This was a fun cozy mystery.
It takes place in the small town of Enigma, Georgia. Our main character Madeline has returned to her hometown when her aunt and childhood caretaker dies and leaves her her bookshop/house. Madeline immediately gets a threatening phone call telling her to leave. When a college student who was close with Madeline's Aunt Rose, Tandy, stays over because she has had a fight with her roommate, she ends up dead and the house ends up on fire. Madeline takes those threatening phone calls very seriously after that.
I think this was the definition of a cozy mystery. The plot was a little slow moving (not in a bad way) and it took place mostly in this cute small town bookshop. Madeline was curious and determined to figure out what happened to Tandy. Even though she didn't know her for long, she really connected with her. Madeline has some old friends and makes some new ones and everyone was easy to remember.
The audiobook narrator was great, she really made me believe I was in this small town and really gave life to the characters.
The story wrapped up nicely. The culprit was believable, and I can't wait to see what other adventures await Madeline and friends!

Booked for Murder
by P.J. Nelson
Narrated by Hallie Bee Bard

I received an ARC of this audiobook through Netgalley.

Narration: 4.5 stars

This is a cozy-mystery adjacent book. It is part therapy, a smidge of romance, a lot of amateur sleuthing, and a heck of a lot of small town charm.

I really fell in love with the settings - a small town bookstore in a mostly defunct small town with a bunch of interesting people.

If you listen to this book only for the episcopal Father Gloria - you will not be disappointed. She’s my new hero!

I enjoyed this book so much. I highly recommend it to lovers of bookstores, theater, small towns, amateur detectives, and a mystery that you will feel as bound to solve as the main character!

This story focuses around Madeline, a woman in her early thirties, who takes over her aunt's bookstore. It seems like people are interested in that property as she receives several threats telling her to move out.

In terms of murder mysteries, this one felt average in my opinion. I wasn't really surprised by the murderer. It was a super cozy mystery for the most part, besides a few darker parts.

I did enjoy learning about her Aunt Rose's past and I was very happy that Madeline forgave Aunt Rose's old partner and that they learned to overcome some obstacles. Thank you to Netgalley, Dreamscape Media, and P.J Nelson for an ARC of this audiobook. This review is my own honest opinion.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc/alc of this book.

This book was only mediocre in my opinion. It is entirely possible that I just wasn't in the right mood when I read this story, and I may try this book again in the future, but for whatever reason, I couldn't find myself interested in this story and my mind kept wandering. With that being said, I may try this book again at a later date.

Moving back to Enigma, Georgia to take over her aunts bookstore was no in Madeline Brinkley’s long term plans, but now it seems more like an escape. A welcome escape until she’s confronted with threatening phone calls, a burned down gazebo and the death of a new friend. Unwilling to be intimidated, Madeline takes it upon herself to find the culprit, stopping at nothing to get to the truth.

I am always looking for a good mystery and was intrigued by this book. I wasn’t disappointed. I really enjoyed this book from start to finish and liked the characters a lot. There was a good assortment of personalities and quirks, but the main characters were all great together. At times the sleuthing skills were a little bold and in your face, but I think that was part of Madeline’s charm. She’s definitely not subtle and not as good of a sleuth as she thinks she is, but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I don’t know if this is going to turn into a series or if it’s a one off, but I’d be interested in seeing more. If you are a mystery fan and want some good laughs along with your mystery this is a good book to choose.

Another series where unlikely characters got together to solve a murder. My standards are really high for this theme as I'm not used to read The Thursday Murder Club or Finlay Donovan stories. This one was a good palate cleanser, but nothing that swept me off my feet.

Madeline took over her aunt's bookshop after she passed away. She wanted to get away from that town so bad that coming back felt like a punishment. She thought about selling the store, but also she was bind by the law that she had to live in aunt's house and work at the bookstore for 6 months before she could do anything. This would have been okay if it was only that. Gazebo arson, murder, and threatening messages came after to turn Madeline's life into living hell

If you are interested in murder mysteries tied to specific location and people, you'll like this one too. I enjoyed it, but also I have read so many like this.

Thank you so much Dreamscape Media for the ARC!

As far as the audiobook production itself, that was very well done! The narrator was easy to listen to!

I'm a huge fan of cute cozy mysteries and they usually hit the spot for me.

Unfortunately, something was missing for me in this one. I think it just felt a little slow and I kept waiting for it to hook me and it never did sadly.

I do love the cover and the premise of a mystery at a bookstore, but I feel like a lot of this was basic tropes that have been done many times before, especially with the inheriting from a family member, etc. \

I wish the author sucess!

Great start to a new series with an idyllic setting and fun, quirky characters. My only complaint is that the murder victim and the aunt that leaves Madeline the shop are characters we’ll never really get to know; they seemed like fun characters. There is a slight hint of the paranormal in this one but not enough for it to be classified as a paranormal mystery. Maybe we’ll get to know Rose after all in subsequent books. The mystery was well-developed and was intriguing, with plenty of red herrings to keep you guessing until the end. In the audio version, there are a few moments of upspeak that take away from the mood, particularly one speech that Madeline gives to the fire investigator but other than that, the audio is well done and kept me invested in the story.

Love love loved this one!! I’m new to the mystery genre and I think this was the perfect book to get my toes wet. I loved the audio narration, the characters, the whole story. I’ll definitely reread this one!

ADORED this read! I listened to the audio (Thank you #Netgalley!) and the narration is wonderful. The southern accents are spot on and the small town, in everyone's business vibe was thriving!

It was a quaint mystery, not overly dark, and the characters are lovable. I am glad it is going to be a serious because I definitely want to know about these characters!

I really enjoyed this one! The narrator is a new favorite of mine, she is excellent with accents, different voices and portraying emotions. This is a great start to a new cozy series- it has a quirky cast of characters, a small town, a cat and a mystery, actually more than one mystery! I will definitely be eagerly awaiting the next in the series and I highly recommend this one to my fellow cozy lovers.

I’m always on the hunt for a new cozy mystery series to get attached to and BOOKED FOR MURDER (An Old Juniper Bookstore Mystery) was just the one to add to my list.

Like with most cozies book one really sets up the series, you get the location info, back history of the main character, introduction to supporting characters oh and of course the crime. This debut did a great job of delivering to the reader what to expect in future books

Madeline arrives in a small southern college town where she inherits a bookstore housed in a old Victorian mansion from her eccentric Aunt. But someone doesn’t want Madeline there and she runs into challenges just minutes after arriving.

I really enjoyed the characters, there were a few unexpected twists I was not prepared for which made the pages keep turning. I’m looking forward to book 2!

Thank you Dreamscape Media

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⭐️⭐️⭐️

📚Cozy Mystery
🐈‍⬛Small Town
📚Grief

I thought this book was very cozy and I do love that there was a murder mystery going on. I think it was too cozy for me. If you love small town vibes, this book is perfect because the small town is very prominent.

The main character inherits a bookstore from her relative in her hometown. She recently decided that acting is not for her and she moves back.
Weird things start to happen along with a murder that takes place. As she’s trying to fit back in with her hometown and also investigating who the murderer is you get a sense of belonging and found family.

I think the narrator did a good job for this one. I preferred her normal voice narrating the accent that she gives for the side characters was kind of offputting for me but overall, I think the narrator did a good job. I would definitely recommend this book to people who are looking for a cozy murder mystery and who love small town.

4.5 ⭐️: Booked for Murder is an enjoyable, cozy mystery that is the perfect listen to curl up with for the winter months with a cup of tea that you can get through in a day! The narration on the audiobook is excellent and really easy to understand and enjoy at 2x speed. Madeline Brimley is an interesting protagonist with a cast of charming and well developed side characters who round out the story without becoming overwhelming. This is, at its core, a mystery which I think is really important to remember because the characters are so interesting that I did hope for a bit more side-plot development, but the mystery in the novel is resolved in a very satisfying way. I would absolutely read more by this author! Grateful to Dreamscape Media for the early copy.

In this charming southern debut, Madeline Brimley, bookstore inheritor and returning small-town girl, learns small towns may have a couple of dangerous secrets of their own.

I listened to this on the audiobook version, and Hallee Bee Bard did a great job narrating it. Her character portrayal of Madeline was a well-performed one. It is a slow pace and the narrative is rather repetitious, with characters that feel a little slightly underdeveloped.

If you prefer cozy mysteries with a Southern bent, this would be your book. I would highly recommend the audiobook version of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to read and review this book.

Booked for Murder is book #1 in the Old Juniper Bookshop Mystery series by P. J. Nelson and narrated by

I thought the premise of this book was interesting. Madeline Brimley is an actress who is at an age where she isn’t getting many roles. Her aunt passes away and leaves her bookstore to Madeline. She goes back to claim her inheritance and the trouble starts. Unfortunately, I found Madeline to be an unpleasant character who makes questionable decisions. She has a bad attitude towards police and fire. I suspected the killer early on but enjoyed all the small town secrets. I will read the next book because the ending gave me hope for Madeline.

Hallie Bee Bard did a great job narrating the story. It was easy to distinguish among the characters.

I both read an ARC and listened and found I preferred the audio.

Thank you to the author, Dreamscape Media, and NetGalley for the Advanced Listener Copy (ALC) copy of this book and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Booked for Murder by PJ Nelson is a delightful and atmospheric cozy mystery set in the heart of the South. Madeline Brimley is a charming protagonist, full of wit and determination, who makes an engaging guide through the quirky small town of Enigma. The Old Juniper Bookstore, with its Victorian charm and dark secrets, is the perfect backdrop for this twisty tale.

Nelson weaves a story filled with colorful characters, unexpected plot turns, and just the right amount of suspense. The slow-burning mystery keeps you guessing, and the Southern charm adds a layer of warmth to the darker moments.

A promising debut for fans of Southern cozies with a hint of danger—I'll be keeping an eye out for the next Madeline Brimley mystery!

Thank you PJ Nelson, Dreamscape Media, St. Martin's Press, and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

I tried to read this ARC, unsuccessfully. But I was drawn to the blurb and cover, and when I saw the audio version, thought that might be my solution. Alas, this one just simply is not for me in any format. I couldn't connect to the characters or story any more while listening than while reading, unfortunately...

This was a quick cozy mystery and I was able to get through it in one day. I liked the characters and the book had good flow start to finish. Madeline was a horrible detective but I think it added extra charm to the overall feel. The whodunnit mystery kept me interested in the plot. I think this will appeal to readers looking for a lighthearted mystery with a small town atmosphere.

Audiobook narration by Hallie Bee Bard was very upbeat and I enjoyed her southern accent and twang on the variety of characters and suspects. It was a fun time!

Thank you to Dreamscape Media for the review copy.

Rounded to 3.5 stars.

CONTENT WARNING: arson, murder, religious intolerance, misogyny

It’s no secret that I love a good cozy mystery. A series starter that centers around a bookstore in a small, Southern town seemed like the perfect read in between all the complex and involved fantasy I tend to read. This book had quite a few positives, but as a debut novel, it was pretty good. I read this as an audiobook. There were a few things that led to this rating, though, so let’s dive into my thoughts on the book.

It isn’t always easy to return to where you came from, and this is a fact that Madeline Brimley learns early on in the story. She left the small town in Georgia that she grew up in, and followed her dreams of being an actor first in New York and then Atlanta. Now in her mid-30s and not famous, she’s not quite sure what to do with herself until she finds out that her Aunt Rose has passed away and left her a bookshop in a mansion in Enigma, Georgia.

From the moment she returns to town, she realizes that things aren’t going to be easy. Her aunt’s bookshop is one of the few remaining businesses that she remembers in town, and while she knows some of the characters, others are completely new to her.

Hallie Bee Bard does the narration for this book, and her thick Georgia drawl felt completely right for these characters. I’m not quite sure what small-town Georgians actually sound like, but her accent felt appropriate for the story. She did fantastic with her narration, with characters like Madeline herself having less of a drawl because she spent many years away from Georgia.

The story was intriguing, but the pacing felt inconsistent. Sometimes it would be very slow-moving, almost to the point of dragging, and then suddenly the pace would pick up. I enjoyed the plot line to the story, along with the number of red herrings to keep readers guessing. There are several side plots, which tracks with the majority of cozy mysteries that I have read. Madeline meets someone who might become a romantic partner somewhere down the line, but the storyline in this book leads me to believe that we’ll learn more about this possible slow-burn romance in future books.

The side characters ranged from well-rounded to one-dimensional, with characters who were more involved being more complex, while characters who were more peripheral to the story read more like caricatures. I wasn’t a fan of how some of the side characters were portrayed as ignorant, small-town hicks with secrets galore. Although they were living in a small town, it was also the location of a small, liberal college, which can both make secrets more common and more difficult to keep secret. One of the major side characters is a professor at the college, yet still read as though she was a hick. Not everyone in the rural South is uneducated or cooks meth, yet there are multiple characters who fit that description, while the rest of the town is basically trying desperately to escape small-town life.

Madeline herself is someone who chased her dreams right out of rural Georgia, but ended up back there after seeing more of the world, but that doesn’t stop her from judging the majority of the town for being exactly who she was before she left town. It made me feel less empathetic towards her, especially as she consistently undermined the town cop simply because she knew him before she left and he stayed in town. As expected in a cozy, she makes quick and impulsive decisions that aren’t always safe, and I was so disappointed in her for not thinking things through and ensuring that she was safe from someone who clearly wanted her gone.

Overall, this was a good debut with room for growth in further books that I hope are forthcoming. I enjoyed the plot as it developed, and the things I didn’t love were mostly minor kinks that will most likely resolve in future books, such as the pacing and the discrepancy in character development. I have high hopes for the future of this series, and hope that we get to see more of the small town with less of the judgment. I’ll definitely be checking out the next book in this series, and can recommend this to those who like cozy mysteries, especially those set in bookshops, love listening to a Southern drawl, and can handle a little shade being thrown in the direction of people living in rural Georgia.