Murder by the Book

I'm not sure if I didn't like this because I listened to the audiobook and hated the narrator's delivery or if I just didn't like the book. The narrator made everything into a screechy panic, making the MC very unlikeable.

A mystery, where our protagonist runs a bookstore and dealt with rare books in a previous career? I was hooked!

Murder by the Book is a cozy mystery that borders on romantic suspense to me. Addie Greyborne is new in town, having just inherited the estate of an aunt she didn't know she had. She's lost both her father and her fiance to mysterious deaths that were ultimately deemed accidental, and to make a fresh start, she's opening a used bookstore in Greyborne Harbor. She doesn't expect to make an enemy of a fellow shop owner in town, and she certainly doesn't expect to find herself at the center of a police investigation.

There's a LOT going on in this book. Addie's new store is broken into her first day there. Her home is also broken into more than once. Martha, another business owner, is trying to run her out of town, saying Addie was involved in criminal activity and has brought it to the town. Serena, Addie's new friend, finds herself a murder suspect, and Serena's brother Marc is trying to stay impartial on that front and investigate all of Addie's unfortunate events, too. It all got to be a little confusing at times. However, it is the first in a series, and I felt like a good bit of this might be necessary to lay the groundwork for future books.

The Marc/Addie relationship has potential, although it feels like he needs to commit to either wanting her help with an investigation or telling her to stay out of police business. He seemed to waffle back and forth between wanting her to help and telling her she needed to leave the scene now. A good defense attorney would have a field day with that if any of these cases ever went to trial.

I love the friendship between Addie and Serena. I also love that Addie has hired Paige, the daughter of her new nemesis, as her part-time help. I hope to see Paige develop more as a character. She seems to have some spunk to her, and I'm curious as to why she and her mother are on the outs.

I'm giving this 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. I look forward to seeing how other books in the series develop.

There were lots of puzzles, so it felt a bit like Sherlock. That makes this book different than some cozy detectives.
There were moments where the grief felt real, but other times I forgot about it. So I didn't feel as sad for Addie as I expected to.
There were lots of mean people, but her BFF, love interest, and employee helped mitigate that. I really liked their relationships and that might have been my favorite part of the book. That or the puzzles. So I really enjoyed the book, but it might not be for everyone.

I enjoyed this book quite a lot. It had a few issues here and there that ultimately affected my rating, but overall it was a pretty decent read. The mystery was fantastically written and definitely the high point of the book. It certainly had me guessing right until the end. I also enjoyed the small town setting. It also had great secondary characters. 


 

That said, it started out a bit rough with the author seemingly jumping into the story with both feet when I felt we needed a bit more buildup and fleshing out. For example, how did Addie spend months getting her bookstore set up with NEVER meeting another human being in the town? Especially Serena or Martha (her neighbors)? Martha, precisely because she seemed to be this over the top busybody that would have been over poking her nose in Addie's business first chance she got? There were also a few times here and there where the writing felt a bit clunky. 

My only other issue was Addie herself. She came across quite b!tchy at times. Specifically when it came to her interactions with Marc. To be honest, I am not really a fan of budding romances in cozy mysteries. If the heroine is going to have a romantic entanglement I prefer it to be one that is already established and on solid ground. If I wanted to read romance angst, I would read a romance book. So a bit of a mixed bag with this one, but overall I enjoyed it enough to check out the next book in the series.