I really enjoyed this book. There was a good piece with lots of twists and turns in this thriller. I felt the paranoia that the author was trying to evoke from readers, especially when the little clues and issues kept happening to the main character. It was a great book



Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

Why, in the year of our lord 2024, would an actress not have a cellphone? Madeline Brimley is the main character and is only in her mid-thirties. It makes no sense that as a professional actor she wouldn't have a cell phone. I get that this was used as a plot device, but the author could have just given her a dead phone! It served no point other than to make her a little quirky. And obviously make me mad.

This is a quick southern mystery, and it was a fun read. This is easily something you could finish in a day and does have enough red herrings to keep you interested. As a person from a small southern college town, a lot of the daily interactions Madeline has in the book rung familiar and true to me. I thought the author did a good job building a community and complex characters. It would have been easy to create southern caricatures or poke fun at small town life, but I thought this was a good reflection on what it's like being in a small town.

There was a lot of build up the central mystery of the book that was a little lackluster to me. I almost would have preferred it if there wasn't a murder, and the story was focused on the arson and building the main cast of characters out a little bit. The author clearly took a lot of care and time to build out potential plots for future books, but I felt like that was almost detrimental. As the reader I felt like I had too many strings I was still holding. Like the main mystery was solved, but the personal mysteries had no resolution.

I would recommend this book if you like a good quick mystery.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press Minotaur Books for the early copy, all opinions are my own.

I have not read a lot cozy mystery, so this was new for me. I enjoyed it and liked Madeline as a character, but don't want to give too much away. I will definitely try this author again.

Unfortunately I did not love this one. At no point did I feel connected to the characters or their relationships, and I found that there were too many detailed descriptions about things that were irrelevant (like a paragraph of the MC not knowing what day it was).

I did find myself somewhat enjoying the mystery and wanted to know who did it, but I also didn’t have any guesses or even care to try to figure it out.

Madeline returns home to small town Georgia after her beloved aunt dies and leaves her bookstore to Madeline. Then the gazebo in the yard catches on fire, the phone rings with threatening calls, and a kind college student working at the bookstore is stabbed. All these mysteries need to be solved but there’s also the story of whether Madeline will stay, the new friends she makes, a possible love interest, and the complexities of real life. Sure to be popular with mystery readers.

“Everybody is capable of telling a lie that anybody else will believe. And everybody is capable of hiding a truth that no one else will be able to see.”

Booked for Murder by P.J. Nelson is a cozy Old Juniper Bookshop Novel following Madeline Brimley. Madeline escaped a small Georgia town years ago to pursue theater, but when her Aunt Rose dies and leaves her the Old Juniper Bookshop, she returns to Enigma, GA to take over the bookstore. Soon, it becomes clear that the town does not want her there – a fire is set to the gazebo, threatening phone calls begin, and then a sweet hometown girl is murdered in her shop. While it isn’t clear if the murderer was going after Madeline or not, Madeline is now set to find out who killed an innocent, young girl and what is really going on in Enigma.

This was a cute amateur sleuth novel. Definitely a “cozy mystery,” so if you aren’t sure what that is going into this book – I would do a little research prior! I enjoyed the small town feel and liked Madeline, but I think the other two female characters were way over the top for me. I now see where this may be a series, which makes me understand the abrupt ending (sorry ladies, strictly a small-town mystery, no romance here … yet?!).

There was a big difference, however, from reading By Any Other Name by Jodi Picoult right before reading this book; I loved all the continual theater and Shakespeare tie ins – which was fun to read back-to-back, but the writing structure in Booked for Murder left me confused. I’m not sure if that is just how Nelson writes, or if that was to further accentuate the southern Georgia feel, but it was odd at times.

Overall, this is a quick, fun read that will probably leaving you wanting more. While I didn’t dislike the book per se, I don’t think I will be running out to read book two in the series. 2.6 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for this cozy arc in exchange for an honest review!

(Also, as a University of Florida girl here … there was too many references to FSU – just kidding! But Go Gators!)

On the surface, this book has everything I want in a story. Bookstores, takes place in my state, theater references, and murder. I was so excited to read the book (also this cover is genuinely so perfect). While it delivered everything it described, I feel like everything both dragged on too long, and wrapped up too quickly. I feel like this story needed to be shorter, or if it were to stay the same length, at least dive deeper into the characters and provide some more twists and turns. All that being said, I genuinely did enjoy this story, and would love to read the second one!

I’d like to thank NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, and P. J. Nelson for a copy of this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Overall I do believe this story has potential to be great with just added character development. This story was kind of confusing in the beginning because I didn’t really have a clear understanding of the FMC and didn’t really understand her thought processes. Good job on the twist at the end, I wasn’t really expecting that person at all.

it was a little slow and boring. The murder was silly and the outstanding mysteries were stupid (like the gazebo thing).

I don't know how to write a review about this book! It was just really hard to read for me. I found myself repeatedly annoyed by the main character, Madeline/Maddy. I am not a fan of being negative unless I am offended by a book and I certainly was not offended in any way by this book. I just am going to leave it with my rating.
Thank you to #netgalley

Book Review
As a fan of cozy reads, I was drawn in by the cute cover and the premise, even though I’m not typically a mystery reader. Unfortunately, while it started strong, it quickly lost my interest. I found myself skipping to the end just to see how it wrapped up, as I wasn’t invested in the love triangle or the murder plot. The ending felt unsatisfying, especially since it had very little to do with books. Overall, this one was a disappointment for me.

I'm not normally a "cozy" guy, so I went into this Southern mystery with a little trepidation. It took a little while for the story to find its groove, but once it did, I was hooked. I didn't really have any complaints, although I wish the story was a little more Southern and a little "cozier." I liked the characters, and the plot kept me invested and involved.

Would I read more from the author? Yes.

I received a complimentary copy of the novel from the publisher and NetGalley, and my review is being left freely.

This was such a fun cozy! I can't believe it is a debut and I am already looking forward to the next one. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!

The real mystery is "who wrote it"? PJ NELSON is the pseudonym of an award-winning actor, dramatist, professor, and novelist (among many other professions) who has done just about everything except run a bookstore. He lives in Decatur, Georgia.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.
Expected publication date: Dec. 10, 2024
Madeleine Brimley left Enigma, Georgia years ago hoping to pursue her dream of being an actress. After time spent in New York City and then Atlanta doing just that, Madeleine is called back to Enigma when her Aunt Rose passes away, leaving Madeleine her beloved bookstore. Maddy returns, hoping to quickly sell the bookstore and move on, but stipulations in her aunt’s will make it so she has to stick around, at least for a short time. Reluctant, Madeleine reopens the bookstore but almost immediately she starts receiving threatening phone calls. Then, the gazebo on her property is burned down and a young woman who Maddy just hired to help out, is murdered. Madeleine can’t leave Enigma knowing that there is a murderer on the loose, and with the help of a few locals, and a giant cat, she sets out to solve the mystery.
P.J. Nelson’s, “Booked for Murder” is a small-town mystery with eccentric but likable characters and, at the centre of it all, an old Victorian house that has been turned into a bookstore, with books in nearly every room (or, as I call it, my idea of paradise). Madeleine is a woman in her thirties, struggling as an “aging” actress, until she is forced to return to the hometown she couldn’t wait to leave. Overall, Maddy was a decent character and easy to connect with.
There were some odd language structures in this novel and I don’t know if it was done to reinforce the fact that the characters were from the South, or if it was just strangely written. Some conversations were awkward and redundant but luckily, the whole novel didn’t read that way so it was easy to overlook. Maddy’s two adult female neighbours assist in the investigation (although no real investigating takes place, it’s more of a “jump in headfirst and see what happens” type of thing) but, by far, my favourite character was the chunky, furry bookstore cat.
There was one part of the story that I found very difficult to wrap my head around. One of Maddy’s investigative partners is a psychology professor at the local college and yet, she asks Maddy what a “behaviour pattern” is (to which Maddy replies how it relates to acting and the theatre). I don’t assume that people from the South are less intelligent than people anywhere else (obviously) but I would be getting my money back from that college, for sure.
The conclusion of the mystery was well-developed, with the right amount of surprise and suspense. Although this specific mystery plotline was concluded, “Murder” has some questions that remain unanswered, which makes me question if this novel is the first in a series. As long as it takes place in a bookstore, and has a giant fluffy cat, I’ll read it, as those were by far the most appealing parts of the story.

Emma’s character is so relatable and engaging throughout the story and you can’t help but want her to succeed in everything. Beyond that, the secondary characters were outstanding as well. I was so interested in everyone. Nobody was a throwaway character for me. I wanted to know everything about everyone.

At no point did I have the mystery figured out. I thought I did a few times but just as I “solved it” a new twist popped up and engaged me even more which was absolutely riveting.

I think the ending was tied up well and I felt good closure with everything in the story.

NetGalley had a new author release last month with P.J. Nelson's Booked for Murder, an amateur sleuth series set in the south. Madeline, a mid 30s (with premature graying hair) returns to take over her late aunt's book store only to discover someone else wants to keep her away. Fires. Murder. Drugs. Lots of darkness for a cozy but handled well. I like Madeline a lot, and the story has been set up with a balanced supporting cast. I won't share much as its the first book, so you never know if one of them turns out to be the villain. I like how things are set up for a possible romantic triangle, a mentor relationship, and a connection to the local liberal arts college. For such a small town, there is a lot of drama, I will say, but that's what makes for a good read.

This book is too cozy for me and I struggle to find it believable. Madeline's reaction to the initial threatening calls is not believable. Each character is a different type too, which seemed contrived. The workings of the bookstore don't seem realistic. I read about 40% and then skipped to the end to find out what was really going on with one character who was bugging me.

Booked for Murder starts off strong, pulling you right into small-town Georgia with all the spooky charm you'd expect from a bookstore housed in a Victorian mansion. When Madeline Brimley inherits her aunt’s quirky bookstore, you can almost feel the mystery lurking in the shelves. The Southern atmosphere is on point, and I loved the idea of a hidden, possibly haunted past unfolding alongside Madeline’s new chapter in life.

But while the setup hooked me, Madeline’s character lost me a bit as she dove into the investigation. Her relentless questioning and the way she bulldozes into situations made her feel more pushy than charming, and after a while, her detective efforts started to feel repetitive. I wanted to cheer her on, but I ended up frustrated instead.

There are some fun twists toward the end that picked things back up, but I was already a bit checked out by then. Still, I think the book has plenty to love if you’re into cozy mysteries with a Southern gothic twist and don’t mind a bit of grit in your protagonist.

Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review. This mystery begins when the main character heads back to town when her aunt dies and leaves her a house/bookstore. Almost immediately someone commits arson against her burning up her gazebo out back. Tandy a young girl in town comes to help her out at her store and stays in the house with her. Threats are made to burn the house down and someone shows up and murdered Tandy. The remainder of a book is a who dunnit as she takes the investigation upon herself. Three stars easy read.

It took me a little while to get into this one. It was a little corny, but then I started to embrace it and really enjoyed it. Coming from a small town, the characters were relatable. But what about David??