At first, nothing appears to be missing. However, Elowen soon discovers the truth. Pages have been cut from Marigold’s private journals with a blade so fine that the gaps are almost invisible.

Soon after, strange letters begin arriving across Blackwater Quay.

These are not ordinary letters. They do not simply carry emotion. Instead, they force emotion into the reader.

The letters bring:

• amplified shame
• manufactured guilt
• carefully targeted accusations
• old grievances
• public suspicion
• private fear
• a town turning against itself

A Town Pulled Apart By Words

Before long, one woman with a decades-old grievance becomes the obvious suspect.

Yet Elowen can feel the difference in the ink. These letters were not written in anger. They were written with cold, careful satisfaction.

Someone has taken the technique Marigold recorded in her journals and turned it into a weapon.

Now, Blackwater Quay is no longer facing gossip, grief, or ordinary suspicion. Instead, it is facing someone who understands exactly how to hurt people with the words they are most afraid to read.

A Conservator With A Dangerous Grudge

The trail leads Elowen towards Julian Harcourt, a respected book conservator with impeccable credentials.

He has skill, patience, and access to the world of rare books. He also has six weeks of careful preparation behind him.

However, his motive reaches much further back.

In 1987, Marigold reached a conclusion that someone has worked hard to destroy. Now, that old truth may be the reason her journals were targeted.

With Rowan’s investigation circling the wrong suspect, Elowen must rely on everything she has learned.

She must understand:

• what the letters say
• what the ink carries
• what the writer intended
• who benefits from the town’s fear
• why Marigold’s work still matters
• what her brass key might finally unlock

Perfect For Readers Who Enjoy

• cosy mysteries
• bookshop mysteries
• coastal town settings
• amateur sleuths
• gentle supernatural mystery
• magical ink
• hidden journals
• family secrets
• old grudges
• slow-burn investigations
• atmospheric small-town crime

A Cosy Mystery About Ink, Trust, And Control

The Wrong Weight of Ink is a cosy mystery about the power of written words, the danger of old secrets, and the damage one person can cause when they learn how to turn trust into a weapon.

It is perfect for readers who enjoy bookshop mysteries, coastal atmosphere, quiet magic, hidden evidence, and mysteries where the truth is buried in the smallest details.

Book Two in the Blackwater Quay Mysteries.