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Daphne Silver Cozy Mysteries with a Dash of History

Daphne Silver

Cozy Mysteries with a Dash of History

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Crime and Parchment

Winner of the Agatha Award for Best First Mystery Novel!

Rare books librarian Juniper Blume finds books and bodies where they don't belong. Order your ebook, print, or audiobook today.

Disclosure: Some of the links here are affiliate links. This means that, at zero cost to you, I will earn an affiliate commission if you click through the link and finalize a purchase.

Cover of Crime and Parchment, including a scroll, quill pen, and a bottle of ink with a red skull and bones on it

SAVE THE DATE: November 19, 2024: The Tell-Tale Homicide releases! Cover and materials to be announced soon. Join my newsletter to be the first to learn more. 

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Sign up for my mailing list below to be the first to know when additional books in the Rare Book Cozy Mystery series arrive from Level Best Books and Blackstone Publishing. You'll also get fun updates about my life as a cozy mystery author. 

Plus, you'll receive the free short story: A MIDSUMMER'S NIGHT SCHEME, which takes place in the Rare Books Cozy Mystery universe! 

A rum runner’s mansion, a 1623 copy of Shakespeare’s “First Folio,” and a performance of A Midsummer’s Night Dream set in a speakeasy… what more could a history loving librarian want? Juniper Blume had simply planned a fun night out with her sister. She certainly didn’t expect to stumble upon a rare books’ puzzle in a classic locked room style mystery. Will she figure out the truth before the final curtain drops?

Also includes historic East European Jewish recipes!

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CRIME AND PARCHMENT

Winner of the Agatha Award for Best First Mystery Novel! Now available in e-book and paperback by Level Best Books and audio by Blackstone Publishing

Rare books librarian Juniper Blume knows this much… an ancient Celtic manuscript shouldn’t be in a Maryland cemetery.


But that’s exactly what her brother-in-law claims.


Last year, Juniper saw the 1,200-year-old Book of Kells in Ireland. She learned how their bejeweled covers were stolen centuries ago, never to be seen again. So how could they have ended up in Rose Mallow, a small Chesapeake Bay town? Being Jewish, the Book of Kells might not be her sacred text, but as a rare books librarian, the ancient book is still sacred to her, making it important to Juniper to find out the truth.


Rose Mallow is the same place where Juniper used to summer with her sister Azalea and their grandmother Zinnia, known as Nana Z. Ever since Nana Z passed away, Juniper’s avoided returning, but her curiosity is greater than her grief, so she heads down in her vintage convertible with her rescue dog Clover.


Juniper discovers that her sister Azalea has transformed their grandmother’s Queen Anne style mansion into the Wildflower Inn, backing up to the Chesapeake Bay. Although Juniper isn’t much of a cook, Azalea has kept their grandmother’s legacy alive, filling the house with the smells of East European Jewish treats, like sweet kugels and tzimmes cake. Will coming back here feel like returning home or fill Juniper with a deeper sorrow? Can she apologize to her sister for not being there when she was needed most?

Headshot of Daphne Silver, a white woman in her early 40s with shoulder-length dark hair, wearing a green dress and light colored cardigan against a background of trees

About Me

In the third grade, I wrote my first story, "Walking Through the Attic of Time." My friends and I discovered that an old house's attic was actually a portal to the past. We traveled back in time to make new friends. Today, I continue that love of the history and storytelling in writing cozy mysteries.

Contact me at daphne@daphnesilver.com

I'm proudly represented by Cindy Bullard of Birch Literary.

I also write non-fiction under my legal name at www.lsilberman.com including Wild Women of Maryland (History Press, 2015), Wicked Baltimore (History Press, 2011), and The Jewish Community of Baltimore (Arcadia Publishing, 2008).

Daphne in the News

Books on a darkened shelf

Book Riot: 8 Mysteries and Thrillers Set in the World of Books

October 1, 2024

There's no greater catnip for readers than a book about books, like these mysteries and thrillers set in the world of books and publishing.

Written by Elisa Shoenberger

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