Maggie Blackburn brings murder to a small town bookshop in Little Bookshop of Murder. summer. Meriweather
is home on leave from her professorial career to follow up on her aunt's sudden and suspicious death. Was it a heart attack? Was it because someone coveted the beach bookstore or the first editions that her aunt owned. Lots of suspects. Merriweather is on the case. Read and enjoy this cozy.

Little Bookshop of Murder is one of those books that had a great concept — gorgeous setting, cool theme (bookstore) — but the execution was bad.

The mystery was too easy to solve. Very easy. Like I figured it out before I was halfway done.

Another bad thing was Summer. I’ve never disliked a cozy main character before, but she wasn’t very likable.
She came off as condescending and judgy, and I couldn’t connect with her. The only thing I could semi-relate to when it came to her was her grief when it came to losing her mother.

Overall, it was an okay start to a new series. It was well-written, and the descriptions were beautiful. And the other characters were charming and fun, but I disliked Summer and the mystery was too easy.

Would I pick up the next one? Probably. When it comes to cozies, I will try and read two books in a series before giving up on it. I feel like this series has potential, and hopefully, book two is better.

I tried to read this book at least 4 times before I finally succeeded in finishing this. I shouldn’t have, but I’m a challenge reader and when this worked for a challenge, I couldn’t let it stay unread.

So, I didn’t like Summer. No, scratch that, I really didn’t like Summer. I read cozies for their main characters, and for the group of people they surround themselves with. So if I didn’t like the main character, I would look at the rest of the cast. In this case, I didn’t mind them, but considering that Summer is exceptionally bad, they needed to be very quirky and adorable to overcome that. And they weren’t.

But that in itself is not enough to earn a book a 1 star rating. The rest of it is for the writing (or the lack of it), the proofing (or the lack of it), the clear signposting of the murderer (honestly, they couldn’t have been made clearer if they were wearing a t-shirt saying I’m the killer), and the real mystery of getting this method of killing to work on a healthy, aware person (google wasn’t helpful, and Agatha Christie only had this method administered via food I think).

It’s also a cop out in a mystery book to say that your killer wasn’t logical so nothing made sense. It’s alright in real life, but what’s the point of reading a book if there aren’t clues to put together? At least a little bit of work had to be involved? In this case the autopsy results come back and then someone mentions that one person was there with the woman at the time of her death and voila! that’s the killer.

Nah, I don’t really want to spend all that time reading about Summer trashing not only genre fiction, but also the people reading them. Summer can boil her head somewhere. But also, she learned badly from her mom, who told her she wouldn’t carry a single non-genre book in her bookstore. How did she know it wouldn’t sell? She could have at least made her daughter happy for a season and then showed her the stats. Maybe they’d both be surprised.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC.

Unfortunately I requested this book by mistake. I did not know how to use Netgalley. I will not able to review it. Thank you.

I really enjoyed this start to a new series and loved the idea of a bookshop right there on the beach. I can definitely say the author did a good job of not making me like Summer very much for a while. She totally came off as a know-it-all who had no use for any books except those that were Shakespeare and scholarly. But the more I read, I did feel a small connection to Summer with my hatred of spiders. True, I don't spaz out like she did or sleep under netting, but I really dislike them a lot! I felt like during the course of the book, she did start to change just a little. She was always good to her cousins and aunt, but I think the island and her mom's good friends were starting to get to her and soften that hard outer shell she'd put up. Reading and actually enjoying the book her mom had been reading for book club seemed to help her a lot.

There seemed to be a lot of repeating going on as far as questioning why or who, but hey, Summer was new at sleuthing, so I chalked it up to that. In the end, she came through during the showdown and showed some bravery although a lot of it was built-up anger. I had figured out fairly early who the killer was, but it was interesting to see this unfold and how the characters went about sleuthing.

I really enjoyed Aunt Agatha, Piper and Mia's characters a lot as well as Glads and Marilyn, Hildy's good friends. At times I just wanted to shake Summer, but at the end there was a super sweet moment. I think I'm going to like her much better in the next book after all she's gone through in this one. Change in a character is sometimes a really good thing and helps them grow and develop, so I'm anxious to see what the author continues to do with Summer. I'm definitely interested in reading more in the series.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

Little Bookshop of Murder by Maggie Blackburn has Summer Merriweather returning home to Brigid’s Island, North Carolina after the death of her mother. Summer does not believe that her healthy mother suddenly dropped dead from a heart attack. Summer receives a threatening note the day of the funeral and learns her mother had been receiving them as well. Something wicked has come into their lives and Summer intends to get answers. Little Bookshop of Murder is the debut of A Beach Reads Mystery series. Summer Merriweather is a professor of Shakespearean Literature at a university in Virginia. She has been in England doing research for her latest book (publish or perish). She returns home just in time for her mother’s funeral. Summer is dubious from the beginning at the cause of her mother’s death. The police, though, cannot act without proof. So, Summer with help from her family sets out to get the truth. There is a large cast of characters that includes Summer, her cousin, her aunt, the chief of police, fire chief, and members of the Mermaid Pie Book Club. I would like to see the characters fleshed out. They felt a little flat except for Mr. Darcy, the chatty African Grey parrot. There are various incidents that help propel the story forward and reinforce the belief that Summer’s mother may have been killed by a duplicitous individual. The suspect list is small and there are distinctive clues. The killer can easily be identified long before Summer solves the case. I hope the author ups her game in the next book. I enjoyed the vivid descriptions of Beach Reads, the bookshop owned by Summer’s mother. It sounded like a haven for book lovers except for the smell of patchouli. There were some side stories like Summer’s spider phobia that never really went anywhere. I expected at least one spider episode. There is some foul language in this cozy. I am curious as to what changes Summer plans for Beach Reads which specializes in romances. I also wonder if Summer will find romance with a certain handsome fire chief. Little Bookshop of Murder transports readers to Brigid’s Island where there is a fluent fowl, a dubious death, a beautiful beach bungalow, a curious cousin, a flock of food, and one Shakespearean scholar turned sleuth.

Little Bookshop of Murder is a solid start to a brand new cozy mystery series.
The author has tried something new in this series debut. We have the main character doubting if her mother really died of a heart attack or if she was murdered. As the story proceeds, we see Summer gathering more clues which point to her mother's murder. But, the local police does not believe Summer.
The identity of the killer is a little obvious but the red herrings are such that their role in the murder remains a huge question mark.
The character development is really good. At times, this didn't felt like the first in the series.
Maybe a little quirkish writing style but I definitely loved it.

I wanted to love this one but I didn't. The main character Summer drove me nuts I think because for most of the mystery she looked down on her mom's bookstore and romance readers. The library assistant in me couldn't believe that someone would look down on someone for reading. That to mention Summer's mother dying suddenly hit a little to close to home. But the mystery itself and the secondary characters were pretty cool and helped make the story better. But not enough for me to want to continue the series.

I do think that that most cozy readers will enjoy this mystery.

A beach read about a book store that specializes in beach reads, I LOVE it! This story does an excellant job of taking an uptight literatry professor and turning her into a more carefree individual. The death of Summer's Mom brings her back to the home she left behind for what she thought, would be academic greatness only to suffer from an embarrassing episode of arachnophia while teaching a class which leads to a viral video and a leave of absence. Summer returns to the bussom of family with a goal of getting in and getting out, after all why would she want anything to do with her mother Hildy's romance littered bookstore. Me thinks she doth protest too much until Summer learns that while Hildy was trying "to be" someone else decided that she was "not to be." With the help of her super supportive aunt, cousin, and Hildy's book club ladies, Summer is sure that she can get to the bottom of this because they will listen to many and speak to few. Though she be but little, she is fierce! Excellant plot building and an ending that is going to make you say "huh" and wish that the next book was already out. Sit back and enjoy this great beach read with a cup of Constant Comment or better yet, take it to the beach and read.

I’m a sucker for stories about books and bookshops, and there’s something lovely about a good cosy mystery when you need some non-mentally-taxing reading. Alas, while not dreadful by any means, I wouldn’t really go so far as to call this a great example of the genre.

Summer has returned home for her mother’s funeral. Her life has been too full of drama of late, after a video goes viral of her freaking out while teaching a class – although to be fair, I’d also be freaking out if the neighbouring lab’s arachnid collection came wandering in, so the whole might-be-fired thing seems kind of OTT. Hmm.

Anyway, she now has more on her mind, after her very healthy mom suffers a fatal heart attack. When several threatening letters are discovered, however, everyone – apart from the obligatory doubting police – starts to wonder if it wasn’t natural causes after all.

All of the usual elements to a cosy mystery are here, really, with the exception of a budding romance – much to my relief, I should add. Mourning a parent is not the best headspace to have a character start down that path! But we have a murder, a good reason for Summer to be investigating, and a group of friends of all ages to help out.

So far so good, and yet… there’s just something about the way it’s all put together here that really didn’t grab me. The first chapters are quite downbeat and repetitive with Summer’s shock over the death and all of that kind of thing. Several elements throughout seem to serve very little purpose – the whole spiders thing, for instance, is so overplayed I was dreading a huge icky scene but I can reassure my fellow arachnophobes that there’s just one ‘thing I read in a book’ scene and otherwise I wasn’t too freaked out!

Far less forgivable, however, is the sheer obviousness of the whodunnit, and the obtuseness required from the characters to not have them stumble onto the right answer almost immediately – it’s almost hard work for them to dance around it so many times!

It’s not all bad. I liked the family dynamic, and the location is a nice mental vacation spot. Quite how a tiny bookstore deals with so many regular deliveries that need six people a time to sort them, though – hmm! There’s also a subthread which feels irritatingly ‘meta’, about a Shakespeare professor getting over her snobbishness about romance and cosy mysteries, which is perhaps driving a little too hard – we’re already reading the book, we’re not the ones needing convinced (much ;)).

So… can’t really find myself recommending this. I still sort of enjoyed the daft read, but really just too many flaws and irrelevant meanderings to make it one I’d look for a follow up from.

Little Bookshop of Murder by Maggie Blackburn gives a new take on characters within the cozy mystery genre.

Can Summer Merriweather figure out who killed her mom?

Summer Merriweather
Summer Merriweather is our main character and the daughter of the first victim for the series Hilda Merriweather, aka Hildy. She is a thirty-two-year-old only child who has a doctorate in Shakespearan literature and is a college professor. Summer is an interesting character for a sleuth as she analyzes things logically before doing anything, and she has had a plan for her entire life that is being postponed a bit. I like that throughout the book, we see Summer change in her ways of thinking a bit, and I love that about her. Another thing that I love about her is that she speaks her mind a lot. I would love to be able to visit Beach Reads and take a look through their many selections of romance and mystery books on their shelves.

The Mystery
The mystery is a straightforward one. Who and why would anyone kill Hildy Merriweather? Hildy is a prominent member of the town, and everyone loved her. Except for one person. Hildy Merriweather died of a heart attack but showed no symptoms of one. Plus, she was a healthy sixty-year-old woman who was a vegetarian and led an active lifestyle. Whoever it was didn't like her a lot and wanted her gone. The same goes for her daughter. I guessed who did it, but I did sadly guessed the motive wrong. So beware of not only the red herrings but false motives.

Five Stars
Little Bookshop of Murder by Maggie Blackburn is a great book. I loved every minute of reading it. Summer is a great character, and I can't wait to see what else this Shakespearean professor does in this small island town. Especially if it is another murder investigation or even to see what she has done to Beach Reads. Ms. Blackburn is a great author. It's five stars and a recommendation worthy of this Karen the Baroness.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Great Escape Book Tours. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Little Bookshop of Murder by Maggie Blackburn.

Until the next time,
Karen the Baroness

If you would like to see other reviews like this one, check out BaronessBookTrove.com.

Caught between a stalled academic career and the sudden death of her mother, Summer is truly at a crossroads. Fortunately, there’s nothing like a good mystery to force someone to confront their life. Even better when that mystery is plotted by author Maggie Blackburn, who has skillfully engineered an enchanting first book in a new cozy series.

From the first pages, it’s abundantly clear that all is not well in Brigid’s Island. Yet even with a dead woman and a threatening note, police don’t seem interested in an investigation. Thank goodness, then, for Summer, who drags herself out of mourning to explore her own theories. Blackburn’s early chapters are both thrilling and justifiably frustrating. With no one of authority even considering murder, Summer must step outside of her comfort zone while collecting clues and considering a wealth of interesting suspects.

And it’s abundantly clear Summer is far outside what she considers comfortable. An academic by trade and at heart, she’s rather spend more time with books than bodies. Though not just any books! Classics only. Blackburn has no problem painting Summer as a bit of a snob who has always looked down on her mother’s popular genre fiction shop. Yes, this can be frustrating at times, but Blackburn makes it feel necessary in the end—Summer cannot be perfect and she has to have a chance to grow as a person. It’s refreshing to find a main character who doesn’t have easy opinions.

Of course, it helps that Blackburn has given Summer so many genuinely fun friends and relatives who both aid and push her. Aunt Agatha, Piper, and a cadre of book club members all add in a touch of comic fun, keeping things light while Summer explores the utterly charming bookshop setting. Yet Blackburn knows how to tease a mystery. Can Summer truly trust any of them? With plenty of potential killers, there’s a constant sense of uncertainty that ramps up the tension.

Though Summer herself might not agree with the assessment, Little Bookshop of Murder is the perfect beach read. Fun, full of twists, and a total treat, it’s a killer start to a new series.

This book had two things I love. My name and my state. It was a good read. I loved the setting and some of the characters were lovely. The mystery was good until the end. I suspected the killer, but wasn't sure how the act was made. I was a little disappointed to not hear anymore about a character that it seemed the author completely forgot about all of a sudden. I would like to read the next in the series to see if I'm interested in keeping up with where Summer's adventure will go.

Summer Merriweather believes there is foul-play in the sudden death of her mother, who was the owner of a small island Bookstore, Beach Reads. On her return home to bury her mother she finds a note with a threatening message, "Sell the bookstore or die" this brings out her inner sleuth! things are not what they seem in the little piece of paradise, and Summer, and her most adorable side-kick, Mr. Darcy, including their book club are determined to get to the bottom of this, includes some Shakespeare references and a possible love interest!! #NETGALLEY#lITTLEBOOKSHOPOFMURDER

I had a lot of trouble staying with this book. It just didn't take off. The main character put me off a little and I about gave up. But I stayed with it and was pleasantly surprised! Summer is a very complicated character and having just lost her mother spoke to my heart. The characters and story came alive once she started caring about her mother's friends and that hooked me. I look forward to reading the second in the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I received this book from the publisher through Netgalley for review and all thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is a fast paced cozy mystery, set in a beachfront bookstore during tourist season. Summer has returned to her childhood home upon hearing of her mother's death. Circumstances don't seem to fit and she pursues the truth behind her mom's demise. Warm characters, recipes, book club members with a heart as well as a great back story for future series books. Enjoyable and light hearted.

Repetitious, inconsistent, no diversion or secondary plotline, and most frustrating of all, it was easily solved halfway through the book. So why did I finish the book? I am asking myself the same question, and I think it boils down to hope. I kept hoping that I was wrong. I kept hoping that there was something that I missed and would zing me at the end. That didn’t happen, and all that was left was a book that needed more time with an editor and a few wasted hours.

Summer Merriweather mentions that she is a Shakespearean scholar about a gazillion times, which becomes tedious and does not help and only tends to annoy the reader and the people around her. She then must dwell on the goings-on at her Virginia University, where she is on sabbatical due to her fear of spiders (of all things) and her University’s odd response. Hiding out in England under the auspice of research, she receives a call that her mother, Hildy, otherwise healthy, had died of a sudden heart attack. Returning home to Brigid’s Island, NC, apparently instantaneously, for the funeral, Summer begins to question the death when threats appear. Threats that Hildy had been dealing with regarding the selling her beloved bookstore, Beach Reads.

Trying to fulfilling the standards when it comes to cozy mysteries, Maggie Blackburn checks all the boxes. Small town, returning home, pet, friends, past boyfriend, etc. If only there had been something new or a few clues had been hidden. This series will be a pass for me.

I am really loving cozy mysteries right now, and being in the midst of a pandemic which is not allowing anyone to travel this was a great little story to get away from it all. Summer Merriweather has returned to Brigid's island to settle her moms estate - Summer is a bit pretentious being a Shakespearean Scholar she is very snobbish when it comes to her mother romance bookstore Beach Reads - that rubbed me the wrong way, and I have to admit I didn't really warm to her at all because of this attitude! 

Summer believes that her mother Hildy didn't die of natural causes as she lead a very healthy and active lifestyle being vegan and doing yoga regularly and she discovers from her Aunt that Hildy had been recieveing threats to sell her bookstore prior to her death.

I found the story a little slow going and as it went on it became obvious who the suspect was long before Summer caught up to the fact.

Overall I enjoyed this book but feel the characters need to be improved on and fleshed out a little bit more as there are some really great quirky characters within the Mermaid Pie Book Club.

4 stars

Summer Merriweather is called back to her childhood home in Brigid’s Island off the coast of North Carolina for the funeral of her mother Hildy, owner of Beach Reads, a charming bookstore on the town’s boardwalk. Summer instinctively knows that the cause of her mother’s death—a heart attack—can’t be right. After all, Hildy was an otherwise physically-fit woman with no apparent signs of heart disease who led a healthy lifestyle that included a vegan diet and yoga. But if natural causes weren’t involved, what then? The thought of foul play seems unthinkable. Who would want to harm the free-spirited Hildy, the beloved bookstore owner, supporter of charitable causes, and pillar of the community?

As she awaits the results of Hildy’s autopsy, Summer and her family search for answers, despite the police chief’s assertion that there is no evidence of a crime. Summer soon discovers that Hildy received several offers for her bookstore, as well as threats if she refused to sell. And now Summer, the bookstore's heir apparent, is receiving similar threats. Is this the key to unlocking the mystery of Hildy’s death?

Little Bookshop of Murder is an engaging read beyond the elements of the murder mystery it presents. Its setting and characters add massive appeal factors. Notably, there’s the relatable recounting of the mother-daughter relationship between Hildy, a single mother and Summer, who doesn’t know the identity of her father. Their bond has always been strong, even though their life choices have led them down different paths. They were always supportive of each other, although as a Shakespeare scholar and college professor, Summer is a bit of a book snob. She’s proud of her mother’s creation, yet embarrassed by its inventory.

Hildy’s shop is the heart and soul of Little Bookshop of Murder, a popular tourist attraction and welcoming place just steps from the beach, and filled to the brim with romance and mystery novels, mermaid art, and author’s signatures on its walls and floors. This is the hub for the book’s literally colorful cast of characters, including women of a certain age with pink hair, floral tattoos, and vibrant eyeglass frames. There’s also a congenial book group—the Mermaid’s Pie Book Club—populated by many of these same women, whose warmth and moral support help Summer through vulnerable moments as she seeks closure related to her mother’s death and confronts her current career crisis. They are also witnesses to her flair for running the bookshop and evolving appreciation of the popular fiction Summer formerly thought of as inferior to the literature of her educational background.

In this first book of a delightful new series, Author Maggie Blackburn has created an inviting environment in which she has planted promising seeds for future story development. One can’t help but wonder what the future holds for Professor Summer Merriweather, her family and friends, and the residents of Brigid’s Island.

4.5 stars

This is the first book in the Beach Reads mystery series by Maggie Blackburn.

Summer returns to her hometown to go to her mother’s funeral from an apparent heart attack. But Summer isn’t buying it. Her mother was in her 60’s and very healthy. She and her Aunt Agatha think it is murder. But Summer and the chief of police don’t exactly see eye to eye since she left his son at the alter years earlier. So, she does some investigating on her own.

I really enjoyed the sense of community in this story. Everyone seemed to work together to find the killer. It becomes readily apparent from the beginning that one of her mother’s friends did the deed so she didn’t exactly know who to trust. Even though the killer was uncovered in the end, there were a lot of unresolved issues in Summer’s life that gives me hope that this series will continue into the future. There wasn’t a real love interest here so if that is your jam, be aware. But I have hope for the next few books that we will see something materialize.

I enjoyed the mystery a lot and the trouble that Summer had accepting that a romance or mystery book can be just as good as a Shakespearian classic was quite a humorous ride. Definitely a series I want to continue with.

If you like cozy mysteries, definitely check this one out. You won’t be disappointed.

I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.