A bookish weekend. A sharp-tongued gatekeeper. A story that turns deadly.
Lowcountry Literary Weekend is supposed to put Mount Pleasant back on the map—stacked panels, festival lanyards, and The Gilded Spine running on cinnamon rolls and espresso.
Then a big-city literary agent arrives and turns the cozy charm sharp. She praises no one, spares no feelings, and leaves a trail of rattled writers and forced smiles in her wake. Whatever she came to collect, it isn’t souvenirs.
By Saturday morning, the festival has a problem no amount of charm—or polite spin—can smooth over.
With Police Chief Sofia Martinez keeping things official, bookshop-café owner Lila Bennett listens for what doesn’t fit: a missing page, a locked door, a volunteer schedule that won’t sit still—and Finn, alert like the whole town smells wrong.
In a crowd full of writers, the killer is counting on one thing: controlling the story.