This is a gentle start to a cozy mystery. Lots of misfits who fit into a small rural town with bookshop murder drama. This was a great start to a cozy mystery series. We have fire, stabbing and people who are not as they appear to be; all wrapped around some small town drama.

Madeline, Tandy, Philomena and Gloria convene around our mystery...and there are some great side characters who I anticipate will provide some much needed humor/fun as the series gets rolling (Elbert, car mechanic and trouble maker).

The characters grew on me throughout....but Madeline began to grate on me at the end. She is a look and leap girl....and same with some of the other characters. There was an excessive amount looking, leaping and jumping to conclusions - that it was a bit horror movie cringy - where you want to say "don't do that!" And it got old quick. By the third time the characters were jumping to conclusions, I was going "oh please not again". This writing technique should really only be used once in a book to enhance the story, not repeatedly - as that detracts.

The last 1/3 of the book dragged out for me. I felt it concluded really well in one of the later chapters - wrapping up the mystery.....and then there were 3 more chapters - tying up random ends, that we could have added into the next book in the series. It felt like there was unnecessary length added to the middle/end of this book.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martins Press/Minotaur books for an advanced copy, all thoughts are my own in this review! Happy reading !

LOVED this book! When Aunt Rose passes away her unique small town bookstore needs cared for. But should guess it would lead to murder as well as self discovery.

Great characters throughout. Easy to read. Very enjoyable. Highly recommend!

Booked for Murder
by P.J. Nelson
Pub Date: December 10, 2024
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
In this atmospheric southern cozy debut, Madeline Brimley returns to the bookstore she inherited, discovering that small towns hold deadly secrets.
Booked For Murder is P.J Nelson’s debut novel. The story follows former star, Madeline Brimely back to her hometown in Enigma, GA. After Madeline’s aunt dies, she inherits her bookstore. Not too long after she arrives does she begin to receive death threats. Trouble and her seem to mix as small town secrets begin to unfold.
This story fell flat for me and I cannot recommend it to my reader friends.
3 stars

This cozy mystery is a strong start to a new series. I enjoyed the mystery and the characters Madeline encounters as she takes over her beloved deceased aunt's bookstore and searches for the murderer of the college student killed while staying with her. My main quibble is one that frequently occurs in books with amateur sleuths--Madeline puts herself in dangerous situations and interferes with the police investigation to a greater extent than a "normal" person would. I'll be looking for the next book in the series. 3.5 stars

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Despite my love of Murder, She Wrote, I don't usually pick up a "cozy" mystery rather preferring something more intense, but this story looked like fun. After the death of her Aunt Rose, Madeline moves back to her quiet hometown of Enigma, Georgia to run the bookshop she has inherited. Things go wrong right from her arrival and Madeline sets out to get to the bottom of who wants her gone. The characters are interesting and quirky, they really shine as well as the town itself. I did feel Madeline came across as weirdly aggressive at times which rang odd. It would have been nice for Tandy's character to have been developed more as her part of the storyline was brief considering the larger part she played. Aunt Rose's "secrets" were mentioned a few times, but nothing earth shattering was ever revealed. Hopefully book #2 will go deeper into that mystery.

I've always enjoyed cozy mysteries because they have entertaining characters and feature a clever plot. A vivid sense of place is also necessary. This book doesn't quite hit the mark on these three things for me. Maybe I'm too old for it.

Madeline returns to small town in GA because she inherits Aunt Rose’s house/bookstore. Someone doesn’t want her to stay so there’s threats, fire, and even murder. She tries to solve murder. Easy to read book, but there are few surprises.

Tiene partes entretenidas e interesantes, pero otras son un caos y al final no se que intentó hacer la autora, ¿se supone que es una parodia o sólo le metió comedia a un misterio?




Madelyn es una actriz de teatro que regresó a su ciudad natal después de la muerte de su tía, la cual le dejó librería. Pensó que todo sería fácil, sin embargo, desde el primer día de su regreso empezó a recibir amenazas para que se vaya o que se enfrente a las consecuencias.

No pensó que cumplirían las amenazas hasta que alguien es asesinado.

Ella no confía que la policía de un pueblo sea capaz de resolver un asesinato, así que se pone a investigar.


Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Booked for Murder is all the characters you want to know more about. I felt like the 4th friend at the table of colorful women. It's a feel-good cozy read of coming back home after all she wanted was to leave. A murder uncovers the true human nature of others.

Booked For Murder is a cozy mystery set in the rural city of Enigma down in South Georgia. Madeline Brimley is returning to her hometown following the death of her aunt. Madeline sees the inheritance of her aunts old Victorian mansion-made-bookstore as a life raft from an acting career that’s stalled out after she reached her 30s. Upon arriving, her aunts famed gazebo is burned to crisp, she receives several threatening phone calls, and a person is murdered in her bookshop. Madeline becomes obsessed with solving the mystery of the murder.

This story is cozy enough, but if you can’t read it and take it at face value, you will not enjoy this book. Nearly every female character is unhinged and the book seems intent on revealing men to be more than blundering idiots that they appear to be but instead cultured and more often than not misunderstood tragic heroes just trying to have a better life.

The characterizations were so unreliable it made it hard to believe. For instance, the doctor in psychology is suffering from extreme paranoia and anxious aggressive tendencies towards various male characters. No one in their right mind just lets a random stranger spend the night with you after knowing them for less than 24hrs. Additionally, the forgiveness of the arson of the gazebo seemed forced to the extreme. Therapy is good, but forgiveness isn’t necessitated because a person is getting therapy. Methamphetamines is not your run of the mill party drug- a meth house is definitely not a safe place to just go chill and interrogate murder suspects. And by the end of the book, what I most wanted to know was what was the deal with the inheritance and the secret codicil of the will? It does not make sense.

That being said— if you can just go with it and accept the book at face value, it’s a nice story reminiscent of a hallmark movie mystery type of story. Cozy and an easy read.

I’d like to thank St Martin’s and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I really tried to get into the story and characters as I love a good mystery, but I just couldn't. The characters seemed rushed, with no real depth. It has great potential but it just fell flat for me.

Missed the mark.

I wanted to like this book- the title itself sounded so interesting! "Booked for Murder", with books on the cover! Unfortunately, the story was a little boring and I didn't care for any of the characters. Our main character Madeline was frustrating and unrelatable. The story itself had so much potential but the combination of the characters and the almost unorganized execution of the plot made it difficult to read.

Thank You to P. J. Nelson, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

I fear I am not the target audience for this book because I unfortunately did not like it at all and ended up DNF'ing. The blurb for this book sounded great and I was looking forward to reading it but I just could not get into the story. I know there are many readers that will absolutely love this one, but it was not for me. I'll definitely check out future works by this author but this one missed the mark for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's press for access to the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Cozy Mysteries might be my new favorite Genre. Within the first few pages you are always hit with the story followed by a surprising Murder!
This book was such a comfort for me, although it’s Murder!
Madeline’s Aunt who passed already was probably one of my favorite characters of the book. The Author did a fantastic job of painting who she was and how she cared about everyone in her life so well. You truly felt if you had walked into her bookshop she would have quickly offered you tea, advice, some jazz and friendship.
While Madeline try’s to uncover the murder that happens under her nose she continues to put herself in danger and the suspect list gets longer and longer and she doesn’t know who she can trust.

Madeline Brimley grew up in Enigma, Georgia, but moved away as soon as she was able to with plans never to return. But then her eccentric aunt Rose passes away and in her will she leaves her book shop in Enigma to Madeline. Baffled as to why her aunt would leave it to her, she returns to the book shop she spent so much of her youth in. Immediately it becomes obvious that she is now considered an outsider to her hometown and she is not welcome here.

The title of the book is absolutely brilliant! The main characters are filled with down home warmth and the familiar comforting feelings of home. But as the story progresses, I’m not sure if anyone can be trusted. There are so many twists and turns, revealing possible motives in everyone. The ending had me on the edge of my seat, with an unlikely character who saves the day.

Thank you St Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this arc.

2 ⭐️

Synopsis: Madeline, an actress from Atlanta, inherits a bookstore in a small town from her aunt. Once she arrives in Enigma, it is clear that someone does not want Madeline to take over the store. Madeline, along with a few friends, work together to solve a local murder.

This book felt all over the place. The premise and characters had promise, but by the end of the book I still felt like I didn’t know or care about any characters or locations. I feel like a major edit is needed to incorporate character background and descriptions into the story in a more natural way. As it’s written, information about characters is dumped in random parts of the book. I found it to be distracting and, to be honest, parts that were easily skipped over.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this ebook.

Booked for Murder by P.J. Nelson is a fun, easy-to-read murder mystery. A touch of zaniness for the characters, multiple twists in the plot. Just when I thought, "Yep! That's the murderer", another twist and on to the next suspect. With a cliffhanger ending, book 2 is in my TBR pile!

Releases Dec. 10th. I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own

An enjoyable but complex mystery. Having returned to her hometown , Madeline discovers Her Aunt Rose had a plan for her. Running the bookstore for 6 monies before inheriting it. She meets Gloria, an Episcopal priest and her aunts best friend who decide to solve who is makingthreating phone calls. Tany, a young student is murdered in the bookstore. And the 3 begin to work the mystery.

As in any small town the news of events travels fast. Madeline soon finds herself in solving the murder as well as other events in town. The plot to the story takes some time to dvelop but the characters are solid and likeable.

A bookstore. A small town in the South. Secrets. And Murder.

Entertaining tale of Madelyn returning to her hometown. We get peeks into her backstory and that of the small town characters. Overall, I enjoyed the story and am waiting for book 2!


Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC in return for an honest review.

Booked for Murder was such a fun read and I absolutely love cozy mysteries! Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review!!