This is the 2nd book in the Main Street Book Club Mysteries and I really enjoyed it. Well and her gang of octogenarian book club members are back and there is a murder to solve, in addition to a 50 year old cold case. Helen, Fern, and Camille are confined that a 50 year old missing person case is tied up in their book club book written b the murder victim in book 1 of this series. There's no controlling these women and Camille has a new tattooed ex con love interest that could be involved in the current murder. Arlo, our protagonist, once again struggles to keep control of the situation. The book is easy to read, and funny. I think you need to read book 1 to be able to enjoy this book. The only downfall for me is the dreaded love triangle. I need Arlo, Mads, and Sam to figure it out.

2.5 stars = Solid to mostly solid, some issues but okay overall.

I struggled with this one (after enjoying the first book). The book club ladies are a LOT to take in this. They have no self-control; they don't listen to anyone who gives them a boundary or a suggestion for their own safety. They have no regard for law enforcement, private property, etc. Only for their own whims. I felt like Arlo was an ineffectual parent trying to corral a group of willful three year olds. She went along with things because she felt powerless to do anything else.

On top of that, the story seemed to spin for the first third to half of the book. The book club ladies insist there's a connection between the book they are reading and the cold case. They insist law enforcement should re-open the case. But they have no evidence to back up their insistence. They just rehash their assumptions over and over. When the new murder takes place, they hardly seem to notice. I didn't feel any emotional connection to the new case - it just sort of happened and then became background to the spinning, recycling conversation about the cold case.

In the second half, the mystery started to pull together. And I enjoyed the romance thread for one of the book club ladies, but otherwise I didn't click with the characters or the love triangle. The ending of the mystery was satisfying, but the road to get there was frustrating. I don't know that I will move forward with this series.

Readers who get a kick out of these feisty octogenarians should definitely pick this one up. The ladies are in rare form in this book. They were just too much for me.

(There are some outdated references to homosexuality from the book club ladies, including a "limp in the wrists" slur that Arlo doesn't challenge because she feels the ladies are too set in their ways, and her other corrective statements have gone no where.)

I love books, book clubs and older ladies featured in books like this. It’s a quick light fun read and I would recommend it to others for sure.

I was excited to read the second installment of Amy Lilliard's Main Street Book Club series. The first story was fun, and the character are memorable. Arlo has a her hands full trying to keep her three 80ish year old book club members from getting involved in crimes. This time they have set out to solve a 50 year murder after another girl is murdered in the exact same spot. There is a little murder, a little mystery, and a little romance all mixed in. I do suggest a reader reads the first book in the series in order to get to know the characters.

A Murder Between the Pages is the 2nd book in the Main Street Book Club Mysteries series by Amy Lillard.

The book club was discussing a book, Missing Girl, deciding it was based on the local 50 year old missing person case of Mary Kennedy. While at the mansion that Mary Kennedy was last seen at, a young woman dies.

It was a bit confusing because of the discussion jumping around between the book, the cold case, and the new murder within a few sentences.

In the second half of the book, Arlo’s attitude towards the senior women in the book club changed and I start liking her. The bird is annoying, but the rest of the characters are interesting.

I will check out the next book to see how things progress with a Chloe and her son and with Argo and Sam.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the free copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving a review.

If you enjoy a cozy mystery with suspense and a book club group of zany octogenarians, you will enjoy this latest release from Author Amy Lillard. You will find a plethora of characters that you really need to pay attention to in order to keep up. Plus, even though it can be read as a stand-alone I think it will be helpful to read Book One “Can’t Judge a Book by Its Murder” to familiarize yourself with the individuals. I have not read Book One, so I was lost at times.
I received a complimentary copy from Net Galley. All opinions are my own.

This was a well written book, but it just did not hold my interest, and I can't put my finger on why. I loved the first book, but this one took forever to read. The ending was great, but the middle seemed to stall for me. I will try again with the next book in the series to see if it works for me. It might have been my issue, who knows.

A Murder Between the Pages by Amy Lillard is the second in the Main Street Book Club Mysteries series. I enjoyed this easy to read mystery.
There are plenty of plot twists and suspects. The characters are likeable and relatable. There is humor and a hint of romance..
I was given an ARC by Poison Pen Press and NetGalley for an honest review.

Thank you to @netgalley and @poisonedpenpress for this ARC!

📖 Synopsis: It was only a few months ago that the ladies of Arlo's Friday Night Book Club solved the murder of the renowned author, Wally Harrison. So when they select Wally's bestseller for their next discussion, Arlo is hopeful it will be the end of their mystery hunt.

But the women are convinced the book was inspired by a 50-year-old cold case from their own town—the disappearance of Mary Kennedy—and Arlo can do little to stop the book club ladies from investigating.

When a young girl is murdered in the exact place the women believe Mary went missing all those years ago, it becomes clear these two cases are connected. And with Arlo's help, they may just be able to crack the case.

📖 I really wanted to like this one, but it just didn't work for me. Every fifth page seemed to have some sort of review/summary/catch-up that made it feel confusing and out-of-order. It frequently referenced things that happened in the first book, and in the main character's past, but in a very disjointed way that kept me turning back to see if I had lost my place and was rereading pages.

📖 Things I liked: The book club ladies - I'm a sucker for granny sleuths

📖 Things I didn't like: Mostly it was what I mentioned above, but I was also disappointed in the main character's ambivalence toward her bookstore. It always just felt like a business, rather than something she did because of a love of books and reading (which, to a book lover, just doesn't seem right 😆).

📖 One more thing I will say, in the positive, is that I am still thinking over the character of Chloe. Initially, I didn't like the way her story was written, but the fact that I'm still thinking about it a couple days later tells me it struck a cord. I always consider that a good thing 😁

A Murder Between the Pages (Main Street Book Club Mysteries #2 )
By: Amy Lillard
A Murder Between The Pages is book two in the series Main Street Book Club Mysteries. A Women’s mystery club, a missing girl, and a 50 year old cold case. These women in the club will have you laughing throwout the story. Quirky characters and mysteries will have you trying to read faster. The author keeps you guessing till the end.
I was given a complimentary copy of this book by the publishing company and NetGalley, but was not told that I had to give a positive review. All opinions are my own.

Murder Between The Pages is the 2nd book by Amy Lillard. Both books in this cozy mystery series are enjoyable! Arlo and Chloe co-own a bookstore/coffee shop. Arlo started a book club and only 80 year old ladies joined. The book club ladies are funny and smart. In this book, the ladies are reading the book by the author from book #1, Wally, about a missing girl. They think there are similarities between the book and an actual case from 50 years ago in Sugar Springs. Arlo has 2 guys who like her-Mads, the police chief and Sam, a Private Investigator, who recently returned to town. A young girl is found dead at a local mansion. The book club ladies are interested in the case but Arlo redirects their investigating to the 50 year old case figuring they wouldn't get anywhere with it. They end up involving Arlo, Chloe and Sam. This was a very enjoyable cozy mystery. #NetGalley #MurderBetweenThePages

It seemed like a good idea at the time but, as they say about best laid plans....hadn't factored in the senior citizens who joined the Friday Night Book Club. Camille, Helen and Fern not only attend on Friday but just about every day of the week finds these senior ladies in the bookstore, Arlo and Chloe's Books and More. The more part is the coffee shop that Chloe runs and Arlo runs the book half. Best friends turned business partners but Arlo never thought that she would be trying to control three seniors who made her feel like "a babysitter of juvenile delinquents". After solving the mystery of the death of Wally Harrison, a famous local author, the three ladies are certain that they can do it again. A fifty year old cold case of a missing music teacher, Mary Kennedy, has them convinced that Wally wrote his best selling novel about her. When they find out that Arlo is going out to the mansion to pick up some books for her store, all three insist on tagging along. After all, it is the 'scene of the crime', the last place Mary was seen.
All goes well when the four arrive at Lillyfield mansion but, within moments tragedy strikes when a young woman, working as house staff, falls down the grand staircase and dies at their feet. That's the cue for Helen, Fern and Camille to switch into detective mode - the young woman had wanted to speak with them about a mystery she needed help solving. There is no way to stop them so Arlo is drawn into their sleuthing if for no other reason but to keep them from getting in the way of the police investigation.
This series makes me laugh out loud with the interaction of the senior ladies along with Arlo, Chloe, Mads Keller - police chief and Sam Tucker. Add a cat and a cheeky African grey parrot named Faulkner and the lovely small town of Sugar Springs, MS and it makes for a great getaway. The mystery is well crafted and left me eager to read the next in the series.
My thanks to the publisher Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

I would like to thank the author, publisher and net galley for providing a free copy of this book in exchange for my review.

I love mysteries and have read hundreds of cozy mysteries. I hadn't read the first book in this series, but I did enjoy the overall mystery. This is a true cozy, with close friends who are armchair detectives, and a small town setting. This probably won't satisfy those looking for more traditional police work, but it was a fun and enjoyable read, and I'm going to look for the first in the series so I can get to know these characters a bit better. I think this would work fine as a stand alone, or out of series - it was fine for me - but I do enjoy the cozy series that build a community to follow book to book.

A story filled with quirky characters and a very interesting mystery. A great "who did it?" story. I received a complimentary copy of the book. No review was required.

This one wasn't for me. It might have helped if I had read the first book in the series but I'm pretty sure this wouldn't be one of my favorite series regardless. Reading it kind of felt like listening into a conversation over the course of multiple days. I kind of knew who everyone was and I was curious to find out what happened next but I was a bit iffy on exact details and never really got as much information in the conclusion as I wanted.

Note: I normally review Christian fiction. This book is not Christian fiction, and it fits into the “clean” general fiction/mystery category. I love Amy Lillard’s Amish fiction, and thought I’d like to read a book by her in a different contemporary setting.

I thought this book was fun and entertaining. The senior citizens of the “Friday Night Book Club” consider themselves successful armchair detectives, and by the time I finished the book, I wished that I could attend one of their book club meetings and watch/listen to them work together to solve a murder case. Arlo, the owner of the bookstore, has her hands full trying to keep these lively, intelligent older ladies in line and keep them safe as they decide to do their own investigation of the recent murder that had occurred in their small of a young woman they knew and loved.

There’s quite a few plot twists in this book, and the clues come along at unexpected times to keep interest going in the story. I thought that I had the murder solved at one point—but did I?
You’ll have to read this story to see if you came to the same conclusions that I (rightly or wrongly) did. This is the second book in a series. I have not read the first one, but did not have any trouble jumping immediately into this story. I’ll be following this series as I came to admire the book club ladies.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.

Things that I disliked about this book:
*I knew the who killer was when the murder happened.
*It was about 50 pages too long [there was just too much blather in the middle].
*Helen and Fern's treatment of Camille when she became involved with a new love.
*LOVE. TRIANGLE. Please stop. Please. Mads, Sam and Arlo are now adults, its been TEN FREAKING YEARS and they need to [as my grandfather used to say] "get their shizz together and move on" [Okay. he didn't say "shizz" but I cannot use the words he used here]. Please. It bogs down the story and to see someone who is as strong as Arlo is, waffling and "wringing her hands" is just a disservice to an otherwise really well-written MC.
*<spoiler>Sister betrayal and how it was handled. This was cheap and tacky and I was unimpressed. I had guessed this was what was going on and because I did, I had to sit on it until the reveal and it just made the distaste of it grow. Probably because this kind of thing happened to me multiple times growing up. It was still icky for me. </spoiler>

Things I liked about the book:
*I didn't know WHO the killer was in regards to the story. And that made it okay that I knew who it was at the beginning.
*I really like Arlo [minus the hand wringing over Sam and Mads]. She is a good MC and does her job [mostly - though I have to cut her a bit of slack because keeping track of the three women who are crazytown on a good day would be a full time job and she does that AND runs a store. Kudos IMO].
*Helen, Camille, and Fern. I can only hope that my bestie and I get up to all these shenanigans when we get old and gray. They [even with Helen and Fern's issues with Camille and her new love]are amazing, happy, nosy, fantastic women and I just love them. They really make the book and even though Arlo wants to rip out her hair most days over their antics, she loves them and they make her a better character.
*Camille's new love. That was a lovely side mystery and I can only hope that it survives.
*The reveal. WHOOSH. That was a good one. And really saved the book from all the blather that happens in the middle.

Overall, this was a pretty good read - there was enough to annoy me that I cannot give it four stars, but it was close. If the love triangle had gotten resolved, it would have been a 4 star read for sure.
I do enjoy the series overall and will read the next one in the series should it be written.

Thank you to NetGalley, Amy Lillard, and Poison Pen Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A bookstore and club with a fun cast of characters and a small town setting, perfect for mystery solving.

A Murder Between the Pages
by Amy Lillard
Poisoned Pen Press
Mystery & Thrillers
Pub Date 24 Nov 2020


I am reviewing a copy of A Murder Between the Pages through Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley:



Looking for a fun cozy to read, A MurderBetween the Pages just may be the ticket.





Just a few months prior the ladies of Arlo's Friday Night Book Club—Fern, Camille, and Helen, solved the murder of the renowned author, Wally Harrison. So when they choose Wally’s book Missing Girl for their next discussion, Arlo is hopeful that this will mark the end of their mystery hunt.





The women are convinced that Missing Girl was inspired by a fifty year old cold case from their community of Sugar Springs, Mississippi, the disappearance of Mary Kennedy, and Arlo cannot stop the ladies from investigating.





After a young girl is murdered at the exact same location Mary went missing five decades prior it becomes evident that the two cases are connected. Maybe they can get to the bottom of it with Arlo’s help.


I give A Murder Between the Pages five out of five stars!



Happy Reading!

I was so excited to get a copy of this book. Unfortunately, it just was not enjoyable.

Arlo owns a bookstore in the small town of Sugar Springs, Mississippi. She started a Friday night book club where they solved in a murder in the previous book in the series. The book club is made up of three senior citizens (80s+), Arlo and her old flame who is now a PI who works above the bookstore, Sam. The three ladies in the book club latch onto an old mystery that was never solved and link it to the book they are reading. Then another young woman turns up murdered and the ladies are determined to solve the case.

Part of the reason I did not like this book was I was not enamored with any of the characters. I thought Arlo was a pushover who could not say no to her "book club" and abandons her business at all hours to go help them sleuth even though she clearly does not want to. I usually love senior citizen characters in books because they are so colorful and funny but I just found these three ladies completely obnoxious. They keep repeating themselves every 10 pages or so about one mystery or the other. It was getting to the point where I put the book down and dreaded picking it up to finish it.

Sadly I do not think I would pursue more of this series at this point.