3.5 stars rounded to 4.
This was a delightful cozy English mystery. If you like the The Thursday Murder Club series or Vera Wong's Unsolicited Guide to Murders, you would likely enjoy this book.
I am looking forward to the next installment in the series.

I enjoyed author Freya Sampson's previous two books, so of course I requested her latest, "The Busybody Book Club" and I am so glad I did. As with all her novels's this one has a lot of quirky charm and the found family trope, but with BOOKS!! I really loved all the literary references from the various members of the book club (esp. Phyliis w Christie!) and I like how they pulled together to do their own investigation. The MC Nova, who run's the book club, seems like most of the author's other leads - young, flighty, and kind of a hot mess. Loved the doggo! Overall, it was just what I expected & I enjoyed it and will continue to follow the author's releases. My thanks to Net Galley & the publisher for my advance reader's copy - a pleasure to review it!

This is kind of the ultimate cozy mystery for book lovers. Set in picturesque Cornwall and featuring a book club made up of readers who have very strong opinions and are very different from one another. When a dead body turns up in the home of one of the members, Michael, and Michael himself is missing, the group decides to try to find him and clear his name. As you can imagine, each member of the group has a different reading taste (Agatha Christie, fantasy, etc.) and a different perspective on how to find clues and piece them together. Great fun!

They can't even agree on what to read, so how are they going to solve a murder?

St. Tredock Book Club disagree on everything, from the books they read to the biscuits they eat. For book club organizer Nova Davies, who's new to the Cornish seaside village, the digestive vs shortbread debate is just the start of her problems...

The Characters, the setting and the entire book was really amazing.

This book is a delightful romp! A book club like no other, the self-named Busybodies not only discuss books, but solve mysteries, fight for what’s right and lend a hand in the romance department too. The cast of characters is unusual, but highly endearing. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, but most of all you’ll be happy to have read this novel.

theft, murder, amateur-sleuth, cozy-mystery, friendship, friends, small-town, book-club, false-conclusions, false-information, falsely accused, Cornish-coast, situational-humor*****

I needed a book to divert me from the news hawks and give me a few good laughs. This is it!
The suspect in the theft of the money for the repair of the community center roof is missing the next day while his mother was found dead at the bottom of the stairs in his home the next day. And then things really went off the rails. The characters are so much fun and the plot twists are amazing.
I requested and received a temporary uncorrected ebook file from Berkley Publishing Group/Berkley via NetGalley. Pub Date May 27, 2025
#TheBusybodyBookClub by @freyasampsonauthor @berkleypub #cozymystery #murdermystery #NetGalley @goodreads @bookbub @librarythingofficial @barnesandnoble **** Review #booksamillion #bookshop_org #bookshop_org_uk #kobo #Waterstones #Cornwall

Rounded up from 3.5

From the publisher: They can’t even agree on what to read, so how are they going to solve a murder?

Freya Sampson specializes in multi-generational found family novels. She is also a fan of spaces where lonely people can meet friends. The Busybody Book Club features a small book club that meets at a community center that, like many community centers, is always short of funds. The book club is coordinated by Nova, who is new to small town life and the job at the community center. She favors quirky thrift shop attire. Other members include Arthur, a man in his 80s; Phyllis, a woman in her 70s; Michael, a man in his 60s; and Ash, a teenager. There’s also a stupid and ugly but charming dog.

Not surprising in a book about a book club, there are many references to other books. One member is obsessed with Agatha Christie and sees herself as a modern Jane Marple. The teenager and his crush talk about Star Wars a lot. The Bridgerton books come up often. The author really throws a lot of darts at the dartboard hoping to appeal to a wide audience.

It took me a little longer to get into this novel than the two previous books I’ve read by Sampson. Nova is adrift, living with her fiancé and his parents but with no real friends of her own. She is not engaged by the planning of her wedding. Then she starts making mistakes – room reservations at the center get canceled, doors are left unlocked, money is stolen. Are they mistakes, or is someone gaslighting Nova?

There is some very questionable behavior by members of the book club, but the book finally found its rhythm for me. There are a number of secrets that are easy to guess from the beginning. There’s also quite a bit of info dumping (especially about Phyllis and Michael). While not quite as good as the other two books I’ve read by Sampson, I still enjoyed The Busybody Book Club. All the characters grow and overall it has a feel good vibe.

I read an advance reader copy of The Busybody Book Club from NetGalley. It will be available at the Galesburg Public Library, and her three other books (Nosy Neighbors, The Lost Ticket, and The Last Chance Library are available now.

Freya Sampson’s The Busybody Book Club is a charming and twisty cozy mystery that blends small-town warmth with an irresistible whodunit. Nova Davies’ struggling book club in a quaint Cornish village takes an unexpected turn when a theft, a disappearance, and a murder pull its eccentric members into a real-life mystery. With a delightful cast—from an Agatha Christie devotee to a sci-fi-loving teen—Sampson crafts a fun, fast-paced story filled with humor, heart, and plenty of bookish banter. Perfect for fans of lighthearted mysteries and stories about unlikely friendships, this novel is an absolute page-turner with just the right mix of intrigue and warmth.

If you love cozy mysteries with quirky characters and a bookish twist, you’re in for a treat with The Busybody Book Club. I had so much fun following Nova Davies as she tries to turn her struggling book club into a success—only to have things take a wild turn when money goes missing, a member disappears, and a dead body turns up. Suddenly, this mismatched group of readers has a real-life mystery to solve, whether they can agree on how to do it or not!

Freya Sampson does a fantastic job balancing humor, heart, and small-town charm. I especially enjoyed the different book club members, each bringing their own perspective (and wild theories) to the case. It’s the perfect read for fans of cozy mysteries and stories about the power of community.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. The busy body book club was a welcome surprise to my weekend reading, as the cover initially made me think it was going to be a cozy, gentle read, and it turned into being more of a mystery. I really enjoyed the fact that the chapters were from the perspectives of different narrators – jumping from Nova, to Phyllis, Arthur, and more. I definitely did not like the relationship between Nova and her fiancé Craig and was very happy that the book ended the way it did. This is not my first Freya Sampson and it definitely won’t be my last!

The Busybody Book Club is a delightful cozy mystery full of humor and heart. If you enjoy cozy mysteries with all of the above, definitely consider giving this one a read.

The Busybody Book Club is a delightful cozy mystery full of humor and heart. I love.a found family book.

I really enjoyed this book, I loved that way that it was all pulled together so neatly at the end and it was truly an entertaining read! I thought the characters were put together very well, and each had their own quirks and personalities! While I was not on the edge of my seat with this one I did end up enjoying it even though it was a rather slow start for me.

Nova is attempting to fit into a new town with her fiance. She loves her job but suddenly things are putting it in risk. Luckily, her fledgling book club members are happy to put all the fictional books they have read to the test as they attempt to sort things out.

Five diverse and quirky personalities come together at a local community center for an unlikely book club. When they learn of a theft and a murder possibly involving one of their members, and things keep going wrong for another member, Nova, who is also an employee of the community center, the members band together. Though they can't even agree on what book to read, they seek to solve the crimes and make sure that the community center does not close and that Nova keeps her job.

This was a fun read due to the wacky people involved and the unexpected twists which lead to an unexpected and satisfying conclusion.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

As a bookstore owner and someone in a book club I loved the book from page one to the last page and felt like I was living in the story

I loved Freya Sampson's The Busybody Book Club. It was the perfect cozy mystery with memorable characters and events. Often these mysteries can have people that seem to be a bit over the top in terms of personality, but everyone in The Busybody Book Club feels like a real person you will encounter in your town. The beginning of the book drags a little bit, but once you get into the story it is a quick and entertaining read. There were more twists than I expected at the end, but I truly enjoyed the wild ride.

What happens when money from the community center goes missing and and the suspect winds up missing? Where's the money, and where is Michael? Nova and her rag-tag group of book club members set out to solve the case. I adored Nosy Neighbors and was thrilled to see Freya Sampson release a new book. This one did not disappoint and I loved every minute of it. Highly recommended.

The Busybody Book Club tells a type of story that is becoming more popular these days, and I for one am fine with that. A mix of people of different ages, and little mystery... it's a bit formulaic but still this one was a good one. I think there could have been a bit more depth with the characters. What is Ash's family like? Arthur's farm sounds like a place I'd like to hear more about. Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

As a lover of all things Agatha Christie, senior citizen Phyllis bullies her way into just about every activity at the local community center. Known for being the village's gossip, Phyllis sees mysterious goings on everywhere she turns. But when an actual crime is committed she is determined to solve it, putting not only herself in danger, but also the new, young community center worker, Nova ,who is just a week away from her wedding to local man Craig. Feeling sorry for the lonely old woman, Nova humors Phyllis as well as the other members of her struggling book club in order to find a way to fit into this small Cornish village after her life in London imploded. Being bullied by her soon to be mother-in-law (who is high-jacking the wedding plans) Nova finds that not only is she struggling to fit in but is now being accused of more than one crime. Can she depend upon a group of senior citizens, an extremely shy teenage boy, a smelly old dog and Phyllis to clear her name in time for her wedding?

These characters are fully formed and beg to be seen and heard. It would be easy to imagine a BBC series featuring them as they go about solving crimes, discovering long-held secrets and generally creating mayhem in their small Cornish village. Highly recommended.