A cozy mystery with a clever twist that kept me engaged with its charming characters. I liked Madeline and look forward to seeing her character develop further in the next installment. The writing is engaging and descriptive.
Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thanks to Netgalley and St Martin's Press for giving me early access to this title in return for an honest review.

Booked for Murder is the first in a new Cozy Mystery series, and it does not disappoint. It opens with our main character, Madeline Brimley, coming back to a small town in Georgia after her Aunt Rose passes away to settle her estate, and run The Old Juniper Bookstore. After some recent setbacks Madeline is looking for a new start and Old Juniper might be just what she needs. But after threats, fire, and a murder she's not so sure. With the help of some old and new friends, Madeline starts looking into who's trying to chase her out of town, exploring the towns many unique personalities.

I really loved this book. It's very atmospheric and the characters are really well balanced. Madeline is a delight and feels fully developed. I'm really looking forward to reading the next book in this series.

Overall this was a very disappointing read. I wanted to like it, but it definitely fell short for me. I didn't connect with the main character, I didn't understand her behaviors, and I think it was all just too unbelieveable.

Thank you Netgalley and the author for providing me with a copy for an honest review. It was just the kind of cozy book one needs when trying to hide inside during winter snow storms! I loved it from the beginning to the end. Madeline returns to her hometown after her aunt's passing, inherting her bookstore (and all the secrets it comes with). Small town drama starts fast and doesn't let go until the end. I thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere presented and the characters coming together to solve a big mystery. The ending does leave you wanting to find out what's next and I hope the cast of the next book brings back the main characters.

Just couldn’t do this one. The characters felt boring and annoying. Madeline needed to take a chill pill, every decision she made wasn’t very thought out. The story wasn’t much of a hook. I loved the small town vibes though.

A cozy mystery set in a southern town that was better than I thought it was going to be. This is an engaging story about a girl who inherits her aunt's book store and right away, is entangled in a murder mystery.
Great characters, and a great story that keeps your interest all the way to the end. Some places in the book get a bit redundant but overall, I enjoyed this book.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this book.

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. I sincerely hope there will be more in the little town at the bookshop in the future! The characters were so likeable, their issues were relatable, and their relationships felt real. It was cozy and mysterious, but not overly cheesy.

An engaging cozy mystery that manages to blend in the perfect amount of suspense., humor and charm. Nelson’s writing is witty and the book is filled with relatable characters. The plot kept me guessing and there are plenty of plot twists. I was like say the book is a slow to medium pace book but overall it was fun and entertaining and keeps you hooked until the end.

BOOKED FOR MURDER
Recently finished this read by P.J Nelson, courtesy of Netgalley and St. Martins Press. I knew I wanted to read this when I saw it takes place in rural Georgia as that’s where I live currently!
I really enjoyed this book and Madelines character. She’s sweet but slightly chaotic and relatable to say the least. It’s really twisty in ways you would expect and not expect both. Some are right in your face and others take you off guard. It’s interesting to watch Maddy as she learns all the secrets of her hometown and learns how to process all this information. Reminds me of growing up and finding out all the things about your family and friends you didn’t know before. It did sometimes feel a little slow development wise and that did make it seem longer to finish than it actually was, but nothing too hard to fight through to finish.

Thank you to Netgalley and the Publishing company for this Advanced Readers Copy of Booked for Murder by P.J. Nelson!

After Madeline inherits a book store, she moves home to small town Georgia. It isn't long before things start happening and a body is found at the bookstore. Determined not to let it get the best of her, Madeline sets out to solve the murder.
Opinion
This is a sweet cozy mystery with some punches. This book doesn't follow the typical recipe for a cozy mystery. There were some surprises with "who done it." Overall, this was a great beginning to a new series and I cannot wait for the next book in the series (set to release at the end of 2025.)
Many thanks to Net Galley and to St. Martin's Press for providing me with an ARC of this book.

Madeline (Maddy) has spent her adult life distancing herself from Enigma, Georgia. Her aunt, Ruth, is her one remaining tie to the town. When Ruth dies, Maddy is surprised to learn that she has inherited Ruth’s bookstore. The night Maddy arrives, a gazebo in the backyard is set on fire. Maddy receives a threatening phone call telling her to leave town or else they will burn the house down – with her in it! The book has a cast of characters including Ruth’s friend Wilhemina, a preacher Gloria, Billy the policeman (Maddy used to babysit him), and several college students including Tandy who becomes an instant friend. When someone does try to burn the house down, Maddy finds Tandy’s body in the bookstore stabbed to death. Maddy, Wilhemina and Gloria decide they need to solve the case. Maddy does some crazy (dumb) things while trying to solve the murder. The ending has twists that I didn’t see coming. I’m looking forward to the next chapter in this series.

Aunt Rose willed her house and bookstore to her niece, Mabel. On her first night the gazebo in back is set on fire. Phone calls come warning, Madeline to leave before the house is burned. Next, her aunt's friend, Philomena, shows up. Maddie is strung out, stressed over the fire, phone calls, and then murder of a college helper, Fanny, in the house. This is all too much. Philomena takes her to Gloria, a priest. These three decide to find the murderer. Maddie has a temper, too, which puts her in danger.. Too many potential suspects...who did it? Read and discover the surprising twists.

I thought this book was cute and enjoyable but I found the main character to be a bit dense at times and annoying at other times. I loved Gloria and Phil, I would have loved to see the trio of Rose, Gloria, and Phil together. I liked how the whole town missed Rose and talked about her. I wish I would have seen more of the romance between her and David. Overall, not awful but not my favorite.

Booked for Murder is the first book in what I hope becomes a long running series! I enjoyed the cozy, southern atmosphere and the characters that have personalities as wide and big as the stage.

Booked for Murder is a cozy mystery with entertaining and quirky female characters who join together to try and solve a small town murder. Madeline Brimley lost her eccentric aunt, but learns she inherited a house and bookstore in a small Georgia town. Not thrilled about returning home, but curious enough, Madeline finds her way back to Enigma, GA and straight into a murder scene.

PJ Nelson does a admirable job of alternating between a "small town/Mulberry" mentality with her characters while also writing a more detailed twist filled plot, in order to keep the reader wondering who the real killer could be. All in all, this was an enjoyable read and I look forward to the next novel in this series.

This is the first book in what seems to be a series, a cozy mystery. As book 1 this one didn't really work for me, it was a lot of information and I wasn't sure I needed it all to solve the mystery. A lot of things happened which pushed the story along but solving the mystery wasn't hard but in a cozy, I don't expect it to be. It felt a bit overdone to me on the southern drawl but as a non-southern maybe I'm just not accumsted too it.

"Booked for Murder" is the start of a new cozy mystery series that has all of the usual factors: an amateur detective (Madeline, an actress who has inherited a bookstore from her aunt), a small-town (Enigma, Georgia), quirky support characters (an eccentric college professor and a non-traditional Episcopalian priest), a murder with a few suspects and a seemingly inept police team that needs the amateur detective to help.

What "Booked for Murder" unfortunately doesn't have is enough heart for me to care. The writing is fine and the plotline was well-done with some good red herrings, but the characters were lacking. I didn't care enough about the main character to care about what happened to her and many of the other characters were almost caricatures rather than seemingly real characters.

I won't seek out the second book, but I won't skip it if I run across it either.

Book: Booked for Murder
Author: P.J. Nelson
Format: Digital
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Places Featured: Georgia, United States
Review Score: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

This was a fun, cute, cozy mystery that was an easy, quick and interesting read. I put this one off for too long and I’m so glad I picked it up! It has everything I look for in a mystery including a captivating female main character and an epic cliffhanger. I was left with questions about aspects that weren’t wrapped up by the end so fingers crossed those are threads leading to a sequel!
Would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a cozy mystery to pull them out of a reading slump!

A fiery read (literally) featuring an inheritance, a murder, a real estate scheme and more webs of lies. It was a fun debut and I’d be interested to see what becomes of the series.