Having not read the first book in the series, I was slightly concerned that it would be harder to follow this book, however, it turned out to be a fun read, even as a standalone.

The story was amusing, and I enjoyed the characters, so will be sure to read more in this series.

A missing iconic red gown worn by Julia Roberts and llamas keep Epiphany (Pip) Bloom busy in this second book of the Epiphany Bloom Mysteries series!

At the beginning of the book, Pip Bloom once again finds herself without a job. Her promising career as a private investigator for Boston Investigations has come to an end after a huge error on her part in carrying out background checks leads to the head of B. I. to discover she is not a genuine P. I. and fires her. Her only consolation is spending time with her cat and her three kittens, her extremely good looking flatmate and landlord Tim and her sister Felicity (Flis) who is now a sought after blogger/influencer .

On a visit to an exhibition at the Museum of Movie Memorabilia and Vintage Costumes and while admiring the costumes on display--especially the iconic red gown worn by Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman--they meet with the museum's manager Arabella Buchanan. When Flis informs Arabella that Pip is good at researching celebrities, their fashion and anything related to pop culture, Arabella offers Pip a job as a buyer for the museum. During her interview, Pip goes to admire the Julia Roberts gown again but it occurs to her that something is amiss about it. Arabella confirms her suspicion when she admits that the gown on display is a replica as the original has been stolen. She then tasks Pip with an additional duty of locating and bringing the original gown back before the museum's owner Henrietta Powell returns from her trip to Morocco.

Pip is more than ready to put her investigative cap on and is soon in her element trying to track down the location of the dress. What she is not prepared to deal with is the shipment of llamas her vacationing mother decides to send her way! But in typical Epiphany Bloom style, she manages to solve both these problems and save the day.

Lighthearted, funny and eccentric in equal doses, this book was as fun to read as the first one in the series. Epiphany is goofy and lovable and Felicity's misinterpretation of words and phrases is a chuckle fest... it makes you wonder what her blog posts actually read like!

My thanks to NetGalley, the publisher Bookouture and the author Katie Gayle for the e-Arc of the book. I had read it in the month of May and I apologise for sharing the review late.

This was a cozy mystery that had Epiphany in the forefront in search of a missing dress. Pip was so much fun, I loved her humor, especially with her sister and their kooky conversations. Suspense and humor made it a fun read. Worked as a standalone too.

I found a feisty, funny heroine to fawn over in The Kensington Kidnap and I’m flying high that that Pip is back for another fantastic adventure.
I can’t say enough good things about this book. I just loved every minute of reading it.
When I read psych thrillers, I try and outguess the author as to whatever the big twist might be. With crime novels, I try to solve the case before the police do. And rom-coms sometimes result in a “yeah right – nobody is that romantic” response from me.
With Pip, I just get straight-up enjoyment from beginning to end.
I wondered how Pip would be able to stumble upon another “accidental detective” case, but I needn’t have worried. This one is even better than the first and again, it’s right up Pip’s avenue of expertise.
Once again, her love of pop culture gets her a job that quickly turns into more than she expected. Of course, she’s been bitten by the investigative bug and is more than happy to help solve the mystery at hand (you won’t find a spoiler about it here).
We get a healthy dose of Most (who has new responsibilities) and a few characters from the first book make reappearances over the course of the investigation.
Guiding her along the way as Flis who may just be one of my favorite characters ever written. She’s ditzy and has no idea what she is saying most of the time (as I mentioned in my review of the first book, Mrs. Malaprop would be proud).
But she is always there to support Pip – even if it takes Pip a while to figure out exactly how she is trying to help! I love every scene between these two.
We also get a glimpse into why Pip and Flis may be the way they are. It comes early on and has to do with a phone call and llamas.
And that’s all I’m going to say about that.
One of the things I like best about these two books is the clever writing. These are books that you need to read carefully – not because you’ll miss an important clue (well, maybe you will), but if you skim, you’ll miss clever asides and blink-and-you’ll-miss-it references or quips.
(My clumsy attempt at alliteration in the first sentence of this review is in honor of the writing tricks the author often uses).
Honestly, even if you aren’t a fan of cozy mysteries, you really should give this series a try. It’s witty, contemporary, and thoroughly engaging.

This fast paced cozy mystery is the second installment of the Epiphany Bloom series. The search for a missing iconic dress leads Pip into an incredible adventure full of intrigue, nostalgia and Julia Roberts. Pip, her sister Flis, and a host of quirky, unique characters masterfully fit together in this suspenseful puzzle that’s a perfect combination of humor and suspense. Although this is part of a series, it may be read as a standalone. If you enjoy cozy mysteries with a dash of laughs and loads of thrills, this is for you.
Thank you NetGalley and Bookouture for my ARC.

Epiphany Bloom is back in another immensely enjoyable cosy mystery that is absolutely unputdownable: The Museum Murder.

When a dress goes missing from a fashion museum, unlikely detective Epiphany ‘Pip’ Bloom is the one tasked with finding this legendary garment that is worth a veritable king’s ransom. A proper piece of Hollywood history, as Pip begins her investigation, she quickly realizes that the staff at the museum all had their own reasons for wanting this dress gone. However, Pip will not be so easily deterred. She vows to track down this dress and will leave no sequin or sparkle unturned in order to locate it and give it back to the museum where it rightfully begins. However, in the throes of her investigation, Pip soon discovers that in the cutthroat world of fashion, it’s every woman for herself and that all that glitters isn’t necessarily gold!

Pip has got enough on her plate and she certainly does not need any more complications or upheaval. However, as if having an entire family of cats to feed isn’t enough, Pip has to contend with her eccentric mother who keeps phoning her about a consignment of llamas arriving imminently from South America and her growing inconvenient feelings for her housemate, Tim, whom she simply cannot stop herself from thinking about or from wishing that they could be more than friends.

Pip simply cannot afford any distractions of any kind because she isn’t the only one after the dress and there are people out there willing to do whatever it takes to get their hands on it and who will go to any lengths to obliterate anybody standing in their way. Even murder…

Hilarious, thrilling and immensely enjoyable, Katie Gayle’s cosy mysteries featuring the irrepressible Epiphany ‘Pip’ Bloom are an absolute joy to read and in The Museum Murder, the intrepid sleuth is once again on a case that will have readers laughing out loud and keep them glued to the pages from beginning to end.

A delightful crime romp written with verve and panache and full of red herrings, twists and turns and zany humour, Katie Gayle’s The Museum Murder is another must-read cosy mystery – roll on Book 3!

The next employment adventure for Epiphany Bloom begins! She is hired by a museum to locate a missing dress, THE dress from Pretty Woman. But being an amateur sleuth can be dangerous and someone prizes the dress more than a human life...
The Museum Murder is the second book to feature Pip Bloom and the writing, plot and characters continue to be delightfully madcap and entertaining.
Pip is just wonderful. Warm, kind, intuitive, brave, a little bit hapless. Money is still an issue and she has lost her job at the detective agency that she accidentally got in the first book, The Kensington Kidnap. She has a potential romantic triangle to navigate as both her flat mate Tim and personal trainer Jimmy might be interested in more than friendship.
The writing is witty and warrm. I love Pip's sister Flis and her mistaken sayings. There are further references to disasters in Pip's past, mentioned in an offhand way to spark our interest and imagine the worst! We finally meet her mother with a subplot about llamas which adds a lightness and even more fun.
The murder itself doesn't happen until halfway through the book. There is very little violence or detail about the death. There are plenty of characters acting suspiciously in the first half of the book and to be honest I felt that the murder was superfluous to the plot as the missing dress held my interest.
The Museum Murder is a highly enjoyable and engaging cosy murder mystery which allows Pip to truly shine again.

This is such a fun cozy mystery book! It is the second book in a series but it can definitely be read as a stand alone. I haven't read the first one yet and didn't feel like I was missing too much. I loved that this cozy still had all the things that I love in a cozy mystery but was set in a big city (London). The characters were super quirky and very likeable. The writing was great and the mystery was pretty straight forward but there were still enough twists to keep things interesting. I am excited for book three and I am going to go back and read the first book now!

what a great book! In lockdown I miss museums so much, and this book was such a fun and interesting way to combine my love of mystery books and museums. I haven't read anything quite like it before. it reminded me of the Mitford murders in a way! a great read.

The Museum Murder is the second instalment in the Epiphany Bloom Mysteries series and I loved this one as much or more than the first. Epiphany, aka Pip, is a lovable young woman who just hasn't found her niche. Her mom, who is quite well off, has refused to help her out anymore and wants her to get a job and make her own way in the world. Pip and her sister Fliss, are a hoot. Pip seems to constantly mess up in whatever job she has. In the last book, she finds a famous actress's missing son, but she stumbled her way through the case, this book is much the same. Fliss is a well-known blogger who has one vocabulary mishap after another, I just have to laugh at their conversations. In this story, Pip just happens to be in the right place at the right time. She is hired to purchase acquisitions for a vintage fashion museum. When she realizes that the centerpiece of the museum's collection, Julia Robert's red gown from Pretty Woman is a knock off, she is tasked to find the original which was stolen. Pip actually has a method to try and track down the gown, but stumbles upon information that changes her path. One of her sources ends up dead and the owner of the museum has been keeping secrets. Never did she believe, even in such a cutthroat, shady world as the collectors and memorabilia market that it would lead to murder. Can Pip find the culprit who stole the garment whilst also getting to the bottom of the brutal murder?

This is a fun and addictive cozy mystery. It has a cast of quirky characters, both main ones and secondary. Pip has a couple of possible relationships brewing, but she likes both men and does not want to ruin their friendships. I will be interested to see where the authors take this storyline. I have to say that this is one funny cozy mystery series, but also has an interesting mystery to be solved. Yes, there was a murder, but that was not the main mystery. I like that the primary plot was about the missing dress, not the murder. The plots and protagonist are unique and the stories are full of drama and action as well as being lighthearted and fun. I really enjoyed this one and recommend it to lovers of cozy mysteries, or fun books that also have a mystery element. Definitely a wonderful break during these stressful times.

Aaaaaaahhh, one of my favorite morally grey characters is back at it!! This time Pip goes pop culture, trying to find the iconic dress worn by Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. Yes, the red off-the-shoulder dress with the white long gloves Vivian wears to the opera on her date with Edward. Once again, Pip puts her sleuth skills to work and once again she is a walking disaster (albeit not quite as bad as in the first book). Struggling in her work life, she finds a job she might actually finally keep for a longer period of time. If you know Pip from the previous books, you know that she gets in trouble a lot in her professional life. Her sexy housemate Tim appears in the book again and helps her with his hacker skills. I loved seeing that Pip and Tim finally seem to get to "base 2" in their relationship. There is more to their relationship, whether they like to admit it or not. Pip's sister with her mad skills of using the wrong idioms which make her super funny makes a cameo as well. Those three make this book just as good as the previous one. If you expect a 100% realistic book, you may be in for a slight disappointment. But if you are all for an entertaining story in which the characters are just a bit too over the top to be quite from the real world and love the 1990s, you should give this book a try. There are lots of pop culture and movie references and of course the book also includes a murder, as the title suggests. This book is a quick and fun cozy mystery novel set in London!

I thoroughly enjoyed the Kensington Kidnap but was just unsure just where the authors would go from there. I was intrigued. I was then really chuffed when I had the opportunity to read the second in the series. It didnt disappoint.

I think I enjoyed this one even more than the first. Having some insights into Pip and her family, the dynamics and her choices made sense. I certainly rolled my eyes and occasionally laughed out loud, at some of the things that just seem to 'happen' to Pips.

This is a very cozy mystery, with very little focus on the murder, and that suited me. Perhaps some of the elements of the story may just a little of a stretch, but they didnt detract from the read at all.

I love the malapropisms that form a key part of the dialogue between Pip and her sister Flis and the evolving romance; just where is it all going?

I will continue to watch out for Pips and hope to join her on her next case.

My thanks to #Netgalley, the author and the publisher, Bookouture for my advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have loved being reunited with Pip. She is the same fun loving, determined and intelligent character I remember from the first book. I loved the comparisons drawn with her sister Flis, and some of their interactions really had me laughing out loud.

Thankfully, in keeping with the genre style, this is not a book that focuses whole heartedly on a grizzly murder and in fact the book’s main focus is a missing dress. As the mystery consumes Pip, so too does it consume the reader, and I have loved trying to predict where this one was going.

The romance storyline adds an additional, softer dimension to the book which I also really liked. Pip has a coupe of suitors available to her, but my loyalty definitely lies with helpful, thoughtful Tim.

Of course, the ending was unpredictable despite me closely following the clues and hints throughout! It was also more explosive and dramatic than I was expecting.

I have really enjoyed this second installment and I look forward to reading more about Pip’s adventures in the third installment. Bring it on!

I am so pleased that I was given the opportunity to read The Museum Murder, the second instalment in Katie Gayle's Epiphany Bloom Mysteries series as it was a truly tremendous cozy mystery and it did not disappoint!

The pacing moved along at a fair rate of knots and I loved the exciting plotline. Epiphany ‘Pip’ Bloom, a temp, is skint and can barely afford to feed her three-legged cat, called Most and the kittens. Pip is no longer working for a PI company but she needs some dosh coming in to pay the rent on the flat she shares with Tim, her landlord and her flatmate. Whilst out looking for a job she accompanies her sister Flis to an exhibition at the Museum of Movie Memorabilia and Vintage Costumes. Pip is into vintage costumes and she spots the red dress Julia Roberts wore in Pretty Woman. Flis persuades the museum manager, Arabella Buchanan, to consider taking Pip on as a buyer of vintage clothing and when she returns for the interview, Pip discovers that the red Pretty Woman dress is a fake. She mentions this at her interview and is offered the job, tasked with finding the real dress.

Full of thrills and totally addictive, it held my attention from the very first chapter. Pip has her work cut out as she attempts to locate the dress and realising that it is most likely an inside job, Pip begins to interview staff members, and is soon jetting around following the trail of the frock in the shady and hostile world of the collectors and memorabilia market. Pip is a great narrator; a likeable central character with ingenuity and plenty of grit. Katie Gayle's clever writing meant I didn't want to put this book down and there were moments of danger as well as the harebrained frivolity. This brilliant story with its unique plot set in and around London was masterfully executed by the author, with a great reveal that caught me unawares. Filled with drama and action The Museum Murder is pure escapism and I shall be looking out for the next instalment in this series by Katie Gayle who clearly has talent. I recommend The Museum Murder as a hugely worthwhile and an excellent read.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Bookouture via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

This was a really fun “cosy mystery” story.

Having read and enjoyed the first book, I was happy to catch up with Pip, who we last saw working for a detective agency.

This book sees Pip back at square one, having been sacked from the agency due to a couple of errors, but stumbles into a job with a small clothing museum after going to an exhibition with her sister. After discovering one of the dresses is a fake, Pip is asked by the manager to track down the real dress.

With Most her three legged cat now having kittens and also needing to secure rent money, she is happy to don the detective cap once more.

This story is so much better than the first, Pip is very likeable and there are interesting characters introduced in this story. There is also much less of Pip’s sister who annoyed me somewhat with her word confusions in the first book.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for my review.

This is book 2 in the Epiphany Bloom mystery series but can be read as a standalone.

Let me start my review by saying I love Pip, and this series introduced me to the wonderful world of cozy crime mysteries.

Having yet again been fired due to a slight error on her background check, Pip is off for an interview at the Museum of movie memorabilia. Not your normal stuffy antiquated museum this one’s specialty is celebrity where the centrepiece is none other than the red dress worn in Pretty Woman. Spotting it’s a fake, and with her experience from the detective agency she’s just been sacked from, she’s quickly on the case to recover the original.

Pip’s life takes her bumbling from one disaster to the next and it makes for wonderful comedic escapades. With an eccentric, colourful cast of supportive characters causing her even more problems this is a book guaranteed to make you smile.

For animal lovers there’s not just the return of cat Most but kittens and llamas too. For romance lovers two potential interests and for crime lovers not only a mystery but a murder too. Something for everyone.

The Museum Murder is the second book in the Epiphany Bloom mystery series, and after reading the first book, I had been eagerly awaiting this latest instalement.

Epiphany – also known as Pip – Bloom has been on the lookout for a new career following the loss of her previous job, so when she is offered the job working within a fashion museum she jumps at the chance. Soon after she starts working at the museum, Pip comes to realise that the iconic red dress from the movie Pretty Woman has been stolen and replaced with a replica.

Pip immediately starts investigating the theft, and this is where you really see her passion begin to come through. Whilst looking for answers to this case, Pip learns that most of the staff within the museum actually wanted the dress gone, which sends her looking in many different places – from fashion boutiques to alleyways in search of this piece of Hollywood history. In between all of the chaos, Pip is also having to try and fathom out the feelings that are developing for her housemate Tim, which leaves her feeling rather unsettled at times.

There is so much I adored about this book!. Pip is such a whirlwind of a character who often finds herself drifting from one disaster to the next, but she is so endearing and charming, it is impossible to not connect with her. She always manages to make the most out of the situations she finds herself in, regardless of the hurdles she faces along the way.

The story is told in such a witty, charismatic way that reels you in instantly. The perfect mixture of humour and mystery makes this book an absolute page turner that I would highly recommend to everyone!

Another fantastic addition to the series.

This time we have Pip solving the case of a stolen dress. Most, the three-legged cat is now a mommy to three kittens. Mummy is the Galapagos with GeeCee and the llamas. Flis is being her usual quirky self.

The mystery behind the stolen Julia Roberts dress takes the spotlight. Having said that, I really loved the dash of romance - [Pip gets asked out by Tim and Jimmy. Woot woot!}

When the reason behind the 'theft' was revealed, I must say I was a little surprised. The same goes with the identity of the 'thief.'

The quirk factor was a little low when compared to the first book of this series. Overall, this was an entertaining and enjoyable read.

The Museum Murder by Katie Gayle is another highly entertaining Epiphany Bloom mystery. Pip (Epiphany) is looking for a job, but then, when isn't she? There had been that one little incident at the detective agency, and she had been doing so well. Then there was the vet clinic that was mad she had taken an animal they were going to put down anyway. There were so many jobs and losing them had not been her fault, mostly. Now, to lift her spirits she was going with her sister, Flis, the blogger, to visit the Museum of Movie Memorabilia and Vintage Costumes. Well, she was into vintage costumes. That was when she saw it, the red dress Julia Roberts had worn in Pretty Woman. Oh, my God! While they were there, Flis talked her way into a job interview for Pip, finding vintage clothing, of all things. She could do this. The only problem was that when she went back for the interview, she looked more closely at the Pretty Woman dress and discovered it was a fake. In typical Pip fashion, she blurted out her discovery at the job interview, at which time she was hired and tasked with finding the red dress.

I typically don't love quirky, inept protagonists, but Pip is one of the few exceptions. She is fresh, well-meaning, and sincere, and she makes friends wherever she goes. She's clever and can follow a trail of clues like to other. This was an interesting mystery with a surprise outcome, an offshoot of which was Julia Roberts contacting her! She did have an advantage, her roommate and star of her fantasies was a hacker and a good one. Without his help she's be nowhere. This is an amusing, clever book with an outstanding lead, a clever mystery, and excellent characters. I recommend this cozy as one of the best.

I was invited to read a free ARC of The Museum Murder by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. #netgalley #themuseummurder

I love this series of cozy mysteries featuring the intrepid and often comical Epiphany Bloom, and I was thrilled to take part in the blog tour for Katie Gayle’s latest installment: The Museum Murder.

I enjoyed this mystery very much and recommend it to those who like Rhys Bowen’s books!

Thank you for making me part of the tour and for my electronic galley!

full review on my blog at drbethnolan.com