A fast-paced, engaging cozy mystery with delightful characters. One of my favorite reads this year.

Our main character (Tess) is an author turned bookshop owner. She is working on getting her mother off the hot list of murder suspects, but there are multiple plot-lines going on here. And when I thought I had figured it out...I didn't.

Tess is joined by her teen daughter Gertrude, a tech wizard (Jay) with the power of Penelope Garcia (Criminal Minds), as over-the-top podcaster, a intelligent journalist, her mother, and the quintessential love-interest detective. A famous murderer is killed right off the bat...and of course Tess's plans are thrown off course. Her bookstore opening is derailed and her reputation....well it might just fall off the rails. But have no fear.....cozy mystery this is...and it will be solved.

I should also note..
There is an overall multi series ARC involving some undercover agents....but it was so easy to pick this up not having read the first two books. Kudos to Tamara Berry for using this super sneaky trick and hook - because I want to know where this is going. Now I have to wait for the next one..

This was one of my 48 hour reads of the summer. This would be a perfect beach or park read. Or even a day read for a porch reader (like myself).

This is the second great cozy mystery series I have happened upon this year that was new to me -
Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an ARC of this book.

This was such a wonderful book! I love a good cozy and this didn't fail to disappoint me. It is filled with great twists and kept me hooked the entire time while reading it.

Thank you to Netgalley for this novel.
This is such a cute cozy mystery. Tessa is a thriller writer whose newest detective novel is based on a past case that she helped solve. On the day of her bookstore opening and book release her mother comes to town with her possible murderer boyfriend Levi Parker. Tessa doesn’t recognize him until her daughter Gertrude tells her that he is the subject of a podcast and he has been accused of killing older single women, like her mother. Tessa becomes suspicious and once she goes to the sheriff, Levi ends up dead. I think it’s great that Tessa is opening up a bookstore. Nobody comes to her party or her opening because of Levi’s death. A podcaster named Neptune is on the scene and the sheriff has her help him and invites her up to the crime scene and Tessa instantly becomes jealous because of her feelings for the sheriff and the fact that he has never invited her to help with a crime scene. Tessa finds out that Neptune’s real name is Darcy and has something to do with Levi’s death. Levi killed Tessa’s moms best friend the year before and Neptune’s producer is the one who killed him. Levi and Neptune are secret lovers and we’re planning on leaving town to be together. Tessa is going to help the FBI with the Parker brothers and her mystery hacker. Neptune is arrested for messing with a crime scene and her role with Levi. I loved this cozy mystery, I don’t normally read cozy mysteries but I loved this.

Murder Off the Books: By the Book Mystery
By Tamara Berry
Poisoned Pen Press
June 2023

Review by Cynthia Chow

Her involvement in real-life murder investigations may have garnered Tess Harrow a bit of a reputation as both a Black Widow and a Murder Mary in the town of Winthrop, but it also inspired the bestselling thriller writer’s new 400-plus page mystery, Fury Under the Floorboards. Its release coincides with the opening of her bookstore the Paper Trail, a ceremony unceremoniously overshadowed by the appearance of both an immensely popular murder podcaster and Tess’s own mother, Bernadette Springer. One definitely is linked to the other, as the thrice-married attorney has toting along a new young boyfriend, the handsome Levi Parker. That Levi has been implicated – but not convicted - in the deaths of three wealthy widows doesn’t seem to bother Bernadette, but it has Tess and her too-wise-for-her-age 15-year-old daughter Gertie ready to launch their own pre-emptive investigation. It turns out that “Bee” (do not call her Grandma) wasn’t the one in danger though, with Levi dropping dead just after his arrival. When Sheriff Victor Boyd, who eerily resembles Tess’s fictional Detective Gabriel Gonzales, declares Levi’s death to be a murder, it quickly becomes apparent that Bernadette is rising to the top of the suspect list for both law enforcement and the podcaster Neptune Jones.

While Gertie is thrilled to have the glamorous podcaster and her 35 million listeners in town, Tess is less enthusiastic; especially when Neptune ends up being housed in Boyd’s home while recording an episode that uses Bee as a way of tying up Levi’s storyline. It’s also not the best time for a journalist to be staying with Tess while ostensibly writing about her life as an author, but Tess is hoping to redeem herself in the eyes of the public and the upstate Washington town. That two undercover FBI agents have also settled in Winthrop and become a part of her undeniably unconventional life is both appropriate and convenient, and their skills are added to her growing resources that even include an ethically-challenged but talented hacker.

This third in the series delivers so many unexpected, laugh-out-loud moments that it’s impossible to not be engaged from start to finish. The introduction of Bernadette Springer at first seems to fall into the trope of the heroine dealing with an overbearing, narcissistic mother, but the motives behind her actions reveal her to be an extraordinarily fun and compelling character. Gertie continues to be the absolute best as she helms her mother’s PR and organizes morally questionable promotions, frequently proving herself to be the most mature one in the family. Hot FBI agent/handyman Jared Wilson isn’t shy about expressing his interest and feelings for the (slightly) older Tess, throwing off the equilibrium of both her and the equally interested but far more hesitant sheriff. The interactions between the three generations of women are the highlight of this mystery, and the banter and quips that often hide their genuine emotions are clever and endlessly entertaining. The depiction of true crime podcasting is biting and all-too-believable, making this an exhilarating read for mystery and podcasting fans. This is another winner by an outstanding writer.

I really enjoyed the first two books in this series [I laughed so hard in reading each one] and was highly anticipating book 3 - unfortunately what was a cure and fun series went both completely over-the-top and OFF. THE. RAILS. and left me wondering what I had just read.

What I liked:
* Gertie. What an amazing kid [reminds me of one of my great-nieces]. Even as the petulant teen she is [and what teen hasn't ever been embarrassed by their parent I ask you?], she is awesome and is OFTEN way smarter than the adults around her.
* Edna St. Clair. Who knew? ;-)
* Opening the bookstore. THIS is always a good thing!!
* The humor. Though there was less of this in this read, it was still mostly there and I did find myself snorting out loud in laughter quite a few times in the book.
* The great narration [though I DID wonder if she rolled her eyes as much as I did while she was reading this].

What I didn't like:
Pretty much the rest of the book. Sigh.
* Stealing equipment and being told to destroy evidence by the two Feds who are living in Winthrop is both unbelievable and dumb. We, the readers, are smarter than this and I doubt anyone reading this [even the 5 starers] think this behavior is okay.
* The wishy-washy handling of the relationship between Tess and the Sheriff. We already KNOW how the Sheriff feels. That has been covered in the previous books so all that goes on in this one feels very juvenile and...weird [and I am not even going to talk about the end].
* The love triangle [even though that is mostly resolved by the end..I hope]/the way Tess treats Jared. The way she strings him along to get what she wants is mean and cruel and made me like her a lot less.
* Tess's Mom. IYKYK. UGH.
* The whole end/reveal. Tess acted ridiculously, ignored laws, and lacked even the minor common sense most main characters have. The stuff she did makes me truly wonder if she loves her daughter at all [and wants her to grow up with a mother who IS NOT DEAD]. Clearly she cares little for the law and thinks she both knows better than anyone in law enforcement and can do their job better than they can. It was very off-putting.
* I read the whole book, but it was tough. I wanted to skip ahead many times. The whole story-line seemed flat [and at times, totally meh]. Which leads me to this conclusion:
I often wondered, while reading/listening to this, if someone else wrote this. So much of what made the previous 2 books amazing was totally missing here and left me missing the characters that I loved in the first two books. It was, at times, very frustrating.

I will continue with the series because one bad book doesn't chase me away from a series [as I have said before, I have read 4-5 books in a series in hopes they get better because I like the characters, setting, etc and it won't be any different for this one]; I can only hope that in the next book we get back to what made this series great.

Thank you to NetGalley, Tamara Berry, and Poisoned Pen Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A cozy mystery but I personally was not that engaged with the plot line. The premise is really cool though and I would definitely recommend it for those who usually like books like these.

Title: Murder Off The Books
Author: Tamara Berry
Method: E-book- Thank you @netgallery and @poisenedpress.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

Murder Off The Books is Book 3 in the By the Book mystery series. However, you could read it as a standalone and not be confused. I did and definitely plan to pick up the other two.

I thought this book was a perfect cozy who done it with great comedic commentary. It made me laugh, jump at times, and smile at every turn. The characters are very fun to read and I loved their development within the plot.

Tamara Berry's writing was just pure fun and lighthearted to read. She knows how to make you laugh while still keeping you engaged. I can not wait to read more by her! She is a new auto buy for me.

Instagram: @alexlivesathousandlives

Dollycas's Thoughts

Tess Harrow has timed the release of her new book to coincide with the opening of her new bookstore. Her daughter Gertrude has all kinds of food planned too. Now they just need the community to turn out to make the event a big success.

Her mother has made a surprise visit with her "boyfriend" the day before though and that could ruin the whole event. Gertrude recognizes the younger man as Levi Parker, a man that has been linked to three elderly widows' deaths. What the heck is he doing with her mother?

Later, Tess tries to get Sheriff Boyd involved but he is attending to a death at the local hotel. She is shocked to learn the dead man is none other than Levi Parker and his number one suspect is her mother, Bernadette.

Add to that a true crime podcaster comes to town tailing Levi and a "fancy journalist" is in town following Tess around to "get a good look at her writing process". Can she open her bookstore, launch her new book and prove her mother isn't a killer? Or will her whole life blow up and chaos reign?

_____

In this 3rd By The Book Mystery, Tess wants to enjoy the fruits of her labor, a book based on a murder she helped solve and the opening of The Paper Trail. Instead, she must solve another or at least help Sherrif Boyd catch another killer. Tess is a strong main character who can think on her feet and her daughter is an impressive amateur assistant too. Tess's mother, Bernadette held back a lot of information making it pretty hard to keep her out of jail. I enjoyed the way Tess and Gertrude have continued to evolve. The addition of Bernadette added angst and humor in perfect amounts.

The mysteries were complicated with a lot of moving parts and characters weaving in and out. Twists, turns, and a bit of mayhem, along with plenty of suspects kept me guessing from the start. With so much going on, I had to slow down my reading pace because I didn't want to miss any vital clues. Tess had to work hard to untangle this one and she put herself in danger more than I usually like, but "solving crimes is kind of" her thing and things get suspenseful when she does.

Like the previous two books, Tamara Berry knows how to bring the funny. The character interactions and situations can turn from normal to serious to humorous and back again quickly. I found myself giggling quite a few times. There has also been romantic tension simmering for quite a while. This leads to more humorous moments but by the end, I was smiling as the author was taking this relationship I had been hoping for.

Murder Off the Books features a complex mystery and engaging and entertaining characters. Tess still has a lot to accomplish including getting to work on her next book. It seems she is ready to shake things up fictionally and on the homefront. That makes me excited for this series to continue.

This is now my favorite book of this series! Great mystery, great characters and lots of funny moments. I love that Tess is opening her bookstore, even though everything wrong happened at the opening.

#MurderOffTheBooks#
A delightful lighthearted mystery with memorable quirky characters. Tess, a famous mystery writer and amateur sleuth is in love with the local sheriff, and not making headway with him. She's opening a bookstore in a small rural Washington State town when her eccentric mother breezes into town with a much younger lover in tow, who's a murder suspect. A podcaster is hot on the murder suspect's trail and is making millions broadcasting his life. When the suspected murderer is found dead, Tess's mother becomes the prime suspect. Tess plunges into solving the murder terrified her mother may be involved because of damning evidence and motives. A great romp as clue after clue leads to dead ends. It's a you-can't-put-it-down-book until you reach the satisfying ending.

This is the third book in the By The Book mystery series and I think it’s the best one yet. Lots of funny moments in this book. Theres also a lot going on, it’s less off the wall as the previous books but this one is more realistic and I liked that. There’s other sub plots still going from the previous books in addition to the new murder mystery. The ending sets it up for something completely new and I’m looking forward to the next installment.
I also loved Tess and Sheriff Boyd push and pull throughout the whole book.

Mystery author Tess Harrow is starting to get the wrong sort of reputation for her bestselling Detective Gonzales mystery series:

QUOTE
Ever since she’d been pulled into not one but two recent murder investigations, her writing career had taken off in ways she’d never anticipated.

The book sales and movie deals? <i>Fantastic</i>.

The staggering advances her publisher was dangling to keep her happy? <i>Keep ‘em coming</i>.

The fact that she was starting to earn a reputation as someone who put her friends and family members in harm’s way for the sake of a story? <i>Not exactly the look she was going for</i>.
END QUOTE

In an attempt to sway public opinion in a more favorable direction, she’s getting ready to throw a big opening party for her small town bookstore, The Paper Trail, to coincide with the launch of her latest fictional release. Booklovers have been flocking to Winthrop, Washington in anticipation. More importantly to Tess, however, is the arrival of a journalist eager to write a report on her life that will help downplay her notoriety, especially since she’s essentially paying for him to be there.

A wrench is immediately thrown into the works, however, with the unexpected arrival of Tess’ eccentric mother, Bee. A former attorney-at-law, she was never terribly present in Tess’ life growing up, but is handling her duties as grandmother to Tess’ beloved teenage daughter Gertie with much greater aplomb. Alas, Bee has not come alone: her latest, much younger lover is also in tow. Under ordinary circumstances, Tess and Gertie would at most cringe at Bee’s over-the-top behavior. But her new boyfriend Levi Parker is not an ordinary circumstance. He is, in fact, prime suspect in the still unsolved murders of three older women who once thought they were in love with him, too.

Hot on his trail is famous true crime podcaster Neptune Jones. She’s catapulted to fame on her coverage of his alleged crimes, and brings her own entourage of true crime groupies in her wake. More annoyingly, Neptune seems to be effortlessly stealing not only the spotlight from Tess, but also the attentions, if not the heart, of Tess’ long-time crush, Sheriff Victor Boyd.

This was absolutely not the opening day Tess had in mind, even before someone is found dead in Winthrop’s nicest hotel. Can she salvage her launch and keep her family safe from both criminals and police suspicion? Just as importantly, can she fix the growing rift in her relationship with the sheriff who bears an uncanny resemblance to the fictional hero she dreamed up long before they ever even met?

I’ll freely admit that I think Jared, the other member of the not-quite-a-love-quadangle Tess is involved in, is a more worthy recipient of her affections. There’s no denying the charms of Tess and Victor’s growing trust, though, as he continues, albeit slowly, to open up to her:

QUOTE
If Tess has been Gertrude’s age, she would have squealed with excitement. As a grown woman who had complete control over herself and her reactions, she only gasped. What Sheriff Boyd was offering her was no small gesture; she could count the number of things he’d willingly shared about his past as a big-city detective on two fingers. He <i>never</i> talked about his history if he could possibly avoid it. Tess suspected that the recent reappearance of his sister, Kendra, had something to do with this new, more open side of him, but she liked to think that there were personal motivations in there, as well.

Personal, <i>private</i> motivations.
END QUOTE

Fast-paced, heartfelt and incredibly funny, this page-turner of a cozy mystery novel has just the right amount of romance to enliven the proceedings without making it the entire point of the story. Tess’ insecurity and anxiety when the far more glamorous Neptune swoops into town and seemingly sweeps Victor off his feet is absolutely relatable, as is her struggle to juggle family responsibilities with work and mystery-solving. This third installment of the By The Books mystery series was so much fun to read, and cements Tamara Berry’s status as one of my favorite writers of humorous mysteries.

I love cozy mysteries and love reading new-to-me authors. Something about this one just didn’t work for me.

I did see in other reviews that this book wasn’t quite like the others in the series so I might go back and read those to see if it fills in some blanks for me and helps me understand the characters better.

Tess seemed all over the place to me. I did like Gertrude for the most part and the setting of the bookstore is what initially got my interest. Maybe learning more of Tess’s story will help me not find her so scattered.

I wasn’t too surprised by who committed the murder, but there was still a nice little twist. I know many people liked this one more than I did and I am very glad.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for the copy of this book. All views are my honest opinion.

Princess Fuzzypants here: Tess is looking forward to the combination book launch and grand opening of her new bookstore. She is expecting a crowd of fans as well as a journalist who wants to do a piece on her, the famous author. The journalist arrives but the crowd is lured by the arrival of a famous podcasters who is following a suspected serial killer who just happens to be dating Tess’ mother. To say that things are complicated would be an understand. Every one seems enchanted by Neptune including Tess’ daughter and the cop who maybe does or maybe doesn’t have feelings for her.

The serial killer meets his match and among the suspects is Tess’ mom, It seems like whomever is doing the frame up has done a great job. But it is almost impossible to see clearly since pretty much no one is whom they say they are and there are intrigues upon intrigues. Tess figures out the bulk of it but misses a very important clue and it could cost her her life.

It was an enjoyable read with lots of twists. Five purrs and two paws up.

I so love this series. From the first book, I could relate to Tess Harrow in her divorced, single parent state and her love of small town, rural living. She makes choices that I would make and I love it!

In this book Tess has converted her grandpa's old hardware store into a bookshop and is getting ready for her grand opening and combined book release party. What she hadn't expected was that her mother would show up for the party. And even more surprising, that her mother had a young boyfriend who had just been released from jail. He was an accused, but not convicted murderer. This couldn't be good.

The party didn't go as planned since Tess's mother's boyfriend was found dead the day of the party. To make matters worse, Tess's mother was the prime suspect.

With added complications from a famous podcaster and a sneaky author, this book can't be put down until the end.

Thank you @poisonedpenpress, and @tamaratamaralucy

This cozy strikes a perfect balance of funny and mystery storytelling, with great characters, plenty of quirk and charm, and some "how the sausage gets made" of the writing life. This is an easy series to recommend and I loved the way the ending happened.

This is the 3rd book in the series and my first time reading a book in this series. So I was a bit lost and found it difficult to get into the characters I need to go back and read the first two books and the reread this one. The story is unique and witty and even though I did not read the first two books this was still enjoyable. But I definitely need to read books 1 and 2 to full assess the characters and the story overall.

Murder Off the Books is book #3 in the By the Book Mysteries series by Tamara Berry.

Tess Harrow is planning the grand opening of her bookstore the same day as her book launch. Her mother unexpectedly shows up and that is the first of many surprises for Tess.

I really enjoyed this book. I like Tess and her daughter Gertie. There were a couple of mysteries and I was guessing until the end whether they were related. I felt for Tess trying to investigate when she can’t get a straight answer from anyone. I look forward to the next book.

Thank you to the author, Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Tamara Berry sees Tess Harrow, bestselling murder author and new bookstore opener, has her mother sweep into town along with a murder podcaster and notorious lothario with a murderous reputation who ends up dead. To protect her mom and the town Tess has to go against the yummy sheriff's ruling that she stay out of the investigation. What could go wrong. Delightful cozy.

Just published this week, this is the third in a great new series that I started reading this year. A few months ago, I read the second book, On Spine of Death, and I loved it. I mentioned to my sister how much I enjoyed it. The publisher is one of her company's clients, and so she decided to read it with me. In this entry, Tess' bookstore is ready for its grand opening. Gertrude is busy catering the event for her mother, and Tess is busy with all the other details. The last thing she needs is the unexpected appearance of her mother. What she needs even less is the man her mother has in tow--a much younger man who is suspected of committing three other murders but who has not been arrested because of a lack of evidence. Following the two is a popular podcaster, Neptune Jones, who is convinced that Tess' mother will be the next victim. But Neptune is wrong. It's Levi, the suspected widow killer, who is murdered, and it's Tess' mom who is under suspicion. Tess immediately sets out to clear her mother. Her investigatory attempts are thwarted at most turns, and that makes this books a little different from the second in a welcome way. Tess is trying to honor the sheriff's request that she not investigate and put herself and her loved ones in harm's way. This time around, even though she shares information with Sheriff Boyd, she still makes the connections to solve the murders before him. I enjoyed this book just as much as the the other I read (and I have the first on hold at my library). The story is engaging, the characters are well constructed and fleshed out, and the reason Tess gets embroiled in the mystery is realistic. With a big dash of humor and a minor bit of slapstick comedy relief, this is a well-written and enjoyable series. Recommended.