I really wanted to like this book. It has what would seem to be all the components of a successful cozy mystery but the sum is not greater than the parts. It was super obvious the second the murderer appeared who was going to be guilty, and the book drags quite a bit as it takes several hundred pages to play out. I also didn't love the main character although as the book progressed, all characters started to grow on me. I did find the recipe for mermaid pie fun.

Something wicked this way comes...and this was a great first book cozy mystery series. Loved the characters and the plot of the story. Can't wait till the next one in the series.

A college professor returns home to NC after her mother’s sudden death. She discovers she has inherited her moms home and bookstore. She uses this time to mourn her mother’s passing and to hide from her job. Great first book in a new series.
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This is a new series set in a small beach town with a great bookstore by the beach and an interesting main character. In this first book, Summer finds herself back in her hometown because her mother has died unexpectedly. Her mother owned the bookstore and it was her life's work and she loved it. Summer is a Shakespeare scholar and university professor who hasn't spent much time in her hometown in quite a while. She fears that her mother's death may not be natural and sets out with the help of her family and her mom's friends to try to solve the mystery of what really happened to her mom. This book has a quirky set of characters and a great small town setting. I liked how the story progressed over the course of the book. This is a good start to a new series.

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

I feel really awkward in giving this a star rating because I didn't finish it. I requested it for a change from my usual dark & gruesome mystery/thrillers. I was hoping to like or at least enjoy a cozy mystery, but unfortunately, I did not. I can't fault the book, the author, or the writing. Cozy mysteries are just not for me.

Great detail and characters loved them and each are relatable. Each of brings different style to the store each one brings the store more to life. Looking forward to the next one in the series.

I really wanted to love this one. It had a bookstore that focused on beach reads (and is actually called Beach Reads), a quirky cast of characters, and a main character that is trying to sort out her life. This is basically a list of my favorite things when it comes to books. Summer's mother, Hildy Merriweather, died unexpectedly, and Summer finds herself back in her hometown trying to deal with her grief, get her mother's estate sorted, and figure out just what she's going to do with her life which is a bit in disarray. Soon she realizes all is not what it seems and that Hildy's unexpected death might have far more sinister implications. I found this book fast paced and readable. I liked pretty much all the side characters and would love a place like Beach Reads to actually exist. Summer was not my favorite character. Her disdain for all genre books seemed a bit over the top since she is the main character in a cozy mystery which she specifically mentions as not up to her standards. She did come around a bit but it was too little too late. As well the mystery itself seemed blaringly obvious and it was frustrating that none of the characters happened to put two very big facts together. I did enjoy it but this series won't be on my auto buy list.

I can't enjoy a cozy if I don't like the main character and Summer is not likeable. She doesn't seem to have even one redeeming quality. Also this needs significant copy editing before it's published. The errors made it very difficult to read.

only made it to 25% or so of this before skipping to the end to see if my guess of 'whodunnit' was correct and, sadly, I don't feel I missed anything by doing it. Standard ARC issues aside, I just really didn't like this book.

I was confused about where Summer lived. It's apparently England (which isn't really saying much, as there's literally no description of this other than using the word liberally), as when she returns for Hildy's funeral at the beginning of the book, but she then tells police chief Ben Stringer that she lives in Virginia, yet seems to be waiting to have her sabbatical approved (from her previous job there). So, she's working in England while waiting for approval for leave from her job? Wouldn't she need approval for that?

Maybe I'm just overthinking it. Flat characters and bad dialogue spoiled the rest for me. And Summer being 'smarter than the average person' (her words, not mine) didn't really do it for me either. There's no proof of this, other than in her own mind. And the murderer may as well have been wearing a sign that proclaimed them as such.

It's a shame not being able to finish a book, but perhaps the change to a new publisher was a bit of a bump in that respect. Regardless, it's the last book I'll be reading by this author and in this series.

Summer Merriweather, a Shakespeare professor, returns to Brigid's Island, NC, for her mother's funeral. Hildy Merriweather's death was completely unexpected and the more that Summer hears about her mother's last day, the more she is certain that death was not from natural causes. When there is a fire at her home and arson is determined, and then a burglary at the Beach Reads bookstore, Summer and her Aunt Agatha are sure that someone is trying to eliminate the family.

I enjoyed the mystery however, I'm not sure about the foibles of the main character. I think it would have been better without them. The Book club members needed more dimension as well as the other family members.

This was a Advanced Reader's Copy but even with that known there were a few too many grammatical and spelling errors.

My rating: 1 of 5 stars. The author put me off almost immediately. DNF.

Book 1 in the series.

This book had all kinds of good things going for it, a bookstore at the beach? I'm there.

Unfortunately, I just couldn't get into this book. The main character was kind of a condescending ass, (and frankly, by extension, the author as well) going so far as to mention that she teaches "real literature" and that most other books are just fluff. Umm, that's why we're reading your new cozy, author. We like fluff and we don't need you to talk down to us through your main character!

I pretty much put the book down right after that and called it DNF.

I really liked Little Bookshop of Murder. It's the first in a new series by one of my favorite authors. The writing is descriptive, the characters and plot, believable. My only true dislike was for the protagonist, Summer. She comes off as spoiled, self-absorbed, and a bit of a book snob. It works for her, though, and for the book. While I enjoyed this title, I hope Summer grows in future books, or her personality might drive the reader away.

This was kindly given to me by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Summer Merriweather has been distant from her mother for a little while now, they had always had their differences with Summer preferring Shakesphere and other "real literature" and eating meat over her mother's love of romances and vegan treats. But when Hildy dies of a sudden heart attack, Summer returns to her old island home. As things begin to not add up behind her healthy mother dying of a heart attack and attacks befall Summer at her mother's home, there is too much to ignore.

With the help of her aunt, cousin, and her cousin's daughter, Summer must find the killer before it's too late.

I enjoyed this book, it did take me a span of many months to pick it up and read it to completion but when I did finish it, it only took a total of two sittings to finish what I'd started months ago. It managed to pull me in easily.

Now onto the technical issues - there were plenty of editing errors such as spelling and grammar throughout that were obvious to the eye, which hopefully by the time this was published had been taken care of.

This was a cute book. Overall storyline is of the prodigal daughter who inherits bookshop from hippie mom only to have a gut instinct that her mom didn't pass away of natural causes. An overly "helpful" book club sometimes adds more trouble than it's worth. The book definitely could have benefitted from stronger editing. It would have packed a more powerful punch if it was a novella. There were times where the writing just seemed to ramble. The mystery was predictable from pretty early on. The cliffhanger ending was a definite twist to ensure a book 2.

Little Bookshop of Murder is the first in a new cozy series written by Maggie Blackburn. It combines two of my favorites: books and the beach! Summer inherits a bookshop owned by her mother who recently passed away. As Summer tries to close up the bookshop, she realizes that her mother may have been murdered. Mystery ensues as Summer works to figure out exactly what happened and, in the process, works to figure out if she’s ready to make a major life change. I look forward to future Beach Reads books in series!

The sudden death of her mother brings Summer Merriweather back to her childhood home in the beach town of St. Brigid, Virginia. Hildy Merriweather was a leading member of the community and proprietor of the Beach Reads bookstore. Once in St. Brigid Summer learns that Hildy had received anonymous threatening letters prior to her death. Hildy was in excellent health so her sudden death due to a heart attack is suspicious. Summer suspects that her mother was murdered, but the local police chief is not interested in pursuing an investigation. This leaves it to Summer, her aunt Agatha and her cousin Piper to do their own. This turns into a long-drawn-out inquiry (about 50 pages too long) which finally comes to an exciting conclusion as the killer's identity is revealed. Along the way to the reveal, there's many red herrings, marginal characters (a history teacher, a fire chief) and plot dead ends (e.g., Summer's arachnophobia), but a real lack of suspense. It's way too clunky.

Summer is the main character of this story. (Mr. Darcy, the parrot is a close second). She struggles to come to terms with her mother's death. Unfortunately, she's difficult to like because of an unfocused development of her character; she comes across as an arrogant entitled snob. Her backstory is dribbled out in bits and pieces which is frustrating for this reader. By the end of the story, she has finally made her passage to maturity even though she's in her mid-30's. If it's writing style, it didn't work for me.

As a mystery story, it's not well executed. Numerous petty annoyances, some of which a proper copy edit would correct. For example, the place name of Summer's town is variously Brigit, St. Brigid and Brigid's Island. Which is it?

My recommendation: skip it.

Note: I requested and received a complementary advanced reading eBook from Crooked Lane Books via Netgalley. The comments about it are my own.

Little Bookshop of Murder is an interesting read. Summer comes home to attend her mother Hildy's funeral, laden with guilt. When evidence comes to light indicating Hildy's death may not have been medical in nature. The mystery behind Hildy's death and Summer's insistence in finding out the truth provide for an interesting story. I was glad Summer doesn't just take Hildy's death at face value. So much evidence turns up that she could hardly do otherwise. When Summer becomes the next target, she knows she can't let this go.

Summer has a huge issue with books she considers beach reads and fluff. She's constantly reminding everyone she's a scholar of "real" literature. Everyone is entitled to their opinion about book genres and certain genres aren't for everyone. Summer could have been a bit less condescending about her education but for the most part she was quite friendly. The secondary characters were well-written and compliment Summer and the mystery.


I enjoyed the story, the mystery kept me engaged, and the characters were interesting. The author tossed in red herrings that will keep the reader guessing. The book is fast- paced and I can't wait to read the next one.

I was provided a copy of this book to read.

I will not be posting reviews on social media or Amazon and Bookbub.

I found it very hard to get into the main character. She was very snotty and off-putting. I didn't appreciate her negativity towards books that were not scholarly. In a world where I see children struggle to read I don't want them to think that what they like is bad. Reading is for fun.

Maybe she changed her thinking but I couldn't finish the book.

Thank you for letting me have the chance to read this book.

I will not leave a review on my Goodreads because I didn't finish this book. Unfortunately, as a Romance writer, I couldn't get past the disdain for the heroine's mother's bookstore, which sells Romances. Even if the heroine changes her tune, the contempt for Romance in favor of Classics and Literary fiction left a bad taste in my mother. Otherwise, I would have finished the book and rated it favorably because I was intrigued by the murder mystery surrounding her mother.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this galley in return for an honest review. I'm sorry that I couldn't finish it as I'd fully intended.

I received this book from the publisher via Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book more than the reading implies - it’s an easy and relatively fun read. However I was let down by several key things. The main character is good when she’s investigating but otherwise she’s self important and dismissive of others. And the spider thing is a completely unneeded sub plot, dragged out to explain her sabbatical from her job. She is always telling others or herself about her phd - lady, nobody cares! She’s adamant about unimportant things and is generally not that likeable. I did like her determination on the case though.

The plot itself was vaguely obvious, I knew early on how it would play out, and the author was almost pushing it in your face instead of disguising it with decent red herrings. The story really needed someone to workshop it with the author to help that a little I feel.

But all of that I could cope with - as I said, it’s an easy read. The reason it gets a lower rating is that it reads like a poor first draft. The book club is on the next day on AT LEAST three separate days, Agatha at one point is walking to the bookshop with the girls and the group is suddenly two people not three. There’s no motivation for the fire or robbery. The story with the English teacher really makes almost no sense and he’s so caricature-ish in places it hurts. Honestly the whole thing needs a beta for sense and then a really thorough edit. There’s a few spelling or word mistakes, but in places she uses the wrong name for a character! Early on she got hildy and Agatha the wrong way round. It’s just really poor. And definitely dragged down what could have been a much better book. The bones are there, the content just needs a fair amount of work.