Member Reviews
This is the second book in the Sweet Fiction Bookshop cozy mystery series. I haven't read the first, but after this, I am definitely going to go back and read it! It's nice too because with this one, you don't have to have read the first one to follow along - there are enough references to what has happened previously without giving it away.
Lexi, the protagonist, is on the case again when two realtors die within days of each other. Jealousy abounds among the suspects, and Lexi must find the killer before she is next. I loved the characters in this books, and I loved her dog Cookie! I thought the chemistry between Lexi and Detective Berg was so great, and I really hope there are more in this series.
I received my copy from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This is my first Kitt Crowe book and the second book in the Sweet Fiction Bookshop series. I plan to go back and read the first book but I wasn't lost reading this one. The cast of characters were very entertaining and I want more of them. There were a bit too many suspects in the murder case but the ending was quite clever. I'd like to see a third book in this series!
I absolutely loved this book. A mystery with a touch of romance in it is right up my alley. I was literally on the edge of my seat through this book and did not want to stop reading it. Another cozy mystery that is a part of an endearing series. I really like the name of the town and all the little sweet treat named businesses. My favorite quote from this book is "Ive watched all those. Have you seen Midsomer Murders? The ones with the original Barnaby, though, not his cousin." " I know. When they let his cousin take over, it ruined it for me." As a lover of British mysteries, I really felt this conversation and wondered if the author is also of fan of the genre.
Lexi Jones runs the local bookstore, Sweet Fiction, in the town of Confection, Oregon. The local detective, Chad Berg, seems to have a strained relationship with Lexi (probably from events of the first book that I haven't read), he's always citing her and her dog for something. Marilyn Freeman, a local realtor and a woman with a not so nice reputation, has been found dead, in her home, of an apparent suicide. Not long after, her associate, Rachael Nevis is also found dead, this time in the backyard of Lexi's best-friends brother, Dash. Hes arrested and charged with both murders, as he had been intimately involved with both. As the story progresses, we discover that Marilyn was also murdered, and both had been overdosed with ketamine. Lexi and her book club, The Macaroons, which is also crime solving club, set out to find the killer, before Dash is convicted of murders, he didn't commit.
Lexi gets herself into some pretty big ordeals throughout the book. Some are comical and others are dangerous but all in all the book is really clever, and I had no idea who the killer was. I love the characters in this little town. Lexi and her dog, Cookie are really cute, and I really enjoyed the ongoing tension between Lexi and Berg. I am very much looking forward to reading more of Lexi and her crew. I received this book free from NetGalley for an honest review.
It’s summer festival time in Confection, Oregon a busy time at the Sweet Fiction Bookshop. But when a member of the chamber of commerce suddenly dies a heart attack things go a stray and then another chamber member dies also presumably of natural causes. Lexi gets more unfavorable information when her friend Dash who dated both women is accused of murder. With Cookie her lovable border collie mix she opens the book on another perplexing case. When Lexi learns of discussions among council members involving a string of secretive real estate transactions she enlists her faithful fellow members of the Macaroon Book Club Lexi sets out to get the clues together and clear Dash’s name. Can she devise a clever trap to catch a killer. A very enjoyable fun story I recommend to all.
A Poisonous Page is the second book in the Sweet Fiction cosy murder mystery series, although it does work well as a standalone story.
When two local realtors end up dead, and the brother of her best friend is implicated, Lexi, proprietor of bookstore Sweet Fiction, and her book club find themselves investigating the crime. Throw in a love interest with the local detective and a cast of colourful characters, and you have a fun read
~ Many thanks to Netgalley for providing a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review~
Lexi runs a bookstore in a charming, Oregon town. She is surrounded by zany relatives and lots of characters. But, suddenly, people begin to die. Both victims are realtors. Good looking realtors. And good looking realtors who like to hook up with men, both married and single.
The dialog is snappy. The characters are likeable. And the mystery has a nice little surprise at the end. We also get to keep up with lexi's love life as she falls more and more in love with the hunk of a police detective.
In fact, I only had one real complaint with the book. Lexi's dog is cute. Real cute. And smart. Real smart. We learn this because it is mentioned over and over again. The dog was a nice foil. But a little less gushing would have been welcome. It's a minor thing. Overall, the book was a wonderful read.
I am so happy that I found the first book in this series at the library! I fell in love with these characters and this town instantly, and I was beyond excited when I was granted the opportunity to read and review this latest installment in the series.
The crew is all back together, love interests are advancing, and things are kind of boring for the Macaroons. All of a sudden a top real estate agent is found dead, then an elderly friend of the Sweet Fiction bookshop dies. When another real estate agent is found murdered! The Macaroons are on it!
I really love this series and can't wait to read more books in this series. Kitt Crowe writes in such a way that I can see the houses and the streets and the shops. Maybe it reminds me of growing up in a small town, all I know is that I really enjoy this series and this story was an excellent second installment.
I would like to thank Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read and review this story.
Ah, so mysterious and action filled with a touch of romance........
I LOVED IT!
And the writing style was absolutely wonderful.
Such an enthralling book (plus the catchy name and the cover)
Perfection in every single way!
Thank you Netgalley and publisher for an arc.
A Poisonous Page is a cute and cozy mystery. The Macaroons (book club with amateur sleuths as members) is an enjoyable part of the story. Likable characters, funny at times, in a close knit small town setting. I found the story to be too long and I needed to skim the second half, in order to finish it. Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC.
Here is another fun and entertaining cozy. Lexi manages Sweet Fiction in Confection, Oregon. When a driven real estate agent dies, Lexi thinks it strange, but it is ruled a heart-attack. However, with a co-worker of the dead woman turns up dead (not by natural causes) in her friends backyard, Lexi is on the case. Why is someone trying to frame Dash. With her friends, uncles, and dog helping her, Lexi sets out to find the murderer. Even the the big, handsome detective has warned her off the investigation.
This is a fun mystery. I enjoy reading about the locale, because I am somewhat familiar with the area. Plus, the characters are great. Each is somewhat unique and offers just the right amount of sass to the story. The mystery kept me guessing and it was a surprise ending.
It's an enjoyable cozy mystery, with all the important ingredients. It has an interesting plot, with a not too gruesome murder, and likeable characters. And some romance of course.
The only thing I was not very happy about was the place names. I found that feature a little over the top.
Apart from that, I liked it and recommend it to everyone who likes this genre.
This was a fun cozy mystery. Lexi and her two best friends, a hot detective, her gay uncles and her book club/murder solving club - The Macaroons - meant there were plenty of characters to enjoy and plenty of potential suspects. While I didn’t read book 1 in the series I can’t wait to read the next book and see what happens between Lexi and Mt Batchelor.
Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Publishing for the arc.
This is the first cozy mystery I've read of Kitt Crowe's. Although I skipped book 1 in the series, it was easy to follow along and get to know the characters. I always enjoy cozy mysteries where the lead female character runs a bookshop - and this one didn't disappoint. In fact, it may be my new favorite cozy series. I look forward to reading more books in the series.
A Poisonous Page was a fun read. It takes place in Confectjion, Oregon. Lexi Jones is the main character who works as the manager of her parent's book store, Sweet Fiction. The supporting characters add to the story. Detective Chad Berg and Lexi have a strained relationship. He is always looking for reasons to give her a ticket for her dog, Cookie. While in the book store he gets a call for a 10-54 (dead body) and leaves. Marilyn Freeman, a realtor has passed away. from a heart attack. She owns Sunsweet Realty. Lexi and her friends, Cat and Terri go to Ripe Raison a bar and pub owned by Terri's brother, Dash, Everyone is talking about Marilyn's passing. She has a bad reputation of having affairs with many of the men who live in town as well as some shady real estate dealings. Dash mentions that he had once dated her for a short time last year. Terri calls Lexi early in the morning that a body has been found in Dash's backyard. The person who is found there is Rachael Nevis who worked for Marilyn. She also had dated Dash. Lexi promises Terri that she will find out who killed Rachael when Dash is arrested. Lexi calls an emergency meeting of the Macaroons Book Club (also known as Macaroons Mystery Club), They find out that Marilyn had a deal with Gary and Clint, real estate developers for ownership of Strawberry Fields land. but died before it was finalized. Rachael closed the deal. It is later discovered that both Marilyn and Rachael had been poisoned by Ketamine, The reader is taken on an exciting adventure of finding out who killed them. and the exciting ending. Throughout the story, the relationship between Chad and Lexi is developing with some funny episodes.
I enjoyed this book and found it quite entertaining.
Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane for this ARC.
“It’s never the person you most suspect. It’s also never the person you least suspect. . . . Therefore, I know the killer to be . . . the person I most medium suspect.” - Dwight Schrute, The Office
This turned out to be so accurate, when my husband asked me what I was reading, and when I told him it was a cozy mystery, who I thought the killer was. It was a wild guess, but it was someone in the middle of the pack, or someone I only “medium” suspected.
The only downside to this book is that there are a lot of characters to keep up with. There are lots of names for people we don’t actually see on the page much. It’s nice that it’s a small town, but that means pretty much everyone is a suspect, and boy does this town see a lot of drama with its citizens. With their work, with their loves lives, and with their hobbies.
Lexi is a middle-of-the-road main character, not a big personality, but I liked Detective Chad Berg, aka Mt. Bachelor. Lexi also has really great friends, and in future books I’d like to see more of her and Berg actually together.
I'm a sucker for cozy mysteries set in bookstores and bookshops and A Poisonous page is no different. I loved it. It was also a great start to a new series.
Well, this is I guess the first cozy adult mystery book I read. And well I'm not that impressed with the adult part... There were too many characters and suspects that I couldn't remember their names and the revelation and all the constant blabbering on who it is was annoying to me. Honestly, there wasn't much detective work done from the MC Lexi. No motivations for murder much either. The only thing I liked, or a who was the dog Cookie, who was so adorable! I don't know but it didn't keep me hooked and interested much, I honestly would have DNFd if it wasn't that it's an ARC... It could work for others though!
In any mystery genre, I look for a well written book, a good plot, and characters I can relate to. A Poisonous Page checks all the boxes. When I opened this cozy and found it was about a town named "Confection" and the owner of a bookshop called Sweet Fiction with a dog named Cookie and a book group called the Macaroons,"I hesitated. I went through a phase of reading only cozies for a number of years and I loved many of them but at some point it felt like they were more about cuteness than a decent plot and characters you can relate to, etc. Many writers get so formulaic that every book reads like the last book. I think Kitt Crowe will do better by us and wish her well in future entries! A Poisonous Page convinces me that there are still people writing great cozies and this is one of them. Lexi Jones runs her parents' bookshop in her hometown in Oregon and she is two months out of a murder case where she was a suspect. Thus, in this second entry of a series, readers know that Lexi and the Macaroons solved the first murder and that a police officer named Berg also a returnee from big city life, could do without her help. He essentially harasses Lexie with petty citations for having her dog off the leash. Lexie has close friends, Cat and Teri, a couple of Uncles and their son, some antagonists, the minister's wife and the garden club president. Crowe develops her characters and creates a rich sense of this little town, making the various players, including a murder victim and a revolving group of suspects way more interesting and relatable. Sure, it's a cozy so there are some deft stereotypes and some silliness along the way, The satisfying part of what makes a good cozy is present all the way. But I could tell you some things about even a number of tangential characters. They are three-dimensional. YAY Kitt Crowe. I also get a kick out of the fact that the Macaroon's book of the month is "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo," a horrific, violent, masterful book with one of the most complex characters ever written and that Lexi's uncle didn't read the book but faked his way through because he saw the movies. As to the plot, I admit all the clues were there and I didn't identify the killer, which I consider a plus. Perhaps others will roll their eyes at my lack of insight! OH, and the dog is one of the best characters of all! Plus there are kittens. They are not developed as characters like Cookie, but kittens!!
A Poisonous Page is book #2 in this series by Kitt Crowe. Though I didn’t read book #1 I didn’t find it to difficult to get up to date with the characters and didn’t feel too lost. The story is a fun and fast cozy mystery read and kept me guessing until the end.
I will definitely be continuing on and following this series. Congratulations to Kitt Crowe for writing such a delightful series.
Thank you to #netgalley and #crookedlanebooks for the opportunity to read this advance copy.
Once I discovered this was book #2 in a series, I had to tackle the first book, Digging Up Trouble, before I could give this one a chance. The series is the Sweet Fiction Bookshop series. As cozy mysteries go, A Poisonous Page hits the mark! I listened to the audiobook of the first book, but read this one. I found that I liked reading better than listening for this series. I found the second book to be better than the first, honestly. A Poisonous Page could be read as a stand-alone. The descriptions of all characters in the lovely Oregon town of Confection are thorough. Lexi, a bookshop manager, is a sweet young lady with loads of charm, who can tackle her smarter-than-her dog, her two best friends, the town council, her uncles, and the town detective with one hand tied behind her back. In Poisonous Page, Lexi discovers multiple clues to three deaths that occur close together in the town. With the help of the Macaroons (the book club at the bookshop), the clues are pieced together nicely, but not too nicely, just to keep the reader engaged til the end!
Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for this ARC.