Mira James and Mrs Berns make a great team, whether practicing their martial art, "toe can do" as Mrs B calls is, or investigating the rather large amount of crime in tiny Battle Lake. (Which is about to end up on a list of ten worst places to live, due in no small part to those corpses Mira keeps finding)
Jess Laurey has managed to write a page turner, generously sprinkled with humor and romance.

Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for my ARC in exchange for my honest review. This was an enjoyable book.

April Fools was not what I expected, especially the why everything happened. I won’t provide a spoiler here, but all I can say is this is a fascinating read full of twists and turns and definitely an unexpected ending.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a great whodunnit that keeps you guessing until the very end. Great characters and believable storyline. Can’t wait to read more books by this author.

The slightly unimaginatively titled ‘April Fools’ rounds off the Murder by Month series featuring Mira James and her sidekick Mrs Berns. This is the first book in the series I’ve read, and whilst it did more or less work as a standalone, clearly it would have had more impact if I’d read the previous books. Just occasionally you’re left wondering ‘Hang on, who are they?’ when a character is mentioned who’s obviously meant to be familiar.
That said, the book is fun and enjoyable, and certainly lively. The madcapness never descends into slapstick and is carefully managed and not overdone. You just have to accept that finding a body a month in a place as small as Battle Lake is perfectly feasible! The plot is a little complicated but well handled and is original. The pace is swift, the humour witty and all in all it’s a nice escapist read.

It was a fun read, I really enjoyed it, more than I thought, I would recommend it. It was easy to read and I liked it a lot.

I've done it again!

I read a book that is part of a series. It didn't stop me from reading - and loving - this book though and I am now going to go and find the others and start from the beginning.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title.

I had no idea this was part of a series and now I want to go back and read the first eleven books!

The slightly unimaginatively titled ‘April Fools’ rounds off the Murder by Month series featuring Mira James and her sidekick Mrs Berns. This is the first book in the series I’ve read, and whilst it did more or less work as a standalone, clearly it would have had more impact if I’d read the previous books. Just occasionally you’re left wondering ‘Hang on, who are they?’ when a character is mentioned who’s obviously meant to be familiar.
That said, the book is fun and enjoyable, and certainly lively. The madcapness never descends into slapstick and is carefully managed and not overdone. You just have to accept that finding a body a month in a place as small as Battle Lake is perfectly feasible! The plot is a little complicated but well handled and is original. The pace is swift, the humour witty and all in all it’s a nice escapist read.

April Fools, written by Jess Lourey, is a Mira James Mystery, staring librarian Mira James as she solves another murder (or so I assume, as this is the first of these series I have read). Mira is the local librarian and also has a column in the local newspaper for recipes. And, since moving to town, she has a tendency to find a body almost once a month, and is being blamed for the reputation that the town is gaining. It doesn’t help when you live in a small Minnesota town filled with all sorts of characters (that are honestly far odder than our leading lady).

If you enjoy cozy mysteries with crazy characters galore, this is the novel for you! Honestly, this is well written, but I don’t know if I recommend starting in the middle of this series if you aren’t a fan of jumping straight into the crazy. Something tells me that the first book or two eases the reader into this town of interesting characters.

The plot was interesting, and again odd, enough to keep my attention and propel me through the story.

If you are looking for a big romance story, this isn’t it, and if you want something serious or with really realistic characters, this also isn’t for you. If you want a fun mystery read with some oddball characters, this is a good choice for you.

WARNING, THIS IS BOOK NUMBER 12. SINCERELY RECOMMEND STARTING WITH THE FIRST NOVEL IN THE SERIES.

Jess Lourey sends this series out with a bang - what a book! Mira and Mrs Berns rock this women’s fiction mystery with courage, aplomb, and just the right amount of irreverence. They stand up for each other and they stand up for teenage girls. Mira does the brave thing of looking into a crime that suggests some guilt by her father. And Jess Lourey writes ancillary female characters that are meaningful and properly developed. This isn’t a “I’m a feminist you need to be one too” kind of story. This is a “I’m a woman, you’re a woman, let’s back each other up, hold each other up, and teach the next generation how to do it too” kind of story. And i loved it.
NetGalley provided an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

I had no idea until I began reading April Fools that this was part of a 12 book series. This cozy mystery was a fun, quick read. The characters and setting are quirky and fun as well. I will definitely have to go back and read the other books in the series and see how it all began. Thank you Netgalley and to the publisher for allowing me to read an early copy.

"She was wise, gorgeous, and she grabbed life by the cheeseballs."
This was my first book by Jess Lourey and it did not disappoint! She takes readers on an exciting adventure in the town of Battle Lake while effortlessly weaving in murder, mystery, refreshing humor, and small town camaraderie. I will definitely be going back to read more of these Mira James mysteries! .

When I requested this book on NetGalley I just thought the summary sounded interesting, but I did not realize that this is book 12 in a series..Since this is a mystery I figured I would just try and see if I could follow. And I definitely could, so that was nice. I do think you would enjoy the book more if you did read the other 11 books first. They do reference to previous things that happened, and characters that are not actually in this book.
I did really enjoy the mystery part of this book, I really liked trying to figgure it out before the main character did. But (maybe because I didn’t read the previous books) I didn’t really connect to the characters, so I didn’t care to much about them. And maybe again because of this some parts felt a bit boring, since I didn’t care that much about their conversations.
So this is a really short review. But the conclusion: the mystery of this book is really interesting but I didn’t feel connected to the characters, which probably can be solved by reading the first books first.

Librarian Mira James has found a dead body every month for the last eleven months. She finds a note in a book that includes several gentlemen names but then the word Help. One of the names is her own father's. She tries to figure out what is behind the note.
A very humorous cozy murder.

I can't believe this is the last book in the Murder By Month Series and it's the first I've read! I intend to start working my way through the backlist as soon as possible. The hometown librarian/amateur PI is such a quirky engaging character. I laughed out loud while reading this well plotted gentle mystery. I put this heroine on par with Janet Evanovich's Stephaie Plum - what great fun! A well plotted mystery, set in a town that almost becomes a character, fast pacing and really fun primary and secondary characters make April Fools easy to recommend.
I received my copy through NetGalley under no obligation.

I've read a few other books in this series, and wasn't too impressed with the stories--they lacked depth and complexity. But, this one is quite good and I found it an enjoyable read. It has multiple storylines (Mira's father's mysterious past, missing local girls, Mira's love life, and the town's questionable reputation as a murder hotbed) that intertwine nicely.

I'm particularly interested in this series because I grew up in the very area in which it is set. In fact, my home town is featured in this story as one in which a missing girl lived and worked (the local pet food dynasty being replaced by a turkey plant). The author quite accurately depicts small-town, lake country of Minnesota. This final book in the series makes me wish that she would go back and re-write the other books with the same amount of complexity.

This book was great! It is part of a mystery series where Mira James doesn’t have great luck with bodies! I couldn’t and didn’t want to stop reading. Halfway through this book I purchased the other books in this series!
Thank you Netgalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest opinions.

April Fools by Jess Lourey is the 12th and final book in the Murder-by-Month Mystery series, and my first book by this author. I found this book to be fun and look forward to reading the other books in the series. Just an all around enjoyable cozy mystery.

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and the publisher. Thank you.

This is a fairly cozy mystery, and it's well written and with great characters. The plot may be a little weak, but the book is still very good entertainment.

I really enjoyed this book by Jess Lourey and plan to catch up with the first 11 books in the series! Mira is someone I'd like to be friends with, and I wish I had a Ms. Berns in my life! I also wish I had a girls' club like theirs when I was a teenager. I think it is good to shine a light on human trafficking (happens right under people's noses) and I can't wait to read more books from this author!


(also posting reviews to Goodreads and Amazon)