Monday, February 8, 2021

Murder by the Book

 This is the first cozy in the Beyond the Page Bookstore mystery series by Lauren Elliot.  As I was reading this mystery I came to realize I had read the book before.  The good thing was I didn't actually remember all the details, just had a vague sense of it feeling familiar.  There were enough twists and turns in the plot that I didn't even remember who were the villains in the story until the very end.   

Addie is the main character who has just moved to Greyborne Harbor and opened a used book store.   Quickly strange and malicious events start occurring.  The only real positive is her quick sprung friendship with Serena, they hit it off right away.   This friendship is well developed in the story and is key to helping Addie survive all the mishaps she endures in a short period of time.  These characters are well developed and you easily feel as though you could join them for dinner or a drink and have a great discussion.  

The mystery itself is full of twists and surprises.   Throughout the story you get inklings of how things might fit together and resolve the mystery but it's never obvious.  As a reader you are as perplexed as Addie and Marc, the town Police Chief.   The whole explanation is revealed at the end when Marc relays the information to Addie after making an arrest.  Thus, the reader feels like all the i's are dotted and t's are crossed as to what happened and why.    

All in all I look forward to reading more in the series because I know this is the only one I had read before :).  


Murder by the BookMurder by the Book by Lauren Elliott
My rating: 4 of 5 stars 

A very compelling cozy mystery with plenty of plot twists and dead bodies piling up along the way. Addie has moved to small town Greyborne Harbor to open a used book and curio shop. From the beginning of the book strange events seem to keep happening to Addie. Fortunately good things happen too and she meets Serena and a quick friendship forms. The development of this friendship and her relationships with other characters are developed nicely and keep the reader engaged. I look forward to reading more in the series 

View all my reviews


Challenge Prompts

The Challenge Prompts I will use this for are:  

  1. Library Love  #LibraryLoveChallenge  Book #9
  2. Literary Escapes  #LiteraryEscapes  CT
  3. Alphabet Soup Author Edition #AlphabetSoupAuthorChallenge  "E"
  4. Finishing the Series   #FinishingTheSeries2021  Beyond the Page Bookstore series
  5. Virtual Mount TBR #VirtualMountTBR2021   Book #11
  6. Back List Reader  #Backlistreader  Book #13
  7. Calendar of Crime  #CalendarOfCrime2021   
  8. Cozy Mysteries   #10 plant on cover
  9. Cruisin thru Cozies  career focus #2
  10. Cloak & Dagger  #CloakDaggerChal  Book #9
  11. Craving for Cozies  Book #7
  12. Around the Year in 52 Books #29. A book that you consider comfort reading
  13. 52 Book Club  #the52bookclub2021  #27 First Chapter Ends On An Odd Page Number
  14. The Unofficial Magnus Archives Challenge  #TMARC21  #45. Jonah Magnus: an epistolary novel OR includes letters
  15. BooklistQueen   #6. A Book About Books
  16. Nerd Daily  #NERDREADING2021 #5. AUTHOR STARTING WITH E 
  17. Bookworm  #15.) Read the first book in a series you've wanted to start
  18. Magic in the Books 
    • Book 7 #5 Book with a character death 
  19. Pick your Poison #5-2 A book about a librarian or bookseller 
  20. Medical Examiner Challenge  4 Toe Tags
  21. Beachcomber Challenge  
    • Crime Scenes 
      • Row 3
        • Bar, store, restaurant
        • Cliff, roof, high place
        • Free square- living room
      • Row 5
        • Home or business office
    • Weapons
      • Row 1 
        • Poison, poisoned food
      • Row 2 
        • Handgun
        • Rock, brick, blunt object
      • Row 3
        • Motor vehicle (struck by)
    • Detectives- Addie/Marc/Serena
    • Victims- Michael/Raymond/Blain/David
  22. Six Shooter Challenge  Target #48 Shot #1
  23. 52 books in 52 weeks  #18 detective


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