This was a fun new start to a series with a colorful cast of characters. It’s clear that there will be a love triangle in upcoming books but nothing too overwrought.

I appreciate that the author didn’t assume whiteness as a default (aka the only time someone’s race is mentioned is if they aren’t white, which is the presumed default). It did feel redundant at the beginning when introducing a lot of characters, all of whom were described as white, black, Hispanic, etc., but it did help to establish the setting, especially in a place as diverse as Austin.

I did figure out who the murderer was very early on, but it was still a fun read and figuring out how everything unfolded.

In this clever and perfectly titled cozy, Juniper "Juni" Jessup moves home to Texas from Oregon and, with her two older sisters, opens a record/coffee shop in their small hometown outside of Austin. Unfortunately, they find a dead body in their supply closet during their grand-opening celebration. Then, making matters worse, their uncle is arrested for the murder. The sisters believe in his innocence and put up their record store as collateral for his bail. When he skips town, Juni sets out to find him, hoping to clear his name and save the store. To top things off, Juni's ex-boyfriend keeps popping up, mostly because he's the detective in the official investigation of the case!
As a Texan, once Whataburger was mentioned in the story, I decided right then and there that I liked this book a lot! However, there is much more to love than regional fast food in this one. Juni is a likable amateur sleuth with an enviable collection of vintage concert tees, surrounded by a group of quirky secondary characters. The world-building is fun, especially the punny coffee drink names based on well-known songs and the small-town atmosphere, complete with nosy neighbors. I really loved the record store setting, the vibe of it, and all the musical references. The mystery takes some twists and turns, and I enjoyed being along for the ride.
Blacke was a new author to me, and I liked her writing style. I'll not only be keeping up with this series but also looking up her other cozy series. Cozy lovers will want to add this one to their tbrs!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to review this ARC, this was a fun read!

I loved the first installment in this new cozy series. We’ve got two possible love interests, a sweet tight knit family, small town charm, and punny musical coffee names. It wrapped up really well and there were enough hints to the killer along with plenty of mystery along the way. The record store was so much fun and the sisters make me miss my own sisters. Altogether delightful!

As a cozy mystery fan, I am always excited for a new cozy series. Vinyl Resting Place is the first in the Record Shop Mystery series. Juni is our narrator and, along with her two sisters, is reinventing their family's record shop. Unfortunately, their opening celebration has turned deadly, as the sisters find a dead body in their storage closet.

I like the characters of the three sisters. The author has given them all unique personalities which seem to line up with their birth order. Juni is the youngest and her family seems to be trying to take care of her to some extent. We also get a start to two possible romances, one with an ex-boyfriend who is now the detective working the murder case, and the other with her former best friend. The police are focusing on Juni's Uncle as the main suspect in the murder, so the sisters need to figure out what really happened to the victim. The story is twisty and I didn't figure it out before the reveal of the murderer.

I will pick up the next book in the series to see what happens next with these characters.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced copy!

When the Jessup sisters Juni, Maggie, and Tansy decide to follow in their parents footsteps and open their own record and coffee shop, Sip & Spin, they had no idea that the grand opening would be memorable for all the wrong reasons. Oh, the grand opening party is a great success but when it comes time to clean up someone is found murdered and the number one suspect is a family member, Uncle Calvin. Juni doesn’t have faith that the police will solve this crime and find Calvin. Besides selling albums, making gourmet coffee, and riding around town on a lime green tricycle,she decides to start her own investigation.
Suddenly she is seeing her old boyfriend Detective Beau Russell a lot ( she still has feelings for him even though he broke her heart), and her childhood best friend Teddy (who she might see in a different light now that they’re both all grown up). Between trying to save their new business, finding a killer, and figuring out her mixed feelings about Beau and Teddy, Juni is always in the middle of things, and a killer might think she sees too much.
This is the first book in the new cozy mystery series. It has all the things that I love in a cozy. An interesting family, mixed feelings about old friends and loves, a cat, murder, and a town full of new characters to discover. It seems like there are a lot of ways this series could go and I’m looking forward to learning more about this family, their hometown,and what looks to be quite a few quirky characters

When Juni Jessup loses her IT job in Oregon she moves back home to a small Texas town near Austin to help her sisters open a record store. When they find a body in the store holding one of their uncle’s business cards the sisters jump in to clear him.

Although this is the first book in a new series, the author jumps right into the action, filling in background information as needed. The story is well paced, has all of the traditional cozy mystery elements, and enough plot twists to keep me guessing. And the record shop was a fun and unusual setting, as well as being nostalgic.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book.

When Juni Jessup and her sisters Tansy and Maggie put all their beans in one basket to open Sip & Spin Records, a record-slash-coffee shop in Cedar River, Texas, they knew there could be some scratches on the track, but no one was expecting to find a body deader than disco in the supply closet.

Family is everything to the Jessups, so when their uncle is arrested by Juni’s heartbreaking ex on suspicion of murder, the sisters don’t skip a beat putting Sip & Spin up for bail collateral. But their tune changes abruptly when Uncle Calvin disappears, leaving them in a grind. With their uncle’s freedom and the future of their small business on the line, it’s up to Juni and her sisters to get in the groove and figure out whodunit before the killer’s trail—and the coffee—goes cold.

Music and mocha seem like a blend that should be “Knockin' On Heaven's Door,” but caught up in a murder investigation with her family and their life savings on the line, Juni wonders if she might be on the "Highway to Hell" instead.

The setting of this cozy mystery is so cute; I would love to visit a record/slash coffee shop. This is a cute cozy mystery.

I had never heard of this author (so thanks, NetGalley for introducing us), but really liked her and am interested in reading more from her. Her writing was clean and clever as we learned about the three sisters who opened a vinyl record shop and soon found a dead body in their storage closet. Since their uncle was a chief suspect, they believed it was up to them to prove his innocence by finding the real killer.

I could relate to this story in several ways. For one, I lived in Austin for several years and was very familiar with areas and places named in the book. Also, I owned a cat that I named Daffodil and called Daffy for short.

The three Jessup sisters are filled with optimism for their new record store. Even finding a dead body in the supply closet in the middle of their grand opening party isn't enough to make them give up their dream -- but then their uncle is arrested on suspicion of murder and skips bail. If they can't find him and prove his innocence, he'll lose his freedom and they'll lose the store.

The first Record Shop Mystery is full of likeable characters and the mystery was complex enough to keep me guessing until the end. I look forward to spending more time with these characters in future books.

I’m a lifelong vinyl collector, and I was in the mood for a fun mystery, so this book seemed like the perfect fit. Unfortunately, it didn’t work for me.

I didn’t feel any of the characters were well developed. I liked Juni, our narrator, but her love interests had no spark whatsoever. Beau was an arrogant bully with absolutely no redeeming qualities I could find. For the life of me, I couldn’t understand why anyone put up with the guy. Teddy was the exact opposite, practically a wallflower, with little personality on display.

The plot felt weak to me, as well as the resulting whodunit and why.

Pacing was sluggish, with lots of repetition.

I enjoyed the musical references, but I needed more to hold my interest.

I thought this was a good beginning to a new cozy mystery series! Overall, I would recommend it!

I received an e-ARC from the publisher.

Set in Cedar River, Texas, just outside of Austin, Vinyl Resting Place is the first book in a new cozy mystery series. Juni (Juniper) Jessup has moved home to open a record store and coffee shop with her two older sisters. Soon after Juni finds a dead body in the storage closet at the end of their grand opening celebration, her Uncle Calvin becomes the prime suspect. The Jessup sisters put their store on the line in order to bail him out of jail, but Calvin promptly disappears. With the future of their shop on the line, Juni and her sisters start looking for the uncle, and evidence to clear him. The author's pun-y sense of humor, quirky characters, a fast-moving plot, and enough suspects to keep you guessing to the end combine to make this a thoroughly enjoyable read.

Juni Jessup has given up her high tech career in Oregon to move back to Texas and go into business with her older sisters. They are reopening a vinyl record shop that had been in the family for years. All is going well on the opening night..until the body shows up. A local girl has been murdered. And the suspect is her uncle. But it gets worse. They put up the record shop as collateral for his bail. But then he jumps bail and disappears. If he doesn't show up, Juni and her sisters will lose the record shop. She and her sisters set out to find their uncle but also find the murderer.

This is one of the best murder mysteries I have read in some time (and I read a lot of them). I love the author's witty dialogue and dry sense of humor. It reminds me of some of Janet Evanovich's best work. The dialogue is crisp and the characters are well developed. I figured out who the murderer was about three quarters of the way through the book, but that was more of a hunch than any weakness in the plot development.

All in all, this was a great book. I look forward to reading more from the author.

I will leave a review on Amazon and B&N on December 27

Vinyl Resting Place is the first book in the Record Shop Mystery series, this was a new author for me. I found this to be a well-plotted storyline, surprising to be a debut cozy mystery. I found the concept of the record/vinyl shop and coffee bar to be an original concept. I enjoyed how the sisters worked together to try and help their uncle. I would recommend this book to others that enjoy cozy mysteries.

I received an ARC from NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, in exchange for my honest review.

Juni and her two sisters are all set to open their new shop, Sip and Spin Records, when a local is found murdered in their storage room.  Their uncle is the prime suspect.  But in a small town like Cedar River, where everybody knows everybody, how long can the real killer stay hidden?    What a fun start to a new series!  I really enjoyed this one, from the cast of characters to the mystery itself.  Hits all the "cozy checkpoints" without being overly obvious.  I'm looking forward to the next installment.

Great new cozy series with a fun family dynamic. The mystery kept me guessing until the end, but the pieces still came together and made sense. I could do without all of the references to albums from my formative years being released before the main character was born 🤣 but I still loved the book!

I love cozy mysteries and especially starting new series. The setting of this one was new to me and the characters were fun! I loved the mystery and especially the author’s writing style. I can’t wait to read the next in the series!!

Book Title: Vinyl Resting Place
Author: Olivia Blacke
Series: The Record Shop Mysteries
Publisher: Saint Martin’s Press
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Pub Date: December 27, 2022
My Rating: 3.3 Stars!

My favorite genres are psychological thrillers and cozy mysteries ~ which are totally opposite!🤪
Since I just read two psychological thrillers aka “crazy people family dramas” and was ready for a fun cozy!!
Twenty-eight-year-old Juniper “Juni” Jessup was ‘let go’ from her tech job; however, the rental outside of Austin, Texas which once housed her grandparents' record store is on the market.
So Juni and her sisters open Sip & Spin, a vinyl record shop and café.
(Sounds like the soda shop my friends and frequent when we were teens.0
Since this is a cozy mystery, sure enough on opening night, Juni finds a body in the supply closet.

Uncle Calvin, a silent partner, is implicated in the murder as the victim is found with his business card. Uncle Calvin is arrested for unpaid tickets, and the sisters put Sip & Spin up as collateral to cover bail. Yikes Uncle Calvin and the sisters must find the real killer to save both the shop as well as Uncle Calvin. To make matters more complicated -Detective Beauregard Russell, the lead detective on this case and is the guy who broke Juni’s heart.
Nothing super exciting about this cozy but sometimes I a nice ‘cozy’ not only is enjoyable but just feels good!

Want to thank NetGalley and Saint Martin’s Press for granted me the pleasure of reading this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for December 27. 2022

When Juni is laid off from her tech job in Oregon, she moves home to Texas, and she and her two sisters open a vinyl record/coffee shop in their small town outside of Austin. When someone is found dead at the grand opening and Uncle Calvin is arrested, the sisters leverage the shop to bail him out; when he disappears they are shocked, and vow to investigate. Juni has two men she knew in school interested in her--her ex BF Beau, a cop who wants her to stay out of the investigation, and former BFF, Teddy, the town mail carrier. It will be interesting to follow this new series to learn more about the characters and their interest in music, since this book was more plot-driven. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.

3.5 stars

Likeable debut cozy featuring three Texas sisters and their family record - yes, as in vinyl - store. Juni Jessup returns to her home town near Austin after her corporate career in Oregon goes under. Juni, Maggie & Tansy have pooled their resources to open a vintage music and coffee business.

Things are going well at their Grand Opening, big crowds and lots of supporters. But when the party's over, they discover a dead body in the storeroom.

Evidence points to the girls' Uncle Calvin, and when he skips town after making bail, the police assume he is guilty. Tansy and crew need to insert themselves into the investigation to prove his innocence particularly since they used their new business as collateral for bailing him out of jail.

There are complications, of course. The investigating detective is Juni's old boyfriend. And another old high school buddy seems to want to move on from "just friends." Meanwhile Uncle Calvin can't be found and admittedly he is a bit of a rogue.

Fun setting and characters. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.