Many thanks to Netgalley for this arc. I received this book in exchange for my honest review. My thoughts are entirely my own.

It’s Christmas time and the Secret Bookstore is hosting a gingerbread house contest with the bakery. Lily, a baking influencer, arrives to indorse the Sweet Shop, Sugar’s bakery after she pays Lily to help her. Lily is found dead after being poisoned with cyanide from a pen that a friend gave her. This fan really was a fan but Becca, Lily’s personal assistant, made it seem like he was an unstable stalker who made their friendship up. Lily was a fraud and Becca was stealing from her which was why she died. Annie is closer than ever to finding out what happened to Scarlet. Annie meets with Mark who talked to her before she vanished and reveals that she is alive. Annie is also almost hit by a Tesla that she ends up finding out that Mark was driving. I can’t wait for the next book. Such a good cozy mystery series

I loved this book. Its the fourth in the series and by now I love all the characters and care for them deeply. The mystery in this one didn't intrigue me as much as the others but my favorite part about it was the romance development. I don't wish to say more in case I spoil anything. I will just say that this is a must series!!

I was happy to meet up with Annie, Liam, Hal, Fletcher, Priya and the gang in the 4th book in the Secret Bookcase series. This is a lovely festive read, with all things nice with plenty of sugar and spice and warming notes with the mystery of the death of a social media baking star at a gingerbread house making competition! It was very descriptive and I was certainly taken for an enjoyable ride with all the twists and turns that led to an unexpected conclusion.

This is the fourth book in the series and each book gets better! In this book, Annie is hosting a gingerbread contest at the bookstore. A baking influencer is the big draw, but when Annie finds her dead in the bookstore, there are several suspects and Annie and friends try to puzzle it out. This book has several twists and the murderer is soon revealed. I love the growth in the relationships in the book and the fleshing out of characters like Fletcher and Hal. I look forward to more in the series!
I was given an advance copy of this book in return for a review.

3.5 Stars
One Liner: A quick little mystery

When local bakery owner, Sugar, asks Annie to host a gingerbread competition at the Secret Bookcase Shop, everyone is excited. A famous influencer baker, Lily Hawthorne, is the guest and is supposed to promote their small town, Redwood Grove.
However, things take a different turn when there’s a death on the site and everything indicates it was a murder. Can Annie, with help from friends, solve the case and save the day for her town?
The story comes in Annie’s first-person POV.

My Thoughts:
I didn’t realize this had an influencer (the official blurb is rather vague). While it’s not my favorite topic, the book tackles the theme well. We see the real and fake sides of social media fame, as well as the threats that come with it.
Set during the Holidays, the book brings the Christmas vibe alive with gingerbread, spiced teas, seasonal flavored coffees, cakes, cupcakes, and more! The weather is cold, which adds to the atmosphere.
The pacing is fast just like the previous books in the series. We get enough backstory about the characters and the overarching subplot for this work as a standalone. Though, note that you’ll find it repetitive if you’ve read the previous books.
Annie makes some major decisions and is excited about the future after a long time. While I like her love story with Liam, she tends to go off-tagent and daydream like a teenager. That doesn’t always work.
The main mystery was easy enough to guess though there are a few suspects to consider. There is a little progress on the Scarlet track. I wish it would start to pick up pace and become a central mystery in one of the upcoming books.
The recurring side characters like Priya, Fletcher, and Hal are adorable as always. I like how they are so supportive and care for Annie. Their thoughtfulness gives the story a warm cozy vibe. Too bad we get to meet Professor Plum only once.

To summarize, A Holiday Homicide is a light mystery with some likable and unlikeable characters. Though it doesn’t have any dark vibes, it does talk about the grief of losing a loved one.
Thank you, NetGalley and Storm Publishing, for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

This is the fourth book in the Secret Bookcase Mystery Series and it’s definitely my favorite. I liked getting to know the characters in the first three books, and getting acquainted with the community of Redwood Grove, but this book started to push forward some of my favorite storylines. There’s been an ongoing cold case that we first learned about in book 1, that finally moves forward in this book. And the new romance between Liam and Annie really takes root in this one as well. I love that there are so many possible tangents for future stories, and I can’t wait to read them all.

This a charming holiday Christmas cozy set in the adorable town of Redwood Grove, CA and is the fourth book in the Secret Bookcase series.

Annie Murray is gearing up for the first holiday gingerbread contest at the Secret Bookcase, with guest star influencer to judge the competition. Unfortunately, soon after the influencer's masterpiece unveiling, she is found dead in the back of the bookstore with no obvious cause of death. There are multiple suspects and Annie decides she must find the killer before this puts a damper on everyone's holiday spirit.

Meanwhile, she is finally going to make a decision about continuing on at the Secret Bookcase and buying out the owner with Fletcher, her friend and fellow employee, or taking Dr. Caldwell's offer to join the police force and put her criminology degree to work. You have to read the book to find out her choice!

This book was so festive and fun to read. It boosted my spirits (even with the murder) and gave me the warm fuzzies at the friendship and spirit of the season.

I highly recommend this fun cozy to put you in a festive mood for the holiday season.

Thank you to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review. My opinions are my own.

The latest in the cosy crime series set in an amazing bookstore in the cutest small town. Romance, books, baking and Christmas all come together in this feel good story.

These books keep getting better and better! Ms. Alexander has outdone herself on this one. Although the immediate crime in the book was solved, I'm left with so many questions! What is the secret behind Liam's past? What was Scarlett up to? What are Liam and Hal hiding in regards to the bookstore? Is Annie in imminent danger? Usually I finish a book in this series eager to read another, but satisfied with the outcome. With this one my brain is still reeling! I can't wait for book 5.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Ellie Alexander is a favorite of mine and I'm really loving this series and my trips to Redwood Grove. I loved the holiday theme of this one and the added cozy elements that brought, and also found this to be another well done mystery in the series. Mostly I find myself invested in a lot of the overarching storylines in this series that keep me coming back - the path of Annie's career, romance between Annie & Liam plus Scarlet's cold case.
Can't wait to read the next one!

I loved this story! I thought the gingerbread house competition was so festive and got me into the holiday spirit. I also love any book that includes influencers, it gives it a very modern feel. I definitely want to continue with this series.

I always look forward to trips to Redwood Grove, and this one was no different. The setting would have put me in the Christmas mood if I wasn’t reading the book in the Costa Rican jungle. I liked the story around the victim and the suspects, but I also enjoy how some of of the longer game plots are playing out. I love the way Annie and Liam’s relationship is developing, and the combination of overarching storylines (Scarlet’s cold case) with the more pressing question of will-she-or-won’t-she work for Dr. Caldwell keeps this from being too predictable. I’m invested in these characters now, all of them, and I’m looking forward to seeing where they’ll go next. I know it's going to be interesting.

I’m really enjoying this series, I love the idea of the Secret Bookcase, Annie, Fletcher and Hal bringing everything together to make an enjoyable read, interesting characters, coffees I would love to taste and a murder to keep me interested. Nice array of suspects, a victim who seems to be very self centred, with several viable suspects. I liked the running theme through the series, which doesn’t detract from this murder. The only thing that didn’t seem quite right was how quickly the final investigation was wound up. But the build up to it was great. And I love the fact that there has to be another book in the series.

Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was another really enjoyable read in Ellie Alexander's Secret Bookcase Mystery series.

In this one, set around the holidays, an influencer/baker is un-alived during a gingerbread baking competition and Annie Murray finds herself wrapped up in another murder mystery. Alongside that, we also get further development regarding Annie's friend's mysterious death.

Though I kind of saw it coming who the murderer was, I still had a great time with this book. The gingerbread competition, baking coziness and the cast of lovable characters makes for a very enjoyable read for the run-up to Christmas!

I look forward to reading more from Redwood Grove and Annie Murray.

A cozy holiday mystery, perfect for the season.

When a celebrity baker comes to Redwood Grove to judge a gingerbread house competition hosted by Annie Murray and the Secret Bookcase. Only she ends up dead in the book stacks! Annie and her friends work to determine exactly what happened with some close calls of her own.

Thanks to NetGalley, Storm Publishing and Ellie Alexander for the eARC.

Annie is hosting a gingerbread contest at the Secret Bookcase when the guest baker turns up dead. Someone has poisoned her, but who could want her head? Well... everyone, actually. Good luck figuring out who killed the woman who had given pretty much everyone a reason to want to see the end of her!

As much as I love Alexander's Bakeshop series, this one is just kind of flat for me. I can't really connect with Annie. She's fine, she's a nice woman and she's got a very interesting resume and all the other things I look for in a main character, fun friends, exciting job, adorable cottage in a sweet neighborhood. Redwood Grove sounds idyllic. I don't really know what I'm missing. I do not like Liam at all. He just comes across as kind of a jerk and I don't understand how Annie can be attracted to him, especially so soon after she really hated him. Maybe it's that connection that I don't really care for. I also don't find Pri all that charming, but she has definitely grown on me over the last two books.

Overall, I'm enjoying the series, but as much as I love Alexander's writing, this series is not among my favorites. I will definitely keep reading though!

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publishers of this book, I appreciate you accepting my request to read this.

Unfortunately, this one didn’t hit an interest with me as I thought it would. I stopped reading at 32%, I tried to really let myself just flow with the story but some parts felt just flat for me. On the other hand, I feel this is great book for someone who enjoys mystery, solving mysteries and would like something festive and easy to read. It just wasn’t the one for me and that’s totally okay. I’m happy to see so many others enjoyed it and I know a few people in my life who would as well. Thank you again for this opportunity, I’m so grateful!

Literary Cozy Mystery which finds a CA Agatha Christie-inspired mystery bookstore's events organizer turning sleuth after a celebrity baker's killed during a gingerbread-baking challenge.

5/5 stars: Alexander's a favorite author and once again doesn't miss with this fourth entry in the Secret Bookcase Mystery series, which is a Literary Cozy Mystery that takes place in California and features a bookseller and event organizer for an Agatha Christie-inspired mystery bookstore, who also has a criminology degree. When a social media star and celebrity baker's killed during a gingerbread-baking competition, she teams up with her loyal bookstore colleagues and her pub-owner new boyfriend to solve this murder mystery before the killer strikes again and makes this her last Christmas. With plenty of twists and turns, Alexander has masterfully crafted a mystery that deftly balances the suspects, clues and red herrings and will leave you pondering the whodunit until the final reveal. I also enjoy the overarching plot of the cold case murder investigations and seeing Annie moving forward in her career. Heartfelt and humorous, Alexander's writing and character work are stellar; the characters are well-rounded and complex while remaining incredibly likable. It's so much fun to catch up with Annie, her friends, her found family at the Secret Bookcase bookshop and the eclectic townsfolk of Redwood Grove. Annie's a great character, who's toughness and determination are admirable. And I really like seeing her relationship with the ever so handsome bar owner and chef, Liam, starting to bloom. And of course one mustn't forget Annie's aptly named cat, Professor Plum. Additionally, I adore the small town holiday-filled atmosphere and cheery vibes throughout the book; Alexander always know how to set the scene. Alexander touches on some serious subjects; so take care and check the CWs. While you could read this as a stand-alone, you'll gain so much more by reading the series from the beginning; so be sure to pick up book one, The Body in the Bookstore.

I received this eARC thanks to NetGalley and Storm Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Publishing dates are subject to change.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Ellie Alexander for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for A Holiday Homicide coming out November 20, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I really love this series! Cozy mysteries are one of my favorite genres. Christmastime mysteries are so fun. I can really relate to Annie with her love of Christmastime and mysteries. I loved the plot of this one. I would definitely watch this book series as a movie series. I love Liam’s character and his support for Annie. I’ll definitely check out the next book.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys cozy mysteries!

This is the latest installment in new series by Alexander. It is phenomenal. I can't wait for book five to come out. 5 stars!!!