I'm not sure exactly what I was hoping for in reading this book--other than what promised to be a fun read--but I found thee writing to be kind of distracting, for me. I'm just not the right reader for this kind of book or maybe for these writers.

If you're in the mood for a cozy mystery, pick this book up. Though it isn't anything that is jaw-dropping, it made for a nice, easy read. I loved the way it held women in high esteem and the humor throughout.

I really tried to like this one, but it ultimately just wasn't for me. I appreciate the opportunity to review.

Aside from having a compelling story, cozy mysteries live or die by their main characters. And while the story in I Only Read Murder wasn’t bad, and the concept of Miranda, our ex-cozy mystery actress, was solid enough (think Angela Lansbury), sadly in execution she was just not a very endearing character. I actually liked most of the other characters, so it’s a shame that Miranda, arguably the most important character in the book, is the one I liked least. I’d like to thank Harlequin Trade Publishing, MIRA, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review an eARC of I Only Read Murder.

https://www.amazon.com/review/R29F4BLLY5Z4LI/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Miranda Abbott is an aging television star. She played the popular Pastor Fran character. But times are tough. She can't get a good acting job. Her agent has had enough. And even her ever loyal assistant has decided that it is time to move on. But she receives a postcard that offers hope. It looks like her husband (and the former writer on her television series) wants to reconcile. If that happens, she has hopes of reigniting her career.

But when she gets to the beautiful Oregon coastal town, things don't go well. Her husband doesn't want to reconcile. He wants to move on. In desperation, she signs on to appear in a local community production. But that doesn't go well either. On dress rehearsal night, the star of the show is murdered. Miranda is one of a large list of suspects.

This is the best book I have read in the last year. And I read a lot of books! The characters were lots of fun. The humor was dry and witty. The plot was well developed. In short, this book was a blast. I look forward to reading more mysteries from this team.

I would not have finished this if it were not an ARC from NetGalley. But I am glad that I did.

Miranda Abbott was a most unlikable character until the end. The murder doesn’t happen until halfway through the story so you don’t spend much time trying to figure it out. But overall I am glad I finished it. Cute town. Adorable characters. Not so much a mystery as just a cozy read.

Tha

Miranda is the worst, but she is slowly become less bad. And I enjoyed the whole process! The murder happens a little later than in most cozy mysteries, but there we are still getting to know the community well. So by the time there is a murder, the investigation feels like a natural outgrowth. The suspicions and clearing of suspects came along quickly, as Miranda was also putting together the things she observed before. This felt like a fun spin on a typical cozy mystery and a great first of the series.

I really enjoyed this book despite the fact that I chose to read it because I thought it would be more of a murder investigation/crime drama read than it turned out to be. It was well written and kept me engaged from the first chapter to the last. Miranda Abbott is a very flawed character. But then every good crime detective seems to have a few quirks and imperfections. The Miranda to whom we were introduced in the first chapter had a grandiose view of her own reality. She was nearly penniless and her once very successful acting career had tanked. Still she behaved as though she was still on top of the world—ready to finally reconcile with her estranged husband after living apart for years.

With that hope, Miranda takes a bus (on somebody else’s dime) from LA to Happy Rock Oregon expecting that all would finally be right between herself and her husband Edgar Abbott. When the grand reunion finally occurred Miranda discovered that the only thing Edgar wanted was her signature on divorce papers. With hopes of rectifying this problem, Miranda found herself in a cameo role in the community drama society’s production of “Death is the Dickens”.

The actual murder in this mystery novel does not occur until the reader is well into the book. A great deal of the novel is used to introduce the reader to the quirky characters that make up this town as well as the roles they play in the drama.

Since the death occurs in center stage during the dress rehearsal of the play (with most of the town in the audience) there are plenty of witnesses. There are also few clues and those that do turn up point to Edgar as the murderer. Truthfully they could just as easily point to Miranda as the killer as well. The trek from murder to solution is an entertaining romp as Miranda attempts to prove that Edgar could not have committed the crime.

The authors careful and cleaver use of language made reading this book fun. The characters were fresh, clearly drawn, and likeable—even Annette Baillie, the selfish and conceited star of the community drama. I found this book a joy to read and look forward to others by this talented authorial twosome.

2.5 stars
Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to review this ARC.

My first thoughts on starting the book was that our Miranda seemed very out of touch with reality and surely this would get better. It did not get better.

Most of this book takes place in the tiny town of Happy Rock, Washington (I might be wrong about the state). It is a cute seaside location with not much happening. It has the grand old Victorian hotel, the community theater, and the niche bookshop that the book is named for. In this town, the yearly theatre production is the biggest event happening. Enter our main character to look down on everyone.

Miranda Abbott was once the star of a hit TV show, Pastor Fran Investigates. For the past fifteen years though things haven't been going so well. She has just fired her agent, is broke, and found out she's about to be homeless. Well, that last one hasn't sunk in yet. But all is looking up for Miranda as she has received a mysterious postcard saying "It's Time". Thus she makes her assistant max his card to send her on a bus to Happy Rock. What awaits her there should be a dose of reality but alas her skull is too thick for that.

I really don't understand which aspect the authors couldn't grasp, the mind of a celebrity or a woman. It's hard to say for sure but I don't believe that I have ever read a character less in touch with reality. Sure we all can joke that famous people aren't like us but this takes it to ridiculous levels. Miranda had a small success fifteen years ago, but since then not really anything. How does she not realize she has no money or fame at this point? How is she so awful to everyone around her? Like the bed and breakfast owner should have kicked her out on her butt. Then you left your husband years ago and expect to just waltz back into his life saying let's be married again.

Also, this book is hardly a mystery. If it hadn't been for the chapter titles counting down you might not have known anything about it. The murder and investigation was the last third of the book. The rest of the time Miranda was scheming how to get her husband back. While not really trying to change or be a better person but instead pretending to get him to think she was. Miranda does not deserve to have that man back and I'm glad at the end they weren't. Unfortunately, this is supposed to be a series.

Overall this book is not the main genre it is marketed as, the main character is awful, and I hope they decide against more books of this. This book wasn't very long which is probably the only reason I didn't DNF it.

(3.5 rounded up)

I received a complimentary ARC copy of I Only Read Murder, (A Miranda Abbott Mystery #1) by Will Ferguson and Ian Ferguson, #Cozy #Mystery from Net Galley and Harlequin Trade Publishing/MIRA in order to read and give an honest review.

…”I loved the quirkiness of the town and some of the characters…

New to these authors I really wanted to love this book, especially since the authors are respected Canadian authors, but I regretfully have to say I was disappointed.

The story starts when we meet Miranda, the former star of a “Murder She Wrote” style tv sleuth show playing a crime fighting cleric named Pastor Fran who is doing everything in her power to regain her previous stardom. No longer living in a mansion, she is close to being evicted from her cheap apartment replete with a beat-up murphy bed. Despite her career hitting the skids, Miranda is still a diva, expecting star treatment when in truth her only acting offers arrive in the form of scripts for laxative commercials. An egomaniac, she is pathetic, demanding and treats everyone she meets horribly, especially her loyal assistant, Andrew, who she bosses around but has not been paid in ages.

Lonely and desperate for support she boards a greyhound on her assistant’s dime landing in the small town of Happy Rock, Oregon showing up at her estranged playwright husband Edgar’s bookstore called “I Only Read Murder.” Having left him on their honeymoon for Hollywood stardom she is clueless as to why they cannot just pick up where they left off years ago. With her luggage and a small amount of money that her Andrew slipped into her bag, she does not have a dime to her name or any prospects in the future, professional or romantic. Convinced her husband still loves her and determined to win him back when she learns of Happy Rock’s famous theatre production, a murder mystery written by Edgar, she decides she will audition for the lead role to impress him. She “recruits” some of the townspeople to “Team Miranda”, those people she believes will serve her interests along the way to help her whittle her way back into Edgar’s life. When the town’s shining star and nasty real estate agent wins the part, Miranda meets her match and is relegated to play the victim and with one lowly line before the character dies. For Miranda things look grim but when her husband asks her to sign the divorce papers, she realizes her time to win him back is running out.

During a performance and in front of a full audience, the lead actress drops dead in front of a hundred spectators, yet no one really knows what happened. When the police learn she was poisoned suspicion now looms over everyone in the town including Edgar and even Miranda herself. When a cryptic note is sent to Miranda saying, “It should have been you,” she feels her life is on the line. The only way to unravel the mystery, save Edgar and survive is for Miranda to channel her inner Pastor Fran and enlist the assistance of Team Miranda to help her find the murderer.

As I mentioned earlier, I really wanted to love this book, but I was disappointed. I struggled to put my finger on the reasons why I didn’t like it but for me it was a combination of things. Although I loved the quirkiness of the town and some of the characters, I found Miranda to be insufferable and the plot to be a little slow to start. Being a fan of the mystery genre, I struggled, it really didn’t quite hit the mark for me. To break it down further, the positives right off the bat, as I mentioned I did like the quirkiness of the town and “some” of the characters, it was “cute” and there were a few fun moments and a decent ending. Now onto the negatives, my biggest complaint was the plotting, it seemed slow, dragging and often repetitive. We were able to discern Miranda’s character in the first few paragraphs, but it felt like her character in my opinion felt lackluster, predictable, cliché ridden and disappointing for the lack of better terms. She wasn’t even the character we love to hate; she just “was”.

Since reading is very subjective, in my opinion if you are looking for a cute read this might be for you, but if you’re looking for something that’s complex, intelligent, and daring, this is not for you. If you do choose to read, I Only Read Murder, I would love to get your take, please share your thoughts below.

Miranda Abbott once solved murders as a TV star. Years later, with both fame and fortune now in short supply, Miranda (aka “Pastor Fran”) must travel by bus to Happy Rock, Oregon where she had abandoned her husband 15 years earlier to pursue her career. The author teases us relentlessly that there will be a murder but it’s not until 2/3 of the way in that we know the victim. It is very much a traditional cozy mystery with all the suspects gathering at the end for a big reveal.

The story is fun and entertaining, involving an amateur theater production penned by a local writer. The only thing that bothered me was Miranda’s inconsistent personality change. It’s good that she does change, of course. But when we’re inside her head we don’t hear her inner voice helping her change. I was just surprised at some of her reactions at different times.

My thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for this honest review.

I Only Read Murder should have been right in my wheel house. It was just OK. I found so many of the characters hard to like and that made it hard for me to want to see what they would do. There were amusing times. I wouldn't say I disliked it. I just didn't enjoy it as much as I thought I would. It was a quick read with some characters I'd never want to see again.

I don't know that I'll be inspired to pick up further books in this series, but it was fine. It captures a quirky community well, filled with a plethora of odd characters that make good suspects. However, Miranda is so busy playing the character of Miranda that it feels like she never became a character I was interested in.

Miranda Abbott is a has been. She was once Pastor Fran, the title character of a top-rated television series. She portrayed a crime solving cleric that knew how to karate chop criminals. Nowadays, she can't even get on a reality show, The Real Has-Beens of Beverly Hills. She turns down the part of a grandmother in a "fiber supplement" commercial. Miranda receives a postcard from her long estranged husband, she assumes he wants to reconcile, and heads to Happy Rock, Oregon. Edgar, the husband, wants a divorce, but Miranda knows she can change his mind and decides to audition for a part in the local theater production, the same one they have been performing for the last ten years. Prior to opening night, one of the actors dies. Miranda is convinced that she was the real target and sets about solving the crime by becoming her Pastor Fran alter ego.

Miranda is not a likeable character, but I found that to be the fun of the book. She is self involved, and bossy. There is a large cast of supporting characters and everyone seems to be a suspect. The book starts out a little slow as the authors set up the backstory, but once the murder takes place the pace moves faster. The authors throw in some twists and turns to keep us guessing. I have read where there will be two more books in the series, I am looking forward to more of Miranda's sleuthing.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher, Harlequin Trade Publishing, for an ARC. The review is my own.

Honestly, I think I would've liked the audiobook version of this better. I just couldn't get into the story, and it felt like the POV changed mid-page at times, which was confusing. I liked how quirky the different characters were, but the main character was so self-absorbed that she was unlikeable and it kept me from really getting into the plot. But the small-town setting was fun and I definitely got cozy mystery vibes, just didn't really like the overall story itself.

Yes Miranda is annoying but this is a fun start to a new cozy series. She's a down on her luck actress who is determined to make the best of things when she arrives in Cozy Rock to see her estranged husband only to discover he wants a divorce, not a reunion. So she joins the local theater group and then, when someone is murdered uses what she learned while playing a sleuth on tv to uncover the villain. I'm not usually a fan of theater based cozys but Ferguson has done nice job with the trope. The mystery isn't too twisty and there's room for growth in the characters. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Looking forward to the next one.

This book has such an intriguing premise. I was expecting a cozy mystery with a lot of humor. Thrillers with unlikable characters can work, but with a lighthearted mystery, I really need to like the main character. Unfortunately, actress Miranda Abbott is very hard to take. The character growth I saw in the self-centered Miranda wasn't quite enough to redeem her for me. I found that many of the other characters were also lacking depth.

There are some funny moments when Miranda uses what she learned as a tv detective to solve a real crime in the small town she now calls home. There are a lot of suspects in the murder and I was surprised by the solution, so that's another good point about the book. Ultimately, the book just wasn't a good fit for me, but others may enjoy it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Mira for the advance copy of this ebook. My review is voluntary and unbiased.

Unfortunately this book was not for me, and part way through I stopped reading and switched to skimming the rest of the story.
I liked some aspects, such as the small town setting and the dog.
But I did not care for the main character, and the formatting of the arc was a little off in my Kindle app that made it hard to follow along with. There were spacing issues where words were broken up and I kept losing focus while reading.
I don't want to negatively affect the ratings anywhere for this book since I didn't fully read it, so I will not post my review on Goodreads.

This was a fun cozy! I loved the small town setting and would totally visit Happy Rock. I enjoyed the mixture of silly and sweet. Miranda is a tough MC - she is self-centered, brass and doesn’t always pick up on other people’s emotions but I still wanted her to succeed. This isn’t a tough read so if you want a little escape on a sunny weekend morning than this is a good one to grab.

I really enjoyed this book. It had some great plot twists in it and I liked the characters. It was cute and I thought it was a great cozy mystery. I look forward to reading more in this series.
I just reviewed I Only Read Murder by Will Ferguson; Ian Ferguson. #IOnlyReadMurder #NetGalley
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