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It was the autumn equinox and summer was officially over.

September on Buck Island was lovely. The sun cast its lazy spell over glittering water and silky sand. The skies were blue, the breezes balmy, and the crowds had thinned.

Considerably.

Which was the not-so-good news if you were in the business of selling stuff to tourists.

The Crow’s Nest clientele was not primarily of the tourist variety, but there was no denying the influx of summer visitors had plumped up their coffers significantly.

If autumn on Buck Island was anything like winter, trade was going to get pretty lean pretty fast, and Ellery was reluctantly weighing whether he did in actual fact need two full-time employees, in addition to himself, to meet the needs of their fairly slim customer base.

He was fond of both Nora and Kingston, so the idea of letting either go—and really, there was no question of who was on the chopping block—brought him zero pleasure.

“What if we carried a few book-related gift items?” Nora mused as they drank their “elevenses” coffee and gazed out at the largely empty harbor.

Nora Sweeny was Ellery’s right-hand man. Er, woman. A small but stalwart seventysomething Buck Island native, she favored denim skirts and sensible shoes, and she always wore her long, silver hair in a ponytail.

“Why? We’re a bookstore.”

Nora shrugged. “A few extra dollars here, a few extra dollars there. It all adds up.”

“If we start selling gift items, it’s liable to look like we’re trying to compete with some of the gift shops, which is not going to go over well.”

He was thinking specifically of Janet Maples and Old Salt Stationery. Janet had only recently begun to warm up to him.

As usual, Nora understood him perfectly. “What ifourbook-related gift items were mystery-themed?”

“Hmm.”

“I’ve been looking through that pile of catalogs in the junk room—”

“You meanmy office?”

“Er, your office, and I’ve come up with a list of possibilities.” She fished around in her pocket and handed over a long and crumpled list.

Ellery smoothed out the paper and squinted at Nora’s cramped writing. “Cozy mystery coloring books? Murder mystery dinner party game? Cozy mystery day planner? Nancy Drew jigsaw puzzles? Mystery-themed Christmas ornaments?”

“The holidays are coming.”

“You say that like it’s a good thing.” Nora looked at him in surprise. “I’m kidding,” Ellery said, although he wasn’t entirely sure about that. Last Christmas had been a total catastrophe. And just when he’d started to feel optimistic about this year’s holiday season, Jack had mentioned in passing that his family really,reallywanted him to come “home” for Christmas.

Nora said, “There are key chains, pins, earrings…”

“There’s a lot to choose from,” Ellery agreed. “My concern is the financial outlay.”

“You have to spend money to earn money.”

“You have tohavemoney to spend money,” Ellery retorted.

“We could start with a few choice items and see how it goes.”

Ellery sighed. It wasn’t that he didn’t like Nora’s idea. But, having only recently pulled out of the red, he was understandably cautious. Last year, he’d had his savings to fall back on. This year, he had no savings left with which to weather the inevitable inevitables.

Nora studied him. “Or not. Kingston’s come up with what I think is a very good idea for bringing in new customers.”

“Kingston has?” Not that Ellery didn’t think Kingston was full of good ideas. He was just surprised to hear Nora touting them. Not so long ago, Nora had viewed Kingston as a rival and competitor, if not outright villain. Slowly but surely, that had changed, which was yet another reason Ellery really didn’t want to have to break up the act.

Nora said—in the tone adults use to try to convince toddlers that vegetables are delicious mealtime treats, “What if we were to offer a children’s story hour on weekends?”