A great start to a new series. As a fan of Alexander's bakeshop mysteries, I was as delighted to see she's begun a new series. While Annie Murray is a bit unsettling initially, for reasons that emerge quickly, I found myself liking not just Annie but the entire cast of probably regulars, including Annie's cat, Professor Plum. Pri (Priya Kapoor) sounds like she'll be an excellent sleuthing buddy and bookshop owner Hal seems to be a sweetie. I hope we hear much more about his possible Agatha Christie connection. Fletcher, Annie's co-worked, is obsessed with Sherlock Holmes, not a bad thing when you work for a mystery focused bookshop, and, hmm, something tells me Liam Donovan will be playing a much more important role as the series goes along. I liked them all and, quite frankly, even felt some sympathy for the suspects, most of them having ample reasons to want to ultimate victim, Kayla, dead. Trust me, though Annie even found some sympathy for her, showing Annie's heart, you won't miss her much.

That's about as much as I'm going to say about the plot itself. Old school ties, friendships, relationships, and expectations all play a role, as do secrets. Toss in Annie leading the town to create a mystery themed book festival that utilizes some fun sounding activities, a cold case mystery that consumes Annie, and the unexpected reappearance of a college professor she admired greatly, and it's an interesting mix. And, to think, it all really started with a poorly attended book signing at The Secret Bookcase, Hal's book shop where both Annie and Fletcher work. Needless to say, you'll pick up lots of book talk but I found the learned discussions of not just the defense of cozy mysteries in general but the buried bits of investigative "rules" that Annie was able to call up from her college days. She'd once dreamed of being a private investigator.... until....well, read the book. You'll discovered lots of background for not just Annie but many of those involved, both suspects and the "good guys". It's all quite fascinating and I not only liked the various characters but found myself thinking about the book long after I'd put it down for the night, always a good sign that I'm hooked.

Bottom line, it's a intriguing mystery, one bringing the past and present together in a sense. I liked the characters, even if I was fearful poor Annie was going to freak out more than once given her years of feeling guilty for a friend's death. She never used her degree in criminology but is delighted to discover how much she remembers. She proves an excellent organizer, too, and seems to have the ability to bring people together, not to mention deal with arrogance from those who'd doubt her. Then, there's Liam. Annie isn't looking for a relationship but, well, it may just find her anyway, not to mention others. The California setting sounds lovely and the town sounds like one we could spend hours window shopping in, not to mention finding "must have" items to buy or stopping by Liam's place for a drink. And, I bet you'll wind up wanting to go try to find that special book that opens up the hidden reading room. Thanks #NetGalley and #StormPublishing for introducing me to Annie and Redwood Grove. I'm already looking forward to seeing what's up next for Annie and her circle of friends, especially after that teaser of an ending.

The Body In The Bookstore is a cute, cozy whodunit murder mystery and the first book of the new series, A Secret Bookcase Mystery. It has several elements that make a murder mystery good, including a quiet town setting and characters with motive. This book has several potential suspects, and I had fun piecing clues together with the main character to find out who committed the murder!

Annie Murray is a bookseller at The Secret Bookcase, and although her job makes her happy, she has been living with guilt for almost 10 years. Her best friend Scarlet was murdered back when they were in college. They were working on solving a murder mystery together when it took an unfortunate turn for the worst. Since that day, Annie has felt guilty for her friend's death and put all dreams she had of owning a private detective agency on hold.

The Secret Bookcase hasn't been doing well lately, and Annie comes up with a plan to save the bookstore. She pitches the idea of a mystery festival to her boss Hal, and he is completely on board! With the help of the neighboring businesses in Redwood Grove, Annie and her coworker Fletcher organize a mystery fest, with clues being hidden behind the secret bookcase (an actual bookcase) inside the bookstore. One afternoon during the festivities, a body is found inside the secret compartment. It is Kayla Mintner, one of Annie's former schoolmates. Annie instantly jumps back into detective mode and starts working on finding the murderer. It doesn't help that Kayla wasn't the most liked person. With her being conniving and malicious towards almost everyone she crossed paths with, several people seem to have had motive to kill her. But who really did it?

This book is a well-written and intriguing murder mystery that sucked me in from the very start! The setting is so cozy and perfect, who would think for something to happen in a little bookstore! The characters and plot were also great, and I loved the idea of a murder happening during such an event (mystery fest). There were several moments when I thought I knew who the killer was, but then more clues were found and revelations made that had me second-guessing myself! The ending was wonderful, and I am looking forward to the next book in this series. Hopefully we'll find out what exactly happened to Scarlet!
4 stars!

Thank you NetGalley, Storm Publishing, and Ellie Alexander for this compelling mystery!

I'm SO happy, this was brilliant! I'm a huge fan of Ellie Alexander's Bakeshop Mysteries series (it's my favourite cosy mystery series!) and when I noticed this book on NetGalley, I couldn't believe my eyes. She has a new series! Praise the literary gods!

This is about Annie, who works in a bookshop and has a degree in criminology. She's haunted by the unsolved murder of her best friend Scarlet when her high school nemesis, Kayla, is also murdered during the mystery festival Annie is organising to bring customers to the bookshop.

This takes place in California in a mystery bookshop and if you've read anything by Ellie Alexander, you know that she's incredible at packing a book with sigh-worthy things that immediately transport you to a place where you want to live. This is no exception! The Secret Bookcase, Annie's bookshop, is described in gorgeously cosy details (it's got several themed rooms and a hidden reading nook that's revealed when you touch the right book), there are lots of Golden Age mystery references (Annie's boss, Hal, who owns the bookshop, is a huge Agatha Christie fan and may claim another Christie connection, I don't want to spoil anything!) and this is just a cosy mystery reader's dream - there's even a whole defense of the genre at one point which I found deeply touching. All I wanted to do when I finished this book was curl up with a Miss Marple (I'm about to reread The Body in the Library, I finished rereading The Murder at the Vicarage a few weeks ago and it's one of the funniest books ever) and forget about the world for a bit.

This was wonderful and I couldn't put it down. I really wanted to stay with those characters for much longer. Redwood Grove, Annie's town, is just lovely and oozes with charm and every small business feels like a dream, with boutique service and delicious Marple Mochas calling you in.

I'm SO happy this is the first in a new series, this was wonderful and exactly what I want in a cosy. Again, I love Ellie Alexander - she writes wonderful books but she also has a writing course on her website, she has regular lives on YouTube and she created a mystery festival in Ashland that's now a yearly event. I love that she's giving so much back to the cosy mystery community, she seems just as generous as her writing, her scenes are always so lush and always make me feel wrapped in a cocoon with lovely people and lovely things - delicious morsels (the Bakeshop series) or delicious books (this series!). I highly, highly recommend her stuff!

My endless thanks to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this ARC. Ellie Alexander has no idea I exist, I promise this review comes from the heart! I was SHOCKED to be approved for this since I barely have an online presence anymore but thank you thank you for making me think about SOMETHING other than Polin's carriage scene for 4 hours (screaming!! Polin is everything!!)