This was a really fun entry in this cozy mystery series. I enjoyed going back to England and try to solve the mystery with these characters.

The Fatal Folio is the 3rd book in the Cambridge Bookshop series by Elizabeth Penney. I like the characters, the setting and plots in this series, so was happy to read the latest installment!

This time, Molly Kimball is busily cataloging her boyfriend's family library. The collection is massive and impressive. While working amid the stacks, she finds an original copy of a mysterious gothic novel titled, A Fatal Folio. Little does she realize that this mysterious story will lead to murder during Guy Fawkes Night festivities.

The plot definitely kept my interest from start to finish. There were plenty of twists and turns, suspects, and sleuthing. Very enjoyable read! I really like this series and can't wait for the next book! I loved how the text of the gothic novel was intertwined into the story.

This was a fun fall read! This is rapidly becoming one of my favorite cozy mystery series!

**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from St Martin's Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**

Molly has moved from Vermont to the British town of Cambridge with her mother to help her great-aunt run the family’s bookstore. Her boyfriend Kiernan owns and runs the bicycle shop next door as well as being the second son of an aristocratic British family. Molly is hired to catalog the contents of the family library and she and Kiernan also begin a search for the true identity of one of Kiernan’s ancestors who wrote a famous Gothic novel, A Fatal Folio. When the original manuscript is stolen during a conference being held at Kiernan’s family home it seems tied to the murder of a student the night before. Suspects abound including Kiernan’s cousin Oliver. Once again Molly is involved in the search for a murderer.
I really enjoy this series. This time the action in present day is interspersed with the text of the historic A Fatal Folio so this is literally two stories in one book.
The characters are likable and the setting is wonderful. We have three generations of women running the bookstore and each has a nice, believable, gentleman friend. The auxiliary characters are also likeable and all the character are being fleshed out more with each book. Molly’s investigating is kept in a believable realm as her curiosity leads her to question people and reach conclusions while also keeping the police apprised of her actions and suspicions. I suspected the murder fairly early on but watching Molly come to the same eventual realization was enjoyable. I look forward to the next entry in this series. Highly recommended

"The Fatal Folio” the 3rd instalment in The Cambridge Bookshop Mystery series by Elizabeth Penney set in Cambridge, England. I love this series and always preorder Elizabeth’s books.

Molly Kimball is learning that every killer has a story…

I absolutely loved this story, and read in one day! I liked seeing how Molly and Kieran’s relationship has progressed and seeing her working at Havonhurst to update the libraries catalog. I really like Molly, Kieran, her mum, aunt Fiona, Daisy and Tom it’s enough to make you wish you were part of their little community or street.

The mystery is interesting and well plotted, and had plenty of twists to keep engaged right to the very end. I kept guessing and second-guessing myself but I was right on who the killer was.

I highly recommend this book to all my cozy lover friends. I can’t wait for book four!

I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from St. Martins Press and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I’ve been enjoying the blend of intrigue, curiosity, mystery, and comfort that cozy mysteries provide and I’m constantly up for trying new series or standalones. After reading The Fatal Folio—book three in Elizabeth Penney’s Cambridge Bookshop Series, I think I’ve found my new favorite. I was easily able to jump right into the newest mystery, though I will surely go back and read the first two because I loved the writing, setting, characters, and style that Penney brought to this wonderful mystery.

In The Fatal Folio, a former librarian finds herself in the middle of a mysterious case involving a stolen historical manuscript, a mysterious pen name, and murder.

About the Book | The Fatal Folio

Cozy mystery series often involve quite a bit of world building, since the same characters and settings may appear in several mysteries, so I like to keep notes for myself on who’s who and where’s where and share my notes here. If you are up to date on the characters and setting, feel free to skip these sections straight to my review!

Setting

The mystery in The Fatal Folio takes place in Cambridge, England and begins on Guy Fawkes Night. Hazelhurst House is the ancestral manor where Kieran Scott’s parents, Lady Asha and Lord Graham. They have contracted the main character Molly to catalogue their extensive library, including the original manuscript for The Fatal Folio written by their ancestor Selwyn Scott.

Other relevant locations include Magpie Lane, which is where Molly’s family bookshop Thomas Marlowe is, as well as other businesses including Magpie Pub, Holly & Ivy Inn, Spinning Your Wheels (owned by Kieran), and Tea & Crumpets (owned by Daisy). Several events (including the murder) take place at St. Aelred’s, which is a college in Cambridge.

Characters

Molly Kimball is the main character and has moved with her mother—poet Nina Marlowe—from Vermont to Cambridge to help her Aunt Violet with her bookshop, Thomas Marlowe. Kieran Scott owns the bike shop next door and is Molly’s boyfriend. Kieran is also part of an aristorat lineage going back centuries. Lady Asha is Kieran’s mother and is paying Molly to catalogue the library at Hazelhurst House. Lord Graham is Kieran’s father. Oliver Scott is Kieran’s cousin and a professor of literature at a local college, St. Aelred.

Selwyn Scott is the pen name used by the author of The Fatal Folio. Samuel and Frances Scott were siblings and ancestors of Kieran who lived in the early 1800s when the book was published. Agatha and Alistair Scott were their parents. Molly theorizes that one of the four Scotts from that time period must be the writer behind the pen name Selwyn Scott.

George Flowers is a handyman, book enthusiast, and friend of Aunt Violet. Daisy Watson is a friend of Molly’s and owner of a teashop near the bookshop. Tim Ellis works at Kieran’s bike shop and is also friends with Molly and is dating Daisy. Richard Dubold is another bookseller in the area.

Sophia Verona is another professor at the same college as Oliver and the two are both up for a full professorship position. Dr. Cutler is in charge of the professorship review committee. Thad Devines is a student of Oliver’s claiming that he was graded unfairly, and jeopardizing Oliver’s promotion. Thad is also the murder victim. Wesley Wright is a student who lived next door to Thad and is also his cousin. Amy O’Donnell and Josh Blake are other students who live on the floor below Wesley and Thad. Amy and Thad used to date, and she is now in a relationship with Josh.

Detective Inspector Sean Ryan is the officer assigned to the case, and dating Molly’s mother, Nina. Sergeant Gita Adhikari is also assigned to the case with DI Ryan. Constable Johnson and Constable Malago are the officers who respond to the stolen manuscript. Sir Jonathan Yeats is a former MI6 agent, bookseller, and special investigator who is investigating the stolen manuscript.

Plot

Molly Kimball is happy since she left her Vermont librarian position to move with her mother to Cambridge and help at her family’s ancestral bookshop. Not only has she made great friends in Cambridge, Molly has met her current boyfriend Kieran Scott. Kieran owns the bike shop next door and also happens to be from an aristocratic family who have a 500-year-old library at their manor. Kieran’s parents have contracted Molly to help them catalog their library—a dream assignment for someone like Molly!

To make things even better, Kieran shows her the original manuscript of The Fatal Folio, a gothic novel published in 1842 by Selwyn Scott. Selwyn is an ancestor of Kieran’s but the name was a pen name—no one has ever discovered which of the Scott’s were the actual author of the famous novel. Kieran and his parents gladly accept Molly’s help to try and uncover who the original author of the famous book was. Meanwhile, Kieran’s cousin Oliver stops over upset about a complaint a student named Thad Devines has made against him that may impact his review for promotion to full professor at St. Aelred.

Later that evening, Molly, Kieran, and two of their friends head out to enjoy the Guy Fawkes Night festivities with Oliver, but just as they arrive they stumble over a body dressed in black and wearing a Guy Fawkes mask, and witness another person dressed the same way running away from the body. When they go to help the person, they discover it is Thad Devines and he has been stabbed to death.

Oliver certainly had a motive, but he’s not the only one who might have wanted Thad dead. As Molly begins to look into the murder herself and works to track down the author of the manuscript, things go from bad to worse as someone steals the original manuscript of The Fatal Folio. Molly begins to wonder if the two crimes could be connected, and she’ll put her excellent research and detective skills to work to find out!

Review | The Fatal Folio

In the scale of cozy mysteries from the cute, kitschy style that balances the mystery with other events in the series to the other end of the genre which focuses heavily on the mystery and detective work, The Fatal Folio fell towards the latter end of the spectrum. These are my favorite type of cozy mysteries, because they have the charming settings and people of other cozy mysteries, but focus much more on the mystery itself.

The book opens right at Hazelhurst House, where Molly is working to catalog the extensive library. As she and her boyfriend Kieran discuss the upcoming Guy Fawkes Night celebrations, he brings up the original manuscript of The Fatal Folio, a gothic novel about a book who adapts to the reader and eventually takes their life. The manuscript was written by an ancestor of Kieran’s, which is why he has the original handwritten manuscript.

Like Molly, I was instantly intrigued by the mystery of the writer who went by the penname Selwyn Scott. There were four possible family members who were alive at the time the manuscript was published, and Molly is excited by the idea of putting her research skills to use to help uncover the person behind the novel. I enjoyed that this mystery not only continued throughout the book, but also that researching it tied nicely to the other mystery.

Even more delightful, Elizabeth Penney includes excerpts from the novel throughout the book, as Molly reads it while undergoing her research. This book-within-a-book format is something I love, particularly when it comes to mysteries like this one about a gothic novel. I found that the excerpts from the book not only intrigued me, but added that spooky, dark, Halloween feel to the book that I loved, especially with the book taking place around Guy Fawkes Day!

The murder of Thad is the perfect type of cozy mystery murder. Though Thad is stabbed, the murder itself is not described in any great detail. Thad as a character had made quite a few enemies and that meant that while Oliver looked quite suspicious, there were about four other viable suspects. The way the mystery unfolds, all five suspects remain a possibility through the very end of the mystery when Molly finds a way to bring the murderer forward.

One key to the murder seems to be the theft of the original manuscript, The Fatal Folio. While Molly and the police consider these as separate cases at first, there’s something suspicious about them occurring so close in time and involving the same general suspect pool for each. In addition, the murder suspects are all students or professors of literature focusing on gothic literature, and the manuscript is stolen during an event sponsored by the college’s Gothic Institute. When a special task force is put together looking into both, Molly’s suspicion that the two crimes are connected seems to be confirmed.

The book focuses more on the mystery suspects than the characters from Molly’s life, and I liked that about it. Appearances and input from the people in Molly’s life are kept to relevant ties to the mystery at hand. I felt I got enough of an impression of Kieran, his family, and Molly’s family to understand their importance in her life, but I liked that Penney didn’t feel obligated to continue to develop those characters in a non-organic way, when they weren’t related to the central mystery. With the focus on the two crimes and the mystery of the authorship itself, I was completely invested in the case and didn’t want to put the book aside. This is a hallmark of a good mystery, to me!

The conclusions to all three related mysteries came together nicely, and the mystery itself was well-crafted. I liked that none of the suspects could be completely cleared until the end, because it kept me guessing about who was behind the crimes, how they were related, and what the motive might be.

I absolutely fell in love with this series and can’t wait to go back to read the first two, and to continue on with whatever mystery comes to Molly next!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press for my copy. Opinions are my own.

Ready for her first Guy Fawkes Night in Cambridge, Molly is loving life. She has a boyfriend she cares for deeply and she loves working at her family’s bookstore. But when “Guy Fawkes” is seen running from the scene of an attack, the celebration takes on a new twist.

Add to this the need to find out who the author of a newly uncovered manuscript is and you’ll find yourself sleuthing right along side Molly all the way through this book.

The third entry in this series and I love them all! You can’t find a cozier home base for a cozy than a bookstore in Cambridge. With a relatable and likable protagonist you’ll be hooked too!

4 stars.

Molly accidentally stumbles upon yet another murder on a night where almost everyone is wearing the same masks. Now, this is my type of murder mystery. 🔎 Sign me up and call me Nancy Drew, because I was hooked. 🔎

Then not even 25% of the way into the book another crime happens. There were a lot of mysteries and questions that this book created, but I felt they were all wrapped up rather well.


❤️What I loved about this book:❤️


💞The idea of “The Fatal Folio”, a book that could kill anyone who possesses it was incredibly unique and intriguing.
💞Molly, the FMC, is witty and thinks quickly on her toes to solve all of the mysteries.
💞Molly, apparently has a habit of stumbling into crime scenes and murders.
💞Molly owns a bookshop that has two very cute shop cats. (🐈‍⬛ I’ll be honest I requested this eARC solely because of the cat on the cover.🐈‍⬛)
💞Despite this being a murder mystery, I felt that the stakes were low enough for this to be a cozy read before bedtime over a few days.


📖 What I didn’t love about this book: 📖

📕 I truly don’t have any major complaints. The only thing that kept this from being a 5 star read for me is that it is number 3 in this series. I haven’t read the first two, which I think if I had I would have enjoyed this book even more. However, this book still worked well as a standalone story.📕 I guess I just have more books to add to my TBR list. 🤷🏻‍♀️


📚 I would recommend this book to: 📚

📘People who love a good mystery centered around the murder of a university student and a books that kills.
📘People who enjoy being able read and then go to sleep without being scared out of their mind.
📘Cat lovers. The representation of cats and cat behavior in this book was spot on. I loved Puck.
📘People who enjoy a story set in Cambridge.
📘People who read the first two books of this series, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?!

Thank you to NetGalley, Elizabeth Penney, and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read the eARC in exchange for an honest review. I truly enjoyed this book and I hope many other readers add this series to their TBR lists.

Molly is looking forward to her first Guy Fawkes night in England with her romantic interest, Kieran. Their relationship is progressing nicely and she's been hired by Kieran's mother to catalog the titled family's library. Her celebratory mood is dashed when she, Kieran and their friends find a dead body while on the way to the festivities. The murdered man is Thad, a student of Kieran's cousin, Oliver, an assistant professor specializing in Gothic literature. Thad , angry over a poor grade, was threatening to derail Oliver's chance for promotion by filing a complaint against him.
At the same time, Gothic Week is happening at Oliver's college. Part of the week's activities include a tour of Kieran's family library where a rare Gothic novel has been discovered by Molly, will be on display. When the rare book is stolen Molly is determined to find the thief and Thad's killer.
There's lots going on in this 3rd in the Cambridge Bookshop series, including excerpts from the Fatal Folio, the stolen novel. As a result the plot threads are a bit scattershot. Still, if you've read the first two titles in the series, you'll be happy to meet up with Aunt Violet, George, Sir John and Daisy again. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced reader's copy.

I love cozy mysteries, and I am definitely a sucker for a cozy mystery about books, so even though this is the third in a series, I was delighted to jump in.

Molly, bookseller and amateur detective, is happy and in love with her boyfriend and getting the opportunity to solve a decades long mystery of a novel and its mysterious author. Everything gets thrown into chaos when her boyfriend’s cousin is prime suspect in the death of a university student. When her own novel investigation and the murder become intertwined, things become much more complicated.

What I liked the best about this book was the characters and their relationships. Molly was a sweet narrator, and I really enjoyed her relationship with her boyfriend and the friends she has. They felt very genuine and I especially liked the change of not having to deal with a love triangle in the middle of the mystery, In addition, Molly was allowed to just be happy in a stable and healthy relationship. None of the drama for the two of them was internal or forced.

I did feel that the inclusion of excerpts of the historical novel Molly was researching didn’t really add anything to the story and in fact slowed down the pacing a lot for me. I lost interest a couple times when those chunks popped up. And I didn’t feel that the final culprit was hinted at well enough. I want to be able to feel like I have the same chance as the narrator to figure things out, and there was too much of an info dump at the end with everything that got figured out.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s Press for this ARC!

Above average cozy set in Cambridge with lots of books - perfect for a day at the beach.

Fall, Cambridge: Fall is the slow season for their bookstore, so Molly Kimball is cataloging the library of her boyfriend Kieran’s family. It’s been in the family for centuries, so has lots of rare books, including the original manuscript of A Fatal Folio. A Fatal Folio was written by Selwyn Scott, a pseudonym of one of Kieran’s ancestors, and Molly thinks she can figure out who actually wrote it.

Before she gets too far into her research however, she and some friends find the student of one of Kieran’s cousins stabbed. They saw the attacker, too, only it was Guy Fawkes Night, and the individual was dressed in black and wearing a mask - along with dozens of other people. Unfortunately, Kieran’s cousin has a motive for stabbing the student. Molly now has a killer to unmask along with finding who was Selwyn Scott.

I enjoyed this book. Molly is a likable character. I really enjoyed the subplot surrounding who wrote A Fatal Folio and the included text of it. I’ve read some novels that used a similar technique of including a book within a book that were unsuccessful; in this case, however, I think it worked well. The sub book (so to speak) only contained a few characters, and it was a different genre from the main plot. And even though this wasn’t the first book in the series, it was a good stand alone - I could easily follow all the characters and their relationships with each other.

All together an enjoyable read! Recommended.

I received a copy of this from NetGalley.com that I voluntarily chose to review.

The Fatal Folio is the third book in Elizabeth Penney's Cambridge Bookshop series. I haven't read the previous two books, but I'm glad I've discovered the series now. I had no problem with starting with book 3.

I've read a few mysteries set in Oxford, but I think this is the first one set in Cambridge. The story begins with Guy Fawkes Night but it is also Gothic Week at the local college. And there is plenty of history in Cambridge. It is a great novel to follow on the heels of your Halloween reading.

Molly Kimball is an expat from Virginia. She moved to England with her mother to run the family bookstore with her aunt. She has also recently taken a commission to catalog the library of the manor house. She is qualified for the job, but I'm sure her connection to the family's second-born son helped.

While there is a murder, I think the literary mystery is much more interesting. An ancestor of Molly's boyfriend wrote a gothic novel under a pen name. The family has the original manuscript but no one knows the identity of the author.

I loved all the history and literary references. The characters are wonderful. I was also thrilled that we got to read the gothic novel (it is more like a short story). I thought this was a nice (and original) touch.

I'm looking forward to reading more books in this series. If you are a fan of Paige Shelton's Scottish Bookshop Mystery series, then you definitely want to check out Elizabeth Penney's series.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Monday - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2023/10/cozy-up-with-these-seasonal-mysteries.html

Fatal Folio by Elizabeth Penney continues the Cambridge Bookshop mysteries. Molly not only works in the very old Cambridge bookstore but catalogues old library collections She is doing this for her boyfriend's family manor library. A Fatal Folio, an old book may have been written by his ancestor. The original manuscript, is stolen and a student is murdered. What connection? Thrilling story for Guy Fawkes day and gothic tales.

This is my first time reading The Cambridge Bookshop series, so I was a little lost in the background of the series . I think the author provides just enough background to make this a standalone novel . Molly Kimball moves to Cambridge, England to run her family’s ancestral bookstore.
In book three , Molly is hired to update the catalog her boyfriend family’s library ,a Gothic manuscript is discovered and murder is soon to follow .
I enjoyed the characters and the setting of an English bookstore is always a great setting for mysteries. I definitely will go back to read books 1 and 2 to obtain a better backstory for the characters.

I just reviewed The Fatal Folio by Elizabeth Penney. #NetGalley

The Fatal Folio is book #3 in the The Cambridge Bookshop Series series by Elizabeth Penney.

This was an entertaining read. I like the setting, the characters, and the storyline. I enjoyed reading along with Molly in the book within the book. Molly has her hands full trying to solve this murder. It kept me guessing until the end. I recommend this book.

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

This is the third in this series and I enjoyed it as well. Molly is constantly involved in a murder case, so that involves her friends as well. She and her Mother have moved to Cambridge to assist her Aunt with her bookshop. Molly is also cataloging the estate library for Kieran’s family. She discovers more than books while she’s there. I also loved the story of the book, the Fatal folio, which is read during this book. There’s so much to love about Molly, her situations and her memorable friends. You don’t have to read these in order, but I’m glad I did. As always there’s intrigue and fun. The little touches the author adds make this an even better book. Little details such as the addition of 2 cats in the book shop and living quarters, the pubs, punting, etc. Authentically British without being stuffy. I was blessed to receive a copy for review from the publisher and NetGalley. My review is heartfelt and my own opinion. I highly recommend this book and the entire series. Hope the series will continue. Enjoy.

Review – The Fatal Folio (The Cambridge Bookshop Series #3) by Elizabeth Penney Pub Date: 10/24/2023

The Fatal Folio (The Cambridge Bookshop Series #3) was written by Elizabeth Penney and was published October 24, 2023 by St. Martin’s Press – Minotaur Books. This was one of the more interesting reads I have had in a while. The premise of the book is about retribution, both in the story and in the book revealed within the book. The author did an amazing job keeping me interested in both! While I have had trouble in the past picking up a new author in the middle of a book series, I had no trouble with this one. Characters were fully developed and the plot, for the most part, was devoid of references to past books. All in all, a fun and thought provoking read. I award this book a rating of 4 Stars.

Rating: 4 Stars

p.s. I am grateful to the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to read this Advanced Readers Copy. The opinions expressed in this unpaid book review are solely mine.

I really enjoy this series. The idea of inheriting a bookstore in England and dating a member of the nobility is a fun setting and the latest book in this series did not disappoint. It was fun to read more about Cambridge and Gothic mysteries. I also enjoyed a mystery that kept me guessing until the end. I look forward to reading more of this series.

Another excellent outing in Cambridge, UK, with ex-pat Molly Kimball. She, her Mum and her aunt own the historic bookshop, Thomas Marlowe. As a former librarian, Molly’s always thrilled to put her skills to use. This time, she’s commissioned to document her boyfriend’s family library. Delighted to visit the historic country house, delve into the huge library and spend time with Kieran’s family, Molly is loving her new life. On her first Guy Fawkes Night celebration, she and her friends are dismayed to stumble over a dead body. When it’s someone known to Kieran’s cousin, things get difficult. Molly uses her skills in research and deduction to help find the guilty party and understand why. Fun to visit Molly and Cambridge! I’m looking forward to the next in this series.

Oh this was fun! I've enjoyed the previous books in the series. Molly is a nice main character, her family is interesting and the setting is a bookshop that has been open since the 1600s in Cambridge. It's a fun bookish cozy mystery series. But this book in particular was essentially a fairy tale for booklovers. There's a huge library in a castle where the residents have been book lovers for generations and Molly gets to inventory all those books. There's also an early Gothic manuscript with a mystery author and Molly gets to rummage in family records to solve a literary mystery. I'm not really a jealous person but I was a bit jealous of Molly!

Not only is there the bookish mystery but while Molly and her friends are celebrating Guy Fawkes night when they stumble on a body and become involved in an investigation connected to a respected university. I really enjoyed seeing Molly figure out her first Guy Fawkes night. It's not a holiday I know much about so I liked seeing it from her perspective.

The mystery was a delight with red herrings and all kinds of bookish sidelines. The timing of the murder added a fun bit of complication. I did guess a few things before the end but as I enjoyed this book from beginning to end that didn't bother me in the slightest. If you enjoy bookish cozies than I highly recommend this series.

It was great getting back to Cambridge, England to sleuth out some more bookish mysteries and murder with Molly and her friends. I enjoyed how Molly and Kieran sleuthed together (along with his cousin this time) and sometimes Molly had Daisy with her especially when Daisy didn’t want Molly doing something alone. At one point, I started suspecting someone but was never completely sure due to some great red herrings.

I just love Sir Jon’s character and was glad to see him back in action, this time on assignment from Scotland Yard. He wasn’t in the book a whole lot, but he did get to stop in and see Aunt Violet. I like where Molly and Kieran are in their relationship. They’re a great couple and so are Daisy and Tim. Who wouldn’t love a set of friends like that to hang out with?

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by St. Martin’s Paperbacks via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.