This is a wonderful start to what promises to be a great cozy mystery series. Allie is a literature buff/caterer/all around great friend. When her friend, Tegan, is accused of killing her beloved aunt, Allie is left with no choice but to do a little sleuthing and uncover the real killer. Hopefully before she is hurt, permanently!
Loved the characters, the bits of literature scattered within, and perhaps a budding romance? Looking forward to reading more.
I received an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

Daryl Wood Gerber has another hit on her hands with the first in her new Literary Dining Mystery Series – Murder on the Page! Caterer Allie has to solve the murder when her bestie’s (Tegan) aunt is killed in her bookshop – and Tegan is under suspicion. Combining classic literature with catering sounds like a fun premise, and the characters are interesting – I’m definitely looking forward to reading more Allie cozies! A+++

** “Marigold said mysteries were life lessons. Paying attention to clues and attributing motives would help us solve problems throughout our lives.” **

Daryl Wood Gerber delivers a fun new cozy mystery with “Murder on the Page,” the first installment in her Literary Dining Mystery series.

Caterer Allie Catt is preparing for an event at her friend’s bookshop, when a horrific event occurs. She joins forces with her best friend Tegan, the niece of the bookshop’s owner, to look into what happened, how it happened and why.

As the two work through a long list of suspects and motives, Allie finds herself drawn to Police Detective Zach Armstrong. Will he accept her help or resent her involvement?

Wood Gerber does a great job of creating a fun yet suspenseful plot, filled with both drama and laugh-out-loud moments. She creates cheeky and quirky characters, including an adorable cat named Darcy. It is also a story that celebrates friendship, never giving up, finding courage, and believing in one’s self.

Fans of cozy mysteries, books like Katherine Reay’s “Of Literature and Lattes” and authors like Joanne Fluke and JoAnna Carl will love “Murder on the Page,” which is due out Oct. 22.

Five stars out of five.

Kensington Cozies provided this complimentary copy through NetGalley for my honest, unbiased review.

Allie Cat is a caterer in Asheville, NC who uses her clients' favorite books to inspire the food for the event. Her first event is based on Pride and Prejudice. Her business is booming so her rival caterer is her best friend's sister. When she is one of the first on the scene of a suspicious death her rival is quick to point a finger at Allie. Allie has to clerk her name and help solve the murder of her friend's beloved aunt.

This is a great start to a new series by Daryl Wood Gerber. Mrs. Gerber is great a spinning an entertaining unique cozy mystery. The characters are likable, interesting, and have great chemistry. The theme is great mixing food, literature, a bookstore, and an adorable pet. The mystery is well-written with plenty of twists and turns. Mrs Gerber knows how to plot a mystery to keep the storyline moving at a great pace and keep the reader in suspense with well-placed misdirections.

All thoughts and opinions are my own and have not been influenced by anyone.

An entertaining start to a new series by this well-established cozy author. The cast of characters is interesting, the setting familiar with a twist and a solid mystery make for a great whodunnit. Can Allie Catt (yes, her real name) caterer and bookstore partner follow the clues to discover the culprit in time to save herself and others? Not to let the “Catt” out of the bag, but I hope for more installments, sooner rather than later.

Daryl Wood Gerber introduces her new Literary Dining Mystery series with Murder on the Page, set in the Asheville NC area. Allie Catt (what were her parents thinking?) gave up her dream of becoming an English teacher to launch a career as a caterer and event planner, but she never lost her love of classic literature. So when her aunt, a Jane Austen fan, meets an unexpected demise, Alley can't think of a better way to memorialize her than with a Pride and Prejudice-themed event, complete with costumes and period-appropriate refreshments. She also can't help joining in the investigation into her aunt's death led by the attractive local detective, Zach.

There are quite a few characters introduced, as frequently occurs in the first book in a series. but I wish the author had taken more time to flesh out the primary characters--including Allie and her best friend (and prime suspect) Tegan--to make them more engaging. We know that Allie has lost a fiancé and that her parents were never role models, and we are told Tegan's husband has been cheating, but for me it isn't enough to make them relatable. A burgeoning romance between Allie and Zach is not convincing--yet. However, I am a loyal fan of the author's other series--most recently her Fairy Garden series --so I will give the next book in the new series a try.

My thanks to Kensington Cozies and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book..

Just finished - thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing, for providing a prerelease ARC to read and review. This 319-page cozy mystery (Kindle edition) will hit the market 10/22/24.

This is my first read by the experienced cozy mystery author, Daryl Wood Gerber, and the start of a new series, featuring Allie Catt, a baker /caterer in Asheville, NC. Allie stumbles onto the murder of her best friend Tegan's aunt, right in the middle of Tegan's bookstore. The aunt is clutching a copy of Pride and Prejudice - is it a clue?????

We have a whole group of small town characters who have known each other forever. Plus a budding friendship, or is it a romance, with the local detective. Allie is determined to investigate the murder herself, even at the possible expense of this relationship.

This is a charming book and will be well-loved by cozy-mystery fans. There are several recipes included at the end, which sound great. I'm wondering if future books in the series will each feature a different classic novel. 4-stars.

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.