It started as a fairytale and ended as a nightmare. The Duke and Duchess were set to have the most beautiful wedding, but not long after the festivities made way, disaster struck. Someone was murdered, and not just anyone, but the Duke’s former girlfriend! Penelope Parrish, writer and employee at a local bookshop, was at the wedding at the time of the incident. Something just isn’t sitting right with her and she’s determined to get to the bottom of it. With time ticking and the murderer still out there, Penelope is digging into all she can to solve the mystery, but can she figure it out before there’s another victim?
Thank you Netgalley, Margaret Loudon and Berkley Publishing Group for the opportunity to read and review this book. This is the second installment of An Open Book Mystery series. I haven’t read the first one but it didn’t seem to make a huge difference. Cozy mysteries are one of my favorites, even more so when there’s a bookstore involved. That being said I was a little disappointed that the bookstore didn’t play much part in this book. It would be nice to have it included more as the series goes on. I think there’s a lot of potential with this series and I’m eager to see the growth and development of the characters. This was a quick and easy enjoyable book. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Penelope is invited to the Duke and Duchess’s wedding. Who would have expected someone to be murdered at the reception. Her friend the duchess asks her to find the killer before her husband is accused of murdering his past lover. It seems their are a few people who didn’t mind that she was dead.
Second in the series.
Goodreads

Penelope Parish is the writer-in-residence in Upper Chumley-on-Stoke, England. She is host for book club meetings, writes her next novel from her office in the Open Book bookstore, and is friends with the only other American at hand, Charlotte Davenport, romance writer and soon-to-be bride of Arthur Worthington, Duke of Upper Chumley-on-Stoke. The townspeople are of two minds about the wedding. They’re thrilled at the pomp and circumstance, but a lot of mothers had their hearts set on Arthur choosing their daughter rather than a common American woman.

The wedding goes off without a hitch, but the same can’t be said for the reception. Arthur’s ex-girlfriend, now married, is found dead in the garden. The honeymoon has to be postponed, houseguests are asked not to leave, and Charlotte depends on Penelope to solve the murder. A second death is even more shocking.

Suspects include anyone at the wedding, protesters who think Charlotte should return to America, and, of course, Arthur.

To add to Penelope’s stress, her sister, Beryl, shows up unexpectedly with the news she’s left her husband and, can she stay with Penelope for a to-be-determined length of time?

I enjoy this series. Penelope doesn’t take dangerous risks although they do seem to find her. Her relationship with Maguire, the local police detective, is progressing. Figgy, her friend who owns the tea and pastry shop connected to the bookstore, is engaged to be married, too. Her wedding will have a lot less pomp and circumstance involved—probably. For an enjoyable trip to England to hobnob with royalty, Penelope can get you there without ever leaving your house.

Margaret Loudon is the author of the Farmer’s Daughter Mysteries, the Cranberry Cove Mysteries, and the Gourmet De-Lite Mysteries, written under the name Peg Cochran, many reviewed here. She also wrote the Sweet Nothings Lingerie Mysteries under the name Meg London.

This was such a fun installment in the Open Book Mystery series! The characters were so entertaining. The book was well-paced, and I loved the twists and turns of the story.

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Daniele

Margaret Loudon’s sophomore entry in the Open Book Mystery series, A Fatal Footnote, finds protagonist Penelope caught up in the festivities of the local minor royalty’s wedding. Everything goes well until one of the guests is found murdered during the reception ball. The victim is the Duke of Worthington’s former girlfriend, and he quickly becomes a suspect. The duke’s new bride Charlotte turns to Penelope to help clear his name, and Pen finds several people who have reason to wish Cissie, known in the tabloids as the “loo paper princess”, dead. Though sidelined from the investigation by investigators from London, DI Maguire and Pen work together to unmask a killer(s) as the body count rises.

I enjoy this series, and its quirky characters. Penelope is a great protagonist who is intelligent and does not jump to conclusions. Her sister Beryl arrives on the scene in this tale, and even though she and Pen work through some of their issues, I am not sure that I like Beryl very much. Time will tell. Pen’s budding relationship with DI Maguire feels organic, moving along at a nice pace, and there is plenty of chemistry between the two. The supporting characters add lots of local color, and I particularly adore Figgy who operates a tea cart within the bookstore. Loudon paints the small English village setting with vivid detail making my Anglophile heart happy.

The mystery is thoughtfully plotted, and the story moves along at a steady pace. All of the suspects are distinct personalities with unique motives. There are plenty of clues but also a bit of misdirection to keep readers guessing until the very end. I did not put all of the pieces together until Penelope did.

A Fatal Footnote is a delightful romp in the English countryside sure to entertain any cozy mystery reader.

4.5 Stars - Top Pick

Fiction mirroring reality and everything we love about the royals and nobility, Margaret Loudon, really knows how to capture the excitement of the mystery in this intricate multiple-murder mystery novel. This is the second book by Margaret Loudon in The Open Book Mysteries Series.

Penelope Parish, author of American Gothic novels and currently working as a writer in residence at the Open Book Store in England, gets caught up in the excitement of the fairytale wedding between her friend and writer Charlotte Davenport and Arthur Worthington, the Duke of Upper Chumley-on-Stoke. A multiple day celebration will have Penelope, along with her friend, Lady Fiona Innes-Goldthorpe (Figgy), staying on the grounds of Worthington House, a quite spectacular place. At the height of the festivities, among happiness and warm wishes for the newlyweds, a most disastrous murder occurs. The worst part, the one murdered was none other than the Duke’s ex-girlfriend (gasp!)

I loved the characters in this book. Penelope Parish is exactly the kind friend everyone wishes for, intelligent, diligent, caring and tenacious, (oh and tall too!). This character is an excellent protagonist and her supporting characters only add to her charm. I loved how all characters have something excellent to contribute and I especially loved the animation and excitement among them and how each one built on it with their own experiences. It really shows how genuine their character is and how expertly the author depicted their characterization.

The story had excellent flow and I found myself reading through it, quite readily and quickly. I loved that the author took her time introducing the characters participating as guests of the wedding. I loved reading about the festivities and the convoluted drama during the investigation circling this particular kind of celebrated tight circle. High amusing drama, intrigue and mystery with this group.

Overall, wonderfully written. Definitely, a different and refreshing take on a murder-mystery novel. I loved going along with Penelope and her sharp, smart mind. This was a mystery I couldn’t wait to solve.

~ Patricia

In the second installment of the series, Pen (and the rest of town) continues her infatuation with the minor royals and the wedding to an American, an obvious parallel to Prince Harry and Meghan Markle. While I liked this book better than the first, I generally found it too obsessed with anglophilia in most cliche ways. While I love a cozy mystery set in a quaint town, especially one set in a bookstore, the bookstore and writer aspects played very little role in the story or how the characters solved the mystery. The characters also had little development or way to distinguish themselves from one another, making the secondary cast difficult to follow.

So I liked this mystery. I love the premise and I like the main characters. It didn't feel like it dragged and was an easy read. I liked the tidbits about Penelope's writing process and the introduction of her sister.

Unfortunately, I also just never felt invested in the mystery or the characters. It seemed like there was may more telling then showing and that kept me from feeling connected with either the characters or the general plot. It was more like hearing about the investigation 2nd hand vs following along with the main character as she investigated.

This series lands in okay territory for me. If I saw the next one on audio I'd probably give it a try but after 2 books I don't feel invested enough in the characters to want to continue with this series.

A fun present day visit to England. The murder was interesting and kept me guessing. The MC is moving forward with her life (I was a little worried about the sister). I like the characters and wouldn't mind being able to visit the village.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for on honest review.

A Fatal Footnote is the second book in The Open Book Mysteries series by Margaret Loudon.

Having become friends with Charlotte Davenport, Penelope Parish has been invited to the wedding of Duke Arthur Worthington and Charlotte at his estate in Upper Chumley-on-Stoke. Fortunately for Penny, Figg, who runs the teashop at Open Book, where Penny is writer-in-resident, has also received an invitation to the celebration. After the wedding, there was a ball at Duke Worthington’s estate. Figg pointed out various guests, and they chatted with a few. Then one of the guests came running into the room screaming that there was a dead body outdoors. The body is that of Lady Cissie Winterbourne. Cissie owns a dress shop, and her shop had designed and made Charlotte’s wedding dress. Several guests saw her go outdoors, but most thought she had gone outdoors for a smoke.

Penny soon begins to listen to the guest’s conversations, trying to learn more about who might have wanted Cissie dead. She will share anything she knows when Detective Brodie Maguire arrives. Penny and Maguire met during a previous case and have become friends. They understand that she may be able to get the locals to share more than the police might be able to obtain.

As the investigation proceeds, it will soon be learned that there are many possible suspects—possibly someone from Cissie’s dress shop, Cissie’s husband, and others. Even Duke Worthington will become suspected, Cissie was his ex-girlfriend, and it turns out his polo mallet was used to kill Cissie.

I love the characters in this series. I like the characters of Penny and Maguire. They seem to enjoy each other’s company and the dinner out and seem not to be rushing into a relationship If there is to be one. Mabel, the owner of Open Book, India, a distant relation of the duke, Gladys, a shop owner, and Figg are all engaging and always there to support Penny, be she editing her latest manuscript or engaging in sleuthing.

The book is well-written and plotted. There were enough twists and turns that I was kept guessing until the end as to who the killer was.

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

I figured out the killer before the body was discovered but not the motive. The murder victim gave a lot of people reason to hate her. The woman was not the type to forgive or forget a perceived insult, and she didn't care if an innocent got hurt. Even better if the blame was put on the innocent party. We also get to meet Penelope's sister in this book. Wonder if we'll get to meet their mother in the next?

I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher and/or author via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A Fatal Footnote by Margaret Loudon has Penelope Parish attending the wedding of American author Charlotte Davenport and Arthur Worthington, the Duke of Upper Chumley-on-Stoke. It is a lavish weekend that ends with a bang when Cissie Emmoth, the Duke’s former girlfriend, is found dead just as the fireworks are about to begin. Charlotte asks Penelope to investigate when her new husband becomes the prime suspect. Penelope asks questions, observes, obtains local gossip, and digs up clues in her quest for the truth. A Fatal Footnote is the 2nd book in The Open Book Mystery series. I recommend reading this series in order. I have not had the opportunity to indulge in Murder in the Margins, and I felt it when I started A Fatal Footnote. There are some entertaining, quirky characters in this series. They go with the quaint town of Upper Chumley-on-Stoke. The author captured the setting with her vivid descriptions. The whodunit has a variety of suspects along with misdirection. I enjoyed solving this fun mystery. I liked that it was a lively mystery and that Detective Maguire got one up on the stoic Met detective. I would have preferred a better wrap up because at the end of A Fatal Footnote, I was left with a couple of unanswered questions. When not writing or investigating, Penelope must deal with her sister who arrived unexpectedly. Beryl King is going through a rough time and needed to escape. Penelope is a little surprised (and dismayed) Beryl chose to visit her since they are not close sisters. A Fatal Footnote is a cute cozy mystery an American romance author, an anxious sister, a desperate duchess, a riot of rumors, and tons of tea.

A royal wedding seems like a fairy tale, right down to the horse-drawn carriage. But when the groom's former girlfriend is found dead at the reception, and the Duke is a primary suspect, Pen and the rest of the Open Book family jump in to help find the killer.

This is the second book in this series, and I liked it as much as the first installment. Small towns – small villages? – in England sound very much like small towns here in the US, with everyone knowing everybody else and what's going on with everyone. I like the characters in these books and would love to spend some time with them, especially at the Open Book bookshop, and it's fun watching relationships grow from one book to the next. The mystery was well done, with lots of twists and turns, and I was not able to identify the killer before the reveal in the book. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

American writer, Penelope has moved to a small English village to assume the position of Writer-In-Residence at the Open Book bookshop in hopes of ending her writer's block. The first in the series found Pen helping in the bookshop, leading reader's and writer's groups, getting to know the citizens of Chumley and solving a murder. Not much time for writing novel #2.
In the second title her publisher is putting on the pressure for the new manuscript but once again, writing takes a back seat to the unexpected arrival of her distraught sister, the wedding of the local Duke and another murder!
The Open Book series is fast-paced and lots of fun with a bit of romance thrown in for good measure.

“A Fatal Footnote” is the 2nd instalment in the "An Open Book Mystery" series by Margaret Loudon. I think this series will be on my must read list, I really enjoy the setting and I really like the main characters. Writer-in-residence Penelope Parish will need to use every trick in her quaint British bookshop to unravel a murderous plot that threatens to ruin a ducal wedding.

I found myself engrossed in the story and reading it over a couple of days. I love the characters of Penelope and Figgy and Mrs. Danvers the cat.

Overall the mystery was entertaining, full of twists and turns as well as a few surprises. I didnt guess the killer before Pen this time!

I can’t wait to read the next book and see how things are at the Open Book Bookstore and Upper Chumley-on Stoke.

I highly recommend this book to all my cozy loving friends.

I requested and received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from Berkeley Publishing and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my OWN.

A Fatal Footnote by Margaret Loudon is the second book in the author's Open Book Mysteries series. This was a fascinating whodunit! Once again Penelope Parrish is looking into murder at Worthington House. It was fun following along as Penelope finds clues. I especially enjoyed Penelope's "light bulb going off in her head" moments when what she has learned really "clicks" so an idea or conclusion feels just right. This story kept me guessing until the end. I look forward to the next book in the series.

I received an ARC in exchange for a honest review.

2nd in the series, A Fatal Footnote, is just as good as the first boo with an interesting plot, new and returning characters, and another good mystery.