The Tell-Tale Homicide by Daphne Silver

Rating: 4 Stars

I just finished reading The Tell-Tale Homicide by Daphne Silver, and it was a pretty enjoyable ride. The story follows Juniper Blume, a rare books librarian who’s just landed her dream gig of setting up a new museum in Rose Mallow, Maryland. But things take a wild turn during her first week when she stumbles upon a dead guy clutching a stolen Edgar Allan Poe book. Talk about a dramatic start to a new job!

As Juniper dives into unraveling the mystery, she finds that someone really doesn’t want those bookish secrets to see the light of day. With her rescue pup Clover by her side and dressed in her vintage outfits, she’s on a mission to track down the killer. But it’s not all sleuthing—she’s also juggling a potential romance with her boss, Leo, and trying to help her sister Azalea with their grandma’s blintz recipe for the upcoming festival.

The book is well-written and holds up nicely as a standalone. The mystery is well-paced and well-plotted, keeping me hooked till the end. I found the characters quite likable, especially Juniper with her book-loving spirit. I’m definitely looking forward to diving into more books in this series. If you're into cozy mysteries with a literary twist, give this one a go!

⚠️This review was written based on personal opinions and experiences with the book. Individual preferences may vary⚠️

Absolutely loved this cozy! A bookstore, Edgar Allan Poe book and a dead body! Be still my cozy loving heart! To top off there is a rescue dog named Clover. A delightful read with great characters, solid mystery and a flowing story plot. Thanks #Netgally and #LevelBestBooks for the eARC in exchange for a honest review. All opinions are mine.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc!!

This book was full of twists and turns, very well written! I’ll keep my eye on this author!

“The Tell-Tale Homicide” is the nicely done second book in Daphne Silver’s Rare Books Cozy Mystery series. Although this is the first book in the series that I have read, I never felt lost and quickly grew to like the characters - especially main character Juniper Blume who has landed what she thinks is her dream job creating a new museum in Rose Mallow, Maryland, her sister Azalea, her niece Violet, her dog Clover, and various other characters in the book. (The use of flower names could easily have been overdone but Silver makes it work nicely). The description of Rose Mallow and the people living there is equally as well done as the description of Juniper and her family – there are some truly interesting people living there. The mystery itself – involving murder and a secret code – is very well done. I did kind of figure some things out but not everything so was taken a bit by surprise. The moment when all was revealed was very well done. All in all I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley.

This book is set in a toxic environment full of mean girls. The book is not for me, though I’m sure others will enjoy it.

Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

Juniper is starting her new job and between protesters blocking her way to work and a less than warm welcome by many of the people on the Calverton campus, it is not long before she questions her sanity in leaving her post at The Library of Congress. Her attraction to her boss makes an awkward situation even more awkward and that is before she discovers the body of a protester in her library. Beside him is a Poe book that had been stolen making the mystery even more intense.

Her board of directors tasks her with finding out what is going on and turning their bad reputation around. Talk about a monumental challenge. What makes it more precarious is the undermining and outright sabotage that makes her look like an incompetent fool who was only given the job because of her relationship with her boss.

Juniper is determined to see her project survive but she needs to clear up two murders. She does work well with the local police and she is smart and careful in her investigations. That is so refreshing to have lots of suspense and mystery without a heroine who being reckless and stupid. I liked Juniper. I liked the mystery even if I did twig to the villain long before the end. It still kept me turning the page to make sure I had it right and to see how things would resolve. Not only does Juniper have a promising future, so does this series. Five purrs and two paws up.

This is the second book in A Rare Books Cozy Mystery series. I like the main character Juniper Blume better in this book than in the first book.
Juniper takes on the role of director for creating a museum of the Calverton family’s collections.
Rare books go missing. Poe is a featured author. Murder occurs. It’s all tied to the books.
I was taken a little by surprise at how this mystery was resolved. I didn’t expect the culprit to be who it was.
I enjoyed reading this book. I think this book could be read as a stand-alone.
The book is set along the Chesapeake Bay in Maryland if you are looking for a place to armchair travel.
Thanks to Netgalley and Level Best Books for the opportunity to read The Tell-Tale Homicide.

Juniper Blume is excited to start her new job as director of the Calverton library in the small town of Rose Mallow, Maryland. But she is surprised to see protestors blocking her entrance to the Calverton campus. Later that day, Juniper finds one of the protestors dead, clutching a copy of an Edgar Allan Poe book stolen from the collection.

Dealing with unhappy staffers & a hostile Calverton board of directiors, Juniper is tasked to find the culprit.

This was a good mystery, with a slew of possible suspects.

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley and Level Best Books. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed reading the first book in this series earlier this year and was happy to see a second book coming out already. I enjoyed reading this book and figuring out the mystery. It was fun to get to know the characters a little bit better and feel a little more of a part of their world. I did feel like this was a stretch to connect the book to Edgar Allen Poe because he really had very little to do with the mystery which was disappointing and I felt like the mystery this time really didn’t have a lot to do with history, but it was a fun cozy mystery and an enjoyable easy read.

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to review this book. All opinions are my own.

I enjoyed the pace of this book and the challenges to find the perpetrator, even though I was occasionally annoyed at the lack of confidence of the main character, despite her accomplishments. Most male protagonists in similar promotions don't seem to second guess themselves so much, and push themselves to prove themselves. I hope that she becomes a bit more confident and empowered, but not reckless, in future instalments of her adventures, and learns to raise her voice when she has something to say without being deflated when challenged. However, I did enjoy it and plan on recommending this to some customers who will thoroughly enjoy this mystery.

The first I read in this series: an intriguing and entertaining mystery that i enjoyed. Fleshed out and relatable characters, a solid plot, a fascinating plot
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

I've started this book not knowing it was a book 2 in a series - but it actually didn't impact my reading experience too much. The previous installment with the "incident" is referenced often enough. Sadly this book didn't resonate with me as much as I would have liked. As an avid book lover and reader who likes their murder mysteries as much as everyone else, I was a tad disappointed with this book.

Most characters aside from the MC are explored in a rather shallow way or reduced to being mentioned in off-hand comments or with a single characteristic. For example, the sister is an inn owner, single (?) mom who is baking blintzes (all the time). The owner of the restaurant is nasty to the MC. Policemen get reduced to being a love interest of the sister. I didnt feel like I got to know anyone properly.

The setting was overall lovely. A small town that is being threatened by gentification and the population sort of fighting back? Color me interested! The general athmosphere was hard to grasp. I wasn't much able to discern the actual season (was it spring? or autumn?), most of what I remember is the MC wearing nice and unconventional dresses.

The writing was well executed and it flowed nicely. It was an easy and entertaining read. Sometimes there were expressions I wasn't familiar with. Some descriptions of Juniper felt rather repetitive, and didn't bring much to the plot or overall athmosphere.

The plot disappointed me the most because I was really hoping for the mystery to have to do with Poe much more than it actually was. The perpetrators were "just" communicating via a poe-inspired cipher and the crime was book stealing and reselling which was all done because of fragile male ego. (At least that is how it read to me). I think the plot lost me somewhere in the middle, when the Juniper decided that being tailgated and pushed offroad by a black unidentifiable car was "nothing to worry the police about" and then a few scenes later a house explodes. These things... just happened and I didn't really feel anything with it. The plausable deniability was just lost at some point.

Which brings me to the intrigue part - it all started out rather benign with a murder in a library, and then somehow spiralled into several sub plots of small town pettiness and drama, old grudges, stealing, medicinal herb poisoning, a reconnection to an old college acquaintance whose dad turned out to be the Big Bad. In my opinion there can be too much of a good thing and i think this applies to sub plots as well. Too much came out of what could have been a rather straightforward murder mystery.

I didn't care much for the relationships between the characters, which is most probably because I haven't read book 1 of this series. The side characters felt woefully underdeveloped to me.

All in all, despite my criticism of this book, it was an enjoyable read, and I had a fun time even though I did get frustrated with several aspects of the story. However, I think for fans of this particular series, I can see this being a stunning and intriguing sequel.
3/5 stars.

Juniper moved to Rose Mallow to become the head librarian for the Calverton Museum. The Calvertons were a prominent family in town and had more money than God. They were proposing to get rid of most of the businesses in town to open pricey boutiques. The whole town was against them, and there were protesters who appeared everyday at the Calverton site. One of the protesters was Big Al.

During Juniper's first few days, Big Al, the owner of Broadway Books, was killed with a poisonous weed. Juniper was implicated, but of course, she was innocent. And then only a few days later, Martha was killed. She had served on the Calverton board of directors. Juniper set out to learn who the murderer was.

Leo Calverton was Juniper's boss, and the grandson to Dorothea Calverton whom the museum was named after. Dorothea was the matriarch of the family and she held most of the money.

Juniper lived with her sister, Azalea, who was the owner of the Wildflower Inn. Azalea was estranged from her husband, Rory, who was doing everything in his power to get back into hers and their daughter Violet's life. There was also Detective Torres, who also had designs on Azalea, but in the end Rory won out. Well, actually, that's not necessarily true. Rory showed up in the end, but it didn't mean he won. No matter, the bottom line was, there were two men in Azalea's life. And Juniper had her heart set on Leo.

Florence and Eric worked with Juniper, and according to her, they became suspects in the murders. But eventually, she was able to rule them out. In the museum library, there were extremely expensive and valuable books. Florence had discovered that there were several books missing, namely, four Edgar Allan Poe books. Big Al had been killed in the library with one of the missing Poe books. Eric lived with his girlfriend, Brandy, and one day he found one of their missing Edgar Allan Poe books in Brandy's collection.

The tale was told in such a way that it was difficult to figure out who the actual murderer was. It was the type of story that compelled the reader to read on for more clues. The author left everything up in the air until the very end. It was a cunning little whodunit that left me satisfied at the close. I gave the book five stars, as I was hard-pressed to discover the culprit.

I liked Juniper's Phryne Fisher vibe and that she was so unapologetically her. I truly didn't know who was the murderer and look forward to reading more books by Daphne Silver.

This is an outstanding second book in the Rare Books Cozy Mystery series. I really enjoyed visiting with Juniper Blume and the wonderful characters of Rose Mallow again and getting to know them all more. You will love your time with Juniper, Violet, Azalea, Leo, and adorable pup, Clover. The author does a fantastic job of pulling you into the action and creating tension right from the start. The mystery was fun, twisty, and kept me guessing till the very end. This is a must read series! Thank you to #NetGalley and #LevelBestBooks for the opportunity to read and review #TheTell-TaleHomicide by #DaphneSilver #cozymystery #amateursleuth

The Tell-Tale Homicide is the fantastic second book in the Rare Book Cozy Mystery series. Juniper has stayed in Rose Mallow, MA. She's happy to be home with her sister and niece. Juniper is also excited to start her new job. She's working with Leo Calverton to open a new museum in Rose Mallow. Not everyone is as excited to have the museum open, though, and Juniper has a rough road ahead. When she discovers a body in the museum on her very first day, the road just a bit rougher.

I really enjoyed The Tell-Tale Homicide. The book has a compelling mystery, wonderful characters (most of them, anyway), and a fantastic setting. I enjoyed being back in Rose Mallow. The mystery wasn't the only thing going on in the book. The relationship between Juniper and Azalea is mending but now Juniper is going head-to-head with what seems like everyone in Rose Mallow. She's put in impossible situations, situations that make her look bad, and is generally being set up for failure. Juniper is a strong character, though, and I had faith that she would work through the adversity and solve the mystery.

The book flows well and is fast-paced. The author did a spectacular job bringing this book to life. I love the overarching historical book theme of the series.

I enjoyed this mystery. I like the characters and the setting. The mystery kept me guessing I look forward to more.

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

This cozy is a little melodramatic, but still enjoyable. I've had some overwhelming first week at work experiences during my life, but, wow. Nothing quite like this drama and disappointment. I especially enjoy the relationship between the two sisters, who are trying to rebuild their closeness. And the cranky Florence makes me laugh. All in all, a fun book.

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I really liked meeting Juniper, her sister and little niece along with others Juniper interacted with. I have the first book and totally intended to read it but time slipped away and I'm even a touch late with this review (it's been a busy month).

Either way, I loved that this book had no spoilers and just enough backstory that I never felt lost and felt like I had some new book friends by the end. The showdown was pretty exciting and at least some assistance came when Juniper needed a little help. It was great how the authorities swooped in as well!

I enjoyed the fact that the book didn't just end after the perp was caught and went on telling about some people and what happened with them or their businesses. I'd definitely read the next book since I'm eager to find out the result of something awesome that was supposed to happen.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Level Best via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

I'd like to add how nicely the book was formatted for this ARC and was very easy to read as opposed to some other books that've been single-spaced and sorta run together

I have mixed feelings about this cozy. I liked the protagonist but the plot didn't really hold my interest. I thought some of the red herrings attempted were downright silly and completely implausible. I have not read the first in the series but since the author essentially gives you the plot of the first book in a nutshell in this book, it feels unnecessary. Unfortunately, this cozy left me feeling bored.