Juneau Black talk shade. Shady Hollow, that is.

Mirror Lake is the third Shady Hollow mystery. We're thrilled at Boswell to be hosting an event with Juneau Black, also known as Sharon Nagle and Jocelyn Cole. For folks in Milwaukee, substitute Koehler for Cole. For folks in the romance world, substitute Elizabeth for Jocelyn. As folks in the know always say, whether you like spies, knights, or demon hunters, Elizabeth Cole will sweep you off your feet. Okay, I don't know who says that yet, but I'm trying to jump-start it. Here's more about Elizabeth Cole's other books.

I checked the Goodreads reviews on Mirror Lake and I particularly liked this one from Lynn Morrison, partly because I didn't know who she was. She writes: "This was my first cozy mystery where the main characters are animals rather than people. However, as a huge fan of paranormal cozies, I quickly settled in. Vera Vixen captured my heart and my mind. Super savvy, absolutely no nonsense, and firmly standing on her own two feet. And the mystery - the lack of a body was a very unusual premise. Every time I thought I had the mystery solved, the writer would introduce a new twist to keep me guessing. Highly recommend!"

Here's Jessica's review: "Mirror Lake is basically the book version of curling up with a mug of tea under a perfectly fuzzy blanket on a crisp fall day. Vera is clever and a joy to follow, and I loved the unique murder mystery story line and the creatures of Shady Hollow. I started with this, the third book in the series, but will definitely go back and read the first two." Not sure of Jessica's last name, but being what the series is, it could be Rabbit.

And it's unanimous - we're all in love with Vera Vixen.

I'm not going to lie - Mirror Lake is my second favorite novel of 2020 told from an animal's perspective, narrowly beat out by Perumal Murugan's The Story of a Goat.

Hammer and Birch is part of the Cole, Inc., but I started to think, if these books were published by a traditional publisher, who would that be? I've always thought it would fit in well with Kensington's publishing program. They are probably the foremost publisher of cozies. I used to see more from Avon and Berkley, but the decline of the mass market format has definitely hurt this genre. I know this is a leap, but one more not forget that Alexander McCall Smith's first three novels were first published by Edinburgh University Press and not Pantheon.

And finally, a last reminder, that both Juneau and Black will be in conversation with me tonight, October 29, 2020. Register here for this event, which is at 7 pm CDT. We also have signed copies, though I should note that only Black signed them, not Juneau.