Tag: book store mystery

BONUS REVIEW: A Murder Between the Pages by Amy Lillard

BONUS REVIEW: A Murder Between the Pages by Amy Lillard

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

When Arlo and the book club laides helped solve the murder of author, Wally Harrison, Arlo assumed that was the first and LAST of their sleuthing. And of Wally. But the Books and More shop’s book club wasn’t done with Wally quite yet. They were reading Wally’s best seller, Missing Girl. And they are convinced he based his book on a 50 year old cold case – the disappearance of Mary Kennedy from right there in Sugar Springs.

Mary was last seen at Lillyfield, an historic mansion in town. As Arlo has to go out there to pick up a book donation for the store, the book club ladies insist on going, too, to snoop. None of them expected to witness the death of a young woman who had such a bright future ahead of her. Now the seniors want to help solve this new murder as well as the cold case. Arlo would rather leave the detecting to actual detectives, but the book club ladies are a force to be reckoned with!

Review

This is book 2 in the Main Street Book Club Mystery series after Can’t Judge a Book by Its Murder. Sadly, I did not enjoy this one as much as I did the first. For the longest time, nothing seemed to happen. The first third or more of the book felt like it just kept rehashing opinions on whether or not the book was about Mary Kennedy and what the book club ladies knew – or suspected or guessed – about the case. They did their “sleuthing” at the hairdresser’s, off page, gathering gossip. There was no movement or progress made for the longest time. I was disappointed. Then, when the new murder happened, it didn’t feel like it made much difference; it was just sort of “there” until the end.

The book club ladies were a LOT to take in this one. They have no self-control; they don’t listen to anyone who gives them a boundary or a suggestion for their own safety. Also, they have no regard for law enforcement, private property, etc. Only for their own whims. Some of that comes with the territory in a cozy with amateur sleuths, but this felt over the top for me. I also felt like Arlo was an ineffectual parent trying to corral a group of willful three year olds. She went along with things because she felt powerless to do anything else. She seemed to be there mostly for crowd control – without much control – rather than for sleuthing or digging into a mystery.

In the second half, the mystery started to pull together. And I enjoyed the romance thread for one of the book club ladies, but otherwise I didn’t click with the characters or the love triangle for Arlo. The ending of the mystery was satisfying, but the road to get there was frustrating. I don’t know that I will move forward with this series.

Readers who get a kick out of these feisty octogenarians should definitely pick this one up. The ladies are in rare form in this book. They were just too much for me. (Includes some dated references about homosexuality including a slur from the older characters that Arlo doesn’t address. This is keeping with her resignation that these ladies are going to do and say what they want no matter what she does, but it might offend some readers.)

Rating: ♥♥½*

*♥♥½ = Mostly solid to solid, some issues but overall okay

BONUS REVIEW: Little Bookshop of Murder by Maggie Blackburn

BONUS REVIEW: Little Bookshop of Murder by Maggie Blackburn

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own. This book releases on September 8, 2020.]

Summary

Summer is back in her home community of Brigid’s Island for her mother’s funeral. And nothing is right. First, her mother was too healthy to have a heart attack with no warning. Also, her funeral is in a church. No one who knew Hildy would have planned a funeral for her in a traditional church. And then there are the threatening notes Hildy, and now Summer, receive saying to sell Hildy’s bookstore, Beach Reads, or die. Maybe Summer’s mom didn’t die from natural causes….

When someone sets Summer’s childhood home on fire – with her inside – she feels that clinches things. Someone is after her family. While the police chief is disinterested in Summer’s theories – there’s just too much history and bad blood between them – at least the cute fire chief is willing to consider that Summer might be right. Now, she just has to find proof, and the murderer.

Review

I have mixed feelings about this one. There were parts I liked – Summer’s relationship with her family and her mother’s bird, the book store, and a twist right at the end. But there were numerous other places where I struggled.

Passages felt repetitive – things said by the same person, statements rehashed, and sections that didn’t seem to move anything forward. Some of the spots felt like filler. Also, one of the book club women had an alibi for the time of the murder, but she kept weighing in on the details of the day as if she had been there. I was confused by it several times in the story. Then, the book club meeting, which was going to be a significant moment in the story, was “tomorrow” for almost a week. I started counting how many times it was “tomorrow” and then how many “next mornings” there were before the next time someone said the meeting was “tomorrow.”

I was surprised by these issues. This is a seasoned mystery author. My hope is that the above issues were addressed in the final edits between the production of my review copy of the finalization of the novel. Usually the ARC has been edited more tightly than this.

While those issue may be resolved by the release date, I ran into other issues. Summer was hard to like. As a romance and cozy reader – in the act of reading a cozy mystery – I was put off by Summer’s snootiness about “real literature” vs. genre literature. It didn’t endear her to me. The author worked to soften her over the course of the book – this was intentionally part of her character at the start. But I personally read cozies because I like the protagonists. Summer made that difficult. Also, her phobia was a quirky thread in the story that never clicked for me. It didn’t feel integral. I was disappointed that the potential love interest disappeared in the latter parts of the book. Also, as a matter of personal preference only, the new age/tarot/goddess pieces aren’t a good fit for me as a reader.

Regarding the mystery, I was sadly disappointed here, too. I felt like the killer was obvious from the beginning. I zeroed in on this person and never second guessed my choice, even as other suspects were presented. None of the rest felt like real possibilities. And in the end, I thought the motive could have been stronger, especially for when Summer became the target.

If the edits I mentioned have been addressed before publication, my rating would maybe be a half point higher. Otherwise this just wasn’t the right fit for me. But the series has potential if some of these pieces are developed in the future. (Some language, new age/occult references)

Rating: ♥♥½*

*♥♥½ – Mostly solid to solid, some issues

 

REVIEW: Can't Judge a Book by Its Murder by Amy Lillard

REVIEW: Can’t Judge a Book by Its Murder by Amy Lillard

Posted on by Jaymie

[I received an electronic review copy of this book from Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.]

Summary

Arlo Stanley, book store owner, was getting ready for Sugar Springs’ Tenth Annual All-School Class Reunion. This year they were expecting a lot of visitors because they had a big name guest of honor coming. Wally Harrison had grown up in Silver Springs. He became a writer, and he had recently been at the top of the bestsellers lists. Unfortunately, as Arlo is making her way into work before the big weekend, Wally is lying dead on the sidewalk in front of her store.

Wally was scheduled to do a big signing at the shop. Arlo knew Wally from high school, as did her business partner, Chloe. In fact, Chloe and Wally had a child together, although Wally had signed his rights away before the baby was even born. Neither Chloe, nor Arlo, can see Wally as the type to throw himself from a building, but suicide is the prevailing theory.

Until the coroner’s report comes in. All signs point to murder. The logical suspects would be Wally’s wife or his mistress/assistant, but Chloe and Wally had met that morning to talk about their son. Chloe didn’t want Wally in the boy’s life. And thanks to a hefty inheritance, Chloe is the number one suspect for the murder.

Review

This was fun! I loved the characters. Arlo is great, and her loyalty to Chloe made her even more likable. The elderly ladies in the shop’s book group were a hoot! They were one of my favorite parts of the book. While I generally don’t enjoy love triangles, I am curious to see what happens between Arlo, Mads and Sam as this series goes on, especially as these characters have a history and are now back in the same town for the first time since high school.

The mystery was terrific. The clues stacked against Chloe were no joke. There were a few other suspects to explore, but really only 2 were explored in any depth. I’m curious to see how the mystery in book 2 will play out when the author is doing less “world building,” and has even more page space to dig into a mystery and a group of suspects.

Cozy fans should check this out. It’s a great story with likable characters and a small-town setting. I will definitely be checking out any further books in the Main Street Book Club Mystery series.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥½