Many thanks to the publisher for reaching out to me and offering me to read this advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review. I am a big fan of cozy mystery’s and cozy little book stores. So this one did not disappoint. Also love that it’s in a small town setting! Very cute read. Looking forward to the next book?

Not really a cozy, not really a regular mystery. Cozies don't make you love a character and then kill them off immediately. Left me with a bad taste and I tried to get past it but it's just not strong enough. I don't care about any of the other characters and a third of the way in I still can't remember what the story's about the second I put it down. I kept trying because the title and cover are cute but I just can't do it.

Don't all readers what to inherit a bookshop? And even better when it is in a huge house you remember from your youth? Sounds like a dream come true when Aunt Rose leaves her home and business to her niece. But as soon as she moves in the gazebo is burnt down. Crank calls begin and the mystery is off and running. Why is this happening? Madeline doesn't trust the small police department to find answers. She butts in at every opportunity. She does seem a bit spastic. She jumps from suspect to suspect as she hunts for answers. Along the way we learn interesting details on the characters. I actually liked the story. I liked the characters and how they interact. I hope is see this is the beginning of a series.

Thank you to the author and Net Galley for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

This book was okay! I think my biggest issue was that the main character was pretty unlikeable — a little too cocky, belittling of others, etc. I didn’t understand her direction.

The cover of this was captivating! And I liked some of the other characters. I think with some tweaks to the main character, I would find this much more enjoyable!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of "Booked for Murder" by P. J. Nelson. First of all, the cover is *chefs kiss*! This is a book I'll definitely buy to have the physical copy on display. Second, as a Georgia girl myself the synopsis drew me in. I love a cozy murder mystery and this checked all the boxes for me. This would make a wonderful Christmas present for anyone who loves a cozy book! Make sure you get your copy December 10, 2024!

Thank you to P.J. Nelson, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I have to say, I really love the cover of this book. I requested it without even reading the blurb.

This one was good. I liked the premise. But at times it was really slow.

I like that we got some background of the characters throughout the book. The ending was predictable though.

Booked For Murder written by P.J. Nelson follows actor Madeline Brimley who is at the spot in her career where things are no longer fruitful. The death of her beloved and treasured aunt, Rose, has her traveling back to her hometown in Georgia. Upon arrival, she’s met with a fiery start to a real spiral of events.

Madeline Brimley is likable in some degrees. She’s a hoot at times even. I just don’t understand where the author was wanting this character to fall. Maddy was all over the place, belittling people’s abilities and often time really not right in her feelings and thoughts. I would have really valued the book be from Tandy’s perspective!

Each side character had a large story attached, I value this in some moments but in others it was already a lot to carry around while you navigate the book. It was a lot of accusations on Maddy’s part - every few chapters it was “no, this is WHO DID IT” when by 60% it was very obvious who did.

I think if you don’t wallow a lot on reviews, adore a cozy mystery and have intentions of just enjoying a book regardless this would be a good read for you!

Thank you to P.J. Nelson and NetGalley for this ARC.

Booked for Murder has a wonderful setup. Madeline Brimley has inherited her Aunt Rose's quirky bookstore in the small southern town of Enigma. Her arrival in town goes from bad to worse as Madeline gets pulled into some extreme local unrest. I liked the fact that the bookstore is located in an old Victorian mansion and that the small town consisted of many interesting characters both friendly and not. The author leans into the lack of technology, like caller ID, surveillance cameras, and a way to reach police without leaving a message, which I found frustrating considering this is part of a college community. Madeline's mystery-solving partner was Gloria Coleman who is a female Episcopal priest. Gloria added a level-headed presence which the story needed. It will be nice to see how the author expands the setting and develops the characters in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for the advanced reader copy.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.

This cozy mystery follows the usual formula, which makes it cozy. Our main character, Madeline, returns to her small town following the death of her aunt, who has left her the bookstore in which she grew up. As Madeline has reached that point in her acting career where the roles are drying up, she's trying to decide whether to embrace this new challenge and return to the town she left or sell the store. Of course, there is a catch... and a murder, which delay her decision and force her to come to terms with some pieces of her past.

While there's a predicability to the book, that's part of what makes cozy mysteries fun, easy, and popular. Based on other cozies, I was going to give this book three stars (rounding down from 3.5). However, the more I thought about the characters, the more I knew I had to round up instead. What I like about this book is that there are a lot of really interesting supporting characters who are complicated people and not just archetypes. There are enough interesting folks in this small-town setting that I find myself looking forward to there being more books in this series just to see how some of them flesh out and turn out. Because our main character grew up in town, she has ties to some people (and a good a range of relationships, from complex mentor figures to former babysitting clients), and a lot to learn about what's different from her assumptions. All of the characters are imperfect, and therefore relatable. I look forward to visiting them again!

I'm not sure this author did much research before they wrote the book. Lots of stereotypes of multiple types of people in here, meandering plot. The main character was not likeable, I would have preferred the book from Tandy's point of view.

I thought the concept of the book was really interesting and it was entertaining to read. I like that it gives us some background into who the characters are throughout the book. It is told in first person POV throughout. Although I feel like the beginning was a tad bit rushed, it did get better towards the middle of the book. The inly issue I had was that Madeline was just too confident and a little cocky at times to other characters. I am glad that she eventually found the culprit and got to have a happy ending.

3.5 stars, rated up

An entertaining first in a new cozy mystery series - Madeline has returned to Enigma, GA to claim an inheritance from her beloved aunt. Her first night back, within minutes of her arrival, a fire is set.

So starts the mystery.

With its wide array of characters, charming small town atmosphere, and a fledgling romance this was a likable first (first book - congratulations to debut author P.J. Nelson!) and the first title of the An Old Juniper Bookstore Mystery series.

I was pulled in right away, enjoyed my time reading, and will look forward to the next book by the author.


*In the first chapter, mention was made of “You Don’t Miss Your Water (Til Your Well Runs Dry)” - and this immediately made me think of my own forever favorite version of this song - Gram Parsons with the Byrds.



Thank you to Minotaur Books and NetGalley for the DRC

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I am a sucker for books about books, libraries, and bookstores, and I like a good cozy mystery. So, this book seemed like a perfect choice. I enjoyed the elements to do with the setting - the southern small town, the bookstore, the little college town - all worked to add to the atmosphere. The mystery was set up well, and I did not expect the victim to be who it was. I liked that the book showed different facets of what are sometimes "stock" characters. For example, the town priest being one of the members of the crew investigating the murder was a nice touch.

Beyond that, though, this fell into the mystery trope of characters doing extremely foolish things and stumbling into clues with no real skills or talent to help them solve crimes. The main character and her partners in crime solving are certain that virtually every named character in the book is the murderer at different points over the course of the book, to an extent that it started to feel ridiculous. (It reminded me of that old saying about a broken clock being right twice a day. If you accuse all the people in the vicinity of the crime, at some point you're going to be right, so I'm not so sure that's investigating as much as it is randomly accusing everyone that may have had the slightest motive.) It's tough when the main character of a mystery is just a normal person with no special skills or position to help them investigate. It's hard to make their investigation seem believable, and I don't feel like I was fully convinced of that here. At one point the main character goes around telling people that a particular character confessed to the murder when they hadn't really, which just seemed irresponsible and dangerous.

Overall, this was an ok cozy mystery, but it didn't drawn me in enough for me to continue with the series in the future.

This is an easy fast read. To me it was predictable and did not have any major twist. I think this will make a good series and yes I would read it..
Thank you NetGally and St Martins Press for the eARC.

3.5 star rating rounded up to 4. Cozy mystery novels aren’t always my favorite. The stories are fun and easy reads but don’t typically hold my attention long enough for me to get invested in characters. That’s different with Booked for Murder.

Madeline is from a small town in Georgia, with a college nearby and she always wanted to get out of that small town. She was raised by her aunt who owned the bookstore on Main Street and also lived above the bookshop.

Upon Madeline’s return arrival in Enigma, strange events happen, including a fire, threatening phone calls, and a murder. She bands together with her aunt’s long time best friend and the new-in-town female priest to find more information about the events happening.

I think a big reason why I enjoyed this book is because the small town feel was definitely something that hit close to home. It talked a lot about residents wanting to get out and make better lives for themselves and also residents that didn’t. There’s mention of drug sales and characters with traumatic childhoods and drinking problems. Plus a book store being central to the story was a fun setting as well!

This was a cute little murder mystery surrounded by a lovely old bookshop. The characters of enigma are not who you think they are and there’s a lot of secrets in this little southern town. Someone seems to have it out for those who don’t belong. I really enjoyed this book though I found it a little slow. I liked the characters and kept guessing at the mystery. I enjoyed the side stories for the most part as well. I think the main characters romantic interests could have either been left out or expanded on but I found myself wanting more. The biggest frustration is never getting the full story between her and a certain someone (no spoilers here). Overall I say 3.5/5 stars.

“Booked for Murder” was a decent mystery. There were some pretty good twists. The identity of the murderer was somewhat surprising. The book had an interesting cast of characters, especially the major characters (Madeline, Philomena, Gloria, David, Bo, and Billy). The most interesting character, in my opinion, is Delmar, who does not appear until near the end of the story (and what makes him so interesting is probably that the reader only gets a glimpse of him, but there is so much complexity in that brief glimpse).

I liked the Old Juniper Bookshop, with its location in an old house and the eclectic organizational scheme structured around the different rooms in the house.

What added to the amusement of the story is that Madeline escaped from the small town of Enigma, Georgia as soon as she could and did not expect to be back long-term. This changed when her aunt Rose died and left her the house and bookshop, with a proviso that she could not sell the house/store for six months. As a result, she has to re-adjust to small town life where everyone knows each other and their business. And she has to come to terms with the fact the police officer investigating the arson and later the murder on her property is someone she used to babysit. Even though she has been gone from Enigma for almost seventeen years, she is only in her mid-thirties, so having a kid she babysat now be grown up and in.a position of authority still seems surprising.

BOOK REPORT
Received a complimentary copy of Booked for Murder, by P.J. Nelson, from St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books/NetGalley, for which I am appreciative, in exchange for a fair and honest review. Scroll past the BOOK REPORT section for a cut-and-paste of the DESCRIPTION of it from them if you want to read my thoughts on the book in the context of that summary.

Yep, definitely a formulaic cozy.

But that’s OK, because I needed something not challenging because I have been vaguely headachy all day. Think I’m “tryin’ to get sick.”

I liked it enough—especially the Southern small town setting—that I wonder who P.J. Nelson (pseudonym) actually is in real life, and enough that I would (and will) happily read the next book/s in this series.

But what I am really looking forward when I’m feeling better is reading a book some friends sent me: May the Wolf Die, by Elizabeth Heider. Her author bio is FASCINATING. Go check it out: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

DESCRIPTION
In this atmospheric southern cozy debut, Madeline Brimley returns to the bookstore she inherited, discovering that small towns hold deadly secrets.

Madeline Brimley left small town Georgia many years ago to go to college and pursue her dreams on the stage. Her dramatic escapades are many but success has eluded her, leaving her at loose ends. But then she gets word that not only has her beloved, eccentric Aunt Rose passed, but she's left Madeline her equally eccentric bookstore housed in an old Victorian mansion in the small college town of Enigma. But when she arrives in her beat-up Fiat to claim The Old Juniper Bookstore, and restart her life, Madeline is faced with unexpected challenges. The gazebo in the back yard is set ablaze and a late night caller threatens to burn the whole store down if she doesn't leave immediately.

But Madeline Brimley, not one to be intimidated, ignores the threats and soldiers on. Until there's another fire and a murder in the store itself. Now with a cloud of suspicion falling over her, it's up to Madeline to untangle the skein of secrets and find the killer before she herself is the next victim.

This was a fun story with an interesting premise. I enjoyed this book. It was entertaining. I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.

This was a cute cozy mystery that I really enjoyed. It’s not often that I gravitate toward books in this genre so it was a lot of fun for me to read. I’d definitely recommend this one to family and friends.