Madeline left her town in Georgia years ago to pursue and acting career. he has had moderate success when her aunt Rose passes away and leaves her a bookstore in her hometown. She returns home to find that not everyone wants her bac. The gazebo at the house is set on fire. She gets warning calls. There is another fire and a murder in her store that Madeline is determined to solve.

Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the chance to read this book.

This one had lots of things I love about cozy mysteries. A quirky setting, a bookstore, a murder mystery, set in the south and a feisty heroine. It was a good read and I read it in an afternoon. The characters were fleshed out for the most part and the plot was well executed.

Where the book fell short for me was that it wasn’t memorable. It was such a quick read that when I sat down on two occasions to write a review, I honestly couldn’t remember a lot about what happened in the story. It just didn’t stay with me for long. While I was reading it, I liked it well enough. Sadly, it wasn’t very memorable. It looks like it’s been set up to be a series and I enjoyed it enough to probably read the next one, but I’ll have to refresh my memory to recall what happened in this one.

The writer has excellent skills in characterization and plotting and I wish something had stood out to make the book resonate more and stay with me.

I’m giving it four stars as it was well-written and I think perhaps I have merely read too many books that are similar and it’s a “me” problem as opposed to a problem with the work.

Madeline returns to her hometown after inheriting her Aunt Rose's bookstore following her aunt's passing. However, things quickly take a dark turn when the gazebo in the backyard is set ablaze and an ominous caller threatens her safety. Determined to uncover the truth, Madeline embarks on her own investigation to solve these troubling events.

I found the character development engaging and enjoyed trying to piece together the clues to identify the culprit. Overall, it was a delightful and quick read cozy mystery.

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books, & P.J. Nelson for the e-ARC.

I love a cozy mystery, and this book delivered on that front. However, it fell a bit flat for me. I predicted a number of the twists, and the main character was really over the top to a point where it annoyed it a bit. That said, I loved the scene setting and the other characters in the book. I just felt like a lot of their stories could be a bit more developed. This would be a great read for anyone who needs a quick mystery to jump-start their reading habit - I flew through it in one day. Thanks NetGalley for the ARC!

In Booked For Murder Madeline returns to small town Enigma, Georgia after inheriting a bookstore/Victorian Mansion from her Aunt. Immediately upon her return the old gazebo in the backyard burns down. When threats and a dead body follow Madeline must figure out what's really going on.

This book started out pretty good. There was a bit of a feeling of melancholy going on but the atmosphere was promising with a hint of creepiness and danger. Madeline seemed to be an atypical heroine and I was interested in seeing more of the fire chief. The words flew by for the first 22%.

What changed? I got to know Madeline better for one thing. She continued to be different from other amateur sleuths but I also found less and less to like about her. Her behavior and the way she talks is off putting. The other characters aren't much better. Everyone has a weird way of talking and a little bit of oddness to them.

Madeline doesn't investigate so much as rush into things seemingly without much thought. I was put off by some characters' activities and the response/lack of response by Madeline and others. One of the activities is talked about quite a bit and is portrayed in a way it shouldn't be. The other thing is done by a couple other people and isn't a part of the story but is rather serious yet there is never any comment on it.

The pacing is off later in the book. At one point due to several things that had occurred I thought it was the end of the book.There was still over 20% left though. The pacing is also jerky in the last few chapters.

Overall there is an odd feeling to the book. Even Madeline comments on feeling weird while continuing to act out of it.

A couple positives are a cat and the bookstore sounds like a fun place to shop. I'd also like to see the backyard as it sounds lovely. Unfortunately the rest didn't work for me.

Thank you to Minotaur books for the chance to read!

3 stars 🌟
I received this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review. Booked for Murder is a cute book about Madeline Brimley who inherits her late aunts bookstore in small town Georgia. Shortly after arriving in town, the bookstore is lite on fire and someone is dead.
This book definitely gave cozy mystery vibes. I liked the plot but wasn’t invested in the characters so it took e a while to finish the book. The ending was good. Overall I would recommend this book if you are looking for a cozy bookshop mystery book.

Madeline finds she has inherited a bookstore, a place where she found comfort in her life. When there is a murder, she finds she's not the only one who loves the bookstore. I really enjoyed the uncovering of each character's secret and the general feel of the bookstore, the town, and the people who surround Madeline.

Overall I liked this cozy mystery set in a bookshop. There was a fun cast of supporting characters. There were a couple of places in the middle of the book where the plot slowed down a little too much for me, but I mostly enjoyed my time in this story. I would give the next book in the series a try.

Your favorite Aunt who encouraged your acting career had passed and left you her book store: just in time as your career is in a slump.
Meet Madeline. Unsure if she really wants to return to life in this small town in Georgia, she's really baffled when there is a fire in the building and she receives phone threats. Someone wants her gone, but she just got there!
It's a fun murder mystery with characters you'll enjoy following. The descriptive setting of small town life, the smell of the bookstore, the possibility of romance, bumbling inexperienced detectives will all provide an afternoon of page turning.

Madeline returns to her Georgia hometown to run the bookstore left to her by her beloved Aunt Rose, looking for a fresh start to her stalled acting career. Before she spends one night in her inherited home, she is faced with a destructive fire and threatening phone calls warning her to "GET OUT." One catch: the will specifies that she must live in the home for six months before she considers selling it. Who is out to get her?

This cozy Gothic mystery had all the elements I was looking for: a quirky setting in a small Georgia town, a bookstore with a beloved, but recently deceased owner; a spunky heroine; two seasoned female sidekicks (a college professor and an Episcopal priest); a hunky handyman and a grumpy fire captain; and a cast of well-rounded supporting characters, from the local drug dealer to the homegrown police detective.

I especially loved the literary, theatrical, and musical details that the author deftly included throughout the book: from Shakespeare and poetry references, to classic midcentury American jazz. And the food--biscuits, fried chicken, and southern barbecue, French press coffee and sweet potato pie--made my mouth water as I was reading.

Probably my favorite cozy series debut this year. I absolutely loved it!!

A fun and engaging mystery with some of the most superb characters I've seen in a debut cozy. Plus it's set in a bookstore--you can't beat that.

Here's hoping there are many more books to come in this series.

Highly recommended to cozy mystery fans.

This was a fun and quick read for me. It felt like a cozy murder mystery, and I loved it was set partially in a book shop.

]I wanted to love this book. Any time the synopsis reveals a cozy murder mystery set in a bookstore, I become excited. Sadly I didn't enjoy Madaline as a protagonist. She constantly made decisions that made no sense. Her emotional reactions were all over the place. And she often became emotionally connected to characters she had just met. Then Madaline would forget about them once the narrative shifted in a different direction. I give this book 2/5 stars. It just didn't work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St Martin's Press for the opportunity to review Booked for Murder by P.J. Nelson. All opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and P.J. Nelson for an advance copy of Booked for Murder!

Madeline Brimley’s back in her home town in Enigma, Georgia and this cozy mystery quickly unfolds! Death threats, 🔥 fire(s), amateur sleuthing, and just some good ‘ol fashioned southern hospitality. Don’t read this book when hungry though—really had me craving some homemade biscuits.

Nelson did a great job of dropping you into this creepy little bookshop in the middle of a small town. Just enough secrets to keep you interested and not confused. I was on the edge of my seat the entire time trying to guess who it was, and I’m happy to say I didn’t have a real idea until just before the big reveal!

5 ⭐️ ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Loooved!

Cozy murder mystery that gave me Only Murders in the Building vibes. Madeline was entertaining with her dialogue but the story fell a little flat for me. I found myself ready for the ending and the big reveal on who the killer was. I did guess correctly, so wasn’t as big of a reveal as I was hoping for but it was still entertaining nonetheless.

This cozy mystery had a solid base and there's so much to like about the set-up and crazy cast of characters, but I found myself just wanting more...
- More background into Rose and Madeline's relationship
- More clues to the murder mystery
- More information into Madeline's past
- More interactions between Madeline and David and Mr. Firefighter
- More about the bookshop! This was much more theater-driven than book-driven.

Because I didn't have enough clues to theorize about the possible culprit, I found myself just going along for the ride - even though I knew Madeline was entirely off-base. So I wasn't invested enough when the culprit was finally revealed.

I think follow-ups to this have the potential to be more rewarding, but we will have to see if I feel like prioritizing them when they come around.

Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books for an e-ARC of this book.

This is such a cozy mystery book I felt like I was visiting Cabot Cove and Jessica Fletcher loved this!

My Rating: 2/5
Story fell flat unfortunately. I usually love a cozy murder mystery and that's what I was hoping this would be but the main character was just so annoying it was no longer cozy.

Thank you to NetGalley and St.Martins Press for the ARC

Received an ARC copy of Booked for Murder by P.J. Nelson. Madeleine finds herself going back to the one place she never thought she would return to, Enigma, Georgia. Her aunt Rose passed away and she inherited her house and bookstore. With the murder of a new found friend and a couple of unlikely friendships, Madeleine sets out to find who the killer is and who is wanting to run her out of her home. Booked for Murder is a quick read with doses of laughter in a cozy mystery. I am hoping that since this is book 1, characters will develop more in book 2. Will definitely be on the lookout for book2. Thank you NetGalley.

I just finished reading *Booked for Murder*, the first in a new Southern cozy mystery series, and I’ve got some mixed feelings. The story follows Madeline Brimley, a former actress in her 30s (who's already going gray early) as she moves to the small town of Enigma, Georgia. She’s inherited her late Aunt Rose’s bookstore, which sounds like the perfect setup for a fresh start. But instead of peace and quiet, she walks straight into a mess—there’s an arson fire almost immediately after she arrives, and then a murder.

The bookstore is in a beautiful old Victorian house, which made for a great cozy setting. But that’s where the “cozy” stops. Someone clearly wants Madeline out of the picture, and things go from bad to worse pretty quickly. Fires, threats, and a dead body? Yep, she’s got her hands full. Thankfully, she’s not alone. She teams up with Philomena, her aunt’s longtime friend, and Gloria, a newcomer to the town who also happens to be the pastor at the Episcopal church. Together, the trio decides to take matters into their own hands and figure out who’s behind the chaos.

I liked Madeline as a main character. She’s confident and quick on her feet, but sometimes that confidence crosses the line into cockiness. There were a few moments where she came off as a bit too brash, especially when dealing with other characters. Still, her background as an actress adds a unique twist to her personality. Philomena and Gloria help balance things out, bringing their own quirks to the mix. I especially enjoyed Philomena’s eccentric vibe—she’s the kind of friend who always knows more than she’s letting on.

The mystery itself had some dark elements, including drugs and arson, which gave it a bit more depth than your average cozy. It kept me engaged, though I have to admit the pacing was a little off. The beginning felt rushed—Madeline arrives, and then, bam, fire, murder, everything. It’s like the book wanted to jump straight into the action without giving enough time to settle into the story. Things do slow down and develop more naturally in the middle, but the opening could’ve been a bit smoother.

One thing I noticed is that there’s a setup for some longer-term drama that could play out in future books. There’s potential for a love triangle, a mentor-mentee relationship, and even a deeper connection to the local college, which could lead to more mysteries down the road. I’m curious to see where the series will take these threads, though I hope the author keeps things from getting too over-the-top. For such a small town, Enigma sure has a lot going on!

The first-person narration was a nice touch since it gave us direct access to Madeline’s thoughts, but at times, her internal dialogue felt scattered. There were a few moments where her thoughts jumped around, and I wasn’t sure why certain things—like her past in Atlanta—weren’t explained more clearly. Also, some of the side characters could’ve used more fleshing out to make them stand out a bit more.

Overall, *Booked for Murder* is an entertaining start to a cozy mystery series, but it didn’t quite wow me. The setting is great, the mystery is solid, but the rushed pacing at the beginning and some underdeveloped characters held it back. If you’re looking for a cozy mystery with Southern charm and a slightly darker twist, this could be worth checking out—just don’t expect it to be a mind-blowing read.

**Verdict**: 3.5/5 – A decent start to a cozy mystery series with potential, but it didn’t completely hook me. Worth a read if you enjoy small-town mysteries and don’t mind a bit of drama!