I was really excited to read this book, but this particular volume fell into some common, first-volume issues. To start with, I loved the concept of a Halloween-themed town, and I felt the Lazy Bones Bookshop was well developed as a setting. However, I'm primarily a character-based reader, and that's where most of the problems fell. I felt that there were way too many characters, possibly as a way to feature quirky small-town people. I love getting a chance to highlight a town in different ways, but although the jobs were different, the people and their dialogue never felt very unique. I just ended up losing track of about half the people, and it never felt like we got close to any particular people. Sadly, this seemed to include our main character. Bailey and several others never feel fully fleshed out as people. I do see potential for the series and characters evolving and solidifying more in a sequel, but it just wasn't there in this book.

3.5 stars
This book piqued my interest right away because I love cozy mysteries but really captured me was a Halloween themed town, a four-legged friend and a bookshop. I was excited to hear about the town and the themed stores. I love her father but wished we saw him more often. The twist and turns in the plot were captivating but at times, it seemed the story was a little slower. I still enjoyed the story from beginning to end and would love to read more by this author in the near future.

I absolutely love Emmeline Duncan’s Ground Rules Mystery series and the second I saw the cover & blurb for Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop I knew I had to read it ASAP! This book has all of my favorite things - a Halloween themed Indie bookstore, a dog named Jack Skellington, a head scratching mystery and to top it all off, it takes place in Halloweentown, OR during spooky season!!! The main character Bailey is literally living my dream - well, minus the whole finding 💀 bodies thing!

🎃 Halloweentown, OR
📚 Indie Bookshop
🐾 Adorable Pup
💼 Family Business
👻 Halloween Festival
🫶 Community
📖 Series Debut
🔍 Cozy Mystery
🔐 Secrets

Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop is such a fun start to a brand new series and I can’t wait to see what happens next!

Thank you so much Kensington Books for the advanced copy!

A great setting can make or break a cozy series, and fortunately the charming but not over the top Halloween themed town of Elyan Hollow is a perfect, atmospheric, and charming setting. I love that Emmeline Duncan's cozies have consistently been very socially aware as well as interesting, and Bailey, with what she's finding out about her own background in this one, is a fabulous character to carry this series. The town is full of excellent side characters that will definitely be an asset to this series as it continues.

I loved the concept of an all-Halloween town 24/7/365 and did like the key players. But somehow the book just didn’t speak to me like the author’s other series did at the very beginning. The addition of a possible guy for Bailey was cool, but I wished it could’ve been a little sooner in the book. The murder seemed to drag on forever without any action or that something that usually compels me to keep reading. I took a few breaks from the book but not because I didn’t like it, it just wasn’t moving at the usual cozy mystery pace I’m used to.

Since it’s the very first book, I’m definitely willing to give it a chance and read the next book when it comes out. I liked the side mystery of finding out who Bailey’s bio dad was—I was actually right in my guess and from sheer dumb luck I guessed the killer correctly too.

As far as characters went, I really wished we could’ve had more of Bailey’s grandpa around and in the picture. He apparently lives with her but aside from a couple scenes, he just wasn’t in it like half of the couple who’d ended up raising her. I hope he’s in the next book a little more. On the other hand, I didn’t like her brother at all and was just as happy he wasn’t in it much, lol. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when the truth comes out about the bookshop, so maybe that’ll be touched on more in the next book too.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Kensington Cozies via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

Thank you for the ARC of this super cute Halloween book!

This is a super cute cozy mystery that keeps a nice pace and keeps it cozy. While there aren’t really any big twists the story was still decent. Some of the ship names were a little silly and little kid like for me.

The cover of this book was what drew me into the book.

Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop by Emmeline Duncan takes us to Elyan Hollow, Oregon where it is Halloween all year round (my type of town). I especially loved the Lazy Bones Bookshop (I could happily spend hours in there browsing for books to add to my TBR stack). We are introduced to a host of characters in the beginning including Bailey Briggs along with a variety of businesses. I like that all the business has Halloween or spooky themed names plus the small-town feel. The detailed descriptions of each business got to be a bit much after a while (it reminded me of a tourism video for a town). The characters lacked emotion and needed further development. The story moved at a leisurely pace with repetitive details (about businesses, people, and the mystery). The redundant details felt like filler. There were continuity errors as well. The whodunit was uncomplicated. I thought the mystery was predictable with Bailey doing little investigating. I wish the story had focused more on the mystery and less on humdrum details of daily life. Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop is a cute story, and I am sure that there will be improvement in the next A Halloween Bookshop Mystery. I liked Bailey’s dog (a big, lovable dog) whose name fits right in with the town. Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop is a lighthearted tale with ghost hunters, book boxes, a big dog, domestic secrets, a murdered man, book fair fun, a generous grandfather, and Halloween hijinks.

I loved this debut cozy featuring a Halloween theme town and all things Halloween. A perfect cozy read with all the cozy elements cozy readers enjoy. Thank you to the publisher, Net Galley and the author for the opportunity. My review opinion is my own.

We are introduced to the town of Elyan Hallow. A small town that loves Halloween and carries the theme of the holiday throughout the year. Bailey our protagnist is managing/owning the family bookstore Lazy Bones Books had belonged to her grandfather. The shop is written so charming that readers will fall in love with Bailey and her store. The sleuth was well crafted to conclusion and kept this reader guessing. The addtion of the small town charm and engaging supporting characters makes this the perfect cozy debut . I look forward to the next in series.

As I sat to write this review I had such a hard time remembering who the killer was, which is not good for a mystery novel, even a cozy mystery. Actually, all the characters were a bit forgettable.

The reason for the three stars is because I want to visit that town. Year round Halloween vibes, literary festival, bookshop dog, you can count me in.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Cozies for this ARC Copy!

This book was the best possible thing to feed my mid-year spookies cravings.

Setting is a Halloween town where at the shops are named after spooky puns, a book store, Halloween themed literary festival, an adorable dog. What more could you possibly want from a cozy mystery.
The mystery was fun and I never managed to figure it out until the big reveal
This is the perfect cozy read for any time of the year, but it will be perfect for fall/Halloween season.

Give me another instalment in this series soon as I loved the characters and the setting. There's twists, mystery, things that happened in the past and are affecting the present.
There’s a clever heroine, a fascinating bookstore, and there’s a cast of likeable and relatable characters.
I had a lot of fun in reading it and hope to catch with these characters soon.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I just could not get into this book. I found it rather dull and hard to read. The overall story idea is cute but some of the writing just made the book too difficult to enjoy. I liked the Halloween feel to the book and the idea of the town based around Halloween (I get the feeling this town is loosely based on a rather famous Disney movie series set at Halloween). It sounds like a cute place to visit, and I liked all the punny names of the places, especially The Walking Bread. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to keep me engaged enough to want to read another.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop by Emmeline Duncan is an enjoyable mystery. The first book in a new series. The town of Elyan Hollow Oregon is the home to this series and to The Lazy Bones Bookshop run by Bailey Briggs our main female character. This book is being released next week, July 23rd just in time for Summerween. Elyan Hollow has leaned into it's repuration as a year round Halloweentown. This year, in October, Bailey and The Lazy Bones Bookshop are hosting a literary event with three known writers in attendance. One is Rex, a hometown boy made good who has avoided all previous attempts to bring him to town. Unfortunately, Bailey and her bestie Colby find a dead body in the town maze and Bailey becaomes a suspect in the murder. In addition to the literary fest, there is a tv crew in town looking for ghosts and haunted places to feature on their show.. It is an interesting crew of characters in the book, including Bailey's semi-estranged mom, and her uncle who has not been told that Bailey owns the family bookstore. The story lags a bit in the middle, but it is a completely enjoyable read and I plan on reading the next book in this series. Thank you to Net Galley #netgalley and Kensington Publishing for my advance reader copy. I gave this book 3.75 stars.

What a fun book!
I love all things spooky, so a book set in a Halloween themed town was just the thing for this triple digit weather we're having! Then to find out it's based on an actual town just 3 hours away from me, SCORE!
What I loved:
I loved the setting. I would love to either own or regularly frequent The Lazy Bones Bookshop. I really enjoyed the characters, I could see myself happily being friends and neighbors with many of the town's residents.
What I liked:
The mystery and plot were good, but I felt that more was given to the description of the town, it's residents and the businesses, and could have been focused on a bit more. That being said, it was still an enjoyable read that I would recommend for anyone who loves Spooky season and cozy mysteries. I would say this was closer to a 4.25 rating for me.
A big thanks to NetGalley, Kensington Publishing and Emmeline Duncan for the opportunity to read this ARC.

"Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop" is book 1 in a new series by Emmeline Duncan. Such a fun setting, a small town with a Halloween theme , moody Oregon autumn weather, secrets, and a murder mystery---a quick, enjoyable read.
Baily Briggs is running the family bookshop and organizing an event to draw more tourists to town when an unfortunate event occurs, putting Baily in the crosshairs with the local law enforcement.
A Halloween story with good characters and a fast-pace for cozy mystery readers.
Thank you to #NetGalley #KensingtonPublishing #KensintonCozies for the opportunity to read and review an advanced reader copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
#ChaosattheLazyBonesBookshop #NetGalley #EmmelineDuncan #Halloween #Bookshops

this book was such a quick and fun book to read. really gave “cozy murder mystery”. very excited for other books and this one hasn’t even released yet. would definitely recommend to anybody. perfect for spooky season!

Elyan Hollow, Oregon is a small town where a Halloween movie was filmed. The town cashed in on this and has become a year round Halloween destination. Even their Christmas decor has a spooky feel. All of the town’s businesses have Halloween themed names. Even The Lazy Bones Bookshop where we find Bailey, our FMC, running the family shop and planning a literary festival to kick of the Halloween season.

This was a bit difficult to get through. The writing was tedious and over explanatory. It took 2 1/2 pages to describe what was in a gift basket when none of it mattered or added to the story. This happened on multiple occasions for various things. It could have been left at “carnitas bowl” but instead every ingredient was listed and it, again, added nothing to the story. The FMC also reads a lot of ARCs. In case you didn’t know that stands for Advance Reader Copy. If you didn’t know the author explains it every time it’s mentioned in the book. Which is at least 4 times.

The town sounded cute even though it was super cheesy. The mystery fell flat and I struggled to truly care about any of the characters.

Unfortunately this just wasn’t for me. If you enjoy Fall/Halloween themed cozy light mystery then this maybe for you!

"Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop" is a delightful and entertaining read that takes you on a whimsical journey through a quirky bookshop where chaos ensues. The book is filled with humor, charming characters, and unexpected twists that make it a fun and light-hearted read. If you enjoy cozy mysteries with a touch of humour, this book is definitely worth reading.

Bailey Briggs runs a bookshop in Elyan Hollow, Oregon. The small town lives and breathes Halloween. During a local festival a visiting celebrity is found murdered. The last person to have an argument with the deceased was Bailey who now becomes a suspect. She is determined to clear her name. Good story with interesting characters.

Thank you to Netgalley, Kensington Publishing, and Emmeline Duncan for this ARC!

I am a SUCKER for cozy mysteries, ESPECIALLY those based around the fall and Halloween season! This checked all the boxes for that! The storyline was great and the feel of the small town was even better! My only complaint was sometimes the flow of the writing was as great or came across immature, but I’m excited to see where it goes! I can’t wait to read more from this series and author!

Thank you again for the ARC!