Jenna Quinn has tried to make good with the bookshop that she inherited from her uncle. The Grand re-opening of Twice upon a Time, previously known as Baxter's Books, is marred by the murder of the local library's Director of Antique Books with the bookends that he won at the celebration. To honor the victim, Jenna takes in the victim's little dog, Eddy, who was traumatized by the murder.

As only the 2nd book in the series it seems that relationships of the new girl in town with others are moving a bit too fast and the background details are not filling in as they should. Hopefully, more character details will be in future books.

Jenna owns a bookstore for old books.
The local librarian is killed by two old bookends and it is up to Jenna to solve the crime

Murder by the Bookend by Laura Gail Black
Book #2: Antique Bookshop Mystery
Source: NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books
Rating: 4/5 stars

The Bottom Line: Oh, yes please! I do adore it when an author simply refuses to fall into the sophomore slump and puts out a solid second book in a new series. Jenna has finally settled into life in Hokes Folly and now that she has her bookshop all cleaned and organized, she’s ready to host a long-awaited reopening celebration. With everything perking along nicely, Jenna doesn’t expect a nasty little spat between guests, and she certainly doesn’t expect one of the participants to wind up dead shortly after the party breaks up.

Round two of the Antique Bookshop Mystery series had me hooked from the beginning. There is definitely no sophomore slump here with a sound plot, evolving characters, and pace and setting that was simply perfect for the story and characters. I read several cozy series set in bookstores, so each must be somewhat unique to keep me interested. So far, the Antique Bookshop Mystery series has managed to set itself apart from the others with its own quaint setting, clearly defined and evolving characters, and stories that I haven’t quite come across in other books. As long as this series continues to stay fresh and fun, I’m coming along for the ride.

Somehow I overlooked not posting a review on this book. It's definitely a favorited that I would read again. Twist and turns. Just when I thought I had figured out who did it, the author threw in another twist to throw me.

This book simply did not hold my attention. I found myself reading a few pages and then putting it aside. Perhaps this is not a series where the books can be read individually. I could not connect with the characters and felt the book had no seamless flow to the story.

This is the second book I have read in this series and I enjoyed it as much as the first. Jenna is having a grand opening of the bookstore and enjoying life in Hokes Folly, North Carolina. The party and the bookstore are a success until a guest is found dead in the parking lot killed with his raffle prize. Jenna is sure rare books maybe the motive but the local sheriff thinks otherwise so she sets out to solve the crime with the help of her friends. I really enjoy the characters and the bookstore setting. The mystery was good with plenty of suspects. The solution was a surprise and made sense. I look for word to book 3. Enjoy

It was a delight to read the second Antique Book Shop Mysteries. Dog lovers will enjoy this story. I loved the dog, Eddy. He brought alot to the story.
Jenna was an excellent protagonist. I was a fan of her day job as a real estate agent and her side job of being a caterer. Jenna demonstrated some mouthwatering cooking skills that were fun to read. The mystery had me on the edge of my seat. As I recall, there were several side characters to follow to much to follow for me.It was a quick and enjoyable read. The story contains many twists and turns that kept me guessing as to who the murderer was.

Thank you Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley for the ARC of this book. This was a honest review.
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Jenna Quinn never expected to inherit her uncle's bookshop but now - three months later - she's transformed it into her very own. Baxter Books has transformed into Twice Upon a Time while keeping it a significant part of the community just as her uncle's shop was. Only she's found a way to put part of herself into it which shows how she's grown as part of the community since her arrival. The shop represents the memory of her uncle and serves as a reminder of him throughout the series. It also gives Jenna a way to be part of the community and to share who she is with her neighbors. The town of Hokes Folly is quaint and provides the ideal backdrop for a mystery involving books.

The mystery revolves around a dog that Jenna takes in and forms a bond with. Each of the suspects is first seen through the "issues" they had with the dog and from there Laura Gail Black builds their motives and suspicious behavior. The book strikes an equal balance for book lovers and animal lovers as it involves the mistreatment of this poor dog and the theft of books. The humor presented in the writing is a sample of the tone and helps in getting to know Jenna's personality. She's the perfect cozy mystery sleuth seen in how she describes the way her boyfriend Keith made her heart pitter-patter in a way compared to a tap-dancing poodle and for added effect the humor ended with how "she hoped it wasn't wearing a tutu." Jenna has a nemesis in Detective Frank Sutter who constantly harasses her and is described as being tactless and with people skills, she compares to that of a rock. The brazen and snarky attitude of Jenna makes her instantly likable and it makes you immediately drawn into the story. Black also incorporates the phrase "unladylike brouhaha" which is a prime example of that very humor and attitude.

The mystery is lighthearted, clever, and charming which are elements woven into Jenna Quinn herself.

My rating: 2 of 5 stars, it was okay, but....

Book 2 in the series.

I still had a hard time liking Jenna in this book. It didn't help that she absolutely had a too stupid to live moment, and it made me want to scream. My favorite character in the book was the victim's dog! So while the story was okay, I just don't think the series is for me.

I really enjoyed this book. The mystery was so interesting and pageturning. I did not guess who the murder was and was without words during the two final chapters

This is a very good series and I think this installment was a great addition. I enjoyed following along again on Jenna’s sleuthing and the author gave us many suspects to choose from. It was a great escape for an afternoon.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

I enjoyed this book quite a bit but I did find myself skimming through pages. Not sure why, I enjoyed the characters and the plot. I felt it was well-paced as well. Perhaps cozy-mysteries are not my thing. But if you like or love cozy-mysteries, then you need to pick this one up!

Gail Black adds to her Antique Bookshop mysteries with Murder by the Bookend. In North Carolina Twice Upon a Time, antique bookshop, is having a reopening party and murder comes knocking. Jenna Quinn, bookstore owner, has to help find the murderer who also poisons her dog and stop all the bad publicity about her store. She is sure if she can find the thief of the missing antique books from the library she will find a murderer. Charming cozy.

Jenna has recently inherited a bookstore from her deceased uncle. At the opening night, one of her valued guests, Linus, is murdered outside of the store. Jenna along with her sidekicks Rita and Mason are determined to find out who killed Linus among other mysterious things that keep popping up.

Overall, it was an okay read. It really didn't hold my attention as much as I would have preferred. I will say that not reading the first in the series might have had me connect with the characters a bit more. The only thing that really pulled at my heart strings was Edition (Eddy) and that storyline.

*I always hate giving poor reviews as I am so grateful for the time and energy that authors put into their work.

This is one of those “glad I was wrong” books! When I requested this one Netgalley, I confused it with a different book (don’t Netgalley at 3am). I wasn’t a huge fan of book one in this series, it wasn’t bad, just meh. I didn’t intend on continuing it, so I’m glad I accidentally requested this one! Book two is better by leaps and bounds, the story is smoother, the characters were all suspicious, and even though I wasn’t shocked by the murderer, I didn’t know for sure who it was until the end. I’m excited to see what happens next in Hokes Folly!!

DISCLAIMER: I received this book free from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This cozy mystery is the second in Laura Gail Black’s Antique Bookshop Mystery series. However, I had not read the first book prior to reading this one so it can be read as a standalone. I will be checking out the first book though.

Once again the little bookshop Twice Upon a Time is a hot spot due to a murder. This time the murder of the local library’s Director of Antique Books occurs in a parking lot near the bookshop after the party owner Jenna hosts to celebrate the grand reopening. This party is only for those on her uncles list of those willing to pay top dollar for rare books.

After the murder, the victim’s dog is found and Jenna takes on while she tries to find a shelter for him. With the grand reopening and the care of this dog, Jenna is low on time but seems to find herself in the middle of this investigation.

When she crosses paths with a detective that seems to have it out for her, she becomes determined to find out who the killer is before she ends up behind the target suspect with this detective. With the help of her boyfriend and detective she sets out to do just that. Will she find out who the killer is before she upsets them by snooping around to, getting to close and finding herself on next on the killers list?

This was definitely worth the read. I really enjoyed the sleuthing. Jenna and her friends are great but the interesting encounters with her suspects and the situations she finds herself in really kept me interested. I will be keeping my eye out for the next book in this series.

*This book was received via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I enjoyed this one a lot. It was well written and well paced. Held up well as a standalone. Had an interesting plot that kept me engaged throughout. I will say, I did figure out the "whodunnit" about halfway through the book, but I was still enjoying the story, so that took nothing away from it. The characters were likable, and the ending was satisfactory. The author leaves us with a dangling thread regarding one character. I assume we'll hear more about what is going on with him in future books(?). All in all this was a fantastic cozy and I can't wait to see what comes next for these characters.

**ARC Via NetGalley**

I was very excited to read this new Antique Bookshop Mystery. After reading the first one in the series, I was hoping that we would get to see Jenna and her friends again.

The characters seem real to me and it's interesting to watch the characters develop. The story kept my interesting from the first pages and kept me reading late into the night.

I'm looking forward to the next one in the series.

Title: Murder by Bookend
Author: Laura Gail Black

Ch: 28

Pg: 304

Series: Antique Bookshop mystery 2

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Rating: 4 stars

Publisher: Crooked Lane books



Murder by the Bookend by Laura Gail Black is the second book in the Antique Bookshop Mystery series and I enjoyed this one more than the first. And I think it's largely do in part to the fact that the characters and the setting have been established and the the heroine Jenna isn't' the prime suspect. Not to mention a sweet little dog name Eddy short for Edition. To me Eddy stole the book, and I look forward to more books in the series.







I received a copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions e

Murder by the Bookend is the second installment in Antique Bookshop Mystery series.

This is a charming and as it clearly implies cozy series set in a small town and likable characters.

I found our heroine a bit of a mystery and for some reason couldn't connect with her. I liked that the romance with the detective progressed fairly quickly.

The mystery itself was well presented and thought out. The clues are left for readers to follow and help the main character solve the case.

With just right amount of twists and turns to keep reading enjoyable.
The setting was lovely and side characters quite likable and interesting.

I really can't pinpoint what it lacks in order to get a higher mark from me apart that it really couldn't hold my interest all that much.