Murder in the Reading Room by Ellery Adams is book five in the Book Retreat Mysteries. This was the first in the series I have read. I feel I should have read the first ones as I was somewhat lost at the beginning.
There were plenty of twists and turns and I was kept guessing until the end but felt is was a slow read.
Thanks to Netgalley for an ARC for an honest review.

The Book Retreat Mysteries have been among my favorite series since it began, and this fifth installment, MURDER IN THE READING ROOM, did not disappoint. Likeable and relatable characters, heart-pounding excitement, drama, romance, peril, and mystery all come together to make this a unique, delightful read. It is sure to be one of my best books of 2019.

The Book retreat series is unlike any cozy mystery out there. It contains all of the typical comforting elements of the cozy genre and turns it on its head with the addition of secret societies, specially trained guardians, and a secret, priceless library. MURDER IN THE READING ROOM finds Jane leaving her beloved Storyton Hall in Virginia on a quest to find her missing boyfriend Edwin, whom she is sure is being held hostage at the Biltmore Estate. Once there, she receives the shock of her life and also discovers one of the gardeners murdered. Returning home, she must find a way to save the man that she loves and her legacy.

This time around, the murder mystery is not the emphasis of the story, but there is so much going on that readers hardly notice. Adams’ clever and intelligent writing draws readers in from the first sentence and keeps you on your toes until the final page. There is a truly unexpected twist that left me utterly gobsmacked, so much so that I had to stop reading for a moment. But the compelling nature of the tale made me impatient to get back into the story, and even when I wasn’t reading I was thinking about all the ways the story could go. It is unputdownable. The book does have a certain tone that feels like the series is coming to an end, but Adams has assured readers that more books are coming, and I am so glad. I wait with baited breath for the next installment.

Highly recommended.

I received an ARC of this title from the author and voluntarily shared my thoughts and opinions here.

This Book Retreat novel begins with a road trip and a visit to another historic book lover's paradise, although it is no vacation for Jane. With the company of a trusted friend she is searching for her missing boyfriend, whom she believes to be held against his will. While in this story there was less of a mystery on who the bad guy is, the motivation was hidden and kept the action moving. Plenty of surprises with a cast of characters that make you feel you could visit Storyton Hall yourself.

Excellent Book Treasure Related Mystery
This book is the fifth in a series. This ends like it may be the last in the series, but only the author knows about that. This episode ties up quite a bit of the story arc with some big surprises. There is a lot of action in this book and much of it has to do with lost literary treasures and a WWI re-enactment for the 100th anniversary of the Armistice. This is a very good book! I have not read the entire series, but now I want to go back and read the whole thing, start to finish. There is so much rich detail, strong emotion and fantasy of environment in this that I know I will spend some serious time thinking about this story. I loved it! I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

Murder in the Reading Room is another great installment in the Book Retreat Mystery series. Jane and the Fins must protect Storyton Hall and Jane's loved ones from a Templar threat. Edwin is in need of rescue. A ghost from Jane's past returns. To make matters worse, there is a murder amongst the historians who are having a convention at Storyton Hall. Ms. Adams has a quick paced writing style that mixes mystery, literature, romance, history and humor in an outstanding way that keeps the pages turning and the reader guessing until the end. I have enjoyed every book in the Book Reatreat series and look forward to the next offering from Ellery Adams.

I cannot help but think that this series has come to an end since Ellery Adams does a brilliant job in bringing all the storylines to a close. Perhaps this will be a new jumping off point for the people of Storyton Hall, but in my heart, I think I am saying good-bye.

Keeping the secrets of Storyton has taken a final toll on Jane and she must now decide if the cost is too high. After the kidnapping of her twin sons, she must hold a tighter rein on those that she holds dear, but as the truth comes out about her deceased husband, and the disappearance of her new love, Jane must make a decision that few will agree with.

Running Storyton Hall in Virginia, a book resort for those that need time away, Jane and her team create an idyllic reprieve from a hectic world. Little do people know of the goings on behind the scenes and even less about the secret passageways that lead to a hidden library.

A library, hidden from the rest of the world, that holds dangerous manuscripts and long-lost treasure that though concealed from the world, should, as Jane believes, be shared. As the body count increases, and her guests roam the halls unaware, a war is going on between controlling factions and when they reach their final boiling point, there is one final death that will bring Jane to her knees forcing the end to one part of Storyton’s past.

I love how this series bring a small part of history to the forefront. How Ellery Adams quotes favorite books and involves their authors and stories into her plots without speaking down to the reader. How she makes you care about the intricacies of those that love books, but remembers that people will always come first.

It has been several months since Jane Stewards boyfriend, Edward, went missing and now she and Landon are traveling to the Biltmore Estate in the hope of finding him. Their cover story is to learn more about hotel management but they are going to make contact with the gardener who may have some answers for them. That is, until he is found dead in his cottage. After that, things get very complicated. when Edwin's captor demands that she find the suitcase stolen from Ernest Hemingway in 1922, containing a lost manuscript. I will say no more to prevent any unintentional spoilers. As far as reading this series out of order, please don't. To get the most out of these five mysteries they should be read in order.
The setting of Storyton Hall is my idea of the most perfect place for a vacation. The inhabitants of the hotel are people I would like to know - I would never want to leave. The mystery was everything I could have wanted and, if it is the final book in the series, it was very well done. But I hope it's not.

In the start of this next book of the series Jane is rushing off to Biltmore Estates in hopes of finding her missing boyfriend. Luckily she has reason to be there, Jane will be attending a weekend seminar on luxury hotel management, she only hopes that she will have a proper chance to search for Edwin. Once she arrives she is given a private tour of the Estates the only problem, there are to many places that a man could be hidden and she isn't sure where to truly start looking. Along the way she meets a gardener who inadvertently gives her a clue to where Edwin might be located. When she returns to the mans cottage to give him a gift for all his help and hospitality she finds him dead, murdered for sure. In the end she finally locates Edwin only to be capture herself and is told that if she doesn't take her captor back with her to Storyton Hall and provide him with a suitcase owned by Ernest Hemingway, Edwin will not be let go. Jane agrees to take the man back with her but insists that Edwin come to, even if he is still a prisoner. Follow along as Jane tries to figure out just how she can get everyone out of this bad situation and not have to turn anything over. She isn't even sure if she has the papers that the man wants, what will happen if she can't find them? When the shock of a lifetime is thrust upon her, Jane's world is turned upside down. The only thing that she can truly think about now is keeping her boys safe, and what all their futures will hold. Will things end badly for Jane or will she be able to keep the secrets that Storyton holds. This was such an exciting read, from the beginning Jane kept you on a roller coaster ride of emotions all the while she was looking for Edwin. Throughout my emotions were up and down and by the end I wasn't sure if I could wait for all to be truly answered. I look forward to seeing where the author goes with the characters next, and what their next chapter will bring.

Murder in the reading room .by Ellery Adams.
WOW , what a brilliant read from the 1st page to the last I couldn’t put it down.My favourite book so far of this series.
Plenty of twists and adventure with secrets coming to light .
I feel you need to star from the first book so you can get the feel of the storyline ,the characters and village .
No other book can compare with this story line , hopefully not the last one.
Many thanks to Kensington books and Nettgalley for a advance copy for a honest review.

This series just keeps getting better. I hope it really continues. Jane Seward is the Guardian of Storyton Hall and at the end of the last book she was determined to find her boyfriend Edwin. So this story starts as Jane and Lachlan are headed to the Biltmore Estate believing this is where Edwin is being held captive by a group of modern day Templars. This is a case of cat and mouse as the templar at Biltmore Ramsey Parrish catches Jane and Lachlan just as they find Edwin. He offers Jane a choice in exchange for some of the secrets of Storyton’s treasures. Jane also gets a major surprise when Ramsey shows Jane the person in the cell next to Edwin. Is it William her “dead” husband. This was such an interesting twist. Ramsey tells her she must choose who accompanies them back to Storyton. Jane refuses to choose but thinks this is all part of Ramsey’s plan. They all then travel to Storyton just as the group of WWI enacters are scheduled to have their conference. Jane is haunted that the gardener who Lachlan befriended is found dead just as they are ready to depart the Biltmore. Jane also knows that Ramsey must have his spies in the conference at Storyton. This story grabbed me from the very beginning and the Cover girls, Fins, Fitz and Hem along with her Aunt and Uncle are like family. Then death of one of the WWI re-enacters raises questions if this is this related to Ramsey and his desire to get to Storyton’s secret library or something else. The mystery moves along well and was a shock for me who the culprit was. I hope this is not the last of this series and it continues as I am sure there are many more mysteries that can occur even as Jane starts to share the treasures of Storyton to the world. Highly recommend.

This is the fifth book in the "Book Retreat Mysteries" by Ellery Adams. I think I may have read one of the earlier books as the characters were familiar to me, but this series is definitely best read from the beginning.

Storyton Hall, Virginia, is a paradise for book lovers who come from all over for literary getaways. But manager Jane Steward is temporarily leaving for another renowned resort—in hopes of solving a twist-filled mystery . . .

Jane’s boyfriend is missing, and she thinks she may find him at North Carolina’s historic Biltmore Estate. Officially, she’s there to learn about luxury hotel management, but she’s also prowling around the breathtaking buildings and grounds looking for secret passageways and clues. One of the staff gardeners promises to be helpful . . . that is, until his body turns up in the reading room of his cottage, a book on his lap.

When she finally locates the kidnapped Edwin, his captor insists that she lead him back to Storyton Hall, convinced that it houses Ernest Hemingway’s lost suitcase, stolen from a Paris train station in 1922. But before they can turn up the treasure, the bell may toll for another victim . . .

I must admit I did have a hard time reading this book, although I LOVE this author, it just felt a bit slow in parts and the end seemed to drag on after the murder was caught etc. ( reason for only 4 stars) but from what others are saying it could be the last in the series and this could be why the author went further and kind of wrapped up the story for people.

Storyton Hall and village is place, that I would like to visit or live. The village has all of these amazing shops and wonderful characters. Jane Steward and the Fins, the Cover Girls are all people I would love as friends . There were several twists and turns and plots in this book but it felt right, they all intertwined together to make a a great read.

I requested and received an Advanced Reader Copy from Kensington and Netgalley. All opinions are my OWN.

I absolutely LOVED this book! I think it is my favorite in the series so far and I am hoping this is not the last one *fingers crossed*. The literary references made me so happy and the cozy NC just really sealed the deal. 4.5/5 stars from me!

This was, by far, the best book of the series. I enjoyed this one so very much. SOME of that was because I read the book instead of listening to the sub-standard narrator that I have had to use in the past [since this was a NetGalley book, there is no audiobook] and some of it was because the writing was just SO good in this one.

There is just so much going on this one - the previous book leaves you with a bit of a cliffhanger and this book opens with Jane and Landon going to The Biltmore to find Edwin. What they find there is W A Y more than they expected [TALK about dropping a bombshell - holy moley!] and the events and repercussions from all of it is something that will affect Jane, The Fins and the important characters of Storyton Hall for a long, long time. And I will admit that the end feels very much like that - the end. It feels like we are now done with Storyton Hall and Jane and all of is amazing inhabitants. I certainly hope not as this is one of my favorite series, but if it is, I truly enjoyed the ride out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

An interesting and intriguing cozy mystery diversion. Books, books, books. Many literary references. Not quite my field of interest, but the overall mystery held my attention and kept me turning the pages. Nice resolution for many of the issues.

I fear that other reviewers might be right- this seems like it might be the last book in the series, at least for now. I'll be eternally optimistic to read more in this series, though, as Storyton Hall is my absolute favorite cozy series setting. The stakes for Jane Steward in this book are incredibly high- she travels to Biltmore Estates in search of her missing boyfriend (who is also tangled up in the secretive underground book world she has recently found herself to be in). As she seeks Edwin, there are dead bodies and some explosive reveals. This is a turbulent, fascinating story, and if it is an ending, it's a great send off for Jane, her family, and the Fins.
Most of the time with cozy series I tell readers that they don't need to necessarily read them in order, but this series is definitely best read from the beginning.
4.5/5.

I'm a big fan of ms Adams book but this one wasn't my cup of tea.
I found it slow, a bit too melodramatic and I struggle to end.
Many thanks to Kensington Books and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

I love this series. The characters are so realistic and I feel like I am visiting friends to catch up when I read them. This book was no exception. A group of historians are visiting Storyton Hall and are planning a reenactment on the grounds. Also, Jane travels to the Biltmore to attend a Luxury Hotel Management conference, and to look for Edwin. I love the way Jane and the other characters have grown over the course of the series so far and that the stories always keep me guessing. If Storyton Hall was a real place, that is where I would go on my next vacation, or maybe I would just move into the village with all of its cute shops and wonderful residents. Ms. Adams has created a place where all booklovers would feel at home.

I received a complimentary copy of this ebook from Kensington through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I can always depend on Ellery Adams to give a fabulous story when it comes to a Book Retreat mystery. There is adventure, humour, love, and mystery in these stories. The characters are people you would know passing on the street. If you're looking for a fun, captivating read you need to pick this book up. Enjoy! 📚

All I can say is wow! I admit I love anything by Ellery Adams, however, Murder in the Reading Room is over the top good.
The characters and storyline flowed into an intriguing murder mystery that kept me making my own attempts to solve the mystery.
I can’t say enough about this book. It is a MUST Read!

I have enjoyed all of the Book Retreat mysteries, and this one was no exception. I love the Storyton Hall setting (would be a dream to go there!), the characters, and the fun mysteries. This installment in the series takes many of the plot points that have been introduced in the past and weaves them all together. It's a wonderful ride with many ups and downs, and readers will love going on this journey!