Absolutely loved this book. Had me gripped from start to finish and was the perfect October read.
I love anything hotel/motel based in a thriller so I knew I was going to love it

Maiden, together with her parents and sister, runs an inn.
A man who requested a room during a stormy night without presenting any identification, who has shady ways and is also very rude, is found dead in his room.
The story is about Maiden, the human camera that tries to figure out who committed the murder and why. During this investigation there will be a “collaboration” with new police chief David McAlister.
Positive and negative sides.
Negative sides. The story has some aspects that do not add up, from my point of view.
First: why does Maiden make her statement in installments?
Second: why is McAlister, who is presented as someone who is competent in the crime field, decisively, heavily, and continuously in huge error?
Third, character interaction: I could not understand the need for such stupid interaction between Maiden and McAlister; they were annoying at times. Is that really flirting? Not even funny!
Another aspect I did not like is how Maiden, who is described as understanding and kind, and mainly her mother Gloria, behave with the cook Kylie. I personally find it extremely abusive that because they work together, they also have to be friends.
Positive sides. I had it all figured out pretty much right away, but I have to say that the crime story is well written with actual clues and various misleadings; it flows fairly well.
I feel I should point out—I hope it is not intentional—that in the book, there is body shaming and slut shaming.

I did not finish this book and will not rate anywhere outside of NetGalley. This was a little too cutesy at the beginning and I couldn't get into it.

It's a good start for a new cozy series: entertaining, compelling, solid mystery, and likeable characters
Hope to read the next installment soon
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

This is my first time reading this author and I really enjoyed the characters and the small town setting. I loved the dialogue between the MC and the Chief. I hope for many more. I found the mystery fun & interesting.

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

Murder Checks Inn is a cosy murder mystery set in Harlow House, in the story book town of Golden Glen.
Unfortunately this book was not for me; there was too much flirting which I felt overpowered the murders and investigation. Also, I found the main characters quite annoying, though, Maiden did grow on me as the book progressed.
I did like the way that the story was wrapped up in the last two chapters, and feel that there is potential for developments in the story line for future books in the series.
Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and author for giving me the opportunity to read this book in return for my honest review.

When an unpopular guest dies in a locked room mystery, Maiden Harlow has her hands full. An inn full of fighting guests, a bank robbery, and a league of nosy friends make things even more complicated. I really love a locked room mystery and this was no exception.

The way this book is written, leaves a lot to be desired. A DNF read for me; reading it actually angered me at the carelessness of the author.

Beware: fatphobia, slut shaming, bullying of an autistic character,

I just finished an enthralling murder mystery. Murder Checks Inn was a likable story that kept my attention.

A nice little cosy murder mystery. Just right for this time of year.
The characters are likeable and well defined. I would definitely look for more titles by this author.

I wanted to love this book. I wanted it to fulfill the promise of the fantastic cover.

It was not to be.

Beware: fatphobia, slut shaming, bullying of an autistic character, DNF review.

Up to the point I had to stop, the novel is narrated mainly from Maiden's point of view, with one short chapter told from her older sister Vonny's (no idea if this is a nickname or her actual name).

I started twitching when Maiden refers to children as "turd-monkeys" in her internal dialogue, and honestly, it only went downhill from there.

Allow me to elaborate.

It's not just that the writing is filled with unfortunate writing choices like that one, or the choice to equate physical appearance for characterization; it's not even the repeated casual fatphobia and slut shaming.

It's not just the constant bullying of a character that's clearly coded as being in the autistic spectrum--socially anxious, unable to sustain eye contact. It's not even the repeated, "unless she makes an effort to "fit in" with the rest of the staff, her days here are numbered", despite the fact that Kylie is hardworking, reliable and extremely competent, or that "must be sociable" was unlikely to have been part of the job application or even the interview, given that she's the cook and doesn't have contact with the guests at all.

Aside: I sincerely wonder whether the author herself even realized that the way she wrote Kylie reads autistic, given that no one in the novel even considers autism a possible explanation for how she reacts to the family's and other staff's constant prodding.

It is not the constant reminder that Maiden is built, and beautiful, and her older sister has been low-key jealous of her her whole life, because built and beautiful, and also boys were asking her out since she was a preteen, but also, she has never been popular, and oh, she's not conceited about her looks, even though she's beautiful, and built. (Lest you think I exaggerate, I quit at 18%, and the issue of Maiden's beauty had been brought up with some detail five times already, going all the way back to middle school, and including this gem in chapter 3: "Maiden was used to being looked at, but it never went to her head." Sure, Jan.)

It's not even the entirely unnecessary swipe at genre romance in chapter two--from an author whose website says, "small town crime with a romantic twist".

No, what finally made me give up is that we are very clearly promised a competent and intelligent main character in the blurb; someone who grew up working at her family's inn and should therefore be good at working with the public, and good at basic hospitality work; and what we have here is anything but that. Oh, Maiden is very concerned about misaligned brochures on the lobby tables, and about forcing Kylie to "make an effort to fit in", but otherwise?

When she finds a strange man trying to break into the front desk computer, her first action is not to call someone else to back her up while she calls the cops. No, instead she engages in conversation; when she finds out he's a guest--who is not in the computer, by the way--she lets him stay, even after he essentially threatens her, both by looming and glowering at her, and with negative reviews of the inn.

Let me repeat: the man who was trying to compromise confidential information by breaking into your computer then threatens you, and you let him stay to wander around the property at will.

Worse, the narrative makes it clear that the front desk is left unattended, the computer on it open to further attempts at tampering, for long periods of time as a matter of course--and Maiden doesn't even consider changing this pattern at least while the computer-tampering guest is on residence.

Hell, she doesn't even mention it to her parents at dinner that night, even though we are told in the scene that family dinners is when the Harlow family catch up about inn happenings.

Then again, during family dinner the night before, Vonny didn't bother to mention the man who barged in without a reservation and who threatened her into letting him stay for a couple of nights, paying cash and not giving an ID for the system.

Oh, and gee, this happens on the evening of the day a large bank robbery just happened a couple of towns over, but neither sister even considers connecting these dots.

I finally gave up when Maiden and Billie the housekeeper (fancy title for the one employee who cleans all the guest rooms) find the body; Billie goes into hysterics, Maiden is just short of doing the same, and the kicker: there isn't an established protocol to deal with a sudden death.

And this is just too much on top of every other issue with the writing: I just can't believe that there has never been a dead guest before, in an inn that's been operating continuously for several decades. It doesn't have to be a violent death! People do die on vacation or business trips from everything from embolisms to heart attacks to allergic reactions--this happens! Hotels, large and small, get insurance for these things, because it's not a "never happens" kind of thing, rather an, "it will happen if you are open long enough" thing.

There were a bunch of other logistic issues with the running of the inn that bothered me, but it was the cumulative effect of all the writing choices that made me quit. This book desperately needed a ruthless editor.

Murder Checks Inn is a DNF.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this ARC publication for an honest review.

This was a "who dun it" taking place at Maiden's family inn. There is a cast of characters, not many likeable, who may be the murderer. Maiden has a photographic memory and tries to solve the crime. This was a basic, "cozy mystery" with plenty of room to grow if there are more books...

3 stars

This book was gripping and hard to put down. It didn't feel like everything else you see out there, it felt very fresh. I really enjoyed this book!

Murder Checks Inn is a thoroughly entertaining mystery novel and a great start to the series. It introduces the town of Golden Glen and some of its residents that will play a large role in future books. The characters are a little eccentric without being ridiculous and the mystery has a lot of good twists and turns without being convoluted. If Maiden is the nice one between the sisters I fear for anyone who gets on the wrong side of Von - at least when considering Maiden's interactions with McAlister. In fact, that was the only part of the book that didn't quite fit and changed the pace and tone of the story for me. I thought the two of them got angry with one another way too easily. I was also surprised that Maiden didn't give more detail about things she saw and heard so I kind of agreed with McAlister when he got frustrated with her. The murderer here was a bit of a surprise, but when you look back at everything (as Maiden did) you realize there were signs all along. As I said previously, there are lots of twists and turns here and with it being the first book in the series and not knowing any of the characters it left it wide open as to who could be killers. One thing this series has going for it is that it takes place in a somewhat large and bustling village meaning that there are plenty of possibilities for plots and killers. I'm very much looking forward to seeing more from this series!

Golden Glen is a peaceful little town, or it was until a dead body was found in a room at the local historical inn. Maiden Harlow, owner of the Harlow House Inn wants the cops out of her inn as soon as possible in order to save her business, so when she sees that there isn't any progress on investigations she decides to help the police arousing the antipathies of Daivid McAlister, the new Captain.

Murder Checks Inn is a very enjoyable cozy mystery, set in a lovely inn and with a cast of amusing characters.
The murder mystery was engaging and well thought, but at times it seemed that the flirting and the attraction between the main characters took over. The author has made amends with the last few chapters full of revelations, twists and turn that I didn't expect.

I recommend it if you like your murder mystery with a touch of romance. I definitely don't want to miss next book in the series.

I loved the fact that this was a cozy mystery that also had some humor. I enjoyed the characters and the little romance aspect but I felt a little bored with the story itself. It wasn't bad but wasn't my favorite.

Thank you NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to review this title. The best part about this, for me, was the full understanding of the inner workings of the inn. I really enjoyed this book and hope for more.

Maiden and her family run a nice little hotel in a touristy town. When a couple of guests end up murdered and the new Chief of Police is looking at her as a suspect she decides to step in and find some answers. A nice start to a cozy mystery series, and expect to see more with Maiden and David in the future. Enjoyed this one and would highly recommend it.

Murder Checks Inn
(Maiden Harlow 1)
Camille Sharp





The first thing I noticed was the cover, it peaked my attention, the synopsis held my interest, and the title had me fully intrigued.

This proved to be a precursor to the witty and wonderful characters I was soon to meet. The Harlow family owns Harlow House in Golden Glen, Michigan. Located in northern Michigan they have a very popular upscale bed and breakfast. Yvonne (Vonn) and Maiden, sisters have taken over for their parents Alfie & Gloria, who still live there.

After Maiden sends Billie to clean a vacated room… only to discover a dead body! Captain McAlister arrives to see the scene and has an unfortunate run-in with Vonn. He’s the new man in town and in charge of the Golden Glen Police Department… thanks to a murder things are not off to a good start!

Come along and enjoy the fun as Maiden and Captain McAlister dance around a murderer and each other.

The storyline itself is awesome! I can’t wait to read more Maiden Harlow adventures. The only negative comment is that the story started a bit more jerkily than I prefer. An excellent quick read!
4.5 stars



A Fair Chance of Murder (Maiden Harlow 2) is available Now! (09/24)
Thank you to Netgalley, Ms. Camille Sharp, and the publisher for the ARC.

I had so much fun reading this book. It was a great mix of mystery and laugh. I loved the character of Maiden Harlow: she was wit and clumsy.
I usually have a hard time reading cosy mysteries, I feel like the stories are often more or less the same with authors trying to write book like Agatha Christie. But this one was different. I also really like the little romance.