I am always up for a good cozy mystery and exploring a new town and group of people through a mystery. As the first book in a series it sets up a cozy mystery series well, cozy little town, lovable and quirky residents, an approachable but not perfect heroine and some type of mostly benign love triangle. I enjoyed this book and look forward to further development of the characters as they still seem a bit flat but definitely have room for growth.

A fantastic murder mystery. I enjoyed the plot, setting and the quirky cast of characters. Mystery fans will not want to miss this book. Thanks to the publisher for my advance ebook. This is my unbiased review.

Can't Judge a Book By Its Murder is the debut of the Main Street Book Club Mysteries series set in the small town of Sugar Springs, Mississippi and featuring book store owner Arlo Stanley and her business partner Chloe Carter. As the town is preparing for the Sugar Springs All School Tenth Class Reunion, Arlo is looking forward to hosting a book signing at Books and More featuring fellow classmate Wally Harrison, now a New York Times Best Selling author. Unfortunately just a few hours before the store is set to open Arlo receives a call from Chief Matthew "Mads" Keller that there is a dead body on the sidewalk outside her shop. The body turns out to be Wally and nobody is sure if he jumped from the third story or if he was pushed.

Chloe and Wally had been high school lovers but when Chloe found herself pregnant, Wally left town and signed over all of his parental rights to their son Jayden. Chloe has never gotten over his betrayal and it's really no surprise when she is arrested for his murder. Arlo knows that there is no way her best friend committed the crime and she teams up with her guardian Helen and the ladies of the Friday Night Book Club to clear her name. With only ten days before Chloe is moved from the local jail to county prison Arlo must act fast to identify the real killer.

The book starts off a little slow but by the midpoint the plot gathers steam. An interesting cast of characters, a fun and feisty Amazon parrot named Faulkner and several suspects keep the pages turning. Not a fan of the love triangle I'm really hoping that the author doesn't keep Arlo's relationships with Mads and private eye Sam Tucker, both her ex boyfriends, at the forefront of future installments in the series.

I received an advanced copy of Can't Judge a Book By Its Murder from NetGalley via Poisoned Pen Press. While not required to write a review I am happy to offer my honest opinion.

Arlo and the town are gearing up for class reunion. Arlo, who owns a bookstore, is preparing for a bestselling author. she wasn't expecting a call to say that she needed to hurry there was a dead body in front of her store. Arlo and the townsfolk were enduring. Looks to be a good cozy series

Yet another ARC from @netgalley . Im loving this site. If you're a big reader, check them out.
This one is called: Can't Judge a Book by its Murder by Amy Lillard. It's the first book in a new series coming out in October called A Main Street Book Club Mystery.
Another small town cozy mystery. This one is set in a book store, which is one of my happy places lol. I usually suck at solving mysteries, and this one was no different, it kept me guessing til the end.
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#booksofinsta #readingissexy #netgalley #firstinaseries #1stinaseries #amylillard #amylillardbooks #cozymystery

First book in a new series that has all the qualities you expect to see in a cozy mystery. Small town feeling, quirky characters, a love triangle and of course the amateur sleuth. I loved the book club ladies, they are such fun characters. You can definitely pick up on the small town feel and sense of community. I guessed the killer early on but it was still a good read. Can’t wait to see what Arlo, Chloe and the book club ladies get into next. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy to read and review!

Arlo, Sugar Springs and all the feisty ladies in Arlo's book club will forever stick with me as some of the funnest and most hilarious characters in a cozy mystery I've read in awhile! This was a awesome debut with plenty of hilarity, colorful characters and an interesting mystery at the center! It's always been my dream to own a book shop so the added spin of that and reading about the day to day of running the shop was just a wonderful added bonus in this already awesome book. With plenty of heart and several surprising twists this is perfect for any reader I can't wait for Arlo's next adventure!!

This is the start of a new series for Amy Lillard. The first book in the Main Street Book Club Mystery series is a delightful read. Sugar Springs, Mississippi is a small town with an interesting cast of characters. Arlo Stanley and her best friend Chloe Carter own Books and More. Arlo is the Books and Chloe is the More that includes excellent coffee, handmade pastries and treats baked fresh each day. The story opens with a dead body sprawled on the sidewalk directly in front of Books and More. Arlo is stunned to see it's Wallace J Harrison, Wally is a hometown boy and recent author who Arlo invited to do a book signing in her store. He was also the high school boyfriend of Chloe who walked out on her when she told him she was pregnant. The mystery is a good one that involves a group of friends who will go to extremes to figure out who the murder is. The three older ladies who are part of the book club are hilarious. I enjoyed this book and would definitely read any future books in the series.

I received an Advanced Reader's Copy from Poison Pen Press through NetGalley.The opinions expressed are entirely my own. The book is scheduled for publication October 26 2019.
#Can'tJudgeaBoookByIt'sMurder #NetGalley

This is the first book in the Main Street Book Club series.
Arlo Stanley owns a bookstore café in Sugar Springs, Mississippi. The book starts with Arlo getting called to her store because the author who she was having for a book signing was found dead in front of her store. Initially, it looks like Wally Harrison jumped out of the third story window above Arlo's shop. But how did he gain access to the building and did he really jump or was he pushed. As it begins to look like Wally was pushed, Arlo's best friend becomes the prime suspect since she was the last to speak to Wally and she had the most to gain. When Chloe is arrested, Arlo and her book club members search for the real killer so the can get Chloe out of jail.
I really enjoyed this book. I thought the Characters were well put together and I love Book club group. Helen, Camille, and Fern are so much fun. I can't wait to read more about them. I also am curious to learn more about Mads, the sheriff, and Sam. Both who have history with Arlo. Even though I suspected who the killer was pretty early on the book was still enjoyable. I received this book from netgalley in exchange for review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this book!

This is the first in a new cozy series, and it was definitely a good start. I liked the friendships in this book especially; the sleuth is not only friends with a diverse group of people, but it really has that small town feel throughout. Being centred around a book store is always a plus, but it has a mini cafe going on too. Add in the reunion going on in the background and you have many situations to investigate in terms of who might be the murderer.

The writing is solid, but I do think it could do with another read through as some mistakes made it through to the ARC, mainly in spelling words or dropping letters (your to our) but that will probably get picked up closer to publishing. I felt like having the ten day time limit was really good too, because it made it feel more urgent that the suspect was caught.

This is just the first in what I'm sure will be a great series. Can't wait to see more!

I love finding new cozy mystery series and Can't Judge a Book by it's Murder is JUST the series I needed! Amy Lillard pens a great story here- one that revolves around BOOKS - and had me hooked immediately. I love a who-dun-it that allows the reader to seek out the murderer and felt like this book gave me that! Highly recommended. I can't wait for more.

Arlo is a bookstore owner who comes to work one morning, only to find the police and a dead body at her door.

I liked the story, especially the book club ladies.

The situations that appear in the book don't seem real, but I don't think that was the intention at all.

I think this is the first book of a series, it's a good introduction to the characters and the town, and I will be waiting for more stories of the Book Club ladies.

Thanks NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC of this book.

This was a good starter book for a new series. I always enjoy books based in the south and centered around books and friends. Some of my favorite things.

Anyway, the story was very interesting with our dead guy being a local boy come home for a class reunion and to sign books is found dead in front of the local bookstore. Not only that but his high school flame works in part of the bookstore and had his child which he wanted nothing to do with, until recently. Lots of red herrings and possible motives in this one. Loved the small town feel and community in the story, especially the book club characters, they were my favorites!!

Unfortunately, I was never able to get into this book. I was not able to make any connection to the characters, and I'm not sure why. I am willing to give the next book a try.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

I cant get into this book. The same word was repeated twice in each sentence in the book. Hopefully someone else can enjoy it

From unique characters to odd situations, the story kept me wondering "who done it?" Just when I thought I had things figured out, a surprise happened. I enjoyed this one. I received a complimentary copy of the book. No review was required

small-town, small-business, cozy-mystery, amateur-sleuth

Did he jump or was he pushed? Small town class reunion brings popular author and big time egoist back to the place where he was involved in a fatal auto accident and deserted the mother of his illegitimate child. But he didn't come alone, his wife and mistress came with him. Local bookstore owner, Arlo, has worries of her own including the fact that the guy dropped down from the roof of her bookstore and landed on the sidewalk right in front! Interesting Southern cozy mystery with interesting characters.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Poisoned Pen Press via NetGalley.

Firstly I would like to thank NetGalley for providing me with an eARC copy of this book.

This was an interesting first book for this series. It was a light and easy read and wasn't necessarily in-depth, although it was a thriller i wasn't really "thrilled" by it and didn't find it overly imaginative. It was quite a straightforward murder mystery plot. To me the killer was quite obvious because they had framed one person so much it clearly wasn't them. I do think the plot was slow at times and we just seemed to be going over the same plot lines over and over again. I do think the author did well in building this small town village; although I don't live in one I do feel it was very realistic to what happens in a small town where people are born there and die there.

There were certain aspects of this book that annoyed me which is why I gave it three stars;

I did find aspects of this book to just be very over the top and unrealistic in how they were acting. I didn't understand why the police would just allow a potential murderer to chill in their local jail whilst the book club brought her breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I don't know if this is an American thing and therefore is just a different culture but it just seemed so odd and bizarre to me.

I don't like love triangles; it ruins any book for me and they're clearly setting up a love triangle here that's dating back like 10 years. Just move on folks.

Overall this was an easy read; it wasn't really a thriller for me and with the clear love triangle beginning I don't think i'd be interested in reading the rest of the series. Love the title though.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. Read this during my lunch breaks at work, good easy cosy mystery.

Arlo Stanley runs a bookshop with coffee counter with her friend Chloe Carter in the town of Sugar Springs. She's hoping a book signing with famous author and former Sugar Springs golden boy Walter Harrison will boost her sales. Her hopes are quickly dashed when Walter (Wally) is found dead on the pavement in front of her story.

Was it suicide? But why jump from a three storey building? If you don't land right, you're crippled for life.

Or was it murder? Plenty of people may have wanted Wally dead:
Chloe, the ex-girlfriend he left pregnant;
Daisy, the wife that was cheated on;
Inna, the "assistant" / mistress;
Travis, whose brother was killed in a car crash that involved Wally.

When the police arrest Chloe and charge her with the murder, Arlo is sure her friend is innocent and she must prove this before her friend is taken to county jail.

I liked this book. It was well-written and engaging. The three ladies from the book club make a good sleuthing team, though they lack subtlety. I liked all the characters and there was no one I wanted to slap upside the head, though I wouldn't have minded if Arlo had yelled at Mads some.

I fail to understand why Mads was thought of as a good cop. Good in the sense of doing his job well. He kept saying he arrested Chloe because of the evidence, but why did no one point out the evidence he had was not really up to snuff? One bit was circumstantial, another needed explaining and a third just made no sense. And he should have been more thorough questioning possible witnesses. I'm sure he should have been able to figure out on his own that his arrest of Chloe was premature.