Gilbert writes another satisfying cozy mystery in this continuation of the B and B series.
In this novel Charlotte, owner of the Chapter B and B has a group of readers coming for a retreat. The topic to be discussed include children's books and fairy tales.
In keeping with the theme a Mad Hatter's tea is served.
Soon, a member of the group is found murdered. It turns out that the woman is a much disliked owner of a jewelry store that may traffic in stolen merchandise.
As Charlotte investigates the murder it turns out that everyone has a reason for murder!

I received a free copy of A FATAL BOOKING (Book 3 of the Booklover's B&B Mysteries) by Victoria Gilbert in exchange for an honest review. I enjoyed this book as well as the first two. I recommend the series to fans of cozy murder mysteries featuring books, book events, and B&B guest drama. I recommend this book to fans of the series.

#AFatalBooking #NetGalley

This is the third book in what is a new-to-me series, and I don't expect it to be my last. It's always refreshing to find a cozy heroine who keeps her wits about her, doesn't go off on tangents that put her life and those of others in jeopardy and (gasp!) actually works with and respects law enforcement.

Such is the happy case with Charlotte Reed, a former English teacher who now runs Chapters Bed and Breakfast in a North Carolina harbor town. Aided by her trusty housekeeper Alicia Simpson and chef Damian Carr, she's hosting a book club retreat that promises to be fun because it will focus on classic children's literature. But as the guests arrive, it becomes clear all is not well in fairy tale land; in fact, their primary form of interpersonal communication seems to be bickering. Even worse, a local boat captain warns Charlotte that one of the guests has, shall we say, a rather shady background.

Still, Charlotte is determined to make the best of it - and things manage to go well until they don't: that shady guest turns up dead during the Mad Hatter tea party in the garden - a victim, it appears, of cyanide poisoning. That's an aha moment, at least until it becomes clear that most of the book club guests have relatively easy access to the poison. Whoops!

Charlotte begins to investigate, with the help of her next-door friend Ellen, who has a secret background as a secret agent (as does the relative who left the house to Charlotte in her will). Mostly missing in action is Charlotte's main squeeze, Gavin Howard, also an agent who is away on assignment until close to the end of the book to lend his expertise to the case (and to Charlotte, but in a different way).

All in all, it's a delight to watch the story unfold as Charlotte follows clues where they lead (always, as I mentioned previously, sharing her findings with the police). There's a little too much repetition as various characters mull over who could have done what and when to my liking, but it all works out in the end (which also brings the revelation of possible new directions for a couple of the main characters, making me even more eager to read the next installment. Till then, I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy of this one.

Stacey has cheated and been rotten to a lot of people, including all the other guests at the weekend book lovers retreat Charlotte is hosting. Charlotte, who is making a good go of the B&B she inherited from her aunt, likes book weekends and this one was meant to be about fairy tales and children's lit not about poison! Luckily, she has a good friend in Ellen who has a background in intelligence, as does her boyfriend Gavin (I'm not, btw, a fan of this subplot). They work with (yay!) with police to find the killer- there are enough red herrings to keep you guessing! Thanks to netgalley for the ARC. A nice addition to the series which will be enjoyable as a standalone as well.

This is the third book in the cozy mystery series A Booklover's B&B Mystery. It is an unusual series in that the police seem to welcome the help/interference of the amateur sleuths. Charlotte, the B&B owner, and her neighbor Ellen, a former secret agent, find themselves in the middle of a murder mystery when a guest, who is part of a book club celebration, is found dead in the garden. Charlotte's developing love interest Gavin, who travels a great deal for a mysterious job, shows up just in time to help the duo. The series is entertaining, with a lovely setting and likeable characters. Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing an ARC.

Although this is the third book in the Booklovers B&B Mystery series, I did not feel left behind as I read #AFatalBooking by Victoria Gilbert, provided to me through #NetGalley.
Indeed, this book stands quite well on its own and is an enjoyable read. There is enough backstory explanation to keep the reader from scratching her head while at the same time not so much that it bogs down the new narrative. The characters are intriguing and the mystery with its plethora of suspects keeps the reader turning the pages.
I did find that some of the descriptions were unnecessarily wordy, resulting in my simply scanning many as I neared the end of the book. But overall, the book is well-written and holds the reader's interest.

I gave A Fatal Booking by Victoria Gilbert five stars.

This is the third book in the "A Booklover's B&B Mystery" series by Victoria Gilbert. I really liked the two first books and this third one was no exception.

In this book Charlotte is delighted to welcome an eclectic group of guests to Chapters Bed and Breakfast for a book club retreat focused on fairy tales and classic children’s literature. But when one of the guests is poisoned at a Mad Hatter tea party, Charlotte realizes she’s fallen down a rather unpleasant rabbit hole.

I found myself engrossed in the story and it was fun meeting all the lovely characters again. The second book hinted on some romance for Charlotte in the upcoming book and we got it! I liked the mystery and didn't figure out who dunnit. I also like that she is friends with the detective compared to many other cozies I have read.

The ending gave us a few surprises and I can't wait to see what Charlotte have in store for Chapters B&B in book number four.

This book comes out June 7.

Thank you Net Galley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4617519745

https://www.instagram.com/p/CdlSJXHozFz/

Booklover and innkeeper Charlotte Reed gets a chance to play amateur investigator again when one of the book club that has reserved her inn is found murdered in the garden.

The inn has been reserved by a one of Charlotte's former teaching colleagues. Lana has become an art teacher and illustrator of children's books. The group of disparate individuals will be taking part in all sorts of events from a Mad Hatter's tea party to various lectures. Charlotte quickly notices that all is not well with the group. It seems like most of them are at odds with one another and most are at odds with the victim.

The victim was almost universally disliked. Her jewelry store had a reputation for dealing with questionable goods and her own reputation for honest dealing is unlikely. Two of the fellow attendees have had their jewelry designs stolen by the victim. Another attendee's son was falsely accused of theft from the jewelry store.

Charlotte and her neighbor Ellen who happens to be a former spy are kept busy looking into the various members of the book group to try to discover who has the most reason to want the victim dead. It doesn't help that one of the attendees is Ellen's former acquaintance who was a college friend before their friendship abruptly ended.

This was a fun cozy with lots of interesting characters and lots for Charlotte and Ellen to investigate. I also liked the assist from Charlotte's boyfriend who is also a spy. Fans of the previous books in the series will enjoy this newest adventure.

I am very confused about this. I generally like the things Victoria Gilbert writes and REALLY thought that I had read others in this series. But since I normally put a review in Goodreads after I finish a book, I am very confused that I can't find mention of "Reserved for Murder" which I have listed as Kindle contents on my amazon account, but it is not ON my kindle right now. I can only surmise that I read it and then deleted it from the kindle as I usually do after I type a little review on this website.

Both this book and the one I am "remembering" take place in a small town, there is a marina there as both are close to the water/ocean. Both have to do with a Bed and Breakfast. But honest to goodness, I do not remember that the next door neighbor had been a spy! I felt like I knew the layout of the B&B and so much in the house seemed familiar. But if I really did read the previous book, I have no idea why I didn't write about it.

At any rate, I did like the book that I can't remember the title for and I also enjoyed this one.

Charlotte Reed inherited the B&B from her aunt Isabella. She lives in the B&B and runs it with the help of Alicia, the housekeeper who is the cook.

In A Fatal Booking, Charlotte hosts a book club that is holding a retreat. One of the members has a very caustic personality and so it is not at all surprising that she would be the murder victim. There are a lot of people who would have a reason to want her dead. With the help of Gavin, Charlotte's romantic interest, and his "aunt" Ellen, the next door neighbor, and Charlotte's friends who are referred to as the "Irregulars" like Sherlock Holmes' street informers, the case is finally solved. I'm sure that isn't a spoiler since all cozy mysteries end that way.

The reason I gave it 4 stars is because I truly got tired of hearing all the facts rehashed with so many different people over and over again. Hey, we got it! We know why each person appears guilty! We know why they hated the victim! When a new fact comes to light we don't need a retelling of everything else we know in addition.

Maybe I'm just getting tired of cozies. Maybe I need a new genre. May I need to switch to books that aren't set in a seaside town or somehow have a "book" theme - like those set in libraries or bookstores or Ellery Adams Book Retreat series (which I do love!). It's not good when I get books confused like this in my mind.

"A Fatal Booking” the 3rd instalment in the "A Booklover's B&B Mystery" series by Victoria Gilbert. Chapter’s owner Charlotte Reed and her former spy neighbor, Ellen Montgomery, find themselves pitted against a tea-party poisoner.

I found myself engrossed in the story and reading it over a couple of days. I loved the characters of Ellen and Charlotte and the bond that’s formed between them. I also enjoyed where life is taking Charlotte as well as the rest of the Chapter’s family.

Overall the mystery was entertaining, full of twists and turns as well as a few surprises. I did guess the killer before Charlotte this time, but I loved putting the pieces together.

I can’t wait to read the next book and see how things are at Chapters B&B in Beaufort, North Carolina.

I highly recommend this book to all my cozy loving friends.

I requested and received an Advance Reader Copy of this book from Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my OWN.

This review of A Fatal Booking by Victoria Gilbert is courtesy of Netgalley.
Rating 4/5 #AFatalBooking #NetGalley

When searching for the next batch of books to review, I was happy to see a familiar author in this third book of the Booklover’s B&B Mystery series. I'd first encountered the series when I found the 2nd book in the series (see https://www.netgalley.com/book/206804/review/29073) for review of that book.

Reading this volume of the series, I've upped my review to 4/5. Things I liked was that unlike many cozy mysteries Charlotte doesn't compete with local law enforcement to try and solve the mystery. It wasn't the overdone plot where the local law enforcement is also the romantic interest or portrayed as incompetent. Beyond that, two mysteries, including one from the past were nicely brought to a conclusion.

In this third book of a series of cosy mysteries set in a Booklover's B&B called 'Chapters', a guest is murdered while taking part in a Mad Hatter's tea party. The victim, Stacy Wilkin, was a member of a book club staying at Chapters for a few days with several events planned around the theme of children's books and fairy tales. With previous experience as an amateur sleuth, the owner of Chapters, Charlotte Reed is keen to help the police find out who murdered her guest, especially since they are still staying in her B&B.

This was an enjoyable mystery, although fairly slow to get going, it gradually built to a thrilling action packed ending. Charlotte was able to discover that Stacy had previously crossed all five remaining members of the bookclub in one way or another and they all had a reason to hate her and the means to murder her, so singling out the murderer was challenging. Perhaps because Charlotte is the narrator, I haven't really warmed to her yet as a character but I really like her elderly friend and next door neighbour, Ellen who is and ex spy and immense help to Charlotte in her amateur sleuthing. I also like Charlotte's boyfriend, Gavin who is also currently an active spy, often away for long periods on secret missions, so I hope we see more of him in the future in this delightful series.

This cozy mystery series is a combination of a B&B setting, with a side of spy & covert operations. I've been reading it from the beginning and really wanted to like it, but it hasn't been for me. I tend to look at cozy mysteries like a visit with friends, with the actual mystery taking a backseat, and I haven't found these stories to be all that friendly, especially this one. The characters keep their distance, and the language is a bit stilted, so I haven't been drawn in to them. I think they are a good choice for others, particularly those who want to follow the mystery while in a beautiful location. Thanks to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for the advance digital copy.

A Fatal Booking was a good cozy mystery. I particularly enjoyed the author's writing style, very rich and varied. The setting allows for all the cozy vibes one might expect in the genre, and all the literary references were a much appreciated added bonus. I thought some characters were more interesting than others, and the plot wasn't always holding my attention, but it remains entertaining and it delivers on its promise.

I thought this was a pretty well planned out story; I enjoyed the setting well enough too.
I think some of the detachment I felt from the characters may have been due to the fact that book seems to be several installments into the series, but it's the first one I've read.
I would like to know more about Isabella and Ellen's intelligence work. That is a bit too fuzzily defined for me to take seriously at times.

I'll add more here before publication

In the third installment of Victoria Gilbert's Booklovers B&B Mysteries, A Fatal Booking, Charlotte welcomes one of her former colleagues and her book club to Chapters for a retreat. Soon it becomes clear that one of the members has a bad history with all the other members of the club and some of the local residents as well. Unfortunately, this particular guest ends up in the garden, dead from cyanide poisoning during a tea party being held at Chapters leading to a plethora of suspects among both the guests and the townspeople.

The main characters that this author has created to continue from book to book continue to gain depth in both their backstory and their current relationships. Also with each book, Charlotte heals more from her husband's death and is able to move her deepening relationship with Gavin forward, especially after he reveals that he has applied for a new position within the government agency that he works for that will reduce the amount of danger that he is in as well as create a homebase for him that is close enough for them to see each other on a somewhat more regular basis.

As this storyline develops, the author includes enough plot twists and motives to keep the reader captivated and guessing until the end with a complete and total surprise once the culprit is revealed. In this series, I am especially enjoying the fact that the continuing characters are from many different backgrounds culturally, socially, educationally, and racially demonstrating that all groups can work together if they choose to. Although each book can be read on its own, I highly recommend reading this series in order so the reader can follow all the developments in characters and relationships. I look forward to more books in this series to see what situations await the characters in the future.

I received a free copy of this book from NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books and am voluntarily posting my honest and fair opinion.

The newest book in the booklover’s b&b mystery series. Charlotte is once again on the case when one of her guests dies of suspected arsenic poisoning.

I found this one a struggle to read. I read the first in this series and liked it, but I didn’t connect with this one. Part of it was that it took a while to get to the murder.

A book club is having a week long retreat at Charlotte’s B&B, Chapters. The host is an old teacher friend of Charlotte’s whose illustrations grace some of the children’s fairy tales they will be discussing. During the Mad Hatter Tea Party one of the guests is poisoned and all the other guests are suspects. Charlotte and her octogenarian neighbor Ellen, a former government operative, investigate. As they delve deeper it appears there may be ties to Charlotte’s late great-aunt who was also a spy.
This was a nice, quick read for a spring afternoon. I enjoy the characters, the amateur sleuthing is not over the top and the solution, while a bit obvious, is not telegraphed blatantly. The ending almost reads as a series ender with several characters announcing major life changes but I hope this is just to show that our cast of characters do not have static lives. I look forward to more in this series

Thoroughly enjoying this cozy mystery series! Thanks so much for allowing me to have access to the digital arc!

I received an epub copy from NetGalley.

This book was an enjoyable read with a lot of my twists and written to where I thought it was one character and it ended up being someone else. The mystery was good and there characters were entertaining and make me want to read more from this series.