Shelby and Edie's bookstores are hosting book signings by true crime writer Savannah Page, as part of her visit Savannah is staying overnight in the castle to research for her new book. The signings are a massive success but when owner Shelby arrives to open the book store the next day she's blocked by security guards searching for Savannah; her body is soon found in a hidden passageway and while the police investigation gets underway Shelby can't help but start asking questions of her own.

There was a fair bit of build up before the mystery really 'started' which as a newbie to the series I enjoyed as it allowed me to familiarise myself with the characters. Throughout I thought it was well-paced with hints and new information being fed to the reader through Shelby right up until the big reveal.

The setting for these books sounds amazing, Shelby runs two bookshops, one on the mainland in Alexandria Bay and one on nearby Blye Island inside the castle. The book is set during September, just as the castle is coming to the end of tourist season and preparing to shut down for the winter.

Overall this was quite a cosy read that kept me guessing right up until the end, if you're after a murder mystery that won't have you jumping at dark corners of your house then this could be for you.

Shelby Cox loves co-owning two bookshops with her Aunt Edie. One of the shops is on the mainland in Alexandria, NY and the other is in on nearby Blye Island. The island is a popular tourist location because of historic Blye Castle. I love this cozy series for the setting alone -- can you imagine running a bookshop on an island with a castle? :) Too awesome!

Death on the Page is the 2nd book in this series. A bestselling author comes to visit. Shelby is a bit worried when she finds out that Savannah Page is actually going to be spending the night at the castle. While the committee that oversees the historic landmark has discussed setting up a suite for guests in the castle, Shelby is concerned about problems like damage to the property, liability, etc.

And she wasn't wrong.

The visiting author is found dead in a secret passage inside the castle. Uh oh. Shelby is soon on the case to do some amateur sleuthing to discover what happened to Savannah Page.

I thoroughly enjoyed this entertaining cozy mystery. I would love, love, love to spend the night in a historic castle! Now, I draw the line at being killed in a secret passage....but everything up to that point, I'm totally willing! I like Shelby and Edie as characters. Edie is a strong personality, but not too overbearing about it. Shelby loves her job, her aunt and Blye Island. The two characters just work well together. I love the setting and the side characters are quirky and enjoyable. The mystery moved at a nice pace with quite a few suspects and twisted developments. All in all, a very entertaining cozy mystery! I will definitely keep reading this series!

I look forward to the next book!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Crooked Lane. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

I have enjoyed cozy mysteries for over a decade. Lang's series is charming, set in a castle. Shelby continues to assist her aunt, who takes a nasty spill. The bookstore hosts an author, who unfortunately is found at the bottom of the castle stairs. Shelby once again become involves and her relationship,with Zack deepens. It was fairly easy to discern who the culprit was. I loved the cover art.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I have to say I wasn't really thrilled with this one and it was kind of a chore to read.
I do like Shelby, though.

Death on the Page by Essie Lang is about bookstore owner Shelby Cox. A true crime writer, Savannah Page, stays overnight in Blye Castle to research a prohibition mobster who owned the Castle until his body was found years ago. Unfortunately, Savannah doesn’t make it through the night either. Shelby decides it’s time to research another murder before anyone else gets hurt. This book was a bit on the slow side and some of the characters needed more development. This was an average cozy mystery which was unrealistic at times as well.

Shelby and her Aunt Edie are expecting a famous author to have a book signing in both their shops. Savannah Page writes true crime books. At the first signing, a patron accuses Savannah of stealing her book idea. Savanna's next book is about a gangster who died in the castle. Savannah wants to stay overnight in the castle to soak up the history in preparation of her book. However, someone decides to kill her there instead.

This was an entertaining cozy It didn't keep me turning the pages, hence the 3 star rating. Shelby and her Aunt are fun characters. The story moves a bit slowly or maybe it was just that I couldn't find the time to read for more than a few minutes a day.

A very solid second entry in the series! I enjoyed the growth of the characters and am looking forward to learning more of everyone; just wish that the side characters had a little more to do than just pop in and leave.

Although this is a charming cosy mystery which includes books, a cute cat and a house boat, I felt it was a bit average. I'm not saying it is a bad book, but it was an average cosy mystery. I also guessed the culprit very fast. I might add that I liked a few of the characters.

This is the second book in the series, and I have the same issues as I did with the first one. 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.

Thousands Islands bookstore owner Shelby Cox is hosting a book signing event for best-selling author Savannah Page. Savannah is working on a new true crime book and plans to spend the night at Blye Castle to learn more about the original owner's mysterious death. When she is found dead the next morning, Shelby decides to do some sleuthing of her own, much to the dismay of her boyfriend and the police chief.

Death on the Page is a fun, enjoyable read. The beautiful and unique setting quickly drew me into the story. The plot is well-written, engaging, and keeps a steady pace. The main character Shelby is easy to like and I found her to be a very good sleuth. The secondary characters are well-developed. This is the first book I have read in this series, and I found it very easy to keep up with everyone and their backstories. I enjoyed getting to know the residents of Alexandria Bay and look forward to seeing more of them in the upcoming books. The murder mystery has plenty of suspects and red herrings to keep readers guessing until the reveal. I will definitely be reading the next book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks so much to Netgalley for the ARC of Death on the Page, the second entry in the Castle Bookshop Mystery. I had loved the first one and was so happy to read the second. I did not guess the culprit until the very end. Lovely setting and characters. Pub date is March.

Description
Essie Lang's second Castle Bookshop mystery is perfect for fans of Lorna Barrett and Vicki Delany.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...
Thousand Islands bookstore owner Shelby Cox sleuths the slaying of a true-crime writer who may have learned too much about a murder case that should have stayed shut.
There are a thousand stories in New York's scenic Thousand Islands, and Bayside Books co-owner Shelby Cox stocks them all. But lately, the Blye Island bookseller's life is more about investigation than inventory. True-crime writer Savannah Page caps off two successful signings at Bayside Books with a night in Blye Castle. She's there to research Joe Cabana, a colorful Prohibition-era mobster who owned the castle--until he was found dead in the island Grotto.
But crime becomes all too true for Savannah. Her body turns up the next morning, in a secret passage at the bottom of the stairs. The last thing Shelby Cox wants is to sleuth another murder, but she's intrigued about how a killer could have reached the island after hours. She's not at a lack for suspects either. It could have been anyone from Savannah's fiancé, Liam Kennelly, who argued with her the evening before, to island caretaker Matthew Kessler, recently cleared of his wife's murder. Can Shelby keep regular store hours, elude the police chief, and assemble the clues into a hard-bound case without getting permanently shelved?

So these are the reasons why I didn't make it to the end. 1) It's me not you!
You know when you're in one of those reading funks and you pick up a book, the cover and description tick all the relevant boxes BUT you sit down to fully embrace the book (in this cases a murder mystery - my go to genre if I'm not feeling the whole romance marlarky)
On paper I should have loved this book but I just couldn't get into it.

2) Personality
One of the great things of a brilliant Cozy Read - is it's personality. How the author describes the characters, how as a reader I can relate and in some cases now still remember the characters. They had big personalities that lasted over time. Unfortunately I barely remember the characters, I didn't feel any strong feels for any character in the book

3) A little sleuthing
Another great thing of a good Murder Mystery is grabbing the readers attention right from the get to (engage those sleuthing skills) lead us on a merry go round trying to figure out who dunnit!
The book was a little bit of a slow burner for me. It is the second installment of the series and that could have factored in, some of the back stories were lost on me.

First I would like to thank Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This is the second book in the series and for some reason I had a really hard time getting into the story. I like the characters, they are begining to be developed and maybe it was just a timing issue but I never became very interested in who dun it.

I will definitely read another book in this series and see if it was just a timing issue for me. I would like to get to know these characters some more.

A cute and cosy mystery where everyones a suspect and no one is as they seem. The setting is beautiful and the characters are believable and sweet. A great read if you're a fan of the genre

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

I really loved the setting for this book, it is just so unique and beautiful that you can almost see it as you read! Of course the books help immensely with my enjoyment; I always love a cozy with books as the theme. Shelby was a good sleuth too; thorough but not too professional in her search for justice. Even though this is book two, you can easily fall into the plot and understand the characters and their struggles as the book progresses. It's a good mystery with enough turns to keep us amateur sleuths guessing too. I really enjoyed this book, and can't wait to read more from this author!

Five stars.

Death on the Page is a great cozy mystery with a entertaining storyline. The characters are well developed and interesting.

This was an enjoyable cozy mystery. The writing style was atmospheric and I felt as if I knew that bookstore. There were some twists and surprises throughout, just as I like.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Death on the Page by Essie Lang
Book #2: Castle Bookshop Mystery Series
Source: NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books
Rating: 3/5 stars

**MINI-REVIEW**

The Bottom Line: In an effort to be fair to the author and to accept that the first book in a new series isn’t always the best, I went for round two of the Castle Bookshop Mystery series. Unfortunately, I didn’t find much more in this installment of the series than I did in the first. The setting/locale is still idyllic and beautifully described, but the characters still fall woefully short and the plot was only moderately more interesting than in the first book. My greatest issue with this book is going to have to be the characters: Shelby is still rather flat, her aunt and her aunt’s best friend are cold, at best, and the police chief is just completely off-putting. Though the men and a few of the minor female characters are slightly better, they just aren’t enough to keep me coming back to this series. Sad as it is, there are just too many books and too little time to continue to devote time and effort to a series that just doesn’t totally enthrall me.

The focus of Essie Lang's Castle Bookshop Mystery series is a castle built by a smuggler years ago. Lang utilizes the standard cozy mystery elements of a book store, a female protagonist, a male investigator, and the wacky best friend. However, her twists on the common trope make for an entertaining adventure. Death on the Page is the second book in this series. As a cozy mystery veteran, I enjoyed the suspense that she maintained until the end of the book and the twists that occurred throughout. The underlying romance is sustained at a slow level to allow for it to survive several books in the future.

The life of a bookseller shouldn't have this much murder but for Shelby Cox this seems to be something that "just" happens to her. This second cozy mystery by Essie Lang and provides a fast read for readers who want a mystery that isn't too intense but still satisfies. The characters are interesting and the plot line is easy to follow.