What a story that pulled this reader in from the first page and didn't let go until the last page! I loved every twist and turn.

I voluntarily reviewed this book.

It isn’t the first-time real estate agent Helen Morrisey has found someone naked in bed while showing a house to a potential buyer. But this one is different. One glance at the bluish cast around his lips and the vacant, staring eyes, and Helen knows big-time developer Al Capelli is never going to sign another sales agreement.

His death is big news for a small, top of the Chesapeake water town where a family empire is built around secrets and their brash money style is resented by locals. Within days, his lover, her old friend, begs Helen to find the killer before she’s arrested for murder. With her fight for the underdog style, Helen jumps in. She quickly realizes that solving a murder mystery in real life is a lot more dangerous than reading one. Helen decides to create her own Detection Club of expert sleuths—Miss Marple, Jessica Fletcher, Nora Charles, Agatha Raisin, and, yes, Nancy Drew to help unearth the truth.
Gripped from the first chapter!

Debut of series set in the Chesapeake Bay area at a dying water town rejuvenated by the search for afforable housing and urbanites moving there. Written by a real estate agent, you get some insider info along with the mystery. A dead body discovered in the master bedroom during an open house puts a damper on any prospective buyers. Helen Mossissey, a realtor with 20+ years experience , is the unlucky soul who makes the discovery. Both that experience and the fact that her close friend is suspect numero uno drives her into investigating with her "squad" of famous female sleuths. While I expected that would have been cumbersome, it was handled deftly by the author. Mystery was solid and I was engagedcwith the story from the outset. I am already looking forward to, hopefully, a new one in the series.

A quick and easy read and a book that is a cosy mystery and a bit of fun.

A real estate agent that loves a good mystery book, Helen Morrisey is now trying to solve the murder of the person she has found in a home she was showing. The story builds from there and keeps you reading. It is fun, interesting, intriguing and keeps you hanging in there so you can find out what happens.

A great read, not too long and lots of secrets.

Thoroughly enjoyable read. Realtor Helen finds a murdered dead body in a house she is showing. She decides to find out who did it because her best friend has been arrested for the murder. Helen loves to read fictional women detective stories and has what she calls her Detection Club of expert sleuths, Miss Marple, Jessica Fletcher, Nora Charles, Agatha Raisin, and, Nancy Drew. Detective Joe thinks she might be helpful so lets her help him. He also is attracted to her and she to him.

Thank you NetGalley, Judy L Murray and Level Best Books for the copy of Murder in the Master. This is my personal review.
I love a good cozy and this one hit ever point I look for. Helen Morrisey is a real estate agent and a huge fan of mystery books. What a novel concept for a book! She is going to a model home to get set up for a showing and what does she find in the home – you guessed it a dead body in the bedroom. It is the Al Capelli , who is one of the developers of the housing project. And to complicate things more her friend Susan was having an affair with the dead man! Susan asks Helen to help clear her name.
You will have to read this great book to find out who did it! You will be glad you did. I am looking forward to the next book in A Chesapeake Bay Mystery series.

This book was enjoyable to read. It was set in a quaint Maryland coastal town. It featured a strong protagonist who, although a realtor. became involved in a murder investigation after her best friend was implicated. It had some surprises in the story as well as lots of suspense. I highly recommend this book to other mystery readers.

To say that real estate broker Helen Morissey is not having a good day would be a gross understatement. After arriving at a model home for which her agency has the listing, Helen finds the body of Al Capelli, a local real estate developer and the married man with whom her best friend Susan has been having an affair in an upstairs bedroom. She immediately calls the police and meets Detective Joe McAlister who is assigned to investigate. Helen is a widow and not interested in having another relationship, but it rapidly becomes clear - at least to the reader, if not Helen -within the first few chapters that romance might be brewing between the two of them. That having been said, the mystery plot, not the potential romance, is always front and center. One of the things I really liked was the frequent references to Helen’s (and my) childhood hero Nancy Drew. Murray has a pleasant, breezy writing style which makes the plot flow seamlessly. Her characters, especially Helen and Joe, are people you would really like to know if they existed in real life. I truly enjoyed this book and am looking forward to reading future books in this series.

Thanks to netgalley for the advanced ebook to review.
A cosy mystery read, for me there were a few too many characters floating around that I couldn't always place who they were when names were mentioned. The last couple of chapters suddenly switched to a much faster pace, which felt a bit odd due to the rest of the book ambling along at a much slower pace!

Fun, yet intriguing cozy style mystery. The heroine is a real estate broker who uses her love of fictional women sleuths like Nancy Drew, Miss Marple, Agatha Raisin and Jessica Fletcher to solve a murder. I recommend this book.

Murder in the Master is a wonderful cozy mystery that includes real estate and murder. I was quickly taken in with the easy writing style and wonderful characters.

Helen Morrisey is a real estate agent and a recently widowed mother of adult twins. Helen is also a lover of mysteries which include Nancy Drew, Agatha Raisin, Nora Charles, Jessica Fletcher, and Miss Marple. I thought it was very clever to include these while she went about trying to solve the murder of Al, the "first" victim. It’s a fun element that Helen’s love of these famous sleuths also appears in Helen's personality. With her real estate expertise it gives her the ability to snoop while doing her job. While the mystery unfolded I suspected a truth that had yet to be revealed and was glad that I was right when it finally came to light.

I highly recommend Murder in the Master. It is a mystery that has many twists and turns that you will enjoy.

When realtor Helen Morrisey showed up to one of the model houses she was getting ready for an open house, the last thing she expected to stumble upon was not only a dead body, but the body of one of the developers involved in the housing projects, Al Capelli. What's even worse is that her long time friend Susan, that had been having an affair with the victim,  becomes the prime suspect. As Susan starts to feel the heat, she asks Helen to help her clear her name. A lover of mysteries, Helen decides to jump aboard and invokes the help of her favorite detectives, Jessica Fletcher, Miss Marple, Nora Charles, Agatha Raisin, and of course Nancy Drew. When Susan ends up behind bars, Helen rises to the occasion to clear her friends name once and for all, but not without a hurdle of challenges getting thrown at her. As she starts to dig further into the death of Al as well as the business he owned with his brothers, she starts hitting nerves, friends start to seem more like enemies, and she starts to get hints to back off or else. Just what secrets are the family hiding? Can Helen clear her friends name and find the real killer before she or someone she loves becomes the next victim?
Thank you Netgalley, Judy Murray and Level Best Books for the opportunity to read and review this book. This was a great book! It had me within the first page. It was very entertaining, great characters, great story development, and just very well written. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend it to anyone who loves a good mystery. I rate this ⭐⭐⭐⭐💫

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle by Level Best Books, Independent Book Publishers Association and #NetGalley for my honest opinion.

A unique cozy mystery series that’s truly delightful.

I was intrigued by the title as due to the cover art my immediate inference was that the murder was going to be discovered in the Master Bedroom. I didn't recognize the author's name but as I read that Judy L. Murray is a Philadelphia real estate broker and restoration addict and lives atop a cliff on the Chesapeake Bay I knew she had a wealth of experience both professionally and personally to draw from that would naturally infuse her writing.

As the cozy began with real estate rule #1 I was curious if each chapter would begin with a new real estate rule. As that did not materialize I am hopeful that each book in the series will include a new real estate rule as I suspect that the author can create an interesting rule list to synchronize with each mystery she will create. So I’m voting for real estate rule #2 for the 2nd book in the series. Hint! Hint!!

Helen Morrisey, real estate agent, widow, mother of adult twins, animal lover, and an extraordinary friend. Helen is also a devoted mystery lover with favorites of Nancy Drew, Agatha Raisin, Nora Charles, Jessica Fletcher, and Miss Marple. I loved that Helen’s Detection Club was in her mind drawing upon the best sleuthing talents of each of her favorite sleuths as she examined the pieces of information she gleaned from talking to all the individuals closest to the murder victim, following up on alibis, and investigating their habits and relationships. It’s a fun twist that Helen’s real estate expertise provides the detective with background information instead of the amateur sleuth being at odds with local law enforcement. The repartee between Helen and Detective Joe McAlister adds sparkle to the investigation particularly when background information has the meaning of a different level of involvement to these new partners.

With any new series it’s a treat to visualize the business establishments that add to the ambiance of the local setting. For Port Anne, Maryland, style and local color begins at Cut Above (hair salon) and delicious offerings are at Jean’s Coffee Pot, The Wooden Mast (an old-fashioned diner), The Blue Crab and The Harriet Bunker House(1700’s inn) for fine dining.

My sincere thanks to Judy L. Murray for my complimentary digital copy of this title, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

#MurderintheMaster #NetGalley

Murder in the Master is a mystery thriller you do not want to miss.

Very well written, it's about real estate agent Helen finding a body while showing a house to a potential buyer. The caveat is that it's a well-known developer.

The storyline is very interesting and the well-developed characters makes this a very good book.

This first book in a series that centers on a real estate agent, Helen Morissey, is a lighthearted read and a fun mystery. When Helen discovers a dead body in a property scheduled for an Open House, her best friend (also a real estate agent and the deceased mistress) is arrested for the murder. Unable to accept that her friend could be guilty, Helen decides to prove her interest. A widow with two grown children, Helen loves reading murder mysteries, from Nancy Drew to Agatha Christie, and she marshals the strengths of the fictional female detectives to solve the case. Invited to consult on the case by the Detective Joe McAlister, Helen starts uncovering illegal practices of a local housing development company that puts her life in danger. Is this recent murder connected to her husband's death? Will Helen be open to a new relationship with Joe? The book keeps you guessing until the end.

It isn’t the first-time real estate agent Helen Morrisey has found someone naked in bed while showing a house to a potential buyer. But this one is different. One glance at the bluish cast around his lips and the vacant, staring eyes, and Helen knows big-time developer Al Capelli is never going to sign another sales agreement.
Helen is a great MC. This was a great mystery and I really enjoyed it.
#MurderintheMaster #NetGalley

This book was sent to me on Kindle by Netgalley for review…the characters are intriguing…I love the alternate personalities of the protagonist…fun…her man friend is just like her…a cast of characters who try to solve the murder mystery or are involved…this is a quick read with a few red herrings thrown in…I enjoyed this…pleasure reading…hoping the good guys won…looking forward to the next book in this series…

This book grabbed onto me and didn’t let me go until I turned the last page! I was that hooked right from the start. What’s not to love with a protagonist that reminds you so much of your youth. From Nancy Drew and mystery books to the Chesapeake Bay, I was taken back to my youth and times spent with friends…both literary and real. It’s great to see a strong woman who knows worth and doesn’t settle for anything less. Can’t wait for more adventures with Helen!

The first paragraph was a winner that pulled me in and I didn’t stop reading.! A wonderful new mystery series with a strong female lead, Helen, a top real estate agent that knows everyone with a love for reading old mystery books. It doesn’t get any better. . I throughly enjoyed this book, the mystery, the laughs, the characters, and am already looking forward to the next.