“𝑾𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒗𝒆𝒏’𝒕 𝒌𝒏𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒚 𝒍𝒐𝒏𝒈, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒊𝒇 𝒊𝒏𝒗𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒊𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂 𝒎𝒖𝒓𝒅𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔𝒏’𝒕 𝒃𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒘𝒐 𝒑𝒆𝒐𝒑𝒍𝒆 𝒄𝒍𝒐𝒔𝒆𝒓, 𝒘𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒅𝒐𝒆𝒔?”

A new cozy mystery series surrounding a board game café? SIGN ME UP.

There was a lot I loved about this first entry in the Board Game Shop Mysteries series. Narrator Ben is very relatable, to millennials: he loves books, uses board games as a way to connect with people, is socially awkward with those he doesn’t know, and takes melatonin to help him sleep (who doesn’t these days!?). There were also a lot of moments that made me chuckle - Ben has a knack for the awkward and self deprecating - “𝙧𝒆𝙖𝒅𝙞𝒏𝙜 𝙬𝒂𝙨 𝙨𝒕𝙞𝒍𝙡 𝙤𝒏𝙚 𝙤𝒇 𝒎𝙮 𝙛𝒂𝙫𝒐𝙪𝒓𝙞𝒕𝙚 𝙛𝒐𝙧𝒎𝙨 𝙤𝒇 𝒆𝙨𝒄𝙖𝒑𝙞𝒔𝙢, 𝒖𝙥 𝙩𝒉𝙚𝒓𝙚 𝙬𝒊𝙩𝒉 𝒓𝙪𝒏𝙣𝒊𝙣𝒈 (𝙛𝒐𝙧 𝙨𝒑𝙤𝒓𝙩) 𝒂𝙣𝒅 𝒓𝙪𝒏𝙣𝒊𝙣𝒈 (𝙖𝒘𝙖𝒚 𝒇𝙧𝒐𝙢 𝙢𝒚 𝒑𝙧𝒐𝙗𝒍𝙚𝒎𝙨).” The joy of cozy mysteries is that they ooze small town charm, which this one has in spades (I’d love a cinnamon roll delivery shop in my town), alongside a supportive and caring cast of characters. I loved Ben and Ezra’s friendship and the way they teamed up to be amateur detectives to was a lot of fun. I appreciated CJ Connor’s development of Ben’s relationship with his Dad, Martin, and bringing awareness to muscular dystrophy. There were a lot of great games that were mentioned, plus I’ve picked up a couple new ones to learn (Nertz in particular sounds so fun). It’s clear from the beginning who is going to get murdered and the culprit was a little easy to spot, mostly because there didn’t seem to be enough suspects. The mystery wasn’t overly complex and Connor’s writing could be developed more, but it shows promise. I think there’s a lot of room to grow, especially since this is going to be a series and not a one-off book.

Board to Death is a story of belonging, grief, parental relationships, and new beginnings. While not perfect, it has the beginnings of what promises to be a fun new series. I definitely want to see what trouble Ben and Ezra get into next. Thank you to Kensington for the ARC!

I adored this book! It’s a fun, sweet cozy with a cute little love story along side it. The game shop setting is delightful, allowing for some engagement in various bits of nerd culture. I also thought the book handled queerness in a conservative area quite well. I found the mystery itself to be nicely paced, with plenty of different suspects to consider.

Thank you Kensington and NetGalley for the eARC of Board to Death! All opinions in this review are my own.

I initially wanted to read this cozy mystery because it was set in a board game shop, but I stayed because it has a cat named Grandpa.

This was such a fun start to the Board Game Shop Mystery series! It is a quick read with an unlikable victim who is involved in the board game collector market. I liked Ben's character arc as he becomes more comfortable in his hometown and his budding romance with Ezra. I can't wait for the next installment!

This was just so fun! A murder mystery with a queer lead who runs a board game store? What more could anyone ask for? Oh, that the lead also has a Shakespeare-adjacent name that is joked about? You got it. If you've ever wanted Murder, She Wrote but more gay, here it is. I can't wait to read more in this cozy series.

Board to Death by C.J. Connor is a fun debut cozy mystery.
I love that this is a queer cozy. Honestly, there is not enough lgbt rep in the cozy mystery genre.

"Board games bring people together". Isn't this so true though? I think in the same way books bring people together.

I really loved this mystery.

Dr Ben Rosencrantz is the owner of the board game shop, Of Dice and Decks.
We do learn his backstory and his divorce. This really helps the story and how the game shop came to be.

I really enjoyed the potential romance with Ezra, the next-door neighbor from the flower shop.


I enjoy the story and I loved the characters. I look forward to more books in this fun queer cozy.

In this series starter, we meet 30 year-old Ben, a professor who has returned to his hometown in Utah to help his aging father run his board game store. Although he loves his father, he's not excited to leave behind his job and face a town that he felt shamed him for his sexuality growing up. But when he and new-in-town, handsome florist, Ezra, start hanging out, sparks fly. That is, until they discover a dead body on the doorstep of the shop...

I was really excited to read this! It has a fabulous cover, and I am excited to see more diverse characters lead cozy mysteries. However, I was a bit disappointed that the murder didn't occur until a quarter of the way through the book. While this may work for an established series, I found myself struggling to care about the characters without something for them to be investigating--I just kept waiting for the murder. Other than that, it was a well-done book, and I'd probably try the next book in the series.

Thanks to Kensington for my ARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

4 stars - 7/10

A timely, fun, unique premise, that draws the reader in right away. The setting is so young and fresh that I can see a new generation of readers being attracted to the genre with this one. There are great book and game culture references throughout.

Thank you to CJ Connor, Kensington Books, and NetGalley for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This novel, ostensibly a cozy mystery, is both the author’s debut and the first in a series, about one Ben Rosencrantz, a divorced erstwhile English college professor with high social anxiety, who has moved back home to help after his father is diagnosed with late-onset muscular dystrophy.

Things are not, one might say, going great as it is. Then, there’s a murder, and things get worse in a hurry.

Beware: anxiety; chronic illness; death on page; death of parent as backstory; references to institutional bigotry; barely-there copaganda.

Narrated in first person, past tense, the narrative voice is quite engaging; Ben is self-deprecating, mostly in a lighthearted way. There is some real anguish at his current circumstances, from his father’s illness to finances, to his struggles with social anxiety, but Ben doesn’t allow himself to wallow in his misery (mostly because he’s too busy worrying).

There is a real sense of community around the store, and of personal history with several secondary characters, including Ben’s complicated filial relationship with his father.

And while I wasn’t familiar with most of the games mentioned, that didn’t affect my enjoyment of the book–though I imagine that people who enjoy tabletop RPGs would appreciate the references.

The story is set in the fall of 2022 in Sugar House, a trendy (read: expensive) area of Salt Lake City, and the setting is a curious mix of cold reality and dreamy fantasy.

For example, there is no glossing over the financial struggle of keeping a small quaint niche shop open in a gentrified neighborhood in a large city, with direct competition from large and small e-tailers and raising rents; between that, medical bills, and student loans, Ben spends quite a bit of time worrying about money.

His more immediate problem is his social anxiety; he really struggles to talk with strangers, and agonizes over social interactions in a way that feels very real, including the use of humor in his own internal dialogue as a coping mechanism.

Of course, the scars from his divorce didn’t help him any:

“I wasn’t looking to date, not any time soon. But whenever Ezra flirted with me, I couldn’t help but hate Shane just a little for the hurt I felt whenever I considered the vulnerability that came with romance. It would be too much, I thought, to open myself to someone that way again.” (Chapter 3)

Speaking of Ezra, I really liked how their relationship is set up and how it progresses through the book; there are a couple of missteps and some awkwardness, but it works; Ben is kind and endearingly earnest, and Ezra complements him beautifully.

“And yet…Ezra was sweet. He made me smile, and he was one of the few people besides longtime friends I felt comfortable enough after moving back. The anxiety I usually felt in social situations wasn’t quite so sharp around him. I could talk, at least. It wasn’t often that I found that.” (Chapter 5)

I liked very much that Ben is a reluctant sleuth; not only is he one of the few people around who is not a fan of crime–fictional or factual–but Clive’s death traumatized him. It’s only after he’s told, directly by the detective in charge, how unlikely it is that the case will be solved, that he starts looking for the truth.

And the way Ben and Ezra go about it feels very logical and realistic, given who they are: no heroics, no magic, just some doggedness and a bit of luck.

Mind you, I don’t think I would call this a ‘fair’ mystery, in the sense that I’m not sure a reader can name the killer before the reveal based exclusively on the clues given.

I enjoyed the story, but there are a few things that bothered me.

For example, while the author acknowledges the Mormon elephant in the story (Ben reflects several times on how much better things are now for queer people in the city, compared to how they were just a decade early, when the barely concealed hostility from the community had been one of the factors in his moving away), there is no mention of the increasing anti-queer propaganda from the right sweeping so-called red states–like Utah.

And while the COVID pandemic gets a mention, it’s as a past event, over and done with, soon to be forgotten.

My main problem, however, were editing issues that I found supper distracting: there are several conversations in which is impossible to follow who’s talking, even after two or three re-readings; once, in a conversation with Ben, Ezra, and a non-binary character, suddenly the single they pronouns are applied to Ezra; at another point, a character they’ve literally just met “put his phone back in (Ben’s) pocket”, and so on. These are the things that good editing should have caught well before the ARC state, especially for a traditionally published novel.

Regardless, I enjoyed Ben and Ezra, and the oddball community around “Of Dice and Decks”, and will be happy to read the next story in the series, whenever it may come out.

Board to Death gets a 7.50 out of 10.

Board to Death: A Board Game Shop Mystery
By C.J. Connor
Kensington
September 2023

Review by Cynthia Chow

Ben Rosencrantz never planned on spending his 30th birthday back in his hometown of Salt Lake City, Utah, and he especially didn’t envision having to take over his father’s Of Dice and Decks board game store. Growing up as the only Out person in his school and being an unabashed fantasy and sci-fi nerd in the largely Mormon population always made Ben feel like an outsider, so he was happy to escape to graduate school and become an adjunct professor of English in Seattle. An emotionally-devastating divorce and his father’s ill-health are reasons enough to cause Ben to return home though, as he will be able to recover from his emotional wounds while helping his father deal with his physical ones. The store specializing in nostalgic table-top games is unsurprisingly struggling, but even Ben isn’t naïve enough to be sucked into the offer to buy a $100,000 game for only $10,000. Clive Newton is offering a bargain-basement price for a first edition of The Landlord’s Game, the anti-corporation board game that was ironically twisted by the Parker Brothers into the world-renowned game of Monopoly. Ben knows it’s just too good to be true, but almost worse than falling for the scheme is later finding Clive at his doorstep with a knife in his chest.

While Ben would prefer to roll into a ball and just hope that the police will figure everything out, his father insists that they must clear their names and track down the killer. Similarly encouraging action is neighboring flower business owner Ezra McCaslin, whom Ben finds undeniably attractive and nice despite Ben’s declaration that he is not ready to date. A bag filled with $10,000 in cash left on the shop doorstep looks just a bit incriminating though, so Ben reluctantly joins Ezra in tracking down Clive’s past business contacts and fellow game collectors. This at least allows Ben and Ezra to attend Salty Con, a Utah gaming convention filled with geeky fans of fantasy and board games. As someone who wrote his dissertation on the history of fantasy genre and taught courses in Tolkien and Portal Fantasy metaphysics, Ben is able to seek out information from fellow nerds and even share his passions with someone he could grow to be passionate about.

This first in the series introduces a very likable lead character who truly would prefer to do anything but investigate. Ben grows throughout this novel as he moves out of his comfort zones while still engaging with the academic world, but it’s tabletop gaming that takes center stage by proving to be more than just games. Ben and his father’s board game store is a welcome community space for players to share life stories, memories, and find a common bond. The history of board games is as fascinating as the town community, with rules of different games as fun as they are often complicated. The solitaire-like game of Nertz may go over the heads of many, so detailed rules are helpfully included in the end. This unique board game shop delights readers who may be overwhelmed with the prevalence of today’s computer and online gaming and takes them back to a time of face-to-face meetings and personal connections. Ben and his friends are similarly engaging, and fans of mysteries, sci-fi, and board games will look forward to the next appearance by this fantasy-loving, introverted, bookish new hero.

Such a good, cozy mystery that was easy to read and went by quick. Great twists and turns and I liked all the characters! I would definitely recommend,

This was such a fun cozy mystery! I am typically not the biggest fan of the cozy mysteries that focus on food (let's be real, how do they not make you hungry the entire time?) so when I read this was about board games, this book really caught my eye. As someone with their fair share of board games, I found this aspect of the novel fantastic. It was a fun, fast paced, and unique story that really stuck with me. I will definitely be recommending this book!

This was a great mixture of a mystery with some m/m romance tied in. Lots of side fun characters and I didn't figure out who was the killer until Ben did.

Ben is a (just turned) thirty year old professor who comes home to help care for his father and take over running his board game store. One night a murder takes place right on their front porch and Ben and the flower shop owner next door, Ezra, set out to prove Ben's innocence.

This was certainly an interesting book. I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it. It was entertaining and Ben's relationship with his dad felt very real and genuine to me. Ben and Ezra's team up and flirting (unintentional or otherwise) was also cute. The community between the shop keepers had a very found family feel to it which was also nice.

I wasn't a fan of how the author seemed to switch between out right pop culture references and ones that were just alluding to the work. There were also, what seemed to be, an abundance of long metaphors.

The ending was interesting. And I'm not sure how to describe how so. It wasn't a bad ending, it was just kind of laughable? But I think it was sort of intended that way.

Overall if you're looking for a queer murder mystery with a more relaxed feel to it, then I think this is the right book for you.

Thank you to NetGalley for making this available in exchange for an honest review!

The exploration of the small-business cozy mystery continues, with a different “flavor” of the subgenre. We’re moving from an ode to independence in Color Me Murder to a more nuanced look at the small business experience (and some of the other beats that ride along). And Board to Death, a recent release by CJ Connor, is a great vehicle for this second look. (Many thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Books for the gift copy!)

Board to Death follows Ben Rosencrantz, a queer English professor who returns to Salt Lake City to support his father’s board game store. When a sketchy customer (ish) dies on his doorstep, Ben decides it’s time to to dig deeper and clear his name in the process. It is a great examples of so many of the story beats that typify the small-business cozy, from the return to a hometown, the outsider’s perspective, and the challenges of running a business.

Returning home

Many a cozy mystery series starts with a son or daughter returning home from the Big City. Typically, these returnees left on purpose, in search of greater things. Their return is precipitated by a perfect storm: a personal crisis abroad (often the dissolution of a relationship) combined with a reasonable reason to return. The returnees are often well-educated, boasting a grad school degree or some other challenging Big City bona fides, that make it clear they’re no slouches.

Take a look at Ben from this lens. He’s 30, an English professor in Seattle, when his father confirms a muscular dystrophy diagnosis. Like a good son, he rushes home to Salt Lake City to support the family-run game store. This allows him, also, to escape his ex-husband and the Seattle scene, full of painful memories. In theory, Salt Lake City is a way to rest and recuperate.

Structurally, this does a few things for a cozy mystery. It establishes that our main character is no small-town naïf - they’ve experienced the world and chosen to return. It sets up an internal conflict, as they dealt from the damage dealt in their external explorations. And it establishes a moral compass around family and community, who are always there to support our protagonists.

In my favorite cozy mysteries, it also allows for a bit more local flavor. Board to Death is full of interesting detail about Salt Lake City and Utah, from the Claw to the rivalry between North and South Utah-ans. When local voices (or great researchers) tell these stories, they can end up a window into under-explored parts of the world. And when written well, they can show of all the charm and beauty that lie in these small corners. Which almost begs the question - why would the main character ever choose to leave?

An outside-in view

When a main character returns home, it’s usually because they felt like an outsider to start with. Whether simply a case of outsized ambition or a deeper sense of identity mismatch, small business cozy protagonists often start out with a keen sense of how Different they are from those around them. In Board to Death, this is pretty well justified - it’s hard to be queer in Utah, and particularly in Salt Lake City. Little moments, peppered throughout the novel, give a sense of what it means to grow up queer in such a religious place.

This sense of outsider-hood allows our main character to take less for granted, to investigate more closely. It gives them a slightly different perspective than the default - and a reason to distrust the major authorities. Who can fault Ben, a queer professor, for choosing to dig deeper, when the entire government is set up to support religious views?

Even though the police in Board to Death are relatively tame (more attention is paid on the general case closure rates than the specifics of being queer), there’s a current of mistrust underlying other authority figures. When Ben recounts going to a weekly religious event as a teenager, it’s easy to understand why he’s so tense.

This tension sets up a natural story arc for the protagonist as they learn to appreciate the community they have. Often, this is a community related to the business - in Board to Death we see a local small business owners’ group that meets weekly fill this role. It’s particularly heartwarming to see how he connects with other queer members of the group, rekindling old relationships and building new ones. And of course, there’s the cute crush, who serves as the ultimate symbol of connection with the community. In this way, small-business cozies set up an infrastructure for community that meets our modern needs. When work is life, work (not church, not activities) becomes community and family.

The peaks and valleys of small business ownership

But why is that community needed in the first place? Sure, there’s a murder, that’s unsettling, etc. Even before the inciting incident, though, there’s often a sense that things are not going as well as they could. The business is often wilting away, loved less over the years, and it’s particularly difficult to bring it back to life.

In Board to Death, Of Dice and Decks is on the ropes. Fewer people then even are buying games in-person, and Ben wants to save the business mostly for his father’s sake. Even though he’s smart and well-educated, he struggles to see how to keep the store afloat. And he misses teaching, which feels more suited to his nature.

Like other small business stories that feature a second-generation owner, Board to Death establishes that this is a hard job, even with a world-class degree. And it explores the values dissonance familiar to those in family businesses - how do you honor your family legacy while staying true to yourself? We are seeing so many more of these stories in modern small business cozies, and they reflect an evolution in the American Dream. What happens when your parents achieved theirs, but you have your own goals?

Reader's notes & rating (⭐⭐⭐)

Board to Death is a fun example of the modern small business cozy mystery. I particularly enjoyed the intersection of the protagonists’ queer identities with the presumed realities of Salt Lake City - as a coastal girl, it’s not something I’ve experienced personally. If you enjoy this kind of story (as I do), you will have a good time here. Three stars.

Read this if...

You love board games AND mysteries

You love found families (especially of the queer variety)

You want something cozy and warm to read

Skip this if...

You are looking for a Serious Mystery

You are not into Medium City stories - that is, Salt Lake City sounds uninteresting as a setting

You’re not into LGBTQ+ - forward stories

Board to Death was published on August 22, 2023.

"Board to Death" is a great addition to the cozy mystery genre! Author C.J. Connor creates a world of twists and turns all stemming from the local game store. I love that it has LGBTQ representation as well!

Ben Rosencrantz left his life in Seattle behind in order to come home to Salt Lake City and help his ailing father run their beloved board game store, Of Dice And Decks. Despite the large market for games in the avowedly nerdy state of Utah, their small business is struggling to stay afloat. Expenses are high in the shop’s centrally located Sugar House neighborhood and, no thanks to competition from bigger and often online corporations, income is depressingly low.

Complicating matters is the way that Ben’s father has begun feeling the effects of his muscular dystrophy diagnosis. Dad is too proud to give up even the smallest shreds of his independence, leading to occasional tension between father and son despite Ben’s valid concerns for his comfort and care. As family friend Dr Britt Petras asks Ben, sympathetically:

QUOTE
“He’s around the usual retirement age, isn’t he? Maybe that would be good for him.”

He was. Not that it meant much. Convincing Dad to retire was an easier thing to say than do because in practice, it would be impossible.

“That would require convincing him to do that in the first place,” I said, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “Don’t think I haven’t tried. Sometimes I wonder who’s his actual favorite child: me or the shop.”
END QUOTE

While working in the family store and taking care of his ailing dad wasn’t what Ben had in mind for the approach of his thirtieth birthday, it sure beats living in a city that reminds him all too acutely of his ex-husband. Plus Utah is far more accepting of queer people than it had been when Ben was growing up. Still, Ben is gun shy when it comes to romance, despite the encouragement of his dad and the attentions of Ezra McCaslin, the cute florist next door. Ben’s focus is entirely on helping his dad and saving their floundering store, not on ruining a perfectly good friendship by allowing romance to enter the picture.

As focused and anxious as he may be about Of Dice And Deck’s future, Ben isn’t so desperate as to fall for the high pressure sales technique brought to bear on him by a local collectibles trader promising a killer deal. Clive Newton claims that he has a valuable first edition copy of The Landlord’s Game, the precursor to the popular board game Monopoly. He’s willing to let Ben have it for the low, low price of only ten thousand dollars, a mere fraction of its resale value on the open market.

Ben might be a big old softie who’s scared of romance, but he’s hardly an idiot. When he asks Clive several probing questions about the game and Clive’s ownership of it, the other man sneers:

QUOTE
“You ask too many questions. It’s not like you can afford to pass on this. I know how expensive rent gets, how much more the price rises year after year. In Sugar House? Please. You’ll be out of business in…”

He sucked in through his teeth, like he really was considering. I could feel my face heating up, and it took all of my self-control not to bring out a variety of four-letter words on the tip of my tongue. Thankfully, being raised in Utah meant that I tended to break out a <i>darn</i> or, in dire circumstances, a <i>heck</i> at my most frustrated.
END QUOTE

Ben is pretty proud of being able to decline this hard sell without resorting to rough words. He’s even happier to put the whole sordid business out of his head... until he finds Clive stabbed to death on his front doorstep. Soon enough, Ben is convinced that he’s being framed for Clive’s murder. With the cops skeptical of his story, Ben will have to partner up with the eager Ezra to figure out who really killed the shady dealer, before either he or one of his loved ones becomes the next victim.

I love the addition of fresh, diverse voices to the cozy mystery genre, and heartily welcome C. J. Connor to the world of publication! Ben is a complex, sympathetic protagonist who starts the book still reeling from perceived failure and feeling understandably scared of what comes next. He muddles through as best he can with his strong belief in friends and family, and in the unifying powers of getting together around a game. As a hardcore gamer myself, I love the setting and all the game information included. I’ll even have to take the Nertz game for a spin after reading the instructions included here: it sounds like a ton of fun, and like a great way to pass the time till the next book in the series arrives!

I loved everything about the quozy mystery debut!!

After a painful divorce, Ben has returned home to help his ailing dad run Of Dice and Decks, their family owned board game shop in Salt Lake City. I so enjoyed all of the game talk. My family loves visiting Dragon’s Lair here in ATX, so I could easily visualize the aisles of various games and the rows of tables for friends and families to gather at as they play those games together. It’s such a welcoming environment. I’ve never heard of Nertz, a competitive form of Solitaire. I appreciate that the author included instructions on how to play as well as explain a sentimental connection to the game that was mentioned throughout the story.

The mystery was well paced and captivating. I like that Ben felt and acted like a true amateur sleuth. Lots of hesitations, nerves, and doubt made him seem incredibly more realistic. Since the victim was easy to dislike, there were quite a few plausible suspects to sort through. I absolutely guessed wrong and was surprised when the culprit was finally revealed.

It makes me so happy to see LGBTQ+ representation slowly making its way into cozy mysteries. It has shown up before as a brief mention of a side character regarding their relationship. However, this is the first Cozy I’ve read with an MC who is openly gay. It’s mentioned many times about the homophobia and the negative effects that Ben endured being raised in SLC. In this story, Ben has a slow burn romance with Ezra, the adorable local florist, which was absolutely delightful.

The discussion questions at the end of the book were fantastic too!!

I look forward to following this author and watching this series grow!

I loved the setting within a small community in a big city; most cozies are set in small towns and you wonder why people stay when all of their neighbors are dying. The board game shop was also different and I learned a lot about games I’d never heard of. Unfortunately, the rest of the book was corny. I’m not a fan of instalove and that happens immediately in this book. Also, the writing is amateurish and I could almost see the outline that was used to write it; each chapter had another set up for clues, which is fine but I don’t want to see the effort that goes into writing a story. Not sure if I will continue the series.

What a delight. I loved this book and already can't wait for more. Ben is a fantastic cozy mystery sleuth; with big changes happening in his life that he has to adjust to, returning to his home town and his dad's beloved board game shop; and then oh throw a murder on top! He navigates these complexity with a lot of humor even when self reflecting on the pitfalls of the future and sadness from his past. He also has an excellent sleuthing partner in Ezra and their banter keeps the silliness going even in the face of danger. I loved so much the board game theme and how games were incorporated in various ways in the plot. And the budding romance....I can't wait to see how that blossoms (see see what I did there?!) The ending had me cycling through all the emotions and I cannot wait for more!

In Salt Lake City, Utah, lives Ben Rosencrantz, a former English Professor and recent divorcee, now running his family’s board game shop and spending a ridiculous amount of time flirting with Ezra - the owner of the flower shop next door. Having to compete with the likes of Amazon, and another board game shop nearby, it’s tough trying to keep the store running, especially when Ben is trying to help look after his ill father. Sadly Ben can’t seem to catch a break, and when notoriously known game collector Clive turns up to the store offering Ben a deal of a lifetime on a super rare game, things begin to get suspicious. Not long after, Clive is found dead and Ben becomes number 1 suspect. In an attempt to save himself and the shop, Ben and Ezra embark of a mission to find the real killer.

I’ve been getting into my cosy crime novels over the past few months, and as a bit of a board game enthusiast, when I saw this on NetGally I knew I had to request it.
This book was ok, but it didn’t blow me away - I think maybe because it was very American (and that’s not really my vibe because I’m a Brit and when I think of cosy crime I think of Richard Osman and Coopers Chase, not Salt Lake City 😂). Ben as a protagonist is just very bland. All he ever does is moan and whimper and complain at any given moment, and it feels like he’s given up with the shop before it’s even closed! Additionally, the romance part of the book was a bit meh - I’m all for LGBTQ rep, but Ezra and Ben don’t seem like a good pair, something about their relationship with one another is just lacking. It kind of felt like an after thought or idea that was just thrown in at the last minute. Either stick with murder mystery OR romance, don’t do both.
That being said, there were some funny bits in the book, and I really liked Ezra’s character (plus Ben’s dog Beans who is imo the star of the show). The actual murder mystery part again is ok, but the ending is a bit anti climactic.