Sea breezes and fireworks fill the air in cozy Chatham Crossing, the peaceful and historic whaling town situated between Providence and Cape Cod.

Venus Bixby, owner of the forever popular music store Oldies & Goodies, is counting on the festivities over the Fourth of July weekend to propel her to a position on the prestigious Town Committee.

After years of living in the shadow of her late husband, Venus will finally be the center of attention this holiday weekend: starting with her fiftieth birthday celebration and ending as the parade’s Grand Marshal.

Faster than a cookie crumbles, her dream collapses on the morning of her party when she trips over orange platform shoes in the gardens of the Sofia Silva Whaling Museum and breaks her thumb. When it’s discovered the shoes are attached to the body of the manager of the museum’s gift shop, Venus becomes both a suspect and a sleuth in Chatham Crossing’s first murder in decades.

Given this unexpected turn of events, will Venus ever sing and dance at her birthday party, or will her fractured thumb end up in handcuffs?

Includes cookie recipes and playlist!
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I loved Venus. I kinda want to be her when I decide to grow up. This book has the perfect amount of feistiness and fun. Cannot wait to read more from the author. I thought that it was wonderfully written and well thought out.

An incredible book with wonderful characters and a beautiful setting. It will keep you guessing until the end.

This was an okay cozy mystery, but it was not as exciting as I expected. Don’t get me wrong, it was intriguing but the engagement level was mild along with the excitement. It was a nice afternoon no frills read.

An entertaining and well plotted cozy mystery that kept me hooked and guessing. I appreciated the characters and the setting, the solid mystery is full of surprises
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This was a very enjoyable story well written with great chapters I would recommend as great beach read.

I couldn’t get into this book. It feels disjointed & skipped plot points. I found the main character’s attitude to be insufferable. All the characters are unlikeable, stabbing each other in the back. The whole gather the suspects together ala Agatha Cristy is over overbearing & slow. #AWhaleofaMurder #NetGalley

I enjoyed Valerie Taylor’s first book. The writing was easily enjoyable and not over whelming trying to keep up with the amateur sleuth in the story.

A WHALE OF A MURDER – 5 stars
A Venus Bixby Mystery: Book One

A Whale of a Murder is the first book in the new series Venus Bixby Mystery.
Retro-music store owner Venus Bixby is ready to celebrate her fiftieth birthday, when a strange event happened. She broke her thumb because of the woman’s orange shoe whose body was lying on the ground. The victim is Maggie McGee, the manager of the museum’s gift shop. And just like that Venus becomes both a witness and suspect in a murder at the same time. From now one, she needs to figure out what happened to Maggie. Is she capable of it?
I really enjoyed #AWhaleofaMurder. The beginning was a bit slow to me, but overall it’s a nice cozy mystery story with likable characters. Thank you to Valerie Taylor for an excellent writing and describing place so good, that you really feel like you are part of this story.

I’m looking forward to more books in this cozy series.

PS. Don’t forget to check out the playlist from the author!

Autor: Valerie Taylor
Publisher: Aspetuck Publishing | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles
Pages:358

Thank you NetGalley for providing ARC in exchange for my honest review.

#AWhaleofaMurder #NetGalley

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest an voluntary review. I enjoyed this book very much. It grabs your attention from the start and doesn't stop. This is a mystery with humor scattered in between. Valerie describes some beautiful scenery in the book as well. This is the first in the series and can't wait to see what she will come up with in the next story.

A Whale of a Murder: A Venus Bixby Mystery is the first book in Award Winning Author Valerie Taylor’s new series. This is a well written cozy mystery that will keep the pages turning and put a smile on your face. A lighthearted story with well developed characters that come to life. Ms. Taylor’s wonderful descriptions make you feel like you are a part of this story. She adds a well thought out mixture of humor and mystery to keep your attention from start to finish. A great start to what looks like a great series, I so look forward to the second book!

Thank you NetGalley, Aspetuck Publishing and Valerie Taylor for this highly entertaining story to read and review. The added recipes and playlist are a definite plus. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
#netgalley #aspetuckpublishing #valerietaylor
#awhaleofamurder #avenusbixbymysteryseries

A Whale of a Murder is the first book in the Venus Bixby Mystery cozy mystery series by Valerie Taylor.

The main character Venus Bixby owns Chatham Crossing’s Oldies and Goodies music store in a small New England town where everyone knows everyone.

Venus is excited to celebrate her fiftieth birthday in the town’s whaling museum.
Unfortunately, when she trips on orange shoes and a body to go with it, the celebration is called off.

The victim is Maggie McGee who is the manager of the whaling museum’s gift shop.
There are so many suspects including Venus. She decides to become an amateur sleuth to find out who killed Maggie.

I really enjoyed this cozy mystery. I love that the main character is older.
The small-town description is excellent and lends itself well to an excellent written mystery.

Looking forward to more books in this fun series.

Valerie Taylor's 'A Whale of a Murder' immerses readers in the quaint yet perilous world of Chatham Crossing, where protagonist Venus Bixby unexpectedly becomes entangled in a murder mystery amidst Fourth of July celebrations. Despite its occasional predictability, the novel's charming setting and quirky characters make for an enjoyable read. (I received an advance reader copy of this book, and all opinions are my own.) With its cozy mystery vibes and small-town drama, it's a delightful escape for those craving a light-hearted adventure.

This is the first book by Valerie Taylor that I have read. I felt the story started off extremely slowly. I knew who the killer was before 25% of the book was completed. I just needed to figure out why. The pace picked up after the investigation started but I really had a hard time caring about any of the characters.

The story was ok but not my cup of tea. I will not be continuing with this series.

I was given an advanced copy by Netgalley and wished I liked it more.

'After years of living in the shadow of her late husband, Venus will finally be the center of attention this holiday weekend: starting with her fiftieth birthday celebration and ending as the parade’s Grand Marshal.
Faster than a cookie crumbles, her dream collapses on the morning of her party when she trips over orange platform shoes in the gardens of the Sofia Silva Whaling Museum and breaks her thumb. When it’s discovered the shoes are attached to the body of the manager of the museum’s gift shop, Venus becomes both a suspect and a sleuth in Chatham Crossing’s first murder in decades.'

This is an enjoyable, light hearted cozy murder, ideal for an afternoon read. The tourist town seaside setting and characters are well described (although to be honest I didn't really like any of them very much, including Venus herself). The whodunit was interesting but there is a lot of back story (about 30%) and a fair bit of that turned out to be irrelevant and just distracted. This may be because it is a first in series and so be less intrusive in future installments. Overall I have given 3 stars as it is well written and easy to read for cozy mystery fans. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I liked the ploy of this story...but little else.

The first 13 chapter of the book were literally jumping from character to character. I had a difficult time figuring out out the point.

I also did not like a single character. Especially the main character. She felt spoiled and shallow. The rest of the characters fell flat too.

I finished the book so I could review it, but it was rough a d not that enjoyable.

I received a copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc of this novel. What a fun read! . Venus, our super sleuth seems a little self-absorbed but becomes a little more likeable once her twin, Sherrie arrives. While it wasn't the most riveting novel, the light mystery had enough twists to keep the reader's interest.

Book Title: a Whale of a Murder
A Venus Bixby Mystery
Book 1

Author: Valerie Taylor (award winning author)

Genre: Fiction

Pub Date: Will be released on April 23, 2024/ preorder now.

Print Length: 319 pages


Book Reviewed By Sylvia J.

After finishing the last book in the author's romantic comedy trilogy, What’s Not Lost, the author decided to spin off one of the minor characters named Venus Bixby and make her the sloth in this new brand new cozy mystery series. As stated above A Whale of a Murder : A Venus Bixby Mystery.


The book starts off with a murder investigation. The manager of the museum’s gift shop was murdered. Her name was Margaret “Maggie McGee. I would say the police have a lot of investigating to do right now, with this murder. The story takes place in Chatham Crossing Massachusetts. This is an historic town situated between Providence and Cape Cod. Ms. Venus Bixby may have been the last to see Ms. McGee alive in the garden that morning. The police need to take a full statement from Venus. They have to wait though, because Venus fell over a pair of platform shoes and broke her thumb and is now on pain medication.
Will Venus be a suspect now? There hasn’t been a murder in Chatham crossings in decades. Venus Bixby is the owner of a retro-music store called Oldies and Goodies. Was she in the wrong place at the wrong time?


One will adore this quote in the book
“ Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” This is a quote from Helen Keller. I adore good quotes. Let me share one more from the book with you. “ Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.”

The museum wasn’t used to dealing with dead bodies at the museum. There was never a murder there before, what is going on? They had five whale skeletons displayed in the grand hall of the museum.

This book is a debut cozy mystery. I found it to be a very cute book and very cozy, especially hearing about the cats in the book. There was humor thrown into the book which I enjoyed, as I found myself laughing due to that.

Five stars is my rating of the book. All of the talk of food in the book will make one hungry. All of the music talk in the book will make one dance. There are so many recipes in the back of the book and a playlist of free songs that are on Spotify that depict the story of a Whale of a Murder which I just read and reviewed above.

A great setting for a fun little mystery. You can see easily forget your life for a while and lose yourself in the people and places this story introduces you to.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this as a Read Now choice.

This is the first instalment of a new cozy murder mystery series about a middle-aged shop owner turning detective. Though for the first part she couldn't care less, instead obsessing about her broken thumb, the visit of her twin sister and whether murdered Maggie might have had a thing with her boyfriend.

She also asks everyone: "What’s your favorite song today?” all the time.

I found this very slow going. There was so much backstory to be imparted about so many characters, and in the end I still had a hard time figuring out who was who. There was a lot about a birthday party at a whale museum, competitive cookie bakers and everyone wanting to be on the Town Committee to decide about traffic lights or something.

I wanted to love this but it wasn't the most riveting story, and the pacing is all wrong, with a very slow start and a double speed ending and pages of explanations.

It was a quick read, even though it didn't really get going before 60%. Seeing as the book ends at 92%, with the rest taken up by pointless recipes and songlists, this is not a lot of sleuthing.

Maybe the next installment will be better if the author can get the pacing right but I'm afraid I can't give this more than 2.5 stars. The cover's lovely though.

So much to enjoy in this book which blends humour, mystery and a truly wonderful setting. The author has taken the modern reading experience a step further by including recipes and a song playlist to add to the sense of a truly immersive experience. - such a clever addition. I loved the main character and found myself very invested in her world. This is not just one for lovers of cozy mysteries as it will appeal to readers across genres.