Of Cloaks & Clay

Coming soon, the fourth book in the Creative Endeavors Series!

Bianca Velasquez has worked hard to rebuild her life. After escaping an abusive marriage, she’s found something she never thought possible again: stability, purpose, and a chosen family among her coworkers at Creative Endeavors, the quirky art supply store she now calls home in Saint Paul, Minnesota. Surrounded by creativity and support, Bianca has begun to thrive. She is branching out from her usual pottery into intricate gaming dice and, most recently, striking dragon sculptures that seem to breathe with personality and fire.

When Kai Drinkwine, the charismatic owner of a local occult shop, offers Bianca the chance to feature her dragons in his store, it feels like everything is finally falling into place. The collaboration promises not only financial opportunity, but validation of how far she’s come as an artist. For the first time in a long while, Bianca allows herself to feel excited about the future.

That future shatters the moment she discovers Kai’s body brutally murdered, bludgeoned to death with one of her own dragon sculptures.

Suddenly, Bianca is no longer just an artist on the rise, she’s the prime suspect in a very personal crime. With suspicion closing in and her hard-won stability at risk, she refuses to stand by and let her past, or circumstantial evidence, define her again. Determined to clear her name and seek justice for a man who believed in her talent, Bianca sets out to uncover the truth.

Teaming up with her sharp-witted boss and loyal friend Naomi Falkowitz, Bianca dives headfirst into a world far outside her comfort zone. What begins as a straightforward investigation quickly spirals into something far stranger. Between incense-laden rooms, cryptic tarot readings, handcrafted balms, flickering candle magic, rare herbs, and whispers of the occult, Bianca finds herself navigating a shadowy subculture where secrets are currency, and danger lurks behind every carefully drawn symbol.

With help from her Creative Endeavors family, Bianca must piece together clues, untangle motives, and confront a growing list of suspects, all while staying one step ahead of those who may want her silenced.

 

Learn more about the loving artistic women of the Creative Endeavors Murder Mystery Series

Subject: amateur sleuth, cozy mystery, thriller mystery, woman sleuth, detective story, murder mystery, arts and crafts cozy, Saint Paul, Minnesota, mom detective, female friendship, menopause humor