Thank you Netgalley and Hallmark Publishing for an advance copy of Murder Out of Character by Olivia Matthews.

This is the second book in the Peach Coast Library Mysteries series although I did not read the first one, I was able to read this book without complaints since the mystery is contained to this book. Murder Out of Character is a cozy mystery which is my favorite genre in mystery. The mystery kept me guessing. I didn’t figure it out until later in the book which is a big plus for me. I hate solving the murder before the main character.

While Murder Out of Character had all the hallmarks of a cozy (amateur sleuths solving a mystery), I felt that the characters were not as developed as most cozy mystery characters. There were also a lot of characters to follow and due to the lack of development I had certain characters confused. This may have been because I have not read the first book or it may be that there were too many librarians without distinct characteristics to keep it clear.
Marvey was a strong female lead. I enjoyed her life on Peach Coast, Georgia and look forward to see what happens with her relationship with her friends there.

Marvey’s supporting casts were as I mentioned a bit complicated. I liked that they worked at a library but I would like to know more about each character aside from their looks. Marvey’s parents were my least favorite characters in the books. I get that they were nervous about their adult daughter moving across the country to a new job, but subscribing to the newspaper so they could keep tabs on the town seemed a bit much. Her parents while quirky irritated me.

The descriptions of Peach Coast, Georgia made me want to visit the small town and reminded me of Georgia coastal towns I had visited before.

Overall, the book was a fun cozy mystery. I wish the characters had a bit more development. I will likely read book one to see if these issues were fixed in book one and may be fixed when Murder Out of Character is published in September.

I never comment on grammatical errors in a book. I know that no one is perfect and even big publishing companies have errors. While this book is an advanced copy that is not ready for publication, there were multiple errors throughout the book which made it challenging to read. I am sure Hallmark Publishing will have those errors fixed before publication.

Murder Out of Character is the second in the series. I really enjoyed this book and the characters. Marvella (Marvey) Harris is the main character, She is the Director of Library Community Engagement for the Peach Coast Library. in Peach Coast, Georgia. She and the other employees at the library are hosting the first summer solicitation drive cocktail party fundraiser. When cleaning up after the party Marvey comes across a hit list with four people on it. Hank Figg, Nelle Kenton, Brittany Wilson and her best friend Spence Holt. She takes the list to Spence to show it to him, Hank was the head coach of the boys basketball team at the high school who died of a heart attack. After the party Nelle died. It was determined that both of them had been poisoned, They take the list to the police but the police don't believe there is anything to the list. Marvey is determined to protect Spence so he is not killed. This is where the story takes the reader on an adventure to find out who killed Hank and Nelle and why. The story builds up to an exciting ending.

I am looking forward to the next in the series and to see the development of the relationship between Marvey and Spence.

Thank you NetGalley and Hall;mark Publishing for this ARC.

Marvey, still adjusting to life in Peach Coast, Georgia, is at a library fundraising event when she comes across a list of four names. One is the name of someone who recently died—and who may have been murdered. Another is Spencer Holt, the handsome newspaper owner who’s become one of Marvey’s best friends.
I love this series its like visiting with a group of friends. Marvey is such a fun character and I love that she is embracing the south as her new home. I am looking forward to her next adventure.
#MurderOutofCharacter #NetGalley

I love books that take place in the south. I love books about libraries. This book was both of these things and had interesting characters as well. I have not read the first book in this series but did not feel like I had come into the middle of something or lost. This is a promising new series and readers will like Marvey and Peach Coast!

A satisfyingly complex story with a slow unveiling of characters, motives, incentives. Marvey, a New Yorker, is caring, humble, motivated, a little unsure if she fits into the small Southern town she has moved to. She proves herself time and again to be worthy of their acceptance, as she struggles to convince people of the significance of a list she found after a fundraiser for the library she works at.

I really enjoyed the characters and storyline of this book. It took me a couple chapters to really get into the book and I am so glad that I stuck with it. This was my first mystery from Olivia Matthews and I am looking forward to reading more from her.

We return to Peach Coast, Georgia and we get together with Marvey at a library fundraising event. While she was cleaning up, she comes across a list with four names on it. At first, she ignores it but it keeps coming back to her especially when half the people on the list have been murdered. Marvey, her friends, and her band of librarians are on the case! Will they be able to find the killer before someone else on the list becomes another victim, will they be too late?

I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This is Book 2 of the Peach Coast Library Series. This is the first book in the series that I have read and I will go back and read Book 1. I really enjoyed meeting all of the characters in this small community of Peach Coast, Georgia. Marvey is a small-town librarian whose job is to raise funds to keep the programs running at the library. While cleaning up after a fund raiser, Marvey finds a list of names of people in the community. She finds out that two people on the list have died of suspicious circumstances but when she sees her best friend’s name on the list, she becomes concerned and contacts the police. They really don’t believe that her list is a hit list and tell her to forget it. But Marvey decides to investigate on her own and to save her best friend, Spencer.

A Cosy in every since of the word. A small town, a hint of romance, a mysterious murder and a list of names.
It is cute, has some humour, quirky characters and so quick an easy to read.

I like the library connection and Marvey as a character and didn't feel as if I needed to read the first book to follow this one successfully.

A fun, easy and quick read with everything you need from a cosy mystery story.

This was my first Hallmark book read, and as a Hallmark movie loyalist I was so excited for a chance to read this. It was the second in the series but I did not feel like I was missing anything by not reading the first (though now I want to!) I definitely could envision a Hallmark Movies and Mystery while reading. I really do love a good Cozy Mystery. Many thanks to NetGalley and the Publisher for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

Marvey is a librarian in Peach Coast, Georgia. She recently moved from Brooklyn, New York. She is just getting used to Georgia and things people say. She finds a mysterious list of names and two of the names have recently been murdered. The last name on the list is a dear friend. So Marvey decides to investigate the list to help save her friend.

I enjoyed this book. This book was the second in a series. But the author did a good job of keeping the reader up to date of things that previously happened.

I really enjoyed Murder Out of Character which is book #2 in the series. I realize this was an uncorrected proof but there were so many punctuation and capitalization errors, it was kind of annoying. I did read the book and thought the story was cute. The story takes place in Peach Coast, Georgia, a small community with the coolest library and some real fun and entertaining characters.
When murders occured in this small town, everyone is a suspect and I enjoyed how the author creates a story around each person and "maybe they did this" leads you on the trail to try to figure out who did it.
I think my favorite line in the book is "I'd much rather solve a murder mystery in the pages of a good book than in real life".
I especially loved Hallmark's recipe of Anna May's Southern Style Pralines. They were a fun part of the story.
The Author, Olivia Matthews, is a pen name for Patricia Sargeant. This is a cute story. Thank you to Hallmark Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced readers copy in exchange for an honest review

The book itself, Murder out of Character, is a typical cozy mystery. I found the characters to be slightly less developed than I like, and the main character's (Marvy) family to be completely unrealistic. How many people have parents that are that far in their business at that age? Not many one would think. It goes beyond mere close familial ties and edges into treating their daughter as they would a particularly stupid child. The ending to the tale is a bit too pat and forcibly 'happy'. But then, this is Hallmark, the great home of "You know exactly what you're getting". The novel wasn't bad. It had a fairly nice hook to the mystery, although it took longer than it should have perhaps to fully unfold. And I do have to gratefully commend the author, Olivia Matthews, on her portrayal of the librarians! They're not constantly saying "Shhhh..." and reading behind the info desk. The very real struggles of modern public libraries are well portrayed. Kudos to Ms. Matthews for that!
I chose to set the stars in my rating at 4, even though I really thought the book a 3-3.5 star read. However, the reasons were not strictly all the author's doing, so I upgraded a bit. I certainly hope that the advance copy I got from Hallmark (yes, that Hallmark) Publishers was an uncorrected proof! Many of us find that the errors in books are getting a bit ridiculous, and it really shows here in Murder Out of Character. What detracted horrendously from the whole book was the feel that this was an uncorrected proof. I've read other books lately that were ARCs and they were in 100% better shape than this one was and due to be published later in the year. I pray that the book is fixed and given some editing before the publication date. There are formatting errors, especially at the beginning of every single chapter. There are capitalization errors galore, and worst of all are the usage errors. An example which made me grit my teeth was the use of the word "draws" when Marvy was describing a piece of furniture in her guest room. They're DRAWERS. Not "draws". If this is the intended publication state of the book, then shame to Hallmark! I would never let any author go out in public in The Emperor's New Clothes as it were. It is a shabby look and needs fixing immediately as it takes the reader out of the tale and into a state of "yet another error" irritation. However, it's not the author's fault that this text hasn't been edited. Therefore, as I stated at the start of my review, I gave more star rating power than I would've otherwise.
I do thank Hallmark for giving me the opportunity to read this book before publication in exchange for my fair review. In the future I would suggest to them that they put an "Uncorrected Proof" warning on their ARCs, however.

Murder Out of Character by Olivia Matthews is a cozy Hallmark mystery set in Peach Coast, Georgia. The second book in the series, however I did not feel like I was missing out on much by not having read the first. The story’s main character is Marvel, a new transplant to Peach Coast from New York who works in the local library. She finds herself trying to solve a murder and protect the life of one of her new friends in the process.Overall this was a fun and quick whodunnit.

Thank you to NetGalley, Hallmark Publishing and Olivia Matthews for an eARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.

A comforting and predictable cozy mystery -- which is what so many readers appreciate, so this should be popular. The library setting and quirky characters will appeal to readers who enjoy the Jenn McKinlay Library Lovers series. I look forward to recommending this title.

This book was sent to me electronically for review from Netgalley. Libraries…books…friendship…love…murder…cozy quick mystery…this is a story woven by an ingenious author…cozy up under a warm Afghan, enjoy steaming tea…read…read…discover who did the murder…the characters are quirky and fun…there might just be too many to remember at the beginning…that being said, I enjoyed this book.

There's a slew of suspects in this original, witty and fun cozy clean mystery from Olivia Matthews. Containing likeable characters and small-town joys mixed with the traditional grapevine, librarian Marvey Harris and friends have their hands full of careers, social lives and a string of suspicious deaths. The Peach Coast Library Mysteries are quite entertaining.

I received a complimentary copy of the book without obligation. This review is my opinion.

This book was a pleasant read, but not a great "mystery." The general feeling of the narrative convinced me early on that I knew who was the killer. In the end that feeling was justified. However, the story was entertaining and kept me reading. I hope that prior to publication the grammar and spelling errors are corrected. I did find those to be very disruptive to the storyline.

A cute and cozy Hallmark mystery, this was an enjoyable read. It felt a little bit too much like the Aurora Teagarden mystery series though, with the librarian, grumpy assistant, small-town vibe, meet-cute boy next door, and the 'newcomer' issue.