I originally picked this book because I liked the cover. I love small town reads and I love mysteries. This book does not disappoint. It’s a great beginning to a series and I’d like to read the rest. It was a wonderful story and kept me guessing until the end. Highly entertaining!

The debut cozy mystery by Laura Gail Black was an interesting start to a new series.
I enjoyed the story and while I didn't guess the murderer she also just sort of stumbled upon the answer in the end.
I felt the author had a habit of telling and not showing and some of the characters seems flat and were just there for the strict purpose of needing to "be there". They had no personality.
I still believe it was a good start to the series I just hope she develops the bookshop more and doesn't leave it as a backdrop as I felt it was in this book.
I was given this book as an ARC from the publisher and Net Galley. All opinions are my own.

A great start to a new series. I really enjoyed the small town feel and the kindness of the characters. The story grabbed me from the start and for once I didn’t figure out who did it. I’m looking forward to Jenna’s next adventure.

A strong start to a new series. This has all the makings of a great mystery, a troubled main character, a murder, and the main character is suspect number one. Even though this is a story line we have seen before, the author does a great job keeping the story fresh. I cannot wait to read more in this series.

This was a new series debut. Jenna Quinn comes from Charlotte just in time for her uncle to be murdered. She has some recent suspicion under her name as well. The book follows her through to finding the killer. The book was alright, but just that, alright. It was formulaic with more conversation than action. The characters were more caricatures than really developed, for example the detective was really odious. There wasn't anything truly special about this series to differeniate it.

I received a free copy of FOR WHOM THE BOOK TOLLS (Book 1 of the Antique Bookshop Mysteries) by Laura Gail Black in exchange for an honest review. Jenna Quinn is hounded by horrible luck with occasional bright spots. Tried and acquitted for embezzling and murder in her hometown of Charlotte, Jenna returned home to find that her fiancé had changed the locks and put her belongings into storage. Forced to seek refuge in a cheap motel, Jenna can only watch her savings dwindle. However, things look up when Jenna’s uncle invites her to stay with him in Hokes Folly until she’s, once again, financially stable. The next morning, bad luck pounces again, and Jenna finds her uncle’s body crumpled at the base of a staircase. Jenna is forced to take her remaining $200.00 to the cheapest lodging available. Her situation brightens once again when Jenna discovers she’s her uncle’s sole heir, but bad luck pops up again; her uncle was murdered, and Jenna’s criminal history and inheritance place in the spotlight as the primary suspect. With local law enforcement doing everything it can to stretch the facts into proving Jenna to be a murderer, Jenna decides that she’s done with passivity; she’s no longer going to wait for justice; instead, she’ll find the truth and the killer, too.

I liked this book. I thought it was a good start to a new series. I recommend this book to fans of cozy mysteries featuring murder, wrongfully accused, small towns, local lore, bookstores, unexpected inheritance, and conspiracies.

#ForWhomtheBookTolls #NetGalley

law-enforcement, murder-investigation, greed, family-dynamics, friendship

Really good murder mystery with memorable characters.
Jenna has already had a VERY negative experience with being falsely accused and incarcerated, so the last thing she needs is finding the body of someone she loves and who believes in her dead in his home and her being accused of his murder by a police detective wanting brownie points to move up further in the ranks. Her uncle's was the first body, and then there's the scammer apparently looking for something in particular. The suspects kept piling up and then there was the next murder. What treasure?
I loved it!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

Book Store Cozy
Jenna Quinn is so relieved when her Uncle Paul offers her a job and a place to stay after she's arrested for a crime she didn't commit.
She get the key from under the mat and stumbles into bed, only to awaken to find her uncle's body.
The police don't seem to believe her and she's desperate to find out who killed him, not only for her own freedom, but to honor her uncle.
She meets a few of the quirky characters in town, more than one trips her radar, and a supposed cousin, one who claims what she has inherited is his.
She snoops and tries to put the book store together at the same time and eventually stumbles into the answers she was seeking. Rescued in the nick of time by an unlikely savior and the timely arrival of the police, who had come for a different reason. I enjoyed this book for it's intrigue, humor and a touch of romance.
I requested and received a NetGalley Arc to peruse and offer my opinion freely.

I throughly ejoyed this book. 1st in the series, it was a good story. Det. Sutter is rather annoying but I liked all the other characters. The story is well developed, tho the "whodunit" was somewhat predictable in my opinion.
A good first start and i look forward to book number #2!
Read as an ARC with some typos and 1 continuity issue which Im sure will be fixed before publication.

A smooth paced mystery with characters who quickly become real to readers!

Cozy Mysteries are among my favorite genres. While I do read other genres, I feel myself always coming back to these books because they bring me so much joy. For Whom the Book Tolls reminds me why I love these books so much and I am strongly hoping more books will come after this one!

Description
In this cozy series debut from Laura Gail Black, Jenna Quinn finds her uncle murdered in his antique bookstore, and Jenna--his primary beneficiary--becomes the prime suspect. Trouble follows Jenna Quinn wherever she goes. Fleeing some unsavory doings in her hometown of Charlotte, Jenna accepts her uncle's gracious invitation to stay with him in small-town Hokes Folly, NC. In exchange, she'll help him out in his antiquarian bookstore. But soon after she arrives, Jenna finds her uncle's body crumpled at the base of the staircase between his apartment and the bookstore. Before the tragedy even sinks in, Jenna learns that she's inherited almost everything her uncle owned: the store and apartment, as well as his not-so-meager savings and the payout from a life insurance policy...which adds up to more than a million dollars. This is all news to Jenna--bad news, once the police get wind of her windfall. An ill wind, indeed, as a second murder cements Jenna's status as the prime suspect in both deaths. Jenna can hit the road again, taking her chances that she can elude trouble along the way. Or she can stick it out in Hokes Folly, take over the bookstore, and try to sleuth out her uncle's killer. On the one hand, she's made some wonderful new friends, and she feels she can thrive in the genial small-town environment. On the other hand, trouble knows her address--and so does the killer, who is determined to write the final page of Jenna's story.

My Review
Set in a bookstore For Whom The Book Tolls is the first in what I hope to be many more in a series. No matter what she does Jenna is always getting herself into sticky situations. This time she may not be able to get herself out of being charged with murdering her uncle. She has motive as she inherited everything after he died. If she wants to survive, she better figure who really murdered him.

Follow Jenna as she tries to figure out the mystery. Great cozy that I can assure you is worth reading.

A must for mystery lovers.

This story pulled me in faster than I thought possible. After an undisclosed issue with the law in Charloote, Jenna Quinn has every intention of starting new by staying with her uncle in Hokes Folly. Until she wakes up the first morning and finds him dead. This story and some fun plot twists and an interesting cast of characters which make me not want to put it down

Thank you to the author and publisher for providing me with this ARC.

This is the first book in a new cozy mystery series. I love that the setting is in a small, quaint town in a bookshop!❤️
The author did a fantastic job on this novel and kept my attention from the first. What a surprise ending! I didn't see that. I can't wait to read more in this series.
Jenna Quinn left Charlotte, NC after being wrongfully charged for a crime she didn't commit. Her Uncle Paul, who she hasn't seen in years emails her with an offer to come to Hokes Folley and stay with him and work in his antique bookshop. She arrives late at night and goes to bed only to wake in the morning and find him at the bottom of the stairs dead. And she's their number one suspect. Will she find out the truth of what happened?


Thank you Crooked Lane and NetGalley for the eARC

For Whom the Book Tolls: An Antique Bookshop Mystery by Laura Gail Black captured me with its charming, down-home setting. Each time I opened the book to read, I felt I was transported to Hokes Folly and into the lives of the characters as if right there beside them during all the action.

The mystery was solid, and I had no clue who the murderer was until the reveal. I enjoyed each of the characters (both good and bad), and the atmosphere of the small town was developed well. I love the cover. I hope the author writes more about these characters and this town.

#ForWhomtheBookTolls #NetGalley

The main character in this book is Jenna Quinn. After personal and legal troubles in her home town Jenna accepts her uncle's gracious invitation to stay with him in small-town Hokes Folly, NC. In exchange, she'll help him with his bookstore. But soon after she arrives, Jenna finds her uncle's body crumpled at the base of the staircase between his apartment and the bookstore. The police suspect Jenna of murder, especially when they learn that she's the inherited almost everything her uncle owned. Soon a second murder cements Jenna's status as the prime suspect in both deaths.

Jenna needs to decide whether to leave her new Hokes Folly home and bookstore, or stay and try to solve her uncle's murder.

This was a great read with interesting characters. I hope Laura Black continues to write about these characters

For Whom the Book Tolls by Laura Gail Black is the first in a new cozy mystery series that was an interesting read.

The plot is smoothly paced with a few twists but no red herrings. Ms. Black took her time in the first few chapters introducing the characters and the small town of Hokes Folly which is necessary in a first book; but I felt that some of that could have been done as the story progressed. However, the mystery kept me guessing and I was completely surprised by the reveal.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy of this book from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. All of the above opinions are my own.

I quite enjoyed For Whom the Book Tolls by Laura Gail Black. I don’t know if I’ve just read too many cozy mysteries lately but they all have seemed to have the same basic story. I was delighted to find that Ms. Black’s book was fresh and original. Surprisingly, when I went searching for other books by this author there didn’t seem to be any. This may be not only the debut novel in the series but, possibly, Ms. Black’s first published work. The care and attention to detail in this first book shows that she has honed her skills. I applaud her skill and effort and look forward to the next book in the series.

Jenna Quinn has had a rough time lately so her Uncle has invited her to spend some time with him so she can start fresh. When Jenna arrives at 2 AM she finds the key her uncle hid for her and hits the sack. The next morning, ready to start her new chapter, she heads down stairs to her uncles antique book store and finds him sprawled at the bottom of the steps.

Finding that Jenna had arrived at night, with her uncle’s body laying there through the night, the police look at her as their main suspect, Especially after finding out she had been arrested for murder in Charlotte before heading to Hokes Folly and finding that she inherits everything from her uncle. Even though Jenna had been released and charges dropped, she won’t let anyone pin something on her again when she is absolutely innocent. Being new in town, Jenna doesn’t know who was friend or enemy to her uncle, but she soon finds out who here friends are and sets out to seek justice for her uncle and herself.

What I love most about our protagonist is that she had a bad experience in Charlotte, but she is not going to let that deter her from living her life and starting over. Jenna refuses to become the scapegoat yet again. No poor me or whining, just her taking action and standing up for herself. You can’t help but cheer her on. I’m looking forward to spending more time in Hokes Folly with future entries in the series.

The main character is believable as is all of the characters. Anytime the main character gets into a danger situation, I just want to say: "really? would anyone walk into a dangerous situation after being warned by friends, etc.?" Jenna Quinn, the main character, gets an invitation for her uncle to come and stay with him for a while. She just got acquitted in Charlotte, N.C. for a murder she did not commit and was down to her last dime and no friends. She finds her uncle dead and is accused of killing him. She makes friends with her neighbors and begins to clear her name. Along the way, her uncle's "son" shows up demanding his inheritance. Another murder takes place, and once again Jenna finds herself accused of the second murder. I like the way Jenna stumbles on to the real murderer.
This is a delightful mystery, full of good characters, and a believable story line. I found it hard to put down. I highly recommend this book as it is easy to read with a good story line, and interesting characters.

Jenna Quinn left Charlotte, North Carolina due to something that occurred recently and left her without a job, home, or boyfriend. Her Uncle Paul owns a bookstore in Hokes Folly, and has invited her to stay with him and help him out while she decides what she wants to do. Since she arrives early in the dark of the morning, she goes to bed without waking him. But the next day she can't find him, and when she goes to the bookshop, she discovers his dead body on the staircase. While half of the homicide detectives think she's committed the crime - Frank Sutter - the other half doesn't - Keith Logan. With a little help from Paul's next door neighbor Rita, Jenna knows to keep her own self out of jail she needs to find who killed her uncle and why...

This is the first book in a new series, and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. I like the fact that this time out the protagonist isn't someone who's going to have to struggle nor drives a beater of a car (not that there is anything wrong with that, but really, it gets tiresome). I also like the fact that Jenna isn't stupid enough to take raw chances without telling other people where she's going to be. She knows when to ask for help (as in asking Mr. Grimes the attorney) and doesn't run off on tangents.

The mystery is extremely well done, and there aren't so many suspects that you can't keep track of them. My only complaint is Sutter. He's a nasty piece of work, even for a police officer. I do hope in the future he 'calms down' a bit. Even homicide detectives need to keep a level head when they're working. I don't care that he doesn't like her, but he's the kind of guy you never want to invite to a social gathering. I hope you get my drift.

I also like the secondary characters, even if they weren't fleshed out in this book. Rita is the kind of woman everyone should have as a friend, and Mason is certainly an energetic twenty-year-old; I like the fact he's not sullen nor sits on social media all day.

Everything about this book is a breath of fresh air in the cozy world; not only do we have an excellent mystery, we have a protagonist that is intelligent, attractive, and willing to trust others even though she's had a rough go of it; and the author doesn't 'hold us hostage' as to the events in Jenna's past. I absolutely love that we don't have to wait for the next book to discover what occurred.

When the ending comes and the murderer is revealed, it's a bit of a surprise and makes us realize the lengths people will go to just to get what they want. It was believable and unfortunately, it left a bit of sadness in its wake, not only for the needless loss of life of Paul. When all is said and done, I look forward to the next in the series. Recommended.