Bookstore owner Arlo Stanley is preparing for a book signing event with local bestselling author, Wally Harrison when she is notified that he has been found dead outside her store. To make matters worse, the police suspect her best friend and co-worker, Chloe as the one responsible for his death. It seems Chloe might have a motive to kill Wally. Arlo knows her friend is innocent and with the help of her elderly book club members, she is determined to catch the real killer.

This is the first book in a new cozy mystery series by Amy Lillard. Like all first books in a cozy mystery series, this one introduces us to the main characters, the town and many of the secondary characters that will recur in future books. I liked the protagonist, Arlo. She is smart, loyal, funny, friendly and organized. Not only does she run her own business, but is organizing her high school reunion which brings several possible suspects to town. Wally is well known for his philandering as well, so there is a wife who is being fooled around on and a mistress that are both high on Arlo's suspect list. Sugar Springs, Mississippi is a great setting. It is a sleepy small town with quaint businesses, quirky characters (Friday Night Book Club) and a bulldog of a Sheriff, who just wants Arlo to butt out (they were high school sweethearts, so.....). An enjoyable start to a new series, and I am looking forward to what is next in Sugar Springs.

As Sugar Springs gears up for its all-class high school reunion, Mississippi bookstore owner Arlo Stanley prepares to launch her largest event: a book-signing with the town’s legendary alum and bestselling author, Wally Harrison. That’s when Wally is discovered dead outside of Arlo’s front door and her best friend is questioned for the crime.

“Can’t Judge a Book by Its Murder” was my first read by author Amy Lillard and I was so pleased with it. It is a great first installment to a new series, Main Street Book Club Mysteries. I enjoyed the mystery and felt that the author did an excellent job with developing her characters and creating a well developed plot. I felt that the small-town setting and a book club was a perfect fit the book. ‘Can’t Judge a Book by Its Murder” was an enjoyable cozy with characters that I really liked. I look forward to reading the second book in the series, “A Murder Between the Pages”, when it releases in November 2020.

The first book I've read by this author and I loved it! Great characters and easy to read, a charming cosy mystery that kept me guessing.

“Can’t Judge a Book by Its Murder” was my first read by Amy Lilard and I was pleasantly surprised! This cozy mystery is a great first installment to an all new series, Main Street Book Club Mysteries. I loved the mystery and fun in this book so much. The small-town setting was perfect and definitely fit the book. ‘Can’t Judge a Book by Its Murder” was an easy read with characters that I really liked. I look forward to reading the second installment, “A Murder Between the Pages”, when it releases in November 2020. Oh, and I absolutely loved the book club aspect!

I’m still laughing. What a fun, entertaining and delightful little cozy. 

These characters. They have my heart. I would also like to nominate myself to be a part of the bookclub....because it’s like if the golden girls started a bookclub and started solving crimes. 

I adored it. I’m really looking forward to heading back to Mississippi for book 2 😍🥰.

A charming cozy mystery that was an enjoyable read. Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced readers copy.

I requested this book thinking it would be a cozy mystery written by a Christian author.  I did not expect the topics to be better aligned to being a hard-boiled mystery and to encounter profanity, heavy drinking, drunkenness, a book club that’s fascinated by books with sex, a heroine who parties, infidelities, and so on.  I dislike feeling dirty while reading a novel and thus I did not enjoy this novel.

While there is no sex on screen the situations and the subject matter were depressing and the occasional innuendoes irked me (heroine feeling slightly bad about her super mini skirt, the party where the punch has some secret ingredient which gives everyone bad hangovers, etc).  

The small-town vibe didn’t feel very authentic, either.  Main street shops are all owned by women or two gay men who are portrayed as suppressed and afflicted with old-fashioned values that keep them from wearing wedding rings.  There are no family businesses, no hardware stores owned by a friendly bubba sort.  The main part of the small-town portrayal is the old women who gossip and use crockpots, and the younger generation who chuckle at their olden ways and go out and drink a lot and who have mostly had lots of affairs with each other over the years.  Not a single traditional family in the mix, really.  So that element of stepping back to a simpler pace which is often in cozies is also missing.  

It further annoyed me that the policemen were portrayed as bumbling blindly on their job and not caring to solve the murder correctly.

Also, with the name Arlo I really pictured the heroine to be an old woman, and there wasn’t sufficient description of her until about 100 pages in for me to realize she was young.  Not having a clear portrayal of the lead made it hard to root for her/bond with her as a reader.

So, I won’t be reading more of this series.

Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for a free reading copy.  A favorable review was not required.

This the first book in a new series and it was good. It started out slow which almost lost me but the characters kept me reading. The setting is a great little town and the book club ladies are a hoot. I will be sure to read future books in this series

Can't Judge a Book by its Murder is a nice cozy mystery with lots of likable characters and wonderful interactions. I loved seeing that this is the start of a series since Ms. Lillard is a favorite author of mine whether I am reading her Amish stories or contemporary ones.

It was easy to be drawn into the story and try to figure out whodunit since there's an immediate death that we're greeted with. But is it murder and if so why, and whodunit? The story ebbs and flows with twists and turns that try to throw us off the scent. Arlo, the bookstore owner, wasn't a favorite character of mine although she was trying to solve the case along with the police and her book club members, one of whom is a private investigator. She and her friends had a lot of access to the police station and never minded speaking their piece. I liked Chloe, her partner and tea aficionado, but she didn't always seem to be helping herself since she's the prime suspect, or is she? The older book club members were a hoot and added some levity to the story. Arlo's ex boyfriends, from her high school days, rounded out the picture along with the deceased and his two love interests.

I loved the small town feel of Sugar Springs, Mississippi and the businesses as well as the setting for the story - a bookstore. Faulkner, Arlo's bird, always had something to say whether his cage was covered or not. The ending was a little too abrupt for me but I liked how the ending was pulled together even with some loose ends. I look forward to reading more in this series and seeing if either of Arlo's exes can win her over, or if they even want to!

Ms. Lillard is a go to author for me. I can't wait to see what she writes next.

Can't Judge a Book by Its Murder, the first book in the ‘Main Street Book Club Mysteries’ series by Amy Lillard follows Arlo as she prepares for a book-signing event for the town’s well-loved author, Wally Harrison. All things seem to be going well when the infamous author is found dead outside of Arlo’s front door and the leading suspect in the case is Arlo’s best friend Chloe. 

With the ladies of Arlo’s book club sleuthing around, and the secrets of the supposedly sleepy town that starting to unravel, it is up to Arlo to get Chloe off the top of the suspect list and figure out who murdered Wally Harrington before it happens again. 

This book is my first introduction to Amy Lillard’s work and I must say I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The overall plot is well crafted and thoroughly planned out- leaving no holes or gaps in between scenes for questions that haven’t been answered. The mystery itself was very engaging and I did enjoy the gradual revelation of the clues that kept the readers guessing all throughout the book. 

Characters in the book are given a great but limited introduction, like most first books in a series, and are a well tied into the plotline. Plus, the overly enthusiastic elderly ladies make it seem like there is never a dull moment in Arlo’s Friday Night Book Club. 

This combination of a small town setting, a bookshop keeper as the main character, and a mysterious murder landing right in the middle of this charming town is the perfect recipe for any cozy mystery lover. 

4 stars. 

If anyone needs me, I’ll be here waiting for the next book in this series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for giving me an advanced reader's copy of 'Can't Judge a Book By Its Murder' by Amy Lillard.

No matter the genre, Amy Lillard NEVER disappoints! She tells a story in a way that draws you into it and keeps you reading. You’ll find yourself wanting to help the book club ladies try to solve the crime so they can get their friend out of jail. Even though this is a murder mystery, those little old ladies of the book club had me chuckling at their antics.

Lillard is definitely on my must-read list! When you read one of her books, she’ll be on yours too!

This was an okay debut. The mystery was good and I liked the characters, but for whatever reason the story didn't "grab" me. It took me four days to read because I could set it down and not feel like I had to devour it. There is nothing horrid in the story, it just didn't fully hook me for whatever reason. I will try another in the set down the road, maybe this was just a slow start for me. 

I received this book from NetGalley and was not required to post a positive review. All thoughts are my own.

A fairly quintessential small town cozy but with some older characters and a strong, well developed plot line. Engaging all the way through and a solid start to a series.

This is the first of what I hope to be a long series. Book store/coffee shop owner Arlo Stanley must was planning on selling some extra books when a hometown hero/author returns for a multi-class high school reunion. Arlo didn't plan on him jumping out of her third story window after meeting with Chloe Carter for coffee. Chloe is Arlo's best friend and business partner as well as the mother of Jaden, the jumper's son, whom he gave up rights to before Jaden was even born 9 years prior. Wally, the bad dad and best sellers' list writer had a big ego, perhaps too big to have taken his own life and now Chloe is suspect #1 and is stuck in jail until Arlo and her book club mavens. Arlo  is a very personable character and you can't help but like the way she works so hard on behalf of her friend Chloe. The book Club mavens are a hoot, between their fully accessorized fashions to their perfectly colored and coiffed hair. It's not only Chloe's past love that comes into town, Arlo deals with the memory of her high school sweet heart whom she pushed away to protect herself from his dreams of leaving small town to head to college and a football career only to come back as the local law enforcement. The reunion brings another blast from the past as Arlo's other beau, the boy who broke her heart when he left to go to college, Sam Carter, who has decided to rent her third floor office space and stick around to care for his sick Mom. Arlo is a great character, the idea that the child of hippie parents would decide at a young age to stay put and set down roots. Her relationship with the book club ladies is a nice aspect of the story as well. I see a triangle on the horizon that should prove entertaining for many mysteries to come.

When murder doesn't stay on the printed page...

I've read quite a few of author Amy Lillard's Amish romances as well as her Amish cozy mystery series, all of which I enjoyed, so when I discovered Can't Judge A Book By It's Murder both the author and that catchy title caught my eye.

Can't Judge A Book By It's Murder is everything a cozy mystery should be. And it has all of the required elements; a business owner who knows more about murder mysteries than policework, a loyal friend, law enforcement who would prefer to do their job without amateurs endangering themselves, a crazy pet, some quirky older ladies, some possible love interests, more suspects than you can shake a stick at, and, of course, a body. 

Amy Lillard has a fun mystery story that could easily be a Hallmark movie. Trust me, I love those movies! It's a fairly light read and enjoyable. Perfect for a summer day at the beach or curling up under a fuzzy blanket in the winter. You'll like trying to sort through the suspects and guessing the killer's identity just as I did. 

This book was what most would term a clean read but if you are super strict there are a few words and activities that may bother you a little. 

If you are a cozy mystery fan or love southern fiction, check out Can't Judge A Book By Its Murder from Amy Lillard. It's the best of both genres...

(I received a copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are entirely my own.)

I thought this was a fun and interesting cozy mystery. I enjoyed the characters and the storyline. It held my attention from the first page until the last.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. My thoughts and opinions are my own and without bias or favor.

A great and interesting mystery . I enjoyed it very much and loved the plot , the people were interesting  and of course the mystery was first rate  I believe others will enjoy it also . Can't wait for next mystery

Can't Judge a Book By Its Murder is the first book in the Main Street Book Club Mystery series. In Sugar Springs, Mississippi, Arlo Stanley and her best friend Chloe are the owners of Books & More. Books & More has finally had a great opportunity come up, Wally Harrison now a well known author but once town member of Sugar Springs has agreed to hold a book singing in the store. Everything was set to go according to plan, until the dead body of Wally Harrison ends up on the sidewalk outside of the bookstore. 

What first appears as suicide is quickly determined to be murder, and Chloe is quickly brought into custody as she seems the most likely suspect of the murder. 

What follows is the attempt by Arlo and her close friends to try to prove Chloe is innocent.

I am torn on how I feel about this book. I genuinely wanted to love it. The beginning of a series is always such a treat. I had a lot of issues with this title however. The book takes place in the Southern United States. What is interesting is the way in which the author doesn't just create a bucolic small town. She does show a lot of the flaws that might exist in a small Southern town. However, I am not sure how much of this is stereotyping or a legitimate portrayal of life in a Southern town. (I am Canadian, so I may be way off the mark on that) 

There is also the potential for a future love triangle. If you love this trope then sticking with the series will bring you some joy. I am still on the fence if this is a trope I enjoy or not. 

I think I will stick with this series to see if the writing and character development continues in future books.

Can't Judge a Book by its Murder by Amy Lillard is your typical small southern town cozy mystery. Complete with a smalltown bookshop.  That has a book club in which the main attendants are three elderly ladies.  
 A murder leaves bookstore owner Arlo determined to clear her friend's name as the prime suspect whatever it takes.   While I didn't enjoy this cozy as well as I have enjoyed others in the past I would still recommend it to other readers of cozies.   I guess to me this book's small southern town setting was too stereotypical for my taste.   I'm not saying that small town and the south don't have the stereotypical moments but for multiple stereotypes to end up in the same book it's a little much for me and I spent many summers in a small southern town. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher through netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review. All opinions expressed are mine alone.