The Cartographer's Curse

Have you ever wondered if some places exist just beyond the edge of every map?Maren Cole thought she'd left her grandmother's strange legacy behind. The whispered rumors about enchanted maps, the peculiar visitors who came seeking directions to places that shouldn't exist, the unsettling way the compass always pointed somewhere other than north. When she fled Thistle Harbor fifteen years ago, she swore she'd never return to the dusty shop filled with impossible cartography.But Gran is dead. And she's left everything to Maren.Returning to settle the estate should be simple. Sell the shop. Clear out the maps. Ignore the locals who eye her with suspicion and something uncomfortably close to expectation. Maren has a perfectly ordinary life waiting for her back in the city—a stable job, a sensible apartment, absolutely no magic whatsoever.Then she finds the body.Oliver Finch, the town historian, lies dead in Gran's back room. Clutched in his cold hand is a map Maren has never seen before—one that shows locations that shift when she blinks, paths that rearrange themselves, and a destination marked only with a symbol that makes her blood run cold. The police call it a heart attack. But Maren knows better. She recognizes the signs of a curse when she sees one.Someone in Thistle Harbor killed Oliver Finch with magic. And they used one of Gran's maps to do it.Now Maren must embrace the inheritance she never wanted. To find the killer, she'll need to unlock abilities she's spent her whole life suppressing, decode her grandmother's cryptic journals, and navigate a town full of secrets older than the cobblestone streets. With the help of a suspicious but charming bookshop owner, a ghost who refuses to stay dead, and a cat who seems to know far more than any cat should, Maren begins to understand that some maps don't just show where places are.They show where places will be. Where people should go. And sometimes, where they'll die.The curse that killed Oliver is just the beginning. And if Maren can't unravel the mystery hidden in her grandmother's final map, she might be the next one drawn into its deadly design.Welcome to Thistle Harbor. Population: Secrets.The Cartographer's Curse is the first book in The Mapmaker's Magic series—perfect for fans of cozy paranormal mysteries with a touch of magic, a dash of romance, and maps that lead to murder.