Love a good holiday cozy and this one fitted the bill perfectly, First time reading this series so the back story snippets were helpful. Characters and setting were great, really wish I could work in a bookshop like The Secret Bookcase! Festive, fun, with plenty of mystery and intrigue. I'll be heading back to Redwood Grove to find out what happens next.

This is the 4th installment in the Secret Bookcase series. Annie Murray is helping local bakery owner Sugar by hosting a gingerbread house contest to be judged by an online influencer Lily Hawthorne. Lily turns out not to be as nice as her onscreen persona and is soon found dead in the bookstore. There are several suspects and Annie once again is helping the police and Dr. Caldwell find the killer. Annie is also trying to make a decision on the next steps in her life. Will she pursue a full time position with the police or stay with the bookstore. Annie is also investigating the cold case murder of her friend Scarlett. This is a fast paced mystery and I love Annie and her friends as she helps solve a mystery and makes some big life decisions. Looking forward to the next installment in this series. Highly recommend.

This is a fun entry in the series about bookseller/investigator Annie Murray. I'm thrilled that she's finally made her decision about which career path to follow. It might be a totally unrealistic decision--hehe--but it's a cozy series, after all.

If you mix up the worlds of baking and bookselling and murder, you're bound to get something delicious. I love the sneak peek into the life of an influencer too. And Pri and Fletcher and Hal make such a great cast of supporting characters.

The investigation into Scarlet's murder (in the past) gets more airtime here, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. But I'm just not a big fan of over-arching dramatic storylines weaving over an entire mystery series.

Still, Ellie Alexander's such a reliable author. I know I'll get a good story from her pretty much every time!

Thanks to the publisher for the review copy, provided via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.

Honestly, I was so invested in Scarlet's murder case far more than the recent murder in the bookstore. I easily guessed the killer and also the method of the murder (which is a first!).

The character development in this book has been phenomenal especially Fletcher and Annie's idea regarding the bookstore— it was simply perfect! 💫

As always ellie never fails to make me fall in love with mystery books even more than before. There's nothing better than curling up a cozy blanket, a cup of hot coffee or chocolate and getting lost in a mystery novel!
This was such a perfect fall read 🍁.

Thank you Storm Publishing and Net Galley for a copy of this arc.

I’m loving this new series from Ellie Alexander! Both the new and old mysteries are intriguing. I did figure out who the murderer was early on, but the journey to the solution was no less enjoyable for me suspecting correctly.

First I enjoyed most of the book. But I think the characters are underdeveloped.. 2nd, I knew who the killer was the instant she was introduced. I’ve read many books with the same killer. I was annoyed & frustrated that the same old trope was being used, it’s so obvious & old. #AHolidayHomicide #NetGalley

As the snow falls and the smell of gingerbread is in the air, Annie and the crew of The Secret Bookcase are hosting a holiday gingerbread contest with the hottest celebrity baker on social media. All seems cheery and bright when the social media darling shows up, but things take a turn when the baker is found dead after a few problems with other patrons and her own assistant. With the help of her sweetheart, Liam, and the rest of The Secret Bookcase team can Annie solve this murder before it's time for a visit from old St. Nick?

A Holiday Homicide is the 4th book in the series and the second I've read. The characters and setting are engaging and I felt this could almost be a stand alone. Like she does for Ashland in the Bakeshop Mysteries, Alexander brings the small town of Redwood Grove alive. The premise in this installment is a gingerbread competition held during the Christmas season in the Secret Bookcase bookstore. To boost tourism a famous influencer agrees to judge the competition. So much is not as it seems and a murder threatens to make the holiday a little less happy.
There is a second mystery that is woven through the series, I was impressed with the way the reader is caught up and prepared for book 5. I look forward to to next book. This is a delightful Christmas cozy, highly recommended.

Another really enjoyable book from Ellie Alexander! I love the main character Annie, all of her friends, and the setting in Redwood Grove, Ca.

The action in the fourth book in the series occurs right before the Christmas holidays. Annie is hosting a gingerbread house competition at the
bookstore and everything is decorated to the hilt and Christmasy foods abound in this delightful novel.

There are some great new characters - a culinary web star and several other of the baker community who may or may not get along with her.

The romance for Annie and Liam is progressing slowly but nicely as Annie is considering her future career plans and possibly getting closer in the investigation of the murder of her best friend Scarlet.

I highly recommend the entire "Secret Bookcase Mystery" series. The plots are interesting and have kept my attention all the way to the end of each book.

I absolutely loved it!! I could not put it down, and even without the cliffhanger ending, I can not wait for the next one!!

Although the secret bookcase sounds idyllic as a shopping destination I am now loathed to visit given the amount of bodies piling up in Redwood Grove!
Full of festive cheer and gruesome deaths with a bit of a bake off touch in the gingerbread competition this is a lovely cosy crime to while away a cold wet evening- but do you dare have coffee and cake when a poisoner is on the loose?!

I cannot seem to get enough of these secret bookcase mysteries. Annie Murray and the whole bunch from the bookstore and the town have stolen my heart away. I love the fact that everyone pitches in to help bring tourism and extra things to the town. So far, out all the books, this one is my favorite.

Annie, making her big decision about choosing between the bookstore and a job in law enforcement finally had me sighing with relief. She chose exactly what she should have, and I am so proud of her for being mature enough to realize what she can do, she can do it all and be fine.

Oh man, this mystery really had a lot of twists in it. For the longest time, I thought I knew who the killer was, bypassing my first instincts as to who it really was. There are a lot of red herrings in this one so look out!

I have really enjoyed reading Ellie Alexander and I am looking forward to reading some of her other series too. This one seems like it is really just starting to heat up and I am so ready for that.

The extra mystery of finally finding out what happened to Scarlett is a very nice touch too. I really like that the author gives you something else to chew on while you wait for the next book. Love it.

Thanks to Net Galley, the publishers, and to Ellie Alexander for the ability to read and review this book. All opinions are mine and are completely honest.

What’s cozier than a cozy mystery holiday adventure? Fans got more development with Annie’s career, relationship, and past—but newcomers can easily jump in. It’s not a difficult mystery to solve and is more the backdrop to some forward progress that had been lacking. A big leap forward on all the character and backstory fronts and I’m ready for the next installment.

Book 4 of this delightful series celebrates a gingerbread-baking competition being held at Annie’s beloved Secret Bookcase bookstore. A social media influencer is running the contest, along with a disgruntled assistant, and several stalker adjacent followers are in attendance. Someone ends up dead and Annie has plenty of suspects to investigate. Her wonderful friends help out as we are given aromatic descriptions of holiday food and drink.
Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this DRC.
#AHolidayHomicide #NetGalley

Excellent continuation of this series. Character development is great and the set up for a further book is clear.
I was able to guess the killer early in the book, too many other possibilities but just one obvious choice.
My advance copy still needed editing.

Thank you, NetGalley, Storm Publishing and Ellie Alexander for this ARC.

This is the 4th book in the Secret Bookcase mystery. I've enjoyed each one in this series so far. The charcters are developing more and more. I feel like I can't say much since some may not have read the first ones in this series. I will say that I really enjoy the direction this book has Annie's life heading and I can't wait to see it develop. This book didn't seem to investigate the present murder as much as Scarlet's murder which I loved. I am so invested in that one. I need to find out what happened to her!

I love the characters in this series and this holiday installment had a definite Christmas feel. As for the mystery, I figured out who and how early on, and was surprised this person wasn't really considered a suspect until the end. But this case was more a side note. The main focus is Annie making major decisions about her future and the tension really ramps up when she finally meets with the mysterious Mark and uncovers shocking revelations in Scarlet's murder. There's still unanswered questions, about Scarlet, Liam, and others that will keep readers coming back to find out more.

Annie returns. This time a gingerbread competition is taking place at the bookstore. She is also thinking about what direction she would like her future to take. Of course there ends up with something for her to investigate.
It is a nice easy read to relax with and I continue to like the main characters.

A Holiday Homicide is the 4th book in the Secret Bookcase Mystery series. It takes place in the town of Redwood Grove, CA around Christmas time. The Secret Bookcase Book store is owned by Hal Christie. It is in a restored Englilsh country estate. It is the largest mystery book store on the East Coast. Annie Murray works at the book store. She was once a criminology student when at college. Hal has offered to Annie and her co-worker, Fletcher a change to take over the running of the store. He would like to step back a bit. Annie use to be a student to Dr. Caldwell who is now Redwood's lead detective and has offered Annie a job working for her.

The store is giving it's first event, a gingerbread bake-off. Sugar Lester who owns Sweet Room Bakery wants to partner with them for the event. She has gotten Lily Hawthorne, the biggest baking influencer in the country to come and judge the contest. Sugar has told Annie that working with Lily would give a boost to their businesses. Lily plans to build a very large duplicate of the book store. Annie plans to do the room with the secret room in it. Sugar plans to do a replicate of the town of Redwood itself. They will invite the village to participate in the contest. Fletcher plans to do a replicate of Chaning Cross Station. He is a great admirer of Sherlock Holmes. Liam Donovan owns The Stag Head pub and is Annie's boyfriend.

Lily arrives with her assistant, Becca. Annie helps Becca bring in the pieces of the gingerbread house. Once Becca puts it together it is breathtaking. Lily goes and explores the store and has fallen in love with it. Perfect for her broadcast to all her followers. The store opens to all the participates at 10:00 for them to put their gingerbread houses on exhibition. Shane Briggs is at the head of the line. He said he was there to help LIly. Becca sees him and asks him what he is doing there. She tells Annie that he is a stalker who comes to all events that Lilly is doing. He is a super fan. Liam comes to help and is told about Shane and asks him to watch out for him.

Dayton Coyle is a culinary instructor from Redwood Grove High School. He is bringing his students there. Kari Harris works for Queen Mary Flour Company. She is hoping to get Lily to go into business with them and plans to talk to Lily about it. Priya (Pri) owns Crypic Coffee shop and is Annie's best friend. Penny is her girlfriend who is away on business.

When opening the contest Annie introduces Lily to the audience. Shane has somehow gotten into the store and was at the stage trying to get to Lily. Becca calls for help and Liam and Sugar get to him and take him away from the stage. Annie and Pri go outside to speak to Shane. He told them that he and Lily are really good friends. He said all he wanted to do was to make sure Lily got his gift. It was a Montblanc pen with her name and her logo on the pen. He asked Sugar to make sure that Lily got it. Sugar went and made sure that Lily had it.

Dayton got Lily to try his grandmother's recipe. She tasted it and said she recognized the recipe. He showed her the original. She told him that she would talk to him later about the recipe. Kari shouted to her but Lily paid no attention to her. Lily told her viewers about Sugar's village showing her camera and tripped and fell on Sugar's gingerbread village and it shattered to the floor. Lily made light of the situation that it was an accident. Lily left the stage with Shane's pen behind her ear. When cleaning up the ruined village Becca implied that falling into the village was done on purpose. She didn't like that Sugar's village was so good. Lily did not like being upstaged. Sugar was upset when she heard what Becca said. Becca left to find Lily to make sure she was on schedule. When Lily saw Annie she told her that Sugar was angry at her so she decided to go and judge the local entries.

When Annie was tiding up and putting books back on shelves in the parlor she came across Lily on the floor with her notebook and pink pen by her side. Annie went to check on her and called for help. She asked the other couple who were there to call the police. She did CPR until the medics got there but she was dead. Dr. Caldwell arrives and takes over. She speaks to Annie with questions. Annie tells her that Lily had eaten a piece of cake and her reaction to it. Annie goes back upfront and finds Sugar crying at the counter. They go into another room to talk. Sugar tells Annie she was with Lily and Becca in the children's area doing a photo shooting. Lily did mention she had a headache and chest tightness. Becca had told Sugar that Lily had gone off her medication a few months ago.

This is where the story gets interesting but there is so much going on that it is hard to put on paper. There are so many people who could have killed Lily, I will leave it to the reader to enjoy to the exciting ending.

I really enjoyed this book. I have read this series from the beginning. Have gotten to know the characters who live in the town and look forward to the next book in the series.

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this ARC.

This was a cute cozy mystery about Annie who is trying to solve the mystery of the murder of a celebrity during a gingerbread bake-off. This was a cute little mystery, it was somewhat predictable but that’s the charm of these books and makes it a comfort read. I haven’t read the other books in the series so there was some backstory lacking, but that’s not this book's fault. I highly recommend this if you’re looking for a fun read during the holiday season. It definitely scratches the itch of what you’d be looking for in a book like this.

Thank you, NetGalley and Storm Publishing for allowing me to read this book early for an honest review.