I don't think this book was for me. I found the characters irritating. The writing style clunky and young. And the overall mystery a bit boring. I had to force myself to keep on reading. Not for me.

Murder on the Page is the first in the Literary Dining Mystery series by Daryl Wood Gerber. Set in Asheville, NC, this book is a charming slice of the South mixed with mystery, books, and food. The main character, Allie Catt, is very relatable. Who hasn't wanted to give up their hectic job to strike out on their own doing what they love? The murder of a dear friend drives Allie to dive into investigation to get some justice. While she investigates, the reader gets a great introduction to Asheville and its residents. This makes for a great backdrop for the new series. The plot has twists and turns as more motives, alibis, and secrets are uncovered. I really enjoyed this book, and I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

All opinions in this review are my own.

I was not familiar with the author prior to this book, but the blurb, title, and cover drew me in straight away. I enjoy cozy mysteries as escapist fiction, and while I do not expect a lot of depth I do expect a lot of character development - and I just didn't find that here. What I found instead was a main character who, rather than being spunky, was irritating and just never resonated with me. The setup and pacing felt clunky and slow. The writing style just didn't grab me. This one wasn't a good fit for me...

What a fun start to a new series. If you enjoy spunky but mostly smart MCs, baking, good food, and interesting reads, this is a book for you! Allie is a very independent young woman, running her own catering business. She has many ties in her hometown and long-time friends, old and young! Because she has a strange dynamic with her own family, she has been largely adopted by her best friend, Tegan's family, and is especially close to Tegan's Aunt Marigold who owns the town's bookstore. When Marigold is found dead inside her locked bookstore and Tegan becomes the main suspect Allie is determined to help the police find out what happened, even if it puts her budding relationship with a local police detective Zach at risk. With lots of interesting relationships and people, a few missteps, and lots of smarts, our curious MC plays an interesting part of resolution for all involved. Can't wait for more here. Strongly recommend. Thanks to #Netgally, #Kensingtonbooks, and the author for a chance to read! #MurderonthePage #DarylWoodGerber #bookreview #bookideas #retiredreader

Allie Catt has returned to her home town, of Asheville and works as a caterer and personal chef while enjoying the beautifully familiar location and slower pace of life. She also spends a lot of time at Feast for the Eyes, the bookstore where best friend Tegan works which is owned by her Aunt Marigold, another of Allie’s close friends.

After a murder rocks the small mountain town Allie is horrified when Tegan is identified by the very handsome local police detective as his main suspect and determines to investigate herself. As a big fan of murder mystery books she is sure it will all fall into place, Tegan will be cleared, and life will go back to normal. Unfortunately, killers don't seem to want to be caught, the police detective is not at all keen on Allie’s help, and she still has a business to run!

I was delighted to see a new series by the author of the Fairy Garden Mystery Series which I love. This was a really promising start and I think Allie’s adventures will soon become required reading, especially with recipes included at the end and a great cast of main protagonists all of whom are described at the beginning of the book.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Kensington Publishing, Kensington Cozies, but the opinions expressed are my own. I enjoyed this and look forward to reading more from Asheville very soon.

I was excited to see a new series from this author. It combines two of my favorite themes- food and books. I'd love to attend a party themed after my favorite books. There is a never-ending list of possibilities, and adding quotes from the featured book as a chapter heading is great. In future installments I'm hoping to get to see some of my own favorites highlighted and discovering some new too.
With the action revolving around the bookstore there's lots of shout-outs to other authors/books/series, like a book recommendation inside the story.
I was invested in the characters and the mystery itself. Hints are dropped to future plotlines. There's a sweet ending and I'm looking forward to seeing how everything goes.
Of course there's the must-try recipes for all Allie's food mentioned throughout.

I really enjoyed this book. I loved that everything was established with the main character and friends to start off with. Also I liked that the main character and the detective had an established relationship to start. I liked that everything was based around one story. It was a fun read with great twists and turns. I’m looking forward to more

Murder on the Page is the first book in the Literary Dining Mystery series. It takes place in the town of Bramblewood, NC. Allie Catt is the main charater who owns Dream Cusine, a caterer and bakery store. Marigold Markel owns Feast for your Eyes book store. Teagan Potts is Allie' best friend and works for her aunt in the bookstore. Vanna Harding is Teagan's half sister and a caterer. Noeline Merriweather owns The Blue Latern, a bed and breakfast in Monford. She is Teagan and Vanna's mother.

Teagan comes to Allie's cottage to tell her that Winston Potts, her husband wants a divorce. Allie has her stay the night but when she awakes in the morning she finds that Teagan has already left.

Allie is doing Marigold's morning tea. She spoke to Marigold earlier but when she gets to her shop with the food she finds a line of people waiting to get into the store and the door is locked. Noeline, Marigold's sister, is also there but does not have her key. The store eventually is opened by Marigold's clerk when she gets there at 10. Upon entering the store they find Marigold dead. They call the police. Detective Zach Armstrong and his partner, Brendan Bates arrive. Teagan arrives late to the store and when Zach asks her why she is late she tells him she was with a lady friend but won't tell him anymore. Vanna comes to the store and upon finding out about her aunt she accuses Teagan of killing her aunt as she saw a letter at Teagan's house stating that she will inherit Marigold's half of the shop. Teagan had no idea but couldn't figure out why her sister was in her house and denied seeing the letter. What was Vanna doing in her house? The two half sister's don't get along. Because Teagan won't tell Zach where she was becomes his first suspect.

Teagan decides to stay at her mother's B&B since Winston is away on business. Her mother is seeing Rick O'Sheedy, a financial consultant at Alta Barlow Hospital. Teagan is suspicious of him.

Jamie and Fern are Allie's parents. They were not very interested in Allie when she was growing up. They are always traveling and never home. When they hear about Marigold's death they tell Allie that she should solve the murder. They don't like the police.

Graham Wynn owns Game Play and lives across the street from Marigold. She had words with him the day before. Celia Harringan who lives down the street tells Allie that she saw someone go behind Graham's house in a hoodie the day before Marigold's death. She tells Allie that she sees cars in his driveway during the day. Wondered if he was dealing drugs. Later it is determined that he isn't a drug dealer but an early poker game.

Marigold's lawyer has Noeline, Teagan and Vanna come to his office so he can read the will. Teagan asks Allie to come for support. Vanna is upset that Allie is there but the lawyer tells Allie he wants her to stay. Reading the will, Allie finds out that Marigold left her half of Teagan's half of the bookstore to her surprise.

This is where the story takes off on an exciting adventure. There is too much to put on paper so I will leave it to the reader to enjoy to the exciting end.

I enjoyed the book. I really liked the main characters that made up the town. I look forward to the next book.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing Corporation for this ARC.

The first in a new series by Daryl Wood Gerber, Murder on the Page sets up the future storylines for the Literary Dining company. I struggled with this story as I expected the business to be in full swing, but it acted as more of an origin story. I also felt there was a lot that the author was trying to accomplish with the characters and all had huge changes occurring. It made it hard to connect and follow everything. I did think the mystery was good and the concept has a lot of potential. I will definitely read the next in the series to see what happens!

3 🌟 Read
Murder on the Page
By: Daryl Wood Gerber

Allie Catt is a pastry chef in a small town and is gearing up for a big event at the local bookstore. The owner of the local book store is not only a client but a friend. When she shows to drop off pastries, instantly somethings off and she doesn't no how off until she gets inside.she finds her is on the floor, not breathing and clutching her favorite book. Who in this small town would do such a thing.

I found this book to be just OK.
The main character is supposed to be a plucky sweetheart with a pension for being blunt but actually comes across as rude and obtuse, I was stunned that anyone was still talking to her by the end.
The author also found the need to bullet point the main characters day, sometimes with time stamps for no reason. None of the times, dates or side information became relevant, it was just awkward filler.
The mystery itself was OK, a lot of clues were presented. Some cluse were chased down extensively and others were not really explored.

Thank you netgalley for the opportunity to read this ARC.

Murder on the Page is the first in a new series by
Daryl Wood Gerber.

Allie and Tegan are wonderful characters and best friends.

Tegan's Aunt Marigold is murdered in her bookstore and Tegan becomes the main suspect.

Allie starts to investigate to safe her bestie.

The mystery was well done with some red herrings . I really enjoyed the combination of food and literary .

Looking forward to more books in this new cozy mystery!!

This is a great example of a cozy mystery - a small town, not a ton of violence, a cast of unique characters, and a non-detective solving a murder. I really liked the bookstore setting and the references to books and authors. The mystery is pretty good too. :)

I was excited about this book because I am familiar with the author’s other series and I loved that it was set in Asheville, NC. Unfortunately Asheville had a couple of mentions but definitely should not have been included in the description of the book. I loved the characters but the detecting consisted of bumbling around until a character shared their secrets and annoying the police detective on the case. I think this book would have benefited from better editing and proofreading. I even guessed who was guilty early in the book (and I rarely do that). I would love to read more about these characters so I would give this series another chance. This book just didn’t live up to my expectations.

An absolutely delightful mystery with a really great FMC and a cast of supporting characters who all believably could have committed the crime but also are likable enough that you kind of hope they didn’t! The North Carolina setting is super cozy and I love the addition of the recipes in the back because those butterscotch cookies sound amazing!

This book suffers from the first book in a series syndrome. At times, the story got bogged down by the world building setup and character introductions. The mystery was engaging.

North Carolina, recipes, relatives, new-series, first-in-series, ghost-kitchens, amateur-sleuth, dumped, pet-cat, ex-military, local-law-enforcement, frenemy, friends, bookseller, caterer, unpleasant-suspect, unpleasant-relative, murder, investigation, baker*****

Allie Catt has recently returned to her hometown in North Carolina after a bad breakup with her fiancé. She runs a ghost kitchen and is supportive of her BFF Tegan who runs a book shop with her mom, aunt, and sister. Tegan's aunt is murdered and her rather obnoxious cousin accuses her of doing the deed. So Allie sets about to find the real motive and the real killer. A respectable collection of plot twists and several very sneaky red herrings later...I got to go to sleep.
Good pacing and a decent assortment of really nice characters (including the town Police Detective).
The story is interspersed Jane Austin quotes.
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Kensington Publishing via NetGalley. Thanks!
#LiteraryDiningMysteriesBk1 Avail 10/22/2024

A brand new series by a favorite mystery author of mine... her latest cozy series, based on North Carolina, where Allie Catt, runs her sorta-pop-up dining establishment and support a bestie who runs a book shop with her mom, aunt, and sister. Drama ensues when the aunt is killed (sad, I know) and everyone is a suspect. Great way to combine books and baking, plus a lovely town as the backdrop. I enjoyed getting the know new characters, and as a first in series, lots of nuggets dropped. It's got potential, and I will read the next one.

This was such a an enjoyable cozy mystery, it had multiple characters I liked, a setting full of small town charm and a murder to solve. Allie Catt is a baker building a catering clientele in a picturesque North Carolina town. Don’t ask how hungry I stayed while reading about all her creations. My mouth watered and my stomach growled, I could smell the aroma from the pages. There’s even recipes included! Allie’s a cat person, too, I instantly adored her. There’s a handy cast of characters included which is most useful. The passages and inspiration from Pride and Prejudice scattered throughout retain their value. The Bookshop is a place you’d want to get lost in, catch up with neighbors and friends and the latest gossip. I hadn’t read this author before, I was impressed by the series debut and look forward to the next one.
Thanks to Kensington Publishing (Via NetGalley) For providing an Advance Reader Copy of Murder on the Page, A Literary Dining Mystery, by Daryl Wood Gerber. Expected publication 10/22/2024.

#MurderonthePage #NetGalley is the first in a new series by the talented Daryl Wood Gerber. I've read most of the authors other books, so diving into #MurderonthePage was a delight.
Allie and Tegan are bright characters, and their friendship proved strong throughout the book.
When Tegan's Aunt Marigold is found dead in her bookstore, Tegan becomes the main suspect. Allie knows her bestie would never kill, especially her own aunt, so she dives deep to uncover the truth.
I found this book to be well done, especially for the first in a new series. There's always a lot going on, and many characters to meet, but the author made it easy to follow.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of this book.
I'm looking forward to recommending this book to others.

Murder on the Page by Daryl Wood Gerber is an entertaining cozy mystery that is the first in a new series: A Literary Dining Mystery.

This is a good start to a new and exciting series. I haven’t read any cozies by Ms. Gerber as of yet, so I am glad this book was penned by such a talented author.

I love cozy mysteries, and anything book store and/or library themed, so this was right up my alley. There are several characters within the town of Asheville, North Carolina, so I had to try to keep all the players straight. However, as the first installment it is sometimes necessary to provide the framework and the cast of characters that the readers will become closer to in the subsequent books. That excluded, I enjoyed the pacing, the murder mystery, and the main characters, Allie Catt (yep that is right).

I also liked the Pride and Prejudice references and quotes…very cute. I look forward to the next book.

4/5 stars

Thank you NG and Kensington Publishing | Kensington Cozies for this wonderful arc and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon, Instagram, and B&N accounts upon publication on 10/22/24.