Madeline Brimley, a struggling actress, returns to her small hometown Enigma in Georgia to sort out her late aunt's affairs after her passing. Madeline assumes it will be easy and stress free, in fact she is looking forward to getting back to the house that hold her happiest memories. Unfortunately as soon as she arrives she starts receiving menacing phone calls threatening her life if she doesn't leave. Once the caller tried burning her house down and townsfolk start to mysteriously die, Madeline and her friends set out to figure out who is behind all of it.

This book is a great cozy mystery for those seeking a story that is intriguing and atmospheric without being graphic or frightening. I will say content warning for death as there is a few mentions of it. I enjoyed the variety of characters and the overall story. It was clear from the first few pages that this was a male author trying to write a woman (many women, actually) which isn't always a bad thing but it was just pretty noticeable and I couldn't see past it which ultimately impacted my reading experience. But overall I liked the story and I would recommend this book to those looking for a cozy mystery in the south.

**Spoiler Free Review of Booked for Murder out December 10th**

3.75⭐️

This cozy mystery had me pleasantly surprised with the mystery. Set in a small town, Madeline inherits a bookstore to run. However, when she gets to town and starts receiving threats, only coffee can help her get down to the bottom of a murder and an arsonist’s attack on her house.

This book is for those seeking a cozy setting, a mystery with different turns and unexpected outcomes, and for coffee and book lovers. This has much higher stakes than expected for a cozy mystery, and my jaw dropped within the first 50 pages.

The characters were quirky and lovable. The writing was solid. However, the thing I loved most was Madeline attempting, sometimes failing, to solve the mystery. It gave realism to the story. Overall, I really enjoyed this one and I can’t wait until it’s out in the world this December! It would be a perfect read on a snowy day or by the fire, with of course a cup of coffee in hand.

Thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin’s Publishing Group for the ARC!

Madeline Brimley is a bit of a rebel. Not just because she comes from rural Georgia. But because, like her precious Aunt Rose, she can't wait to get out. Like her aunt, she sets out to find the stage. But, after a semi-successful run, she feels the call to return to her roots. Her aunt has passed away and willed to Madeline her bookstore.

Returning to Georgia, she renews acquaintances with several friends including Philemon and the boy she used to babysit. He's now the local policeman. She also meets new people, including the new priest.

But not everyone welcomes her return. She begins receiving mysterious, threatening calls. Her Gazebo is burned down. Then, her volunteer worker is murdered and someone tries to burn down the whole bookstore. Madeline doesn't believe her former babysittee has what it takes to solve the crime. So, she sets out to do it for him.

By and large, I enjoyed this book. The characters are enjoyable and well-constructed. The pace of the book is good. I found the ending to be a bit predictable. But maybe that was just me. I would recommend this book for a good time!

Small town, murder, BOOKSTORE!
Booked For Murder is a cozy mystery. When Madeline's Aunt Rose dies, she inherits a bookstore in her small hometown. Not everyone is excited for Madeline to be there though. A fire at the gazebo, threatening phone calls. and then a death! But who was the intended target?
Madeline launches an investigation to sus out the murderer. With a cast of colorful characters, there are lots of suspects.
An enjoyable read.

Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for an early copy for review.

Book Review:
Booked For Murder By P.J. Nelson
Genre: Mystery, Fiction, Cozy Mystery
Pub Date: December 10, 2024

Synopsis:
Maddie returns to her small town roots after leaving to pursue big dreams of being an actress. Now, the aunt who raised her has passed and left her the small town bookstore, Old Juniper Books, giving her an opportunity to restart her life.
However, life in her original small town does not start out easy as the gazebo in the store's back yard burns down the first night she is in town and soon she is receiving threatening messages urging her to get out of town.
Maddie has plenty of pluck however and is determined to stay the course but as things escalate and her young assistant is found murdered it appears highly unlikely that Maddie will he able to continue with her new found opportunity.
Thoughts:
Right from the start, this book evokes small-town charm and cozy mystery vibes. With a cast of quirky characters, you can't help but be caught up in the clean, small-town story. While it may be a little predictable, it was a really enjoyable read. Nelson is a descriptive author, and I found it very easy to visualize the bookshop and the settings she described, often feeling I was in the midst of the room with the characters.
Content Warnings:
Murder, cursing language in 2 spots

Thank you to Net Galley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

This was such a cute and cosy read! I love a good mystery especially when it's in a small town with gothic victorian vibes, plus a bookstore!

This was an easy 5 star read for me. I would 100% recommend this book to my friends and family and will most likely pic up the physical book to add to my shelf trophies!!

Thank you Netgalley

This was a cute cozy murder mystery by P.J. Nelson.

Full of colorful characters, in a spot-on southern small town.

The action begins immediately upon Miranda's return to town to the bookstore/home she inherited from her Grandmother.
Right away, someone is unhappy she is there.

We soon meet a woman she has know all of her life whom she considers to be an "aunt".
Philomena is a likeable, flamboyant character who comes to the rescue by introducing Miranda to David, the town handyman who will be rebuilding the gazebo the disgruntled mystery person set aflame.
Miranda soon learns that everyone has secrets of their own.

When the 2nd fire occurs inside the bookstore and a murder is discovered, Miranda sets out to learn more about the people in her new small southern town.
Personalities are introduced and suspected.
There is plenty of evidence against everyone, it seems, and Miranda changes her theory with each new encounter.
She is so convinced it is each person in turn that she begins to doubt her own judgement and ability to read people. (As she should, honestly.) She jumps to many conclusions rather than letting the local law enforcement sort it all out.

The story was fun.
The only thing that kept me from giving this one a higher rating is that there were a couple of characters that were introduced, tension described, but then fizzling out of the story for the most part.

Booked for Murder is obviously the first installment of an upcoming series, as there were strings left untied and dangling.
I would pick up next one in the series just to find out the answer to the biggest question that was hinted at, but never fully addressed.

My final opinion was that this was a quick, fun read that I would recommend to anyone wanting to just snuggle in on a rainy day for a light mystery.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's press for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

After inheriting her Aunt's home and bookstore Madeline finds herself tangled up in arson and murder. The premise of this book seemed intriguing and felt that the author set the reader up for some dark secrets, and twisty plot lines. Unfortunately for me that didn't happen. I wished for deeper character development and felt there were several parts of the storyline that were either dropped or left unfinished.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for a free copy of the book to review.

Enjoyed this very much. If it becomes a series I would the rest. Only thing that slightly confused me was the location of the store. College students readily found it and used it as their main source, but it also seemed to be set away from the main area. Perhaps I misread it at some point.

I was reading another book at the same time, that had a similar writing style, which made me wonder if it was the same author. But, I realized the other author must live in MD, not Georgia. So, I guess I now have two authors to follow.

Even though life in a small Georgia town may seem to meander along, this book moves at great speed delivering a right off the bat murder, complete with lots of suspects. Maddy is a credible heroine who typically finds herself in precarious situations while trying to ferret out the truth and the murder isn’t the only problem she has to solve.

really good mystery and was able to follow along. not my favorite and a little predictable. I love the cover

A wonderful and fun read. It had me from page one. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author! 5 stars!

A book about the characters in a small town and a murder that makes everyone seem guilty. Everyone seems to have a motive and suspicions are fueled by gossip and their connection to the owner of the beloved bookstore.

I really loved enjoyed this book! I am actually from South Georgia so the small towns mentioned were super fun to read about. There were minor things like suggesting Whole Foods was in Tipton and going through that town, you are lucky if there is a Publix :).
The mystery and unraveling of al the characters was done really well! I was surprised that so many people were staying in this house/bookstore but it also represents a small town where everybody knows everybody and what they are up to. I was totally convinced the killer was somebody else until it all was revealed. Thank you Net Galley for selecting me to review this book it was an enjoyable time!

Booked for Murder by P.J. Nelson is a cute, cozy mystery set in the aptly-named town of Enigma, Georgia. Madeline Brimley headed back to her hometown of Enigma after her aunt passed away, leaving her the Old Juniper Bookstore, which took up most of an old Victorian mansion. Madeline felt that it was bequeathed to her at just the right time, as she was needing a break from her acting career, despite her not knowing anything about running a business or the needs of running a bookstore.

Just as she pulled into town and settled in for the first night, she looked out and saw the old gazebo in the backyard that had been set ablaze by an unknown arsonist. Just as Madeline talked herself down from being afraid, she got a threatening phone call from a man’s voice, warning her to get out of town.

A short time later, having ignored the phone call partly because Madeline had lived in NYC and developed a hard shell and partly because she had nowhere else to go, Madeline woke up to find her front door on fire and her new friend had been stabbed to death and left to burn.

Madeline remembered what small-town life is like when the cop assigned to her case was a young man that she used to babysit, which left her with little faith in his crime-solving abilities. Also, the entire county seemed to know all of her business. Madeline decided that she and her late-aunt’s closest friend and the local Episcopalian pastor should seek to solve her friend’s murder. Whatever could go wrong?

This murder mystery was filled with humor and humanity and just enough love to make it the cutest cozy mystery that I’ve read in a while.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this wonderful ARC!!!

Are you ready to be transported to a small town in Georgia?

Then you need to read Booked for Murder by PJ Nelson. Nelson captures the feel of a small town and builds up the history around the Old Juniper Book Store and its characters. It reminded me of Cabot Cove of Murder, She Wrote fame.

Who is threatening the bookstore and the church down the street? You will want to keep reading to find out! There is good pacing and tension throughout, and the resolution felt satisfactory but left enough open for future books in the series. There were a couple of twists I didn’t see coming, but the main one was predictable. It didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book, though.

This book hooked me from the start, and I did not want to put it down. It definitely fits the cozy mystery genre right down to the cat trope! I enjoyed a couple of themes, which mostly revolved around ghosts of the past and what makes a place home. Is it where you were born, or is it more about the people?

Booked for Murder is definitely setting up for a series, and you got an excellent introduction to the cast of characters and their dynamics. There is limited development because the author wants to save some of that for future books. The main female character had more chemistry with the fire chief over the gardener, but it feels like the author will push her to the gardener. They had too much in common and were too similar of characters to make a good match. I look forward to seeing if I’m wrong about future love interests! Overall, the main characters had some change and were likable.

Nelson’s writing was straightforward to read and follow. The main female character's point of view helped maintain consistency throughout and limited us to only what she knew and felt. I did feel some of the dialogue wasn’t as relatable. The characters sometimes spoke in depth and quoted things off the top of their head, which felt a bit pretentious. I don’t believe every character would have such a great memory!

If you are a cozy mystery lover, definitely check out Booked for Murder!

Thank you, Netgalley and St. Martin's Press, for the advanced copy for review.

It was a pretty good book. Standard woman who thinks she can solve a murder better than anyone else and almost dies doing it. But I liked Gloria and Cannonball.

Definitely get a A
I was hooked by the second chapter, the pacing is likes it's written for a TV mini series. Every few chapters you find yourself knowing more and less at the same time and it keeps you wanting more.

Great book. I liked the characters and how the plot developed. An easy read and not overly graphic as some are b

A good cozy mystery. When Madeline heads to small town Georgia to go to the bookstore and Victorian mansion she inherited, things get a bit sticky. The first night the gazebo in the backyard burns to the ground, and an ominous phone call threatening her to leave. I did like this one, and the characters are fully developed. Did tend to skim a bit in the middle though, as there seemed to be a few loose ends and wanted to see what the "secrets" were. Still though, would recommend.