I'm not typically a mystery reader but the description of this book piqued my curiosity and I couldn't resist at least giving it a shot. I'm so glad I did! It was a light-hearted mystery full of all the things I love--books, romance, and solid relationships. Can't wait to read more from this author!

A very good book! I'm always drawn in to books about books and this story did not disappoint. I have already purchased a couple of copies to share!


Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.

An excellent start for a new cozy series: well written and realistic characters, interesting setting and a solid mystery that kept me guessing.
It's an engrossing and entertaining story that is highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Easy to understand and well-written, this is one of the best cozy mysteries I’ve read in a while. The author does a great job depicting small town southern living, and the main set of characters were charming enough that I would like to be friends with them if they existed in real life. There’s a hint of possible romance to come, but this book is really centered on budding friendships.

Like most cozy mysteries you need to suspend your disbelief a bit in order to really enjoy it. The local police are painfully inept, most of the characters have little issue with being asked very direct and personal questions by someone they barely/don’t know, and a town of roughly one thousand residents has a library with at least five full-time staff plus part-time openings. If you can look past that, this is a fun read and a good introduction to what will probably become a series. It also introduced me to my new favorite saying - “Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit.”

(I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.)

Murder By Page One is a fun and clever whodunnit. Olivia Matthews writes an exciting story of mystery and murder with believable and like-able characters. You feel as if you are beside main character, Marvey, as she goes about trying to solve a murder in a small southern town. The book is edge of your seat fun, without the distasteful descriptions. A great read to curl up with and escape the day!
(I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher for my honest review.)

Thank you to NetGalley and Hallmark Publishing for kindly providing me with a digital copy of this book for review.
This is the first book in a brand new cosy mystery series and it did not disappoint. The main character is a librarian so as you might expect, there were many literary references, which made this book nerds’s little heart sing with joy.
I think the author has laid some good character foundations for the next books in the series and I’m looking forward to reading them.
I think it’s also worth noting that this book has a lot more diversity and inclusivity than is maybe the norm for mystery novels- which has to be a positive - I would love to see some with maybe disabled leads or someone on the autistic spectrum as I think it’s important to have novels that do reflect all elements of society.
Overall I really enjoyed this book and rate it 3.5 stars i

Murder By Page One by Olivia Matthews is the start of a new series - A Peach Coast Library Mystery.
It is a cozy southern mystery with a dash of humor and a dose of romance. There is a new librarian in town, Marvey. She is from New York so she has some adjustments to make to survive in small town Georgia. She enlists a friendly co-worker to act as her Southern expression translator for the daily deluge of "Bless her heart" and "Butter my butt and call me a biscuit." Marvey has become great friends with, Jo, the owner of the local bookstore, To Be Read. At an event held at Jo's bookstore, a local author is killed and Marvey has to solve the murder so her friend, Jo, will not end up being charged with murder. Very reminiscent of the series 'Murder She Wrote" - it is a quick, enjoyable read!

Murder By Page One by Olivia Matthews is the debut of A Peach Coast Library Mystery series. Marvey Harris along with her cat, Phoenix has relocated to Peach Coast, Georgia where she is the library’s new Director of Community Engagement. Jo Gomez owns To Be Read which is hosting a book signing of Coastal Fiction Writers. Marvey is attending the signing with Spencer Holt, publisher and editor-in-chief of The Peach Coast Crier. The event is starting, and Jo is worried that one of the author’s Fiona Lyle-Hayes is not in place. The trio go to the backroom where Fiona was unpacking her books to find her dead. Jo becomes the prime suspect of Deputy Jed Whatley which has her unnerved. Jo asks Marvey to help prove her innocence. Marvey with help from her friend’s sets out to discover who wanted Fiona permanently removed from circulation. I enjoyed reading Murder By Page One. I thought Murder By Page One was well-written with steady pacing. The author took the time to introduce Marvella Harris along with a variety of secondary characters. I look forward to getting to know Marvey and her friends better as the series progresses. I enjoyed the descriptions of Peach Coast with its quaint shops and a library housed in a former bus depot. The story is full of quaint southernisms. The one that had me laughing the most was “Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit.” Gossip runs rampant in Peach Coast. As with most rumors, there is only a grain of truth in them. Peach cobbler was another recurring theme. The townspeople seem to consume it in great quantities. The whodunit had several suspects, misdirection, and good clues. I was able to identify the guilty party early, but I did not know why this person had committed the deed. This is what kept me turning the pages. Marvey needs to build the library’s patron list. As she meets new people, she asks them, “Do you have a library card?” I like how the questions unnerves some people. You can tell that Marvey loves her job. I look forward to reading the next A Peach Coast Library Mystery. Murder By Page One is a charming new cozy mystery with rampant rumors, a departed author, a meddling mother, a determined deputy, and a sleuthing librarian.

This was a first great book in a new cozy mystery series. I would recommend this book to anyone that loves cozy mysteries. I really enjoyed the main character Marvey. She is a librarian that has moved to a small town in Georgia from New York. So she is learning how a small town works compared to New York and also creating new friendships in the town. I also enjoyed all the town people that are introduced in this book and looking forward to more relationship building that Marvey has with the town.

The mystery aspect of this book was interesting and I enjoyed following Marvey as she tries to figure out who the real killer was. I did suspect that person has being the killer but the reason behind why they killed them was a nice twist that I did not see coming.

I am looking forward to more books in this series and hope that there might be some romance between Marvey and her friend Spence in the book.

Murder by Page One is the epitome of a cozy mystery! This is book one in a promising new series and I already cannot wait for book two! From the setting to the characters to the plot, itself, I really adored this novel.

I absolutely loved the main character, Marvey. She is a librarian who has just moved to a small town after living in Brooklyn. I loved how that, even though she was a bit out of her comfort zone at times, she tried her best to be determined, confident, and upbeat. I found it hilarious the way she constantly was trying to get people to sign up for library cards. As someone who is planning to become a librarian, I thought it was comically relatable and totally something I could see myself doing, haha!

The mystery for this book was well-paced and intriguing. It had just the right amount of twists and turns and suspects. It also had the perfect, small town setting that provided some extra drama and gossip to the case. I’m actually usually pretty good at solving these cozy mysteries, but surprisingly, I didn’t guess the culprit for this one so I really enjoyed reading about how Marvey figured out this case.

This novel is from Hallmark Publishing, so I am hopeful that they will create a mystery movie series out of these books because I would love to see Marvey and these characters come to life!

Overall, I really enjoyed Murder by Page One. I loved Marvey. I loved her friendships. I loved her sassy cat. I loved the mystery. I just really thoroughly enjoyed this book. My only warning is that it’s going to make you so hungry for peach cobbler it’s not even funny. And the sad part is peaches currently aren’t in season and so I can’t even remedy that situation right now. 😂 I would absolutely recommend this novel to anyone who loves cozy mysteries.

Synopsis:

If you love Hallmark mystery movies,

you’ll love this cozy mystery

with humor, romance, and a librarian amateur sleuth.

Marvey’s a librarian from Brooklyn who makes book-themed jewelry as a hobby, looks after her cranky cat, and supports events for readers and authors. She’s still adjusting to quirky small-town life in Georgia—and that’s before she discovers a dead body in a bookstore.

When her new best friend becomes a suspect, Marvey develops a new hobby: solving a murder mystery. With her talents for research, her knowledge gleaned from crime novels, and a whole lot of determination, she pursues the truth. But even as she gets closer to it, could she be facing a deadly plot twist?

This first in series cozy mystery includes a free Hallmark original recipe. (Goodreads)

Review:
The characters are well rounded and well developed. I enjoyed getting to know Marvey, Jolene and Spence and seeing how they watched out for each other. You can tell they are really good friends and will do anything to help each other. I thought Spence was an interesting character and I am looking forward to learning more about him. I also enjoyed getting to meet Marvey’s cat, Phoenix. He was not acting himself after the move from New York, and Marvey was determined to help him get settled and be comfortable. She acted like a great cat mom.

The author is very talented in her descriptive and these descriptions pulled me into the story from the very beginning. The writing style flows smoothly and the book is a quick easy read. The mystery was well plotted and with the clues to sift through and some red herrings thrown in, it was not easily solved.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. I thought the book was a very good start to the series.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Hallmark Publishing, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.

"She's from New York City," made me laugh. The reminder that Batgirl's alter ego Barbara Gordon was a librarian made me think, hmmm. When I got to the end and there was a recipe for peach cobbler? I smiled, big. I am now a big melty fan.

I loved this book, NetGalley, and truly appreciate the chance to read an early copy. It is, for me, a perfect read.

"I'm not worried about asking questions. 'The greatest gift is not being afraid to question,' Ruby Dee said that. She was a renaissance woman -- civil rights activist, actress, playwright, screenwriter, poet, journalist. Did you know that'"

This was a very cozy, very small-town mystery that I enjoyed. Marvey is a librarian who has moved to a small town in Georgia called the Peach Coast from Brooklyn, NY. She loves being a librarian and is VERY into community engagement—she asks almost everyone she meets about their library card status and reading habits. She is just getting used to life in a small town when an up-and-coming author is killed at her book signing, at Marvey’s friend’s book store. By the way, that bookstore has the best name ever—To Be Read.

Of course Marvey decides to clear her friend’s name, who is a suspect in the murder, for no good reason other than the fact that it happened in her store. Of course she's not a private investigator, but she seems to think that being a librarian is sort of the same thing. Which I enjoyed! She uses her community-facing role with her research skills and natural curiosity to solve this murder, complete with hijinks like stealing a neighbor’s garbage for evidence and ending with our protagonists landing in dangerous situations.

Even though this was a fairly conventional, and predictable mystery, it was enjoyable, with a matter-of-fact, highly intelligent heroine, books and cats. What more could you ask for?

This was a truly fun read and it would translate wonderful to a Movies & Mystery series. I loved the characters, plotting, pacing, and atmosphere.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hallmark Publishing for a chance to read Murder by Page one by Olivia Matthews in exchange for my honest review. When Marvey, a librarian, moves from Brooklyn to a small town in Georgia she doesn't expect to start solving crimes to become her new hobby. However, when her new best friend becomes the suspect in an author's murder Marvey knows she has to put her talent for research to work. This is a first in a new series and while it was ok to read, it just didnt really hold my interest. For those who love cozy mysteries, it might be good and does include a recipe. 21/2 stars

The Peach Coast Library Mysteries is a new cozy mystery series published by Hallmark. Olivia Matthews is a new author to me, but I will check out her other books. This was a well written and plotted story to start off this series. This story finds Marvella (Marvey) recently moved from New York to small town Georgia to begin a new library job. Realizing that she has little to no chance of promotion in New York, she decides to try her luck at the Peach Coast Library. She has two wonderful friends that play a large part in the story, Jo, a local bookstore owner and Spence, the son of wealthy townspeople. When Jo is suspected of a murder in the storeroom of her store, Marvey realizes that she needs to do something as the police are not searching for other suspects. With Spence’s help, will they be able to prove Jo’s innocence.

I really enjoyed the characters in this story. The three besties are wonderful characters and supportive of each other. The secondary characters are also great, even with a few quirks to make them interesting. I love the way the library staff and patrons rally around to help each other. Corrine, the supervisor at the library is a wonderful character and boss. I liked how she stood behind her employees and stood up to the mayor. The mystery is interesting with several suspects. I tried to figure out the mystery, but kept changing my mind. The reveal was well done, and tied together all the loose ends. I enjoyed this story and will watch for the next in this series.

Warning: Reading Murder by Page One may have you craving peach cobbler, so you may want to skip to the recipe at the end first & whip up a batch before you start the book. Fortunately I too now live in a small town in Georgia, where peach cobbler is a staple in nearly every single restaurant – something I was delighted to discover. But I digress…

We jump right into the story, and I liked Marvey & Jo & Spence immediately. This unlikely trio of friends – two ‘outsiders’ and the popular son of the prominent town family – are engaging characters with a lot of charm and heart between them. The author gives them layered personalities and a genuineness of spirit, which makes their interactions with the people of Peach Coast (classic Southern small town) all the more interesting to watch. I also liked the hint of maybe a romance brewing in the future between Spence & Marvey. The attraction is clearly there but it’s not in full focus yet, so don’t worry about it overpowering the story at all. It’s just enough to keep romantics like me happy 🙂 Marvey’s co-workers, her family, and even her cat Phoenix added further life to the story and I look forward to spending more time with them in future books.

The murder and its aftermath play out about as you would expect them to in a small southern town. Plenty of people willing to gossip about the victim and the suspects which means a wealth of information as long as Marvey is in the right place at the right time & asks the right questions. It also gives the author a chance to introduce readers to the town of Peach Coast and establish the series background without a lot of ‘telling’, and I appreciated the organic way this was done. I had my suspicions all along about the person who ultimately is proven to have ‘dunnit’ but the why caught me by surprise, and I enjoyed the journey to get there.

Bottom Line: Small town Georgia, New York transplant, an OwnVoices author, and a librarian amateur sleuth? Sign me up! A cute setting and quirky drama-prone characters keep the book engaging from beginning to end & the dash of romance potential made me a happy reader. Tucked away in this entertaining story is also a subtle reminder that there is often much more to a person than first meets the eye (or the ear, as small town gossip goes). I loved Marvey & Jo & Spence and got especially tickled at Marvey’s Southern speak dictionary. Great plot with a host of suspects that had Marvey on her toes!

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book)

Thanks NetGalley, Hallmark Publishing and Olivia Matthews for a copy to review.
An engaging cozy mystery where the main character works ( envy envy) in a library and lives in a small town with her cat..what not to love here :)

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

When a dead body turns up in Jo's bookstore, it's Marvey on the case.

This was a relatively fast paced cozy mystery novel that had be guessing until the very end. However, the ending falls to an abrupt flat after such anticipated build up. Not much romance but a solid introduction into a new mystery series.

This book is appropriate for ages 13+ for a murder.

This is the first in a new series, featuring Marvey, a librarian new to the Peach Coast. Having lived in Georgia for a few years and not growing up in the south, I easily related to Marvey's list of sayings and how to translate what some folks were saying.

Marvey is very organized in everything she does including solving a murder. She even chooses which piece of her hand-crafted jewelry to wear and which ones to make for her friend, Jo. Her cat, Phoenix, helps out as well. And then there's Spence. He is cautious but not about to let the two ladies deal with this on their own.

This is an even-paced read, with a dash of humor, mis-steps, dumpster-diving, and surprises. It is a clean read, with a hint of romance perhaps for Spence and Marvey. If you're a fan of Hallmark movies, especially the mysteries, you will enjoy Marvey's adventures.

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book in the hopes that I would post an honest review. This has not affected the content of my review in any way.