I really enjoyed reading this book. I've been to Alexandria Bay a few times and visited Boldt Castle and Singer Castle. I like Shelby Cox and her persistence.

I received a free copy from the publisher and NetGalley for an honest review.

Cozy mysteries are definitely becoming my forte!
This book was slow to start, took atleast 3 chaps for it to fully grapple my interest and I really enjoyed this.

The premise isn't entirely original, has some common tropes but Shelby was quite a relatable character who was still in her road of self discovery and she didn't let anything rush her through this.
I felt this aspect of our MC was well done along with her relationships both old and new. I related to her "new girl in the city" vibe along with finding her roots.

She works at a bookstore, but I really wish we got more or atleast just a part of a chapter of how she handled her job. We get few snippets of her job lifeand most of the time it's glanced over. But I found the setting very intriguing, I want to inherit a bookstore please; we do get to see her deal with seasonal catalogue as publishers contact her and she gets a hang of how to deal with it. I thoroughly enjoyed reading about that...now I want a bookstore o my own.

The story takes place in a picturesque island in a buzzing tourist season, where a murder doesn't seem to unbalance the locals rhythm of life...but why would it when the victim had just a few admirers. But when the investigation takes on a close, personal turn, is when Shelby steps up to sleuthing around the town...and we all know it doesn't come without consequences... both good & bad.

From side characters, I immediately like Edie and Zack; Edie is her family and shares a peaceful independent life with her. I didn't get enough of Zack, their interactions were sweet and fun and seemed to flesh out of MC more.
Since this is a series, I gave high for more of their involvement .
The characters were realistic and I enjoyed their interactions but the names got me all confused. Sometimes they're referred with Thier first name sometimes last name.

The mystery itself has its twists...which in my opinion weren't all that exciting, more like everyone arriving to same conclusion but nothing is really concrete.
But it was interesting and convoluting enough to keep me hooked in.
The resolution left me sort of unsatisfied, I expected a bit more thrilling environment surrounding the last scene.
It got over too quickly.


Looking forward to the sequel s!

*Arc had Few spelling mistakes and grammatical errors*

Shelby moves home to help her aunt with her bookstore. She finds an unpopular member of the community drowned and it soon becomes clear that she was murdered. Shelby investigates at the request of her Aunt whose partner is suspected of the murder.

There's a possible romance for Shelby with Special agent Zack Griffin and the mystery of her Mother's disappearance.

A good start to a new series.

This is a first in a new series. It is a standard cozy but it just did not grab me. It may appeal to cozy fans but I found it drawn out and the characters were not interesting.

Shelby Cox never intended to become a bookseller when she reurns to her hometown of Alexandria Bay, in upstate New York’s Thousand Islands region, to help in her aunt’s bookstore as she recovers from knee surgery. She discovers that she now owns a fifty-percent share in Bayside Books, and will also run the store’s second location in the c castle on nearby Blye Island. But just as Shelby is gearing up for the start of the tourist season, the Castle volunteer coordinator is found murdered in the nearby Grotto. Castle caretaker Matthew Kessler is suspect number one, but Shelby thinks the killing may be connected to an earlier era, when violence among Prohibition-era smugglers was rampant in the region. Shelby launches her own investigation, and Special Agent Zack Griffin of the Coast Guard Investigative Services tries to discourage her smuggling theory and keep her safe. Shelby uses her experience as a book editor to plot the murder—and find the killer before he strikes again. This is a very promising start for Essie Lang's debut into the realm of cozy mysteries, and I look forward to the series continuing. She introduced and developed the characters and area so that you could visualize how the characters and the area looked.

Shelby Cox returns to the town she was born in when her Aunt has surgery and asks here to help out while she recovers. While there, Shelby has some questions she wants answers to and begins digging to find out more about the mother she lost when she was three. As co owner and managing the newest remote location at a tourist castle location, Shelby has her hands full. And when she finds one of the castle’s board member dead, she’s got even more on her plate.

While Alex Bay is a small town where everyone knows each other, it also means there are a lot of people keeping secrets while others are gossiping. But Shelby asserts herself and begins asking questions, both about her Mother and the murder.

When Shelby begins getting closer to uncaring the murderer, she is threatened by a foiled attempt to set her houseboat free into the river. Then she is the threatened by a developer who not only places a vailed threat against Shelby, but also her Aunt Edie. Time is running out and it may be up for Shelby.

The first in a new series, I found the book enjoyable overall. Though I had to get more than halfway through the story before i was completely engaged. I’ll attribute this to a new author and writing style I had to adapt to. The mystery side of the story was engaging and there were enough suspects and motives, both real and imagined, that it kept you wondering for awhile. A solid 3.5, but I will give it a four since I will read

The premise of this book sounded promising, but I just couldn't get that interested. As a book loved I had hoped it would pick up but found myself skipping through pages. I really can't recommend this book, for me it just didn't work. I received an e-book from NetGalley in return for an unbiased review.

Trouble on the Books is the debut of the A Castle Bookshop Mystery series set in Alexandria Bay, a small town nestled in the Thousand Islands region of upstate New York. Shelby Cox is on a temporary leave from her book editor position so that she can help her Aunt Edie, who is recovering from knee replacement surgery, with the day to day operations of Bayside Books. Edie operates her bookstore in two locations: one on the Main Street of town and the other in a castle on nearby Blye Island.

Shelby is tasked with opening the Blye Island shop and is immediately confronted by the cantankerous curator of the castle, Loreena Swan. The woman seems to have her own ideas of what books the store should carry and how the displays should be arranged, and Shelby is not taking kindly to the criticism. It's not long after a verbal confrontation that Shelby discovers Loreena floating face down in the grotto. While she is briefly considered a suspect, Chief Tekla Stone points the finger at island groundskeeper Matthew Kessler who has a troubled past. Aunt Edie asks Shelby to help clear her friend's name and soon Shelby finds herself in the center of a murder investigation.

I had a difficult time getting through the book. At times the writing seemed disjointed with red herrings thrown out that were never explained. It was somewhat exasperating that the main character, new to town, would go around questioning locals that she didn't even know, and for those reasons I found it hard to have a connection with Shelby or any of the other prominent characters. There is a subplot in the book that will need to be answered in forthcoming additions to the series so I will give the next installment a try just to curb my curiosity.

I received an advanced copy of Trouble on the Books from NetGalley via Crooked Lane Books. While not required to write a review I am more than happy to offer my honest opinion.

A very gentle read with a naive main character. Shelby Cox has returned to upstate New York, to help her aunt run her two bookstores. Loreena, local busybody, well conected, and with an acerbic personality is murdered and Shelby stumbles across the body. Regardless of a murderer on the loose, Shelby decides to question practically everyone who knew Loreena, and being a small village, that means everyone. Investgating the murder does not gain Shelby any support from the local chief of police, or the coast guard investigator. Fortunately a few romantic sparks fly between Shelby and Zack, the coast guard investigator, and they collaborate on the case. If you’re looking for a read without sex, violence, or language you’re in safe hands.
Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for a free copy. All comments are my own.

A different cozy experience! Everything about this book was just delightful, the characters, the setting, the plot. The author does a fantastic job of making the reader feel like they are in the book. The story was so easy to fall into, plus with the curve balls thrown in by the author, this is completely a book to read again and again.

Haven’t all book lovers dreamed of running a (successful) bookstore? Editor Shelby Cox has been gifted half of her aunt’s bookstore in upstate New York. Even more surprising is the second bookstore that is run out of a castle. Yes, an honest to goodness castle. Getting the second store ready for tourist season is hard work and Shelby is concentrating all her energies on getting ready to open on time when a castle volunteer is murdered on the grounds. The castle caretaker is arrested for the crime, but Shelby’s research leads her to believe the murder may be connected to Prohibition graft and corruption nearly one hundred years earlier. Lang adds a handsome Coast Guard investigator to the mix for those wanting a little romance with their mystery, but for my money, Shelby seems more than capable of solving this murder on her own

cozy-mystery, amateur-sleuth, women-sleuths, murder-investigation, family-dynamics, greed

CGIS stands for Coast Guard Investigative Services, I didn't know that.
The publisher's blurb is pretty good, so there's no need for recap or spoilers here. The characters are all interesting, the locale fascinating (she's renting a houseboat to live in!), and the mystery is well done and with the expected plot twists and red herrings. There's lots more I'd like to say, but it would either be redundant or get into spoiler territory, so I'll just let you know that it's a great book that grabs by the imagination and doesn't let go!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!