Aura Fly Now: Witch of Wickrock Bay, #6

By Wendy Meadows

Murder has come to town…

 

The quiet seaside town of  Bay is abuzz with activity when a traveling consulting and marketing firm rolls into town. Amateur witch and sleuth Mimi Knotley is eager to see what kind of advice they have for her business… and how she can make sense of all the auras she's been seeing.

 

But when one of their key employees is murdered, the excitement soon takes a turn for the worst – and Mimi finds herself caught up in another investigation. Rumors of secret affairs and arguments with customers begin to fly, leaving Mimi and Police Chief Robert the puzzling task of finding – and catching – their elusive killer.

 

And all the while, Mimi's ability to see auras is growing stronger and stronger. It seems that between magic and murder, there'll be no rest for Mimi Knotley and her trusty dog Baxter…

• Language: English
• Publisher: Majestic Owl Publishing LLC
• Release date: Aug 19, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201784591

Wendy Meadows

USA Today bestselling author, Wendy Meadows, is a passionate Cozy Mystery Author whose meticulously crafted stories showcase witty women sleuths and engaging plots. Her primary influences include but are not limited to mystery genre greats Joanne Fluke, Ellery Adams, and James Patterson. To date, she has published dozens of books, which include her popular Sweetfern Harbor Series, Maple Hill Series, and Alaska Cozy Series, to name a few. In a previous life, Wendy worked as a Graphic Designer, earning her Graphic Design Certification at the prestigious New York based Sessions School of Design. With this valuable artistic background, she designs her own book covers. In fact, she began writing fiction soon after designing numerous book covers for other fiction authors. When she isn’t writing about female detectives and their tactful crime solving, you can find Wendy either tending to her hobby farm, playing video games, relaxing on her back porch, or coloring in her growing collection of adult coloring books. She also loves spending quality time with her husband, two sons, two cats, and one adorable Labradoodle. Together, they call “The Granite State” home sweet home. To find out more about Wendy Meadows both personally and creatively, feel free to visit her official website at www.wendymeadows.com

Book preview

chapter one

Mimi Knotley wrapped her long, brown, woolen scarf higher around her neck and pulled the matching knit beanie lower over her ears.

My hair will end up looking like an electrified green broom, she grumbled inwardly. Why did Baxter insist on going out at such an unsocial hour? Most locals were in their warm homes, getting ready for dinner.

She would also have preferred to curl up in her armchair, but…actually, having spent the entire day indoors, Mimi guessed she was eager to feel at least some fresh air on her face. And fresh the air was!

Nevermind the hair. Warmth was far more important on this November evening, particularly if one planned a longer walk. Actually, why not?

Mimi took a deep breath through her nose. The air was crisp and cool and saturated with the darker, earthy scents of fallen leaves.

Mmm…Lovely.

Trees in the local park were bare, but she didn’t mind this. Fall in Wickrock Bay was a beautiful season. One of her four favorites.

Come on, Baxie, she said, beckoning her pug. Let’s keep moving. Otherwise, the night will creep up on us.

She started to walk down the street toward the park. Baxter gave a sharp bark and followed her.

The sky was getting darker, and the streetlamps were already on, marking the sidewalk with splotches of soft light. The nearest post was adorned with a large poster.

A poster?

Mimi walked up closer. A 16x11-inch piece of paper attached to a slightly larger piece of cardboard announced in bold, colorful letters: Business Consultant Extravaganza comes to your town!

Mimi folded her arms. Really?

Come and have a look, Baxter, she called out. Baxter’s tail sprang in the air. He barked again, but he trotted away toward a bunch of bushes. Mimi shrugged.

Fine, I’ll have a look for myself, she grumbled and studied the poster. At the top of it were two photos: a beautiful red-haired woman and an older gray-haired man, both in formal business attire with a professional smile on their respective faces. Another photo, of a larger group of people, equally dressed up and equally smiling, was placed below a short note.

‘Looking to expand your business? Need to upgrade your brand? Or just starting and not sure how to best sell your products/services? Come and talk to us. Sterling Media is a traveling business consultancy for people like you. We have more than ten years of experience helping small and medium-sized businesses in towns like yours grow and flourish. Come and check it out,’ Mimi read out. Dates, addresses, all that. Sounds interesting. Should we go and see if or how we can grow our Surprises?

Surprises: Rare and Wonderful Antiques was Mimi’s beloved shop. She’d been quite busy with it lately, despite—or probably thanks to—a number of murder mysteries she had gotten herself involved in. The summer season had been busier than usual with tourists and locals alike coming to talk to her, hoping for a good story from one of the cases. Most of them ended up buying something, which depleted Mimi’s stock.

She should probably go on another big treasure-hunting trip overseas. The little local escapades she’d taken over the summer just barely kept her shelves from being completely empty.

What do you think, Baxter? she asked her pug, but there was no reply. Baxter’s apricot-fawn tail flickered in a bush by the sidewalk.

Oh, well, I may try and see it for myself. And book a trip. Maybe I could even ask Rob to join me? she wondered.

Rob Thompson was Mimi’s boyfriend and chief of the local police. He was another key reason she had been so busy this summer. A much more enjoyable kind of reason. Or maybe, just differently enjoyable.

Yeah, Mimi nodded to herself, all that business-running, storytelling, and dating were exhausting. She was overdue for a vacation. She’d have to talk to Rob soon. He also deserved a break.

Mimi rubbed her hands together. The air was stinging her fingers. She should have brought her gloves.

Right, let’s keep moving, shall we? she said aloud. Baxter squealed. That was unusual.

You all right, Baxie? Mimi called.

A low grumbling noise reached her ears from her left.

Mimi stepped toward the bushes where she had just seen Baxter’s tail. She bent over the patch of low shrubs adorning the side of the path.

There he was—her pug sitting nicely and staring at a large black crow.

Not that crow again!

Mimi started to take a swing with her arm but stopped herself. Her dog was fully capable of handling a bird. With that in mind, his earlier encounters with crows had been strange, and Mimi often thought that Baxter had developed some sort of fear of crows mixed with fascination. It was as if he didn’t want to be there with the crow, and yet—he must have felt compelled to stand there, staring at the bird and having some sort of conversation until the bird decided it was time to end it.

Mimi shook her head. But that was a long time ago, in winter, shortly after she got Baxter from the shelter. He was still settling into his new home and was still behaving oddly from time to time. As if…he was a cat, not a dog. But he had become such a brave little pug since.

Oh, yeah, it’d been a while since her pug had one of his strange encounters with the bird.

The crow made a rattling sound, which brought Mimi back into the present.

Baxter kept staring at it. And then he…nodded.

The crow cooed and nodded as if in reply. It made some more cooing sounds. Not as grating as before.

Baxter tapped his tail on the ground.

It was bizarrely fascinating to watch. Mimi forgot about the crispy cool air pinching her cheeks.

The bird jerked its head and, as if cued, Baxter jumped to his paws and gave a sharp, energetic bark.

The crow flapped its wings and took off, Baxter keeping his eyes glued to it. Once the bird was up in the sky, Baxter spun, prancing up and down.

And what exactly is this? Mimi asked. Looks like you’re happy that the bird is gone.

Baxter stopped, gave her a stare, and then yelped.

Fine with me, Mimi replied. Let’s keep moving, though, or I’ll freeze to the spot.

Baxter wagged his tail and sprang forward. Mimi followed.

She’d think about her dog’s behavior later.

Mimi stepped back onto the sidewalk, and, in one jaunty hop, Baxter joined her. His tail was up in the air like a little glowstick. Mimi smiled to herself. Somehow her pet dog’s happiness rubbed off on her.

Mimi walked on, Baxter following just a few feet behind. Suddenly, a tall