I received this title from Netgalley for an honest reveiw. This was the third book in a series so at first I was not understanding the character relationships but near the middle I got it. I liked the fact that it was set in a small town bookstore which is one of my dream jobs during Christmas time. Liked the relationship between Addie and Serena plus Addie's love triangle. I think I would have enjoyed this more if I had read the other books in the series first. I have checked out the first book already from hoopla so I can catch up.

I had a little bit of a hard time getting into this one. I really liked the first two books in this series, but this one fell a little flat for me. I didn't dig the love triangle (Addie/Marc/Simon), and though I did like the Christmas setting, and I love Addie's book shop, I do not love Addie as a character. It's too bad, because the mystery was good, and I love the setting. It's hard to buy into the book, though, when I don't really like the main character.

The writing was simple and the characters uninteresting except for the peripheral ones. Addie was just not smart to me and her involvement with narc & Simon was so surface it’s would be silly fir anyone unless a teenager.

When an expensive book meant for the hospital auction goes missing, and the woman in charge dies, amateur sleuth and book owner, Addie, must put the pieces together and solve the puzzle before she gets in way over her head.

A fun and engaging cozy mystery. I loved Addie and her friends. I look forward to the next book in the series.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias.

Murder in the First Edition
(Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery #3)
by Lauren Elliott 

Kindle Edition, 304 pages
Published September 24th 2019 by Kensington




Goodreads synopsis:
Addie Greyborne is preparing for the holidays at her bookstore in seaside New England--but a winter storm is coming, in more ways than one . . .

Addie's getting into the spirit for the upcoming Charity Auction—especially since she's got an 1843 copy of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol to donate. Her former colleagues at the Boston Public Library have confirmed that its worth runs toward the high five figures, which should help with the new pediatric wing. Her mood darkens, though, when a visitor from the past appears—Jonathan Hemingway, the father of her late fiancé. His presence stirs up sad memories for Addie, but also has her fuming when Jonathan, true to his womanizing ways, runs off for a lunchtime liaison with Teresa Lang, who's in charge of the auction.

Soon after, Addie heads to Teresa's office at the hospital—and finds the poor woman's dead body. What she doesn't find is her valuable first edition. What sort of Scrooge would steal from sick children and commit murder in the process? As a Nor'easter bears down and a mystery emerges about Jonathan's past, Addie must find out if she can appraise people's motives and characters as well as she can appraise rare books . . .


***

5 Stars

This is the third book in the Beyond the Page Bookstore mystery by Lauren Elliott.

Wow, talk about an angsty cozy mystery. All the romantic leads were acting sort of crazy in that I’m still emotionally in high school sort of way. The sheriff, Marc and Addie’s “friend” from the hospital, Simon, were really on a roll in this story. It sort of took all my focus off of the main mystery as I pondered what in the heck was wrong with both of them. Then in the end Marc’s sister laid all the blame on Addie’s lack of romance onto her which I thought was not only wrong but rude.

Addie lamented for a lot of the story about Jonathan Hemingway, her dead husband’s father. She received a bit of crap about her theories concerning him during the course of the story. I felt vindicated for her in the end when his true agenda was revealed.

I was all emotional while reading this. The mystery hit me in one way while the romance hit me in an entirely opposite way. I felt pulled at the seams. It takes a great author to accomplish that. I felt sick when the book Addie had donated not only went missing but went missing after she realized it was worth $60,000!! I had no clue who could have killed Teresa. Marc seemed to thwart Addie at every turn and wouldn’t even listen to anything she was saying which seemed to tick me off more than anything. I wanted to be Addie’s cheerleader since that role wasn’t filled to my satisfaction. Addie needed a best friend who wasn’t as waffly in her dedication.

If you are all about the mystery, definitely read this. If you want some angsty romance in your cozy, read this as well. It really hit all the bases for me. I loved every minute of it.

Highly recommended.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.

Another enjoyable and complex mystery for Lauren Elliott. It's now Christmas time and Addie Greyborne, owner of the Beyond the Page Bookstore, has donated a copy of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol printed in 1843. At the auction to raise money for a new wind of the children's hospital the volume will most probably bring a five figure winning bid. Instead of becoming part of the auction, the book is stolen and the woman in charge of the auction is killed. If that wasn't enough, the father of Addie's deceased fiance turns up and lands on her list of suspects. He's certainly hiding something and tries to warn her off investigating.
Addie still has some maturing to do and she needs to figure out which of the two men showing attention to her - Simon, a doctor and Marc, the sheriff. Marc is also the brother of her friend, Serena. My vote goes to Marc. The rest of the cast of characters is very well developed and the mystery is complex and satisfying. Plenty of twists and turns to keep me engaged are included. The next in the series is Proof of Murder due out on April 28, 2020. It's already on my list.

Intersting and complex characters in this mystery. Lots of twists and turns, fast paced story and will keep you interested from the very first page. **I received an advance copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher which I voluntarily and honestly reviewed.**

A rare book destined for a charity auction disappears at same time auction head is found dead. Enjoyed all the questions raised in the story: Can Addy solve the mystery of the missing book she donated to auction? Why is her dead fiancé’s father in town...an innocent visit or spy mission?
What role does poisonous Australian sea life play in murder?
Only drawback is Addy’s immaturity towards her love life. She needs to get real about her romantic feelings.
Thanks to #netgalley and #kensingtonbooks for advanced digital copy.

Teresa, the head of the hospital charitable foundation, falls to her death down the stairs. The valuable book Addie donated for the upcoming charity auction goes missing the same day.
Marc and the police are reluctant to say Teresa’s death was murder or that the book was stolen.
The key suspects are good at not revealing themselves.
Jonathan, Addie’s fiancé David’s father, comes to town and it brings up all sorts of negative emotions for Addie.
There are a number of red herrings tossed into the mix as the story goes along.
The thing that brings down the final rating for this book are the personal relationships. Marc is still acting rudely but he and Addie finally talk. Simon says or said in the last book that he wants to be her friend but then gets huffy when the romance he starts pushing goes awry. Since this is the third book in the series, I feel like Addie is wallowing in the past. We know she loved David. But it’s been a year or more since she moved to Greyborne Harbor and she is stringing along two nice guys. Serena calls her on it and Addie acts like Scarlet O’Hara and she’ll think about it tomorrow.
So while the overall mystery was well done, I’m just a tad done with Addie’s drama.

Murder in the First Edition by Lauren Elliott is book three in the Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery series. I have read book two and was looking forward to book three. What I hadn't planned was reading the entire book in one night. I could not put it down!
It's Christmas in Grey Harbor and the hospital is having a fund raiser and Addie is donating a first edition of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens guaranteed to bring in a high six figure donation. But when Addie goes to the organizer, Teresa, to leave the paperwork to verify it's authenticity, she finds the book missing and Teresa dead. Since she had her fingerprints all over Teresa's office, she sets out to clear her name and find the scrooge that would murder and steal.
Elliott has many suspects and twists and turns that have you guessing up to the end. The main characters and setting are great and you will be wanting to visit Grey Harbor. There is even a hint of a possible love triangle.
I was given an ARC by NetGalley and Kensington Books for an honest review.

Murder in the First Edition by Lauren Elliott is the 3rd book in Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery series. Addie Greyborne was a librarian at the Boston Public Library, working with rare books. After her fiance was murdered, and her father was killed in a car accident Addie is now living in a small town in New England where she inherited a mansion, Greyborne Manor, from her great aunt. With all the books left in her aunt's home she was able to open her own bookstore. After Addie finds a dead body at the bottom of the stairs, and a first edition book she donated missing, Addie is determined to get to the truth. I enjoyed this cute book, with all the twists and turns, and I can not wait for the next book in the series. If you love cozy mysteries, I highly recommend this book. 

I reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Kensington Publishing. Thank you.

Murder in the First Edition is a well crafted murder mystery. I throughly enjoyed the entertaining plot and characters. I will definitely be reading more books by this author. Thanks to the publisher for my advance ebook. This is my unbiased review.

Murder In The First Edition is the third book in the A Beyond The Page Bookstore Mystery series.

The local hospital is having a Charity Auction to raise funds for the pediatric wing and Addie Greyborne has donated an 1843 edition of Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol. She had sent the book to authenticated and has just received the certificate, which she hopes will mean the book will sell for even more than first thought. She heads for the hospital to give Teresa, chairperson for the auction, the certificate. She decides to take the stairs and when she enters the stairwell she comes across the lifeless body of Teresa. She first heads for Teresa’s office only to find the book is missing.

She wants the book found so that the auction will benefit from its sale and of course, she wants the murderer found too. But Chief of Police, Marc Chandler has been rather aloof and cold towards her lately and she’s sure he won’t be sharing much information about the investigation, so she figures that she will have to depend on her own sleuthing.

Addie is surprised when she gets a visit from her late fiance’s biological father, Jonathan. Jonathan has a reputation for appearing out of nowhere, romancing a woman and heading back out of town. He soon goes to the top of the suspect list when Addie learns had me might have been the last person to see Teresa alive. But she soon discovers that there are a few others that need to be checked out.

This was an easy story to read which moves at a nice pace. Most all of the characters from the previous books, also make an appearance in this book. There are plenty of twists and turns that kept me guessing till the end.

I will be watching for the next book in the series.

When a well known artist is found dead, Addie Greyborne goes into detective mode. And even though her on again, off again boyfriend Marc repeatedly tells her to stop sleuthing, Addie just cannot quit. Never mind that Marc is police chief. And to add to the mix, Addie is starting to have feelings for Dr. Simon!

The Beyond the Page Bookstore series really is a lot of fun. Addie is one smart cookie and finds answers that even Marc doesn't discover. He begrudgingly has to admit that Addie is pretty darn helpful when it comes to solving murders. I'm looking forward to seeing what she gets involved in next and if she will be able to pick between Marc or simon. (i'm on team Simon).

My thanks to Kensington Books and Netgalley.

I will admit that I haven’t read the earlier stories in the Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery series – but that will be easily remedied because I’m now hooked on knowing everything about the residents of Grey Harbor. Also, since I didn’t have a background to go on (broke one of my own rules here) I was able to pick up on what I needed to know about this series, these characters through comments in the dialogue and interactions of the characters. So, yes, you could read this one on its own… but I intend to go back and get caught up on what I missed firsthand.

MURDER IN THE FIRST EDITION has a Christmas-y feel in the background as Addie goes about dealing with the sudden appearance of the father of her late fiancé in town. When a murder victim is found by Addie, and the rare, valuable book she donated is missing it’s time for her to go into “solve the mystery” mode.

I enjoyed this cozy mystery very much. The characters are lively and interesting, the plot was unsolvable for me before the reveal, and the banter between friends felt realistic. I rarely try too hard to solve the mystery, I enjoy watching how it all comes together – and I had a blast with this story. If you love a good mystery, if engaging characters and an interesting plot matter to you, then you’ll want to pick up this latest addition to the series right now.

*I received an e-ARC of this novel from the publisher via NetGalley. That does not change what I think of this story. It is my choice to leave a review giving my personal opinion about this book.*

The 3rd installment in the Beyond the Page Bookstore series. Addie Greybourne is getting ready for the upcoming Christmas season and at the upcoming charity auction she has a 1843 copy of a Christmas Carol that will help build a new pediatric wing at the hospital. When she goes to drop off paperwork to Teresa who is in charge of the auction she finds her dead and the book missing. Could it be the father of her late fiancé who comes to town. Jonathan has just taken Teresa out to lunch. A nor’easter hits the town Addie must figure out who the murderer is. Addie is complicated and she can be often come across as arrogant and I agree she has to move on from her late fiancé. Hopefully, she can move on. Looking forward to the next installment.

3.5 Stars

Murder in the First Edition was another delightful installment in the Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery series.

Addie Greyborne is busier than ever with her bookstore now that the holiday season is underway. When she finds a rare 1843 copy of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol in her attic, Addie knows it’s the perfect thing to donate to the hospital’s upcoming charity auction. But when Addie arrives at the hospital to deliver the appraisal paperwork for the book, she finds her book missing and the auction organizer, Teresa Lang, dead. After Addie begins her own investigation, she receives several threats to stop looking. Refusing to back down, Addie is in a race to find the killer before she becomes the next victim.

The mystery surrounding Teresa’s death was a good one as initially we have no idea if it was murder or an accident. Addie however is convinced it is murder, and that her book was stolen, so she promptly begins investigating. I like how Addie trusted her instincts more in this book as she has good ones. That’s not to say she doesn’t follow some dead end leads, but where would the fun be if she figured everything out on the first try? I thought the ending of the book, and Addie figuring out who was responsible, was very well done. There’s just enough suspense to keep things interesting and I completely bought into the reasoning behind the crimes.

Addie’s character is where I had issues with the previous two books and while I did like her more this time around, some of the issues I had with her before still happen in this book. Addie dislikes being told what to do, so when she is told to quit investigating she obviously doesn’t. I understand her still investigating, I mean that’s what makes this a cozy, but what I don’t like is the fact that Addie lies about it. Addie does get better about how often she lies in this book, so it wasn’t as much of an issue as the previous book, but it does still happen. I’m hoping it doesn’t happen at all in the next book as it’s a character flaw I can’t get past which is an issue when it’s the main character.

The love triangle between Addie, Marc, and Simon continues in this book and I disliked it as much as I did in the previous book when it was introduced. At one point, I thought we were going to get resolution on it only for the author to switch things up at the end and keep it going. I don’t have a clear preference for either of the men, but I hope Addie picks one of them in the next book just to end the triangle. A new character is introduced in this book, Jonathan Hemingway, the father of Addie’s late fiancé. Jonathan and Addie have some issues, primarily due to Jonathan’s womanizing ways which I also found to be irritating. I’m not a fan of men who are able to charm their way out of anything when it’s clear they don’t have good intentions.

Murder in the First Edition is the best book in the series thus far and I definitely think each book improves upon the previous one. I’m looking forward to the next book in the series, Proof of Murder, releasing next year.

First off can I just say wow! The third installment in the series is even better than the last, now the long wait till book four...

Addie Greyborne is preparing for the holidays at her bookstore in seaside New England—but a winter storm is coming, in more ways than one . . .

Addie’s getting into the spirit for the upcoming Charity Auction—especially since she’s got an 1843 copy of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol to donate. Her mood darkens, though, when a visitor from the past appears—Jonathan Hemingway, the father of her late fiancé. His presence stirs up sad memories for Addie, but also has her fuming when Jonathan, true to his womanizing ways, runs off for a lunchtime liaison with Teresa Lang, who’s in charge of the auction. Soon after, Addie heads to Teresa’s office at the hospital—and finds the poor woman’s dead body. What she doesn’t find is her valuable first edition. What sort of Scrooge would steal from sick children and commit murder in the process? As a Nor’easter bears down and a mystery emerges about Jonathan’s past, Addie must find out if she can appraise people’s motives and characters as well as she can appraise rare books . . .

I love the main set of characters, Addie, Selena, Paige and not to mention Marc and Simon (the men vying for Addie's affections). We had some new characters in this installment but they helped round out Addie's support system/family and make everything feel so real. Did I mention I'm team Marc...

As for the mystery it was full of twists, turns and plenty of red herrings which made this a story I did not want to put down nor end ... it was like when you finish watching a movie and want to know what happens next to the heroine or people in the story however mundane that might be. Ms Elliott has made me invested in the lives of these characters and Greyborne Harbor.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves Cozy mysteries.

I would like to thank the author and Kensington Books for the Advance Readers Copy I requested and received. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This is the third book in the series I have and I am enjoying it. This one takes place during Christmas. The hospital is having a fund raiser and Addie has donated a First edition of The Christmas Carol. When the fundraiser's director is found dead and the book is stolen she sets out to solve the crime. I really enjoy the small town setting and the bookstore background. This one has a nice cozy snowy Holiday background as well. The mystery was good although I was able to solve it. I would also like to see the romantic triangle wrapped up. Even her best friend Serena is telling her to make a choice. Enjoy this Christmas Cozy

A Bookseller's Who Dunnit
This is a wonderful, cozy murder mystery. This book is filled with crimes and victims and suspects. The story has some good twists and a climactic ending. It's a very good story. I have read the prior books in this series. This book stands alone well. While it will enhance the story for you, it is not necessary to read these books in order. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.