The premise of this new cozy mystery series is good. A non fiction writer in a small town with good friends and a supportive but nosy book club. The concept of an unexpected inheritance from a crappy ex boyfriend was also very promising. However, this book failed to deliver on a lot of cornerstones that make up the genre.

The main character honestly didn't do a lot of sleuthing. She asked a few people questions and organized a stake out with her book club that was very anti climactic. Speaking of the book club, you would think a book titled A Book Club's Guide to Murder & Mayhem would focus more on the book club than it did. We got to see the whole book club maybe twice but really it was the main character, her friend, and her friend's husband the entire time. When the mystery was solved it was not really a surprise. The author could not have been more heavy handed with the one clue that pointed to the culprit. A lot of the book did not contribute to moving the plot forward and the book felt really long for a cozy mystery.

A cute cozy story! Love the concept - unexpected inheritance, Murder, harassment, and a dog! The writing style was not for me though - a bit too simple. I can see potential and I can see where many would eat this book up! I was entertained and that to me is the most important.

It’s a pretty good mystery, love the setting and definitely liked this book

Thank you to Bethany Barker, NetGalley and Harbor Lane Books, LLC for the arc of this book.

A cozy easy good read mystery.
Suzie was out walking with her dog Hunter when she smelled something fowl thinking that some one hit an animal until she sees a boot.
When she learns it is a body she has to investigate with her friends.
Good easy read.
Voluntarily reviewed.

A great small town story.

Suzie Tuft is a textbook writer for a publishing house. Upon returning from a business trip in NYC, she decides to stretch her legs and go for a walk now that she's back home in her neck of the woods. But immediately her sense of smell kicks in and she thinks there's a dead animal in the water. Much to her shock, its a man instead. The police come and the older, grumpy cop treats her like she's the suspect. Whereas his partner is sort of flirting with her.

It turns out that the man killed was coming out to tell her that her ex-boyfriend of many years ago had a hard attack and died. He left her everything in his name to her. Suzie and Mike ended on a terrible note. She caught him in bed with another woman high on drugs. But now his 2 ex's and Mike's brother demand what they think is their inheritance. And they won't stop until she gives in to their harassment.

A must read!

I enjoyed this cozy murder mystery. It was a quick read and perfect for my relaxing vacation reading. The main character, Suzie is an independent woman but knows her boundaries.

Do we dare hope for a budding romance in future books? I'll definitely read to find out!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. All opinions are my own.

This was a cozy mystery. This follows Suzie Tufts, a textbook writer. She has a book club with friends. One day she stumbles upon a dead body while out walking her dog. Suzie becomes quite the investigator.

This was cute in parts and funny in others. Of course, Suzie made a lot of silly choices as she wants to get involved and question everyone.

Overall it was a nice read. Available now.

I’d like to thank Harbor Lane Books, NetGalley and Bethany Barker for the opportunity. All opinions are my own.
3.5 ⭐️

A Book Club’s Guide to Murder and Mayhem by Bethany Barker is the debut of A Suzie Tuft Mysteries. I found the story to be easy to read. We get to meet Suzie Tuft along with her best friend, Jess, and her close circle of friends. I liked Suzie’s dog, Hunter. He is protective of Suzie as well as a sweetheart. The characters needed to be fleshed out more, especially Suzie. The mystery begins early in the story with Suzy discovering the victim on a walk with Hunter. The gruff lead detective (Detective Whiteford) was annoying and his partner (Detective Pagarelli), naturally, was handsome (it was obvious that Suzie was attracted to him). I wish the whodunit had been more complex. It was evident early on who was the guilty party along with the motive. Suzie and her book club work together to discover the killer’s identity along with why Suzie’s ex-boyfriend left her the sizeable inheritance. There is flirtation between Suzie and Detective Pagarelli and Suzy spends time thinking about the kind (and handsome) detective. There is a repetition of key details (that Detective Pagarelli is handsome is mentioned fourteen times and that the other detective is gruff sixteen times). A Book Club’s Guide to Murder and Mayhem is a nice story, but it did not hold my attention.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bethany Barker for the opportunity to read A Book Club's Guide to Murder and Mayhem.
This was a disappointing read. I'll start with what I liked.
-The male love interest was great, even if he was a little too hot and cold for my taste.
-The best friend's husband was very sweet and supportive.
-The mystery itself was great. The premise of getting a huge inheritance from a dead ex was good. The moving parts with all the different people who could have killed for the inheritance kept me guessing.
On the other hand, here's what I didn't like.
-The pacing felt strange at some points. Too much time was taken for things that didn't matter to the story. And then not enough time for other things that did matter.
-The payoff of who actually committed the murder wasn't worth it. There wasn't enough foreshadowing or even suspicion on the murderer until way too far into the book.
-The book needed at least one if not two more rounds of editing. I didn't find typos or big grammatical errors, but the word choice was repetitive and awkward. The dialogue at times was very stilted.

This was not a horrible book by any means, but I will not be reading the rest of the series

I absolutely loved this cozy mystery! This was my first book by this author and it certainly will not be the last. If there are more Suzie Tuft books, I’ll definitely be reading them. This was a short, quick read with a fun cast of characters. I found myself trying to catch the killer and honestly thought I had it figured out the whole book, but I was way off! If you enjoy cozies, I’d definitely give this one a try.

Super quick read but not surprising, most cozy mysteries normally are.

Suzie comes in to an unexpected inheritance, the fact it came from an estranged ex-boyfriend made the situation even more boggling for her. In the midst of sorting out her new property, a murder investigation is underway - as she had found the body of the lawyer who had been on his way to inform Suzie of her ex’s will and what he had bequeathed her.

Several people involved with her ex start popping up out of the woodwork, trying to intimate Suzie and get her to give up what was given to her. She finds herself working with her book club as amateur sleuths, even though a handsome detective tells her to stay out of the investigation.

While the mystery was intriguing and I wanted to find out whodunnit, I didn’t feel as if this was written in the best way. Several chapters ended incredibly abruptly. It felt stopped in the middle of a thought. I also felt the whole inheritance thing wasn’t resolved fully. Was it really willed to Suzie because he regretted his past actions towards her, or did he do it to keep the property and its contents out of his greedy girlfriends’ hands? I feel as if Suzie could have found a hidden letter from her ex explaining everything and it would have helped wrap things up nicely.

The story itself is top notch – why did her ex boyfriend leave her a secluded cabin? She left him when she caught him doing drugs and cheating on her. The characters come out of the wood work.

There was a lot of “I can’t call him now, he’ll think I’m needy” except she’s talking about the detective assigned to investigate the murder of the person sent to tell her that her ex died and left her his estate in the will. And she’s investigating the murder, to her own peril. As much as I would like to think that my dog would protect me (and he does do a good job of it) women need to stop putting themselves in dangerous situations! Stay with a friend, call the dang detective who gave you his number and who mysteriously shows up when you need him to!

I feel like the title is misleading. While there is a book club it played a very very small part in the overall story. With it being mentioned in the title, I expected there to be more book club involvement.

A Book Club’s Guide to Murder
(Suzie Tuft Mysteries 1)
Bethany Barker


Suzie Tuft lives in Bearfoot, Pennsylvania, and works as a writer. She writes how-tos as well as textbooks. She has a book club meeting the night before leaving for a meeting with her editor in New York. That night the ladies make plans for a future trip out there. Suzie believes she has rebuilt a good life full of friends in the last few years. Until Her ex-boyfriend Mike implodes her well organized life!

Suzie dated Mike Hansen, a bookseller about three years ago. She left him and refused to take him back after catching him cheating on her and using drugs. Since then he’s been living with Samantha, the woman she believes got him hooked on drugs. Thus his multimillion inheritance, a cabin located two hours away in Punxsutawney, to her after his heart attack shocks her and leads to nothing but trouble. Along with the shocking realization that he has been stalking her all these years!

Attorney Christopher Ryder was in town to give Jess the good news of her inheritance. How did he end up dead by the lake?! Detectives Whitehead & Pagarelli arrive after her frantic 911 call. Corey James is the new attorney assigned to relay the news. He shows up surprising Suzie and Hunter while on a walk.

I liked this book but it had gaps for me. Such as the character interactions as well as the missing interactions between characters. The drug angle is glossed over, along with a scam bilking seniors…
Her best friend Jess is angrier and all around more emotional throughout this book than Suzie. Frankly, I liked Jess more than Suzie, because she’s more well formed. Despite its title, the small book club has little to do with this story.
The mystery with its twists and turns does provide a workout for the little gray cells as Poirot would say! 3.5-4**** I would read book two.

Characters
Suzie Tuft
Jess & Jake Waters
Mike Hansen
Tom Hansen
Attorney Ryder
Attorney James
Ribar
Samantha Banks
Honey
Det Whiteford
Det Pagarelli

Bearfoot Book Club Members
Georgianna
Bre
MaryLou
Suzie
Jess



Thank you to Netgalley, Ms. Barker, and the publisher for the ARC.

My first read by this author & I really liked it. Cute read and any book with a dog is an automatic winner for me! Loved the main character, Suzie. This is a great cozy mystery and I will definitely reread it again in the fall

Thank you to NetGalley, Harbor Lane Books, LLC. & Bethany Barker for an ARC copy of this title.

"A Book Club’s Guide to Murder and Mayhem" by Bethany Barker is a charming read that blends cozy mystery with the camaraderie of a book club. While the journey to the conclusion may feel a tad prolonged, the intricate plot and endearing characters make it worth the wait. Barker's witty writing style keeps readers engaged from start to finish, making this a delightful addition to any mystery lover's shelf. #netgalley #abookclubsguidetomurder&mayhem

This one was pretty cute! A bit slow to start, but I still really enjoyed this cozy mystery. I always love a story with a dog too. I look forward to seeing more from this author.

Life Turns Tumultuous..
The first outing in the Suzie Tuft series of mysteries finds our protagonist’s life being thrown into near chaos. Suzie enjoys her writing life, as a textbook author everything is as it should be and, despite her bookclub friends urging her to write fiction, she couldn’t be happier in what she does. Things are about to change. When Suzie discovers a dead body, life turns tumultuous- especially when she learns that her own life is entwined with that of the deceased. As Suzie and her bookclub friends try to disentangle a real life murder, life will forever change. An enjoyable and entertaining cosy mystery with a very likeable protagonist in Suzie and a well drawn supporting cast. The narrative is pacy and engaging, the plot intriguing and the backdrop well imagined. A promising start to a new series.

This was a new author and a new series for me. Thank you to #Netgally and #HarborLaneBooks for the introduction. I was so pleasantly surprised by this read. Suzie is a great main character, pretty smart, with a loyal best friend in Jess and a gorgeous Siberian Husky sidekick. My one quibble would be that from the title, you would think this series revolves around a book club, that is not true, there is a book club and they do meet a couple of times, and various members have bits and pieces involvement in the story but more actually as a friend of Suzie then a book club. When Suzie finds a dead body while walking about a half mile from her home, she is shocked and saddened. When she finds out he was a lawyer on the way to her home to tell her, she had inherited a home and money from her estranged ex-boyfriend she is stunned. What follows next is people coming out of the woodwork to try and take her inheritance by whatever means necessary. Could one of these people be a murderer? It's worth your time to find out!

Susie Tuft is a textbook writer. She inherits a estate from a ex boyfriend she hasn’t heard from in years. As the story unfolds she and her best friend try to solve the murder of a man whose body she discovers in the woods surrounding her home. Her book club members assist but play only a small role. This book had several Likely suspects who stalk and threaten her throughout the book. If you like a clean cozy mystery you will enjoy this book.

A Book Club's Guide to Murder & Mayhem is a new cozy mystery with likable characters, friendship, a.potential romance and a cozy mystery that kept me guessing. Suzie Tufts is a textbook writer. Her best friends are Jess and Jess's husband Jake. Suzie and Jess belong to a book club. The book club members help do a little sleuthing but mostly it is Suzie questioning the suspects. Susie is out walking with her dog Hunter. She finds a dead body and her life goes from quiet to crazy. Detective Nate Pagarelli and Suzie have chemistry. The Detective is trying to solve the case and he is around every time Suzie needs him and that is a lot. She doesn't have much common sense because she wants to question the suspects. Suzie finds out her ex boyfriend Mike left her a really nice cabin, land, a boat and a SUV. The problem is there are several people who resent her inheritance. Jess is a good friend and a good addition to the story. The book moves at a good pace and it kept my interest. There was a lot of speculation about why Mike left the property to Suzie and why he split it between the two and it still wasn't clear at the end. Overall, it was an enjoyable cozy mystery and the series has a.lot of potential. #ABookClubsGuideToMurder&Mayhem #HarborLaneBooks #BookBuzz