Snow White Red-Handed (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery) by Maia Chance

(US / UK Covers with links)

Released this week, Snow White Red-Handed (A Fairy Tale Fatal Mystery) by Maia Chance is the first in a new mystery series from Prime Crime books. It's a historical mystery fiction series with fairy tale inspirations. I'm actually surprised there aren't more of these. Prime Crime is known for its cozy mystery series, several with novelty themes from knitting to coffee houses to antiques to unusual historical settings. I've been a fan of several Prime Crime series--seeing as how mysteries are one of my favorite genres for leisure reading. With the pop culture rise of fairy tales again on TV, I've been waiting to see if fairy tales would get a new cozy mystery series or two or three. Here's the first.

I've received a review copy to read but as of of writing this post--for me it's September, not November nearly yet--I haven't read it. I'll post more about it when I do. And Maia is planning a guest post for the SurLaLune blog, too, so stay tuned.

Book description:

Miss Ophelia Flax is a Victorian actress who knows all about making quick changes and even quicker exits. But to solve a fairy-tale crime in the haunted Black Forest, she’ll need more than a bit of charm…

1867: After being fired from her latest variety hall engagement, Ophelia acts her way into a lady’s maid position for a crass American millionaire. But when her new job whisks her off to a foreboding castle straight out of a Grimm tale, she begins to wonder if her fast-talking ways might have been too hasty. The vast grounds contain the suspected remains of Snow White’s cottage, along with a disturbing dwarf skeleton. And when her millionaire boss turns up dead—poisoned by an apple—the fantastic setting turns into a once upon a crime scene.

To keep from rising to the top of the suspect list, Ophelia fights through a bramble of elegant lies, sinister folklore, and priceless treasure, with only a dashing but mysterious scholar as her ally. And as the clock ticks towards midnight, she’ll have to break a cunning killer’s spell before her own time runs out…