Set in the 1950s and trying to keep the diction straight, Merry Allingham introduced readers to a first in a series volume surrounding Flora Steele and her new ownership of her recently deceased aunt’s bookshop. With the body of a man found in her shop, neighbors begin to chat about ghosts and other oddities; this is when a reclusive author retrieving peculiar research materials enters her life. Flora may be in desperate need of a long and much-denied vacation, but first, she must find out why her shop was broken into before her business dries up, leaving her with nothing.

Other than the strained attempts to fit in expressions and phrasing, I found myself enjoying The Bookshop of Murder. Following the tried-and-true approach of returning home to a family business, a new possible love interest, and interesting neighbors, Merryn Allingham has found a new home in the historical-cozy genre to coincide with her tenure in the romance field.

This is the first book Flora Steele Mystery series. It is set in a sleepy village in rural England in 1950s. After finding a body of a young man in her bookstore, Flora teams up with a local reclusive crime writer, Jack Carrington, to solve a mystery of why a healthy man died unexpectedly from a heart attack.

I love cozy mysteries and this book was a pleasant read in my opinion. It was written well and had very likeable characters. However, the story was a bit too linear, predictable and anticlimactic for my taste as it lacked red herrings or any unexpected twists. Still, it was an easy and entertaining read and I will probably read the next book in the series.

My thanks to Bookouture and NetGalley for a review copy of this book.

The Bookshop Murder is the first in the Flora Steele series of cosy mysteries set in 1950s England. In the book, we meet Flora Steele, a twenty-five-year old, who has inherited a bookshop, the All’s Well, and a cottage from her aunt, Violet, in Abbeymead, Sussex. Flora lost her parents early and was more or less brought up by Violet (after a brief period with her parents’ friends). Now, at a time just a few years after the war, things are difficult for the shop, and Flora’s dreams of travelling the world (or at least some of it) have to be put on hold.

Out delivering books in the village one evening, Flora is nearly run over by a speeding red sports car—one let out to guests at the Priory, once the manor house, now a hotel run by a Vernon Elliot who has purchased it. The driver’s fair hair is all she notices. But that is what helps her identify him when his body is found in her own bookshop the next morning by reclusive author J.A. ‘Jack’ Carrington who lives in the village (he is only in the shop because the boy who usually runs his errands is home sick).

The police are called in but quickly dismiss the matter as a natural death; they are also not much bothered by the fact that the young man, Kevin Anderson, seemed to have broken into Flora’s shop just before he died, for nothing was taken, after all. But Flora is not entirely convinced, for there was no reason why a twenty-one-year-old, healthy young man should die that way. Letting the matter alone doesn’t help her for rumours soon begin to spread around the village of ghosts and ill presences in her shop and what little custom she had begins to disappear entirely. She realises that unless she can prove that this was the work of a human hand, she might well lose her business. She convinces Jack Carrington to join in and the two begin to investigate.

They find precious little to work with. Kevin was a relation of the man who inherited the Priory from the owner, Lord Templeton, and who had sold it to Vernon Elliot. His stay at the expensive Priory seems to have been sponsored by his relative and all of it relates to a legend surrounding the house. While Flora and Jack feel this screams ‘Enid Blyton’, they still attempt to look into it, talking to older staff still working at the Priory or living in the village. Even though they find little, they are attacked and another death takes place, once again appearing to be a natural one. Is there any truth behind the legend? Will Flora and Jack get to the bottom of the mystery?

This was a quick, pleasant read for me and was good fun even though it wasn’t one that blew me away so to speak.

The mystery, while it didn’t have many twists and turns, was an interesting enough one (the murder weapon, in particular), and while the legend did have that Enid Blyton touch (as the characters themselves note), it was done nicely enough with a basis in books—a riddle to solve, certainly but no complicated codes and ciphers which one usually finds when old books are involved.

The police’s attitude did surprise me though since it felt like they were much too eager to brush their hands of the whole matter and dismiss it as a natural death even though the evidence was far from clear cut. And would they really dismiss a break-in, when the possible culprit is found dead, however natural it appears? That one seemed a little hard to digest.

I had actually requested the book because of its setting in the 1950s and the author has included elements--from references to music to the shadows of the war, and the difficulties people were living through at the time. But the language in the conversations felt at times a little too modern-day.

The two main characters were quite likeable even though Flora does act a little too recklessly at times, and I wouldn’t mind seeing what they got up to next.

3.25 stars from me.

The Bookshop Murder is the first instalment in the Flora Steele Mystery series set in the picturesque village of Abbeymead, Sussex in 1955. Flora Steele was raised in the sleepy village of Abbeymead after her parents passed away in a car crash when she was only 6 and she became an orphan. Her compassionate and beloved Aunt Violet owned a bookshop in the village known as All’s Well; Flora took a keen interest in the business and began working there when she was young. Now 25-year-old Flora has inherited the shop after Violet’s death after a 3-year struggle with illness. She has dreams of travelling but the bookshop is much too special to her to let it go yet and she adores the cottage she was left so her plans are put on the back burner. For now, she is satisfied with traversing the globe vicariously through stories. One morning reclusive crime writer Jack Carrington visits the shop to collects some books he ordered and discovers a dead body at the back near a broken window. Even though the 21-year-old deceased, Kevin Anderson, had seemingly broken into the shop but not stolen anything, the police dismiss it as a naturally occurring death.

But Flora isn't so quick to believe that a healthy young man would just suddenly drop dead, and when the shop starts to lose business due to rumours and gossip about dark and ghostly presences within, she decides to take action to investigate. Anderson, an Australian, turns out to be the nephew of the owner of The Priory hotel who then sold it on to current owner Vernon Elliot. She convinces Jack to help her investigate and they run across a local legend about possible buried treasure hidden in the hotel grounds. They end up in some precarious and perilous situations and one of the hotel’s gardeners drops dead while tending to the shrubbery. Can Flora and Jack find out the truth about what happened and restore the business to its full glory? This is a compelling, captivating and entertaining cosy mystery with a great mix of intriguing mystery, local legend and lighthearted frolicking, all set in a resort town by the sea. There are plenty of twists and turns, a plethora of suspects and motives, and a superb protagonist. Flora is feisty and intelligent and the dynamic between her and Jack is a solid and interesting one. Highly recommended.

The Bookshop Murder by Merryn Allingham sits firmly in the cosy mystery genre. To be fair it ticks along at a pretty gentle pace. Set in the sleepy village of Abbeymead in the 1950s, Flora Steele finds the body of a young man in her bookshop All’s Well. The deceased, a guest at the Priory hotel seems to have broken into her shop and subsequently died from a heart attack. In fact, the pathologist has concluded it was death by natural causes even though the man was only twenty-one.

Being a small village, rumours soon begin to surface that there must be something wrong with the All’s Well’s building. How else could a fit young man die without explanation? Although the shop was initially busy after the incident (curiosity piquing people’s interest), villagers have started to stay away from the shop. Things are getting so desperate that Flora decides that she needs to investigate further if she is to convince the locals that the death was not a freak occurrence but something that had outside help. Also, why had the man broken into her shop in the first place?

To help with the investigation, Flora enlists the help of Jack Carrington, a reclusive crime writer who was at the scene when the body was discovered. Together they resolve to work out this mystery.

I liked the characters of Flora and Jack. Flora is a very determined woman who has an obvious interest in keeping her shop afloat. Jack is a loner, who even hires a young lad to collect his orders, avoiding the need to meet people. However, Jack is persuaded by Flora’s drive to help solve the mystery. You can see that there is some chemistry between them, and if this is to be the first in a series, I would hope to see this expanded. My big concern with Jack is that although he is a crime writer he doesn’t bring too much to the table in the detecting stakes. But hey, it’s only their first case…

As I mentioned earlier, The Bookshop Murder flows at a pretty gentle stroll. This is certainly true at the beginning of the book. Fortunately, the plot picks up its pace the further you delve into the story. I would however have liked a few more twists to the plot and maybe the odd red-herring here or there. But it was still an entertaining read.

If you like a gentle murder mystery, then I think you will like The Bookshop Murder.

Recommended.

My thanks to Bookouture via NetGalley for providing a copy of The Bookshop Murder in exchange for an honest review.

A good start for a new historical cozy mystery series.
It’s an entertaining and engrossing mystery that I thoroughly enjoyed.
The historical background is very original as there are plenty of mysteries set during WWII but very few set some years after the war. The historical background is vivid, and I liked the references to the lifestyle and how people was living when they stopped being rationed.
They mystery flows and there’s plenty of twists. I guessed who the culprit was, but I couldn’t understand how, and I think “how” was quite clever.
This series has plenty of potential and I think it can become an excellent one as the characters and the historical background are very interesting.
Flora is a clever and strong-willed woman. I loved how she was able to support her friend, sacrifice to help her aunt. I liked the chemistry with Jack, and I think they could become an excellent detecting couple.
There are a couple of issues as the plot sometimes drags a bit and I’m not a fan of reckless heroine.
I look forward to reading the next adventure.
Recommended.
Many thanks to Bookouture and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Flora Steele had inherited her bookshop from her beloved Aunt Violet after nursing her for three years during her illness. She’d been her surrogate mum since Flora was six years old and her parents had died. Her dreams of travelling were put on hold, but she loved the bookshop, its delightful smells and at least she could travel vicariously. But the morning she found a dead body at the rear of the shop, her life changed.

Jack Carrington was a crime writer and something of a recluse. He lived not far from Abbeymead and Flora delivered books to him on her faithful bicycle, Betty. He was soon enlisted by Flora to help solve the mystery of the dead young man, whom the police said died of a heart attack. But when another local died, it had the townsfolk on edge. Flora and Jack needed to solve the mystery before someone else died…

The Bookshop Murder is a great start to a new cosy series – Flora Steele Mystery #1 – by Merryn Allingham and is also the author’s debut. An intriguing mystery with plenty of twists, much bafflement and light entertainment in this little village by the sea which is set in the 1950s. I’m looking forward to #2. Highly recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

A lovely little cozy series set in a small village with a dead body in the local bookshop. Well written with plenty of atmosphere, mystery and a legend. This was a fun read that flowed so well I just had to keep going! Bring on #2 please!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Bookouture for this ARC!

Flora Steele has always worked in the All’s Well bookshop in the sleepy English village of Abbeymead helping her Aunt Violet but now the bookshop is all hers. She opens one morning not realising things are to change. She’s collecting an order for J A Carrington from the cellar when he calls to her, a young man with blond hair is laying dead on the floor. A broken window is how he entered. Flora finds out he was staying at the Priory Hotel, and when the gardener suddenly dies in its beautiful grounds only a few days later, she is certain that something untoward is happening in her quiet village. Determined to save her beloved bookshop’s reputation and solve the murder mystery, Flora enlists the help of handsome and brooding Jack Carrington: crime writer, recluse and her most reliable customer. As the unlikely duo set about investigating the baffling case, guilty faces greet them at every door. And they soon realise there’s more than one person hiding secrets in Abbeymead.
A new author to me & a new series. I thoroughly enjoyed this cosy mystery set in the mid 50’s. I loved Flora who wanted to travel but circumstances have always conspired against her, now she runs the bookshop & gets around on her faithful bicycle Betty, she’s intelligent, feisty & once she gets her teeth into something she's like a dog with a bone. I was intrigued by Jack & the more we got to know him the more I liked him. I loved how the pair complemented each other & how they worked to solve the mystery & murders. I recommend this engrossing entertaining read & I look forwad to more in the series
My honest review is for a special copy I voluntarily read

Intricate English Murder Mystery
This is a very involved mystery with plenty of twists and turns. There are plenty of suspects, but motives are sparse. Our heroine is a young bookseller who is thrown into this venture by finding a corpse in her shop. This book is well done and keeps the reader's interest. I was sorry to see the book end. I can't wait for the next episode. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

The Bookshop Murder is a fun, cozy mystery.. Flora, the main character, is instantly likable. The mystery is fun to solve right along side her. I recommend The Bookshop Murder!

I was not able to connect with the MC, although I did like Jack. I liked the book more after the 2nd death. I really enjoyed how it ended.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

In 1955 Sussex Flora Steele is happy with her cottage and bookshop in the village of Abbeymead. That is until the morning she opens her shop and discovers a dead body. The dead man was a guest at local hotel The Priory and though it is quickly written up as natural causes Flora has doubts. How does a fit and healthy 21 year old suddenly die and why had he broken into her bookshop. The police aren’t interested but local gossip about ghosts and poison in the atmosphere in the book shop is losing Flora business and that is something she can’t afford.
Teaming up with reclusive local author, Jack Carrington, Flora determines to solve the puzzle. When a local man dies and it is again classed as natural causes Flora and Jack are convinced something underhand is going on and it seems to centre around the priory. But could digging deeper put Flora and Jack in danger?
I really enjoyed this, it might not be as gritty as the books I usually read but it was gripping nonetheless. Strong characters, a good story line and the pace was perfect.

📚 It's opening time at Flora's bookshop in the sleepy English village of Abbeymead, and everything seems under control until when she discovers a body amongst her own bookshelves. When, a couple of days, later a retired gardener suddenly dies, she begins to think that the two deaths are connected. To solve the mystery, Flora enlists the help of Jack Carrington: handsome crime writer, recluse and her most reliable customer.⁠
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❤️ I liked:⁠
🏡 The setting. A lovely English village, with an even more lovely old residence, turned into a hotel. The setting of the story sounds so cosy and idyllic... if it wasn't for the murders!⁠
👩 Flora. She is an independent, smart, determined and strong woman. She had to abandon her plans to travel around the world to assist her aunt and stayed at the bookshop ever since. ⁠
🔍 The murder mystery. I have to say the "who" was not difficult to discover... the "how", however, was well thought through and quite intriguing.⁠
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🤔 I wasn't so sure about:⁠
🕰️ The setting. As much as I adored the place, I was a bit confused by the time. This story is supposedly set in the 1950s, but to me, it could have been set nowadays: I couldn't feel the difference at all, not even a tiny bit.⁠
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⭐⭐⭐ 3/5 I loved the story and the characters. A good start for this intriguing cosy mystery series with great potential. Thanks to #netgalley and @bookouture for the ARC.

New cozy mystery series set in a sleepy English village not far from Brighton, in the 1950s. The war is well over and life is slowly but surely recovering and restoring.

Flora Steel is the owner of village bookshop All's Well. However, not all's well in Flora's life. She was orphaned at a very early age. But thankfully, her aunt Violet came to the rescue and brought Flora from London to the village, where Flora grew up but where she could not wait to leave. Flora had amazing plans of travels, but had to return to the village to look after her ailing aunt... and stayed. So, with her plans behind her Flora finds herself looking after bookshop.

And her bookshop needs looking after, especially after a customer (who turns out to be popular crime writer Jack Carrington) finds a body in one of the shop's nooks. Flora, dead set on restoring reputation of her store and getting her clients back (after village rumour mill spread stories of ghosts, poison and what's not, turning people away from the shop) decides to solve this mystery.

What she gets, or rather they as Jack reluctantly joins Flora, is way more than she can handle...

But it is fun, interesting story spreading across generations (going way back to Henry VIII), many colourful and likeable or hateable characters. And it ends well... with an open door to continue the series.

I enjoyed this read. Would love to follow this duo or Flora on her own.

What's not to like about an English village mystery that takes place ten years after World War II and concerns a bookshop? That's what I thought, too, when I picked up Merryn Allingham's very first Flora Steele mystery, The Bookshop Murder. As I began to read and the pages turned, it got even better. Buried treasure? A priest hole? Secret passages? Definitely my cup of tea.

Allingham puts us right in the era with little details like Flora delivering books by bicycle and the fact that meat had come off rationing only the year before and people still felt eating it was a wicked indulgence. Flora's Aunt Violet, who left her the bookshop, lost her fiancé in World War I and raised Flora after a car accident killed her parents. (How many parents have lost their lives due to car accidents in crime fiction I wonder?) The village also plays its part in the story by spreading all sorts of scandalous gossip and whispers of gruesome doings and haunted bookshops. The coup de grâce involves a bus driver in a neighboring village, but I'll let you find out for yourselves what he did.

The mystery is a good one, and so is the setting, so... what about the characters? Any traditional or cozy mystery worth its salt has to have characters that readers can care about. The Bookshop Murder rises to the occasion in this, too. Flora is intelligent, hard-working, and even though she seems to know how to get her own way, her life so far has been one of doing for others and putting her own dreams aside. Once she decides to enlist the help of mystery writer Jack Carrington, the story shifts gears and becomes even more enjoyable to read.

Jack has his own past that readers have to learn about. He's decided to shut himself away in a house outside the village, and he's hired a young boy to deliver food and books so he doesn't have to deal with anyone else. That is, until the boy becomes ill and Flora decides a mystery writer is the perfect person to help her solve a crime. Watching the two work together and become used to each other bodes well for future books in the series.

If mysteries reminiscent of Miss Marple and Miss Seeton are your favorites, then by all means get your hands on a copy of Merryn Allingham's The Bookshop Murder. It has all the hallmarks of being the start of a beautiful reading relationship.

BLOG TOUR REVIEW

Review for 'The Bookshop Murder' by Merryn Allingham.

Read and reviewed via NetGalley for Merryn Allingham, Bookouture publishers and Bookouture anonymous

Publication date 26th July 2021.

This is the first book I have read by this author. It is also the first book in the 'Flora Steele Mystery' series.

I was originally drawn to this book by its gorgeous cover and gripping sounding synopsis and title. The synopsis stated that 'Fans of Agatha Christie, Faith Martin and Joy Ellis will love this perfect cozy murder mystery novel' . I am a huge fan of Agatha, Faith and Joy so am looking forward to seeing if this lives up to this statement. I must admit I was also biased due to the publisher being Bookouture. I have yet to read a book published by Bookouture that I haven't enjoyed. Hopefully this won't be the first... Watch this space! (Written before I started reading the book).

This novel consists of 30 chapters. The chapters are short to medium in length so possible to read 'just one more chapter' before bed...OK, I know yeah right, but still just in case!

This book is based in Gloucester, England 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿, UK 🇬🇧. I always enjoy when books are set in the UK as I'm from Wales and have sometimes visited areas mentioned in the book. This makes it easier to picture where the scenes are set at times. I have in fact visited and holidayed in Gloucester on many occasions including this year so am looking forward to possibly recognising name places.

This book is written in third person perspective and the main protagonists are Flora Steele ad Jack Carrington. The benefits of third person perspective with multiple protagonists are that it let's you see the bigger picture of what's going on and you get to know more characters more, what they are thinking and what they are doing. It feels like you get to see the whole picture and not miss out in anything.


This book was very well written and I do believe some research went into it as everything linked correctly in with the era it was set in which was 1955. It is a real bug bear for me when I read a historical novel and the author hasn't done their research and gets basic information mixed up so well done Merryn!! It was very well written and I found the synopsis and the cover fitted the storyline perfectly, The descriptions were great and it really felt as if I was in the story.

Well I must say what an explosive start to what promises to be an addictive series!!! The storyline was very interesting and quite fast paced. It is always worrying when starting a new series as you have no idea who the characters are. It is very important for me to bond with not only the lead characters but those surrounding them too. Well I'm extremely happy to say that this was definitely not a problem in this case!!! I absolutely loved the fact that the main character (Flora) owned a Bookshop and a lot of the mystery was surrounded by books too. There is just something about a book where there is a lot of emphasis on books for me and this book was packed with them!! I really enjoyed that it was set in the past and the storyline really suited that. It really is a nice cozy mystery that will keep you guessing throughout. At no point did I suspect who was doing what or why so another huge well done there Merryn!!! I have read many a mystery and find that I am working out the killer/perp quicker every time and there's nothing worse than working out who did what when your need even half way through a book. Not only is this quite a suspense and action filled mystery but there was just the right amount of quirkiness, laughter and attitude to give it a nice mix!!! A fun, addictive, unputdownable cozy crime mystery.

I am really invested in the characters and really enjoyed Flora and Jack and their fantastic and quirky personality!!! In fact all of the characters had their own individual personalities which worked really well with each other. I am definitely looking forward to meeting Flora and Jack again and some more of the villagers. The community was really close knit which is realistic in small communities and I enjoyed getting to know them.

Congratulations Merryn on an absolutely fantastic start to what promises to be an absolutely epic series!! I am really looking forward to see what Flora and Jack get up to next!!!

Overall an addictive perfect mix of mystery, crime, suspense and quirkiness which kept me turning the pages late at night!! An explosive start to a new series!!!


Genres covered in this book include Suspense, Mystery, Thriller, Murder Mystery and Crime Fiction amongst others.


I would recommend this book to the fans of the above as well as fans of Helena Dixon, Agatha Christie, Dee MacDonald, Fliss Chester and anyone looking for a historic cosy mystery!!


256 pages.

This book is just £1.99 to purchase on kindle via Amazon or free on kindle unlimited which I think is an absolute bargain for this book!!!

Rated 5 /5 (I LOVED it ) on Goodreads, Instagram, Amazon UK and Amazon US and on over 30 Facebook pages plus my blog on Facebook.

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After the first couple of chapters I almost gave up reading this book but I’m glad I kept on reading because The Bookshop Murder turned out to be a fun and engaging cozy mystery.
The story was easy to follow and the main characters easy to like. I really liked smart and determined Flora and reserved but funny and caring Jack. They make great partners-in-crimesolving.
All in all this was a fun and entertaining read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy.

Flora Steele was brought up by her Aunt Violet and started working in the All's Well Bookshop owned by her aunt when she was very young. When delivering books on her bike, Betty, she is knocked off the bike by a sports car driven by a man with blond hair. The next morning, Jack Carrington, a well know reclusive author stops for books he had ordered. While Flora goes to collect the books, Jack finds a dead man at the back of the store near a broken window. Flora recognizes him as the man who knocked her off her bike! Flora finds out he was staying at the Priory Hotel, and came from Australia. He turns out to be the nephew of the man who inherited the Priory, and sold it to Elliot now running it as a hotel.

Soon, the former gardener at the hotel, father of Flora's best friend Kate, suddenly dies in the gardens, and Flora begins losing business in her store. She convinces Jack to help her find out what is happening in Abbeymead to try to convince the townspeople to come back to her store. At one point, Jack is walking Flora home, when he is shot with a crossbow, injuring his arm. At this point he urges Flora to be very careful and not try to detect on her own. There are rumors that there is a treasure buried in the Priory grounds, and Flora and Jack make a trip to the library in Hove where they read a very old book that tells of the treasure. They quickly realize that the murders may be folks trying to eliminate competitive treasure seekers.

As Jack and Flora begin to make headway in their investigations, they put themselves into more danger, and there are some very exciting times. This book was a lot of fun to read, and the characters are compelling. The culprit is isn't a big surprise, but there is a surprise at the end!

The first read by this author and a very good choice,

The main character is Flora Steele a young woman who ones and run the local book shop , when an author visits her shop he discovers a body amongst the shelves, the police dismiss as natural causes but Flora and the author Jack are not convinced and set themselves along the path to solve the murder themselves