🖤BOOK REVIEW🖤
📚The Body in the Bookstore by Ellie Alexander
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The start of a cozy mystery series that introduces fun characters who love a “who dunnit” as much as we, the reader, do!

This series main setting is a mystery bookstore — perfect for dropping nods to Peroit, Holmes and Marple, to name a few!

As a series starter, this book subtlety weaves in larger story arcs and relationships that will continue as we read along!

Ellie Alexander's new cozy mystery series is set in the town of Redwood, CA and the main character works in the Secret Staircase Bookstore. In 'The Body in the Bookstore' Annie Murray is traumatized by the murder of her college friend as they studied Criminology. As a twist her Criminology Professor, Dr. Caldwell is now a Detective in Redwood. The book surrounds the death of a former college acquaintance of Annie's in the bookstore. There are numerous suspects, and an interesting conclusion. The next in the series is out and I look forward to reading it.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for the opportunity to read & review this title. I was excited to see that one of my favorite authors was starting a new series combining two of my favorite things, a bookstore & cozy mysteries. Annie Murray works at the Secret Staircase Bookshop in Redwood Grove, CA. She loves her job but continues to grieve the murder of her best friend in the final days of their criminology program. Annie comes up with the idea of a Mystery Book Festival to help revive the bookstore & the town. All is going swimmingly until a body is discovered in the secret staircase in the bookshop. The victim happens to be a college acquaintance of Annie's. Annie is drawn into the investigation by her curiosity, her connection to the victim, her determination to make the festival a success, and her connection to the lead investigator.

What a fun book! I want the Secret Staircase to be real & located near me. I enjoyed the mystery and learning about the people in Annie's life. I love her bestie, Pri, and her coworker, Fletcher. I love the feel of this book. There's a good bit of backstory & set up in this, the first novel in the series, and it helps to understand Annie and her motivations, actions. I'm really looking forward to more in this series. Bonus is that book 2, Murder at the Movies is also released the same day.

The book is well-written, engaging, has excellent pacing and left me wanting more from these characters.!

3.5 stars
One Liner: Decent series starter

Annie Murray has made the Secret Bookcase her home for the last eight years. Located in a small town in Northern California, the independent bookstore is struggling to attract enough customers. A chance comment sparks an idea in Annie’s mind. She plans an elaborate Mystery Festival weekend to bring people to her town. This is supposed to help every small business in the town.
The event starts on a high but Annie is shocked to find a dead body hidden behind the bookshelves in the Secret Bookcase bookstore. Annie knows the victim too! When her professor in criminology arrives as the detective on the case, Annie becomes a part of the investigation. She is back doing what she does best. But can Annie find the killer before it is too late?
The story comes in Annie’s first-person POV.

My Thoughts:
A new cozy mystery series for me to try!
The opening is quite a hook. It starts with the overarching mystery and provides us an insight into the main character’s past. Her being a student of criminology certainly helps the arc.
There is some repetition, but it helps understand how much the past weighs on the MC’s mind and how it changed her life drastically.
The setting is beautiful. I love how cozy small towns are (at least in books). The descriptions of the bookstore make me want to go there. Such a lovely place!
The side characters like Priya, Fletcher, and Hal are also well-etched. Though we don’t get a lot of information about them, there’s enough to imagine their roles in the story. Dr. Caldwell is also likely to be a recurring character. She could be interesting.
The list of suspects is decent, making it an engaging read to guess who the killer could be. I did guess who it was but not the reason. It makes sense, though I wish we had more detail about the relevant events.
The investigation could have been stronger. It’s mostly done through conversations where people reveal details without persuasion. Though it makes a little sense given how everyone in the town has a good opinion of Annie, it doesn’t really show us her skills as a criminology student. Mentioning spreadsheets is not enough. She needs to do more brain work. Since this is the first book in the series, I have hopes for some improvements.
There’s a possibility of a love track with a guy. I know it is bound to happen. Just not sure if the transition will be seamless based on how things are now. I hope it works out well. Let’s see. As long as we don’t have any triangles to make it even more messy!

To summarize, The Body in the Bookstore is a decent start to a new cozy mystery series. While it is not great, it has the potential to become better. I have a copy of book #2, so reading it right away.
Thank you, NetGalley and Storm Publishing, for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

I really enjoyed this book a lot! I never could quite narrow down the suspect until it was revealed in the story. Really good book. Cannot wait to read the next book in the series. I’m excited to see what Annie finds out about Scarlet. If anything happens with Annie and Liam and if she does another book event for the town.

Cute Cozy mystery and it was entertaining, however, I am not interested in reading sequel. Very scripted and formulaic. Didn’t land with my reading tastes

Annie is the social media manager for a struggling bookstore when she has the brilliant idea to have their small town in Northern California host a mystery bookfest. She bands together with the other small business owners in town to schedule author talks, a pub crawl, themed food, an interactive mystery and more than entices hundreds of mystery reads to the region. But when the interactive mystery gets a little too real, and a dead body is discovered, Annie helps look into things. A criminology major, who turned her love of solving mysteries to the fictional ones after her college BFF, Scarlet, was murdered, she puts her old skills to good use to help catch a killer.

Ellie Alexander is a cozy mystery icon, so I'm willing to try whatever series she puts out--and I love that this one is available on KU. The continued emphasis on Scarlet's death was perhaps a bit dark for a cozy, but it did provide an interesting backstory for our main character that will surely provide a series arc. But more importantly, was the main mystery arc for this book--which I loved. There were so many suspects, with many of their stories woven together, and the ending was a true surprise to me. I'm definitely interested in trying the next book, which is actually already out, as well!

Thanks to Storm Publishing for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 8/10

Ellie Alexander is one of my favourite cozy mystery authors and I’m always eagerly awaiting her next book, so when she announced that she had a new mystery series coming out, I couldn’t wait to get more details! Can you imagine my excitement when she mentioned that the main character would be working at an Agatha Christie-themed bookstore (what a dream come true!)

Annie Murray is a wonderful protagonist – she’s a bookseller and event planner who loves mystery novels but she has a tragic past – her best friend, Scarlet, was murdered during the last days of college and Annie is still obsessed with finding Scarlet’s killer.

Now, her college is past is back to haunt her, as several of her college classmates are in town to attend the mystery festival. I loved meeting the people close to Annie, including her boss, Hal, her quirky co-worker Fletcher, and Annie’s best friend, barista Priya. We also get introduced to some of the other people who call Redwood Grove home, including pub owner Liam, who I am DEFINITELY hoping is Annie’s future love interest (although they have more of an antagonistic vibe at the start of this book.

The mystery itself was quite interesting. The victim was not a nice person and it was easy to understand why there were so many suspects. All their motives were believable and there were enough twists to keep me guessing until nearly the end. The story was very evenly paced and I honestly had a hard time putting this book down until the end.

Being a student of criminology meant that Annie had a solid grounding in police procedures, and she is allowed a lot of access to the investigation since the lead detective is her old college professor. I know every cozy mystery has to have a reason why the main character is barging in on the policework, but this time it actually feels plausible (plus, I’m not really a fan of the grumpy police vs the amateur sleuth who solves everything on their own stories).

My goodness – an Agatha Christie-themed bookstore (that has a Secret Bookcase – get it?), a flawed, but smart main character, solid friends, an interesting potential love interest, a detective who seems keen to have Annie involved, a mystery book festival… this series has definitely hit every checkbox for me!

*** Thank you to the publisher, Storm Publishing, for providing me with an e-copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.

This is the debut book in the charming new cozy series '"The Secret Bookcase Mystery Series" by cozy mystery author Ellie Alexander. A 5 star read ! The second book is released as well and is " A Murder At The Movies.". The author has gifted her readers with a wonderful new series that captured me from beginning to end. This is a exciting mystery you will not put down until conclusion. I loved the characters, the charming small town and the sleuth. Both books are a 5 star read. Thank you to the author for releasing both books in the series on the same day !

We are introduced to a savvy smart protagnist Annie who lives in a fictional small town of Redwood Grove, She works in a failing bookstore named The Secret Bookcase. Hal is the owner and not sure he can keep the bookstore open when Annie has a wonderful idea to hold a town wide "mystery festival". The festival is a success drawing mystery readers in to follow clues at various businessess to try to solve mysteries. The turn out is unexpected and the bookstore's involvement is a huge success when a murder occurs. Annie has a criminalogy degree and her favorite professor is now the police detective in town and works with her on the case. They have a unsolved murder in common of Annie's best friend in college that haunts Annie as she still seeks closure in that case.

I loved the charming small town descriptions , the murder mystery festival and the characters. This was a engaging well crafted sleuth that kept me guessing to conclusion. I look forward to reading more of this successful series. Well done to the author. ,
Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity for review. My review opinions are my own.

I am enjoying this series and can't wait for the next one. I want to know what happens. The mystery kept get guessing. I like the characters and setting.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a common review for both the two novels in A Secret Bookcase series I read.
It's an entertaining series that improves with each novels. Both are well plotted and features a solid mystery.
I like how Annie, the main character evolved. Her desire to solve the murder of Scarle, her friend murdered some days before graduation, borders on obsession and PTDS and can be quite disturbing at time. It becomes less relevant in the characters descriptions in the second half of the first novel and it's in the background in the second.
The cast of characters is intersting and Annie grew on me as she was able to move on.
The bookshop and the festival are fascinating and the solid mysteries kept me guessing.
Recommended
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Murder She Wrote anyone? This book is so worth the read. It actually reminded me of Murder She Wrote or even a Hallmark movie. They really should make a movie of this book! I highly recommend this book.

A cosy little town in California called Redwood Grove, is a little book store named The Secret Bookcase. Hal is the owner and Annie Murray and Fletcher are the two people that work in the book store. They are also the reason that a annual festival will take place in their small town.
Annie had a dear friend named Scarlet, she was murdered a few years prior. This is something that stays with Annie and haunts her. She wants nothing more than to find her murderer.

She has to think of something to save the book store or it will have to close and then there goes her job nd there goes her life. So she thinks of the town and what they could all do together to participate in. Annie tells Fletcher about her idea for the town festival and he loves the idea so the start asking the rest of the businesses around if they would be willing to participate. Everyone was except one and that wasn't Stag Head. Liam Donovan is the owner of this business and he also has a crush on Annie.
During the festival there was a group of ladies in the back of the book store that made a strange comment about how realistic they had made everything look for the mystery part. Annie wasn't sure what they were talking about so she went back to look and sure enough there was a dead body.

I really hope you give this book and author a chance Ellie Alexander thank you for the adventure.

Happy Reading?

This is the first in a new series. A top notch mystery. Great characters and a wonderfully written whodunit. I cannot wait to read more in this series.
I voluntarily reviewed an advance reader copy of this book.

A murder in a mystery-themed bookstore? Yes, please!

This first book in a new series from the much loved #cozymystery author @ellie_alexander combines all the best things in life - murder, mystery, book lovers and a quaint Stars Hollow-esque town.

Out yesterday, it is the first book I’ve read from #elliealexander but it won’t be the last (especially since the second book in the series was also released yesterday - how cool is that?)!

Synopsis:
Bookseller Annie Murray is thrilled when the mystery-themed book festival she sets up to revive the dwindling fortunes of her workplace and sanctuary seems poised for success. But events take a shocking turn when a body is discovered hidden behind the shelves, and it’s revealed that the victim is Annie’s old college acquaintance.

Determined to ensure the festival’s success and save the small town of Redwood Grove from a killer, Annie begins piecing together clues with the help of her friends. But as the list of suspects grows longer – a local boutique-owner, an envious old classmate, a bitter ex-boyfriend – Annie is drawn deeper into the case.

With the aid of her old criminology professor-turned-detective, can Annie unmask the murderer before they turn her festival into a real-life whodunit?

The Body in the Bookstore is the perfect summer mystery read! I was quickly enticed by not only our characters and plot, but by the setting as well. In fact I actually found this cozy small town to be the star of the story! A quick premise of this novel is that our main character Annie works for a struggling bookstore and develops the idea of a mystery fair to bring in customers. During this fair, an old college classmate is murdered and Annie can finally put her criminology degree to work! I loved that the author gave just enough clues that I was able to solve the mystery myself, but was never annoyed by the pacing of the novel. I would highly recommend this cozy mystery to anyone looking for an introductory mystery novel, or merely a fun quick read. I just hope the sequel has more mentions of Annie's cat and insight into her past friend's death!

The Body in the Bookstore was such a lovely cozy mystery! Thanks to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this eARC. I absolutely loved meeting Annie and all of her crazy friends at Redwood Grove. Annie decides to put on a huge mystery festival in her town to try and revive her failing mystery bookshop. Some of the guest that show up have direct links to her past and when one of her college friends ends up murdered she is determined to help find the killer. This was such a cozy read. I really enjoyed it and look forward to more in this series!

I’ve read and enjoyed other books by Ellie Alexander and how fun to be in at the start of a new series! I would love to have this bookshop in my town. There was a great cast of characters and I look forward to more books in this series.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from Storm Publishing through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own. Thank you, Storm Publishing.

The Body in the Bookstore is book #1 in the Secret Bookcase Mystery series by Ellie Alexander.

I’m a fan of Ellie Alexander so I was excited for this new series. I wasn’t disappointed. I’d love to visit The Secret Bookcase. I like that Annie has a criminology degree as that makes her investigating believable. This has several elements I enjoy in a mystery - likable characters, interesting setting, and an intriguing mystery. This series is off to a great start!

Thank you to the author, Storm Publishing, and NetGalley for the Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

I was super excited to read this book when coming across it and I was not let down, the book leaves you with questions and the characters as so well written that you can feel how much the author wanted to make this cute mystery amazing!

I’ve never really read mystery but this book makes me want to dive into more!

Amazing read

4 ⭐
0 🌶️

The Body in the Bookstore is a fantastic, cozy read! I loved the mystery and the delightful cast of characters surrounding the bookshop and the town. I felt like I was reading an Agatha Christie novel with a cast of suspicious characters, a dead body, and many questions. Our intrepid heroine, Annie, is whip-smart and begins working to solve the mystery. This is the beginning of a new series set around the town and a fabulous bookstore (I would love to hang out there).

I look forward to more of Annie's adventures!