This is an entertaining and well plotted story, the good start for a new cozy series. I had a lot of fun and the solid mystery kept me guessing.
Well developed and likeable characters.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

The first book in a new cozy mystery series was a fun read. Set in a tiny home community No Small Murder follows Emma and her Granny Rose as they try to solve a local murder. The mystery was well done and ended with a big twist.

I’d recommend this book to anyone who loves cozies!

Thanks NetGalley and Level Best Books for the eARC!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

🌴 cozy mysteries
🌴 strong friendships
🌴 small town charm
🌴 quirky and eccentric characters
🌴 HEA

Emma Wells, a “downsize specialist” is leaving her old life (and daddy’s mansion) behind to move into a tiny house community in Florida called Mini Meadows. Emma is going to live in a “house” that was once two shipping containers. When she opens her first shipping container however, she finds the dead body of her client!! Two of her friends soon become suspects, and Emma must beat the clock to find the real killer and save her friends!

My favourite characters were OBVIOUSLY the animals, but I also really liked all the quirky small town characters. I really liked Granny Rose of course, and I loved the relationship between Emma and Jacob Bennett 💕💕
There’s just something about a small town cozy ❤️❤️ I loved all the descriptive scenery (I really felt like I was in Mini Meadows myself 🤪) and I absolutely loved all the small town specialty stores. I wish I had some of these in my real life!
The thing I like most about cozy mysteries is they all have their own little “niche”, ie. bake shop mystery, book store mystery, library mystery etc… This allows them to all be slightly different and that’s why I enjoyed about this one. It was set in a “tiny house community”, which is a super fun concept that I have never seen before, so that was very enjoyable and different for me. The premise of cozies are pretty much the same so it’s how the author does those little things to set their work apart, which is what happened here. A very enjoyable read!
I DID NOT SEE THE END COMING! That is my absolute number one requirement in a murder mystery, and this one certainly shocked me!! I really really enjoyed this first in series book and hope there are more books coming!!

If you've always wondered about tiny houses then look no further than this fun first in series cozy mystery! The characters were likeable, especially Emma and her grandma, and the story's twists and turns kept me guessing until the very end. You will definitely be surprised when all is revealed. I'm looking forward to the next book in this series.

Emma Wells has left her wealthy family home & for the last few years has lived happily in a Tiny Home made from two shipping containers. She has built up a successful business advising & organising people who are downsizing. A new client has not endeared himself to her by his attitude & by the fact he is wanting to keep all his belongings & ditching his soon to be ex-wife! She may not have liked him but finding his body in his removal van wasn't something she wished on him! In the midst of this Granny Rose decides she has had enough of living with Rose's overbearing father & has decided to move in with her. Granny is a force to be reckoned with & the mystery of the murder soon leads her, along with Emma & her friends into danger.

This was an entertaining cosy mystery. I loved the setting & the characters & look forward to meeting them again soon. Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for letting me read & review this book.

No Small Murder
A Mini-Meadows Mystery, Book #1
Lena Gregory
5 Stars


Synopsis:

Mini Meadows, a Tiny Home community in rural Central Florida, is home to Emma Wells, a downsize specialist who left her daddy’s mansion and her inheritance behind in favor of a simpler, more peaceful life in a tiny home that was once two shipping containers. But when she opens a shipping container and discovers her dead client sitting in a rocking chair, neatly wrapped and labeled, and two of her friends end up on the suspect list, Emma pitches in to help find the killer. With plenty of clues to unpack, Emma narrows down the suspect list, but as she begins to close in on the culprit, she realizes if she’s not careful she could end up in a box of her own.

Review:

The characters are well rounded and well developed. Emma is happy helping people downsize . She had to downsize herself when she moved into her tiny home and she decided to make a living doing it. When she finds her client dead in a shipping container, she will have to find the killer because a couple of her friends are persons of interest. So that is what she does.

The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and these descriptions pulled me into the story from the very beginning. The mystery was well plotted and there were plenty of suspects to consider and clues to sift through. I did not know who the killer was until it was revealed at the end.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. I am looking forward to reading the next book in the series.

Emma Wells lives in Mini Meadows, a Tiny Home community in Florida. She is a downsize specialist, helping people move from their large homes to their newly acquired tiny home. Emma's home seemed to be even smaller when her Granny Rose decided to move in, but it was worth it to have her granny near.

Emma was working with an especially unpleasant client when she found his dead body in his shipping container on moving day. From there the story gets more complex as Emma tries to identify the killer before she finds more dead bodies in Mini Meadows.

This was a nice read with likeable characters.

Emma Wells specializes in helping people downsize from their large homes to smaller dwellings. She lives in a tiny house in Mini Meadows with her cat Ginger. Then all at once, things change when her Granny Rose comes for an extended stay, a downsizing client is murdered, and Granny Rose adopts the late client's Great Dane. Emma decides to be an amateur sleuth and work to solve the murder, with the help of her grandmother and friends.

I wanted to read this book because I love cozy mysteries and am fascinated by tiny houses. The addition of a cat and dog to the book is another nice perk.

No Small Murder is a fun start to a new series. Readers will get to know Emma, her grandmother, and her friends - as well as see the beginning of a potential romance for her (and maybe even one for her grandmother as well).

I loved the Mini Meadows setting. The little adjacent town even has tiny businesses, and residents travel to and from town in golf carts! This book made me even more intrigued about the idea of spending time in a tiny house community.

The mystery aspects of the book were interesting, and there was a surprising twist to the murder.

I recommend No Small Murder for fans of cozy mysteries, and especially for anyone who has an interest in tiny houses.

I’ve been intrigued with the idea of tiny homes for a while, so when I saw the description of No Small Murder I immediately wanted to see how a tiny home community would play out in a cozy mystery.
I like the characters - Emma, Granny Rose, Jade, Chloe, Max, Tiny and Eric. Emma’s business of helping people to downsize is interesting. I really like Mini-Meadows and the variety of tiny homes found there. I wish it was something encouraged where I live.
I didn’t see the murder resolution wrapping up the way it did. We’re left with two dead and the motive was greed.
I will happily recommend No Small Murder and look forward to the next in the series.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

I’d forgotten how much I love cosy mystery books, and this was a great way to get back into the genre. Such likeable characters, a funny and easy read to keep you guessing. 4 stars purely because I felt the link between the two characters at the end was a bit stretched.
Thanks to Lena Gregory, Level Best Books and Net Galley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Review posted directly to Goodreads as the IBSN didn’t link.

This is a new to me author but I’m already searching for more books by her. I loved the premise of the tiny house community and especially the huge dog. The mystery was interesting but the characters were the best.

Lena Gregory has written thirteen previous mysteries in two cozy series. When I saw that she had a new series I was certain that I would enjoy it and I was right. To start with, the concept of downsizing into a tiny home and its community appealed to me. Emma has turned her back on the family mansion and set out to live a simple life in a tiny home constructed from two shipping containers. I've seen pictures of such dwellings and they are lovely. She helps people set up their new tiny homes and has to deal with some, shall we say, interesting? people. One in particular really posed a challenge but finding him dead, packaged and even labeled in the van was a shock. Due to the fact that he was not a pleasant person, the list of suspects isn't thin. Was it his wife? Another relative? Someone else who disliked him? Emma sets out to find the killer.
If that wasn't enough of a surprise, her Grandmother Rose decides to leave the family mansion, too and arrives on Emma's doorstep, ready to move in with her. Grandmother Rose needs to have a prime role in all future Mini Meadows mysteries. She is a real hoot.
In the best cozy tradition this new series checks all of the boxes. As it is the first in a new series it takes time to lay the groundwork for the recurring characters and their stories. The next book has a spot on my TBR list. It has good potential.
My thanks to the publisher Level Best Books and to NetGalley for giving me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

No Small Murder by Lena Gregory follows Emma around with her job in Mini Meadows where she helps people downsize to smaller homes. All was going well before she took on a job with Mr Aldridge whose body Emma found the morning Mr and Mrs Aldridge were moving into their new home. With many suspects such as Mr Aldridges' wife and son and even his son's girlfriend, Emma must stay on hyper-alert to protect herself but more importantly protect her grandmother who was the victim of stalking.

I really like this book because the reader follows Emma around learning about her and spending time with Emma, her grandmother and her friends and really feeling part of the book. The story was exciting and gripping featuring a great mystery and the small hints of romance definitely added to the overall storyline. This was a greater thriller which once you get into the book you really can't put it down.

I can't really say there is anything about this book I didn't really like. Some advice would be that some of the chapters were long and to make the book even more exciting and faster paced I would consider making the chapters shorter. This would then engage the reader much more and make them want to keep reading. I should also add that when I read the description for this book I was expecting something much different to what this book is actually about but it does not disappoint. I very much look forward to a sequel of this novel that further follows Emma and her friends on more exciting adventures.

I don't normally compare books in my reviews but this first book set in Mini Meadows following Emma is very similar to the Bean to Bar Mystery books which I very much enjoyed. Both books follow the main character throughout their lives and incorporate the exciting mysteries which the characters get involved in investigating. As well as this, both this book and the bean to bar series have elements of romance, which is just enough to add an additional theme and make the story even more enjoyable than if it was just a plain murder mystery.

Altogether, I rate this book 3 stars making it a good book because it was a great mystery and was very gripping. I like how the author was able to incorporate a few different themes into this book, this really helped to make the book really exciting. I would like to thank both NetGalley and Level Best Books for providing me with an Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) of this book in return for an honest book review.

Book: No Small Murder by Lena Gregory
Rating:⭐️⭐️⭐️
Trope:tiny home community mystery suspense
Publication: 21st February 2023

This is the first book in what I am hoping to be a really great series and what a ride this book has been.

Emma has recently moved to a tiny home community after moving out of her father’s mansion and leaving her inheritance behind, as a downsize specialist she finds her latest client dead in the back of a moving in van.
The matter doesn’t help when her grandmother comes to stay with her, with so many suspects on the list and everyone trying to find the identity of the killer, no one is safe.

Overall, it was a quick somewhat quirky mystery read. I truly enjoyed it as a brand new novel about a tiny home community with curious, nosy and gossipy neighbours and the wilderness, to say this book stands out on some points in a understatement.

Thank you NetGalley and Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) for the ARC copy.

No Small Murder by Lena Gregory is the first A Mini-Meadows Mystery. The story is told from Emma’s point of view. We get to know Emma’s every thought (and she rambles). I loved Granny Rose. She is fun and lively (a hoot). Granny Rose has decided it is time to live a little. I like the tiny home community of Mini-Meadows. Everything a person could need is in the community. You can hop in your golf cart and zip around shopping, visiting friends, and attending events. The mystery is straightforward. There are a handful of suspects, a couple of clues, and misdirection. The whodunit can be solved long before the reveal. I would have liked a better wrap up at the end because I had a couple of lingering questions. No Small Murder is easy to read. The pacing was varied. There are characters who disappear along the way (they were involved and then nothing). I did not like the repetition. I got it the first time and did not need it told to be me again (and again and again). I was baffled as to why Broderick Aldridge was downsizing. It was obvious that his belongings would not fit into the small home (if the furniture from his study would not fit, how would the rest of his belongings). I had no clue how the wife and dog would fit in. There was one detail that I found odd. The author has the difficult client writing checks. I cannot remember the last time I wrote a check (who needs checks with debit cards, credit cards, PayPal, and Venmo). No Small Murder is a diminutive tale with a gregarious granny, a murdered grump, gossip galore, a money misfortune, and a curious downsizing specialist.

I love everything about this charming debut cozy series. Thank you to the publisher, the author and to Net Galley for the opportunity. This is the perfect cozy mystery with all the right elements for a successful series.

First I love a cozy with a unique setting. This is set in a tiny home community which brings a charm to the series with unique homes and neighbors that are a community. The setting is Florida and all the atmospheric beauty of Florida . Our protagnist Emma is a downsize specialist who has moved to a tiny home made out of shipping containeres leaving her inheritance and her former life behind. She has a adorable cat and quickly makes friends in her new community. Her Grandmother and her great dane are a fun part of this series and Grandma soon moves in with Emma with her dog leading to many funny antics. When Emma finds a dead body she must investigate to save her accused friends. She has help gathering evidence from her community of friends and while investigating is finding she loves her new life and her tiny home .

The sleuth was well plotted and intriquing to conclusion. The charcters all add to the series with depth and interest to the readeer. Emma is delightful and a fun protaganist we all want to be friends with. This is a winning new series that every cozy reader will enjoy .

first-in-series, new-series, Florida, community, murder, murder-investigation, amateur-sleuth, downsizing, friends, senior-sleuths, situational-humor, verbal-humor, pet-dog, hacker, cozy-mystery, family-dynamics, family-drama, Great-Dane, tiny-house, matchmaking, law-enforcement, relatives, series, pet-cat,*****

Probably a 4.5 but I want to encourage the author to keep the series and write more of them.
Emma Wells had set off away from her smothering father to start a new business for herself in the tiny home community of Mini Meadows. She has a lot of interesting friends who all have jobs related to that community. Then comes a very obnoxious man who does seem a bit conflicted about moving in. But before long he is found murdered. Meanwhile her Granny Rose comes to live WITH Emma and her pet cat in Emma's tiny house. That is goofy enough, but then Granny adopts the man's Great Dane! The sleuthing is good, the characters certainly are, the imagery is well done, the plot is twisty with red herrings, and plenty of suspense. Loved it!
I requested and received a free temporary ebook copy from Level Best Books, Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA) via NetGalley. Thank you!

No Small Murder is the first book in this delightful new series. Emma Wells is a downsize specialist who lives in a tiny home community in Florida.. When one of her clients turns up dead in a shipping container and her grandmother feels threatened by someone following her and taking photos, Emma gets involved to find the culprit and keep her feisty grandmother safe. Matchmaking Grandma Rose is a fun character and I enjoyed the antics of Buck the great Dane This was a fun, quick read, with plenty of suspects with a twist at the end.

No Small Murder by Lena Gregory is the first book in the Mini-Meadows Mystery by Lena Gregory.

This was such a great beginning to a new series. I loved the idea of a tiny home community.

We meet Emma who is a great character along with Grandma Rose.

If you love dogs, you will fall in love with Buck the Great Dane.

The mystery was fantastic and well written.

I can't wait for more books in this new series.

"No Small Murder" the first instalment in the "Mini-Meadows" Mystery series by Lean Gregory. I loved it and what a great start to a new series set around a tiny home community!

With plenty of clues to unpack, Emma narrows down the suspect list, but as she begins to close in on the culprit, she realizes if she’s not careful she could end up in a box of her own.

I love the concept of a cozy set in a tiny home community, it’s actually something me and my bff have been thinking about for retirement. The story pulled me in straight away and held my attention till the very end. There were plenty of twists and turns, and enough intrigue to keep you reading throughout and per usual with one of Lena’s books I read in one sitting.

I really loved that Grandma Rose came to live with Emma as she’s a wonderful addition to the community, then enters Buck the Great Dane …

I recommend this book to all my cozy lover friends.

I requested and received an advance reader copy of this book from Level Best Books and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.