Murder in the Bookshop by Anita Davison

I received an advance review copy for free thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Blurb

Someone’s been read their last rites… 1915, London : Working in the dusty bookshop that her Aunt Violet mysteriously inherited, Hannah Merrill is accustomed to finding twists in every tale. But discovering her beloved best friend Lily-Anne – with a paperknife through her heart – in the middle of the bookshop, is not a plotline she saw coming. The case is anything but textbook. With the discovery of a coded German message, and Hannah’s instinct that Lily-Anne’s husband is keeping secrets, she determines to get to the bottom of it. She can’t do it alone though. To crack this case, Hannah will need the enlist the help of her outrageous, opinionated, only-occasionally-objectionable Aunt Violet. They think they’re making progress until one of their chief suspects is found dead. And Hannah realises that she is herself now in the murderer’s sights. Will the final chapter be the ending of a killer… or just a killer ending?

My Opinion

Anita Davison has written some interesting characters here. I was kept on my toes trying to work out who was supposed to be the murderer. Whilst this is not my usual read, I found myself enjoying it more than I thought I would. Hannah takes on the role of amateur sleuth knowing that she is a suspect in the murder of her best friend - can she clear her name? I thought that this was a great introduction to a new series.

Rating: 4/5

Hannah’s aunt Violet owns a bookshop in Covent Garden in World War One, she wakes one morning to hear that London was bombed overnight she is so worried about the shop that she heads into London. She is relieved when she reaches it that it is all in tact.

Her Aunt Violet who was a suffragette, employs staff to run the shop a Mr Carstairs,the Bookshop Manager and Archie his assistant. Hannah is already less than impressed with Monty Carstairs and an unexpected discovery of an inappropriate sideline of his, makes her decide to run the shop herself. However, it is not long before her excitement turns to horror when she makes a truly awful discovery. Her best friends dead body.

This is a really fun and fast paced crime novel, I loved the setting of a bookshop in the early part of the twentieth century,but I also really liked the characters. The grit of Hannah and her Aunt Violet, who I thought was elderly then realised that she is only 40! and the contrast of these with the pompousness of Cecily, very different women in their time. As Hannah and Violet try to solve the mystery you can be assured that there is plenty of drama on the way.

If you like your cosy crime like I do, you will be delighted that this is the first in a series of Miss Merrill and Aunt Violet and if this book is anything to go by it will be very popular.

4 stars ****

Murder in the Bookshop is a mystery thriller set in the war time. It's a story of an independent woman Hannah, trying to break social norms of women being wives and baby carriers. Her aunt Violet lives with her who is essentially her role model to be the independent fierce woman. Hannah and Aunt Violet own/run a quaint little bookshop and one day she found a dead body there (Kudos to the title for explaining the first 2 chapters just like that). Hannah and Aunt Violet run around the city to find out who is killer while unearthing other secrets.
It's a really good read to have. A good thriller mystery is the one that holds you to the edge of your seat, which it certainly did. There were also healthy elements of love and deceit and even comedy by certain side characters. However the true favourite character has to be aunt Violet, with her ever ready quips and flirting anywhere, she is by far the coolest aunt I've seen.
Reasons why you should read this book:
• Historical Murder Mystery
• Cute love story running in the background
• Strong female lead who does what she wants with her even stronger female sidekick
• Teeny bit family drama to make it relatable

It's a good book worth finishing in a week with a choice of biscuits and tea and finish it in a day!

A new series and author writing a mystery set in 1915 London was too hard to resist!

Becoming addicted to historical mysteries was not hard with so many stories to read! Time of war, spies, raids and overall feeling of unrest sets the stage.

Hannah has come to London and her Aunt Violet follows and ends up owning a bookshop. How or why is a mystery. But Hannah ends up running the shop when the current manager is fired.

Unfortunately, one morning she also finds her best friend murdered in between the books!

As Hannah and Violet set off to investigate the adventure begins!

This book was a fun and exciting read, with twists that made it fun trying to find out who the villan actually was. I felt that the book was really true to its era in time, which told me that the author has done her research. I really liked the characters, especially Hannah. I look forward to reading more in this series.

SUMMARY
It’s 1915 and a year into World War 1 in the city of London. Hannah Merrill has already lost her fiancé, Gerald, in the war. She is saddened, but not overwhelmingly grief stricken by his death. Now she is living in her own house and working in her Aunt Violet’s bookshop in Covent Garden. Her mother was deeply displeased, but Hannah felt the need to escape her mother’s suffocating presence in the countryside. When she finds her best friend, Lily-Anne, dead in the bookshop, she is concerned that her mother’s overprotectiveness will go into overdrive. Between that and her anger at the loss of her friend, Hannah determines that she will find the killer.

MY THOUGHTS
Lily-Anne was a social butterfly who liked to be involved in personal drama, so the number of motives and suspects is potentially large. It’s interesting to watch as Hannah and Violet try to unwind the tangled strands of the mystery. Although it is technically the Edwardian period, there are a lot of lingering Victorian attitudes that make people reluctant to reveal personal details to the police or outsiders, leading to lies, evasions, and cover-ups of unsavory truths.

For the most part, I believe the author played fair with the reader. Not much that was required to identify the murderer was hidden. Although the inspector did hold back a few details, there are still an adequate number of clues for the arm chair sleuths. I did figure out who had done it, but not why, thanks to what I think was a cleverly placed clue. I did not land on the correct motive.

Hannah is sensible, tenacious, hard-working and clever. However, she also has a tendency towards whininess when she doesn’t get her own way, but her best friend was murdered, so she can’t be expected to be at her best. Though it’s clear she is mourning the loss of her friend, her grief doesn’t weigh her down, instead it spurs her to action.

The story has a great sense of place. Most of the time, I feel like I’m in London in 1915, from the horses and carts on the street to the manner of dress. I like it when an author talks about scents because it can help create a very life-like picture of the place and this author does - everything from disinfectant and linseed oil to tobacco and herbs.

WHAT ELSE I LIKED
The author clearly did her research. I noted very few anachronisms. The historical details largely ring true with everything from bombings by zeppelins to the indignant women giving out white feathers to men who don’t appear to be serving in the war.
Her use of historical locations, such as the Endell Street Hospital started in London by Flora Murray and Louisa Garrett Anderson, add to the sense of realism.

The bookshop sounds like my kind of place with floor to ceiling oak bookcases and a black cat.

Aunt Violet is quite a woman. A suffragette who works for the Red Cross during the time of the war. She steps willingly to Hannah’s assistance in the investigation.

FINAL THOUGHTS
This is the first in the series and it definitely one I would like to continue reading in the future.

I received a free eArc of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Murder in the Bookshop is a cozy mystery set in wartime London during 1915. When Hannah Merrill discovers her best friend murdered, in the bookshop owned by her aunt, she can't help but try to get to the bottom of it - especially as the police consider her a suspect! With the help of her lively Aunt Violet, Hannah investigates and makes some shocking discoveries about her deceased friend and her wider social circle.
This is a very enjoyable read and the first book in a new series by this author. I sincerely hope that intriguing Inspector Farrell and the loveable Archie Root return in the next installment.
Thank you to NetGalley and Boldwood Books for the review copy.

London, 1915. During the relatively early days of WWI, when a draft has not been instituted yet, but the realization that isn't going to be the quick war people first believed it would be has set in as the injured and death arrive home. Hannah Merrill is not at home in the country away from the dangers of London as a proper upper class woman should be, but instead working in the bookshop her aunt mysteriously inherited. She comes in one day to find her best friend there, murdered with Hannah's letter opener. Things get even more complicated when she discovers a coded German message in some postcards of an employee she just fired. Determined to get to the bottom of this, there are plenty of suspects and she will need the help of her outrageous aunt to be able to pull this off.

A decent mystery with good characters and lots of twists. It is interesting to have a cozy set during WWI. So many series are set after the war, not during so it will be interesting to see how life in London changes as the conditions worsen and the whole country is thrown into the war effort. I also didn't realize that London was bombed during the war, at least not this early. See, I'm learning something already.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A big thank you to Rachel and the publisher, Boldwood Books for issuing me with my review copy of the book and for inviting me to take part on the blog tour. (I am reading and reviewing this voluntarily and my review is my own and not biased in any way)

Murder in the Bookshop is the first in what I hope is going to be a new series by Anita Davison. I really enjoyed this and thought the main characters were really well written. Set in London in 1915, the first World War is raging on and we learn about what it is like to be an unmarried young lady of this particular time where it is still almost unheard of. Not that this bothers Hannah one bit. She has recently taken over the management of Aunt Violet's bookshop following the discovery of the last manager, who although well connected, was actually lazy and had let things slide whilst also getting up to some unscrupulous things in the bookshop (which we learn more of later!) when she discovers the body of her best friend Lily-Anne one morning. This sets off a chain of events that has Hannah investigating just what her friend had been doing in the last few weeks of her life.

Murder in the Bookshop has everything I look for in a cosy mystery, a murder, a great setting and an excellent cast of characters that each bring something to the storyline along with a subtle touch of romance, some German spies and the Suffragette movement. I'm really looking forward to hopefully learning more about the characters involved as I can see them becoming part of the storyline as the series develops.

Hannah and Aunt Violet are quite strong willed women which I really warmed to. This is obviously during a time where women were more seen and not heard so I absolutely loved that the storyline featured them going about their business as normal and not having their lives and movements dictated to them.

A really enjoyable story that actually had me guessing!

I found this to be a quick, easy, clean and fun to read mystery-murder book. The reader is certainly kept busy guessing whodunnit; at least, I was, and trying to help Hannah and Aunt Violet bumble along to uncover the perpetrator. I like that it had pockets of humor and romance tucked into the story. Great book for a 'relaxing' read.
I give this a 4 Star rating.

~Eunice C., Reviewer/Blogger~

August 2023

Disclaimer: This is my honest opinion based on the complimentary review copy sent by NetGalley and the publisher.

Murder in a bookstore in London in 1915. The characters and settings are well-drawn, and the mystery includes spies and international intrigue. The interactions between heroine Hannah and her Aunt Violet are particularly well-written with lively dialogue. Watching Hannah mature from a sometimes-sulky young woman to a responsible and creative investigator is also fun. Hopefully the first of many books in the series. Thanks to Boldwood Books and Netgalley for the ARC.

Light, enjoyable and an easy read. I could quite happily read more if this was to become a series. Thanks to Netgalley.

This is the first book I’ve read from this author and, now I’ve realised the book is part of a series, it won’t be the last. This is a great cozy mystery set in 1915 in a London dealing with WW1. I loved both Hannah and Violet as strong women living in suffragette times. There’s are some great characters and some truly appalling ones. I was a bit surprised at the ending but placed in context of patriarchal Britain in makes sense.

Such an interesting look at life and views of people at the time of World War I. I thoroughly enjoyed how the main character learned and grew throughout the book. The plot held me interested for the whole book. I never guessed who the villain was!

Murder In The Bookshop by Anita Davison is a fabulous historical novel that entertained me from the start. It is part of A Miss Merrill & Aunt Violet Mystery series but can be read as a stand-alone.
The action is set in London in 1915. Britain is embroiled in World War I and the atmosphere of fear has been captured by the author. We witness the devastation of zeppelin raids. As life is hanging in the balance, we see hasty promises turning to regrets.
There is a search to uncover the truth, whilst simultaneously some are in a hurry to bury it. A character wishes to hide a murky past. There are no lengths to which one will not stoop.
Childhood friends have forged deep bonds as they look out for each other.
Some set out their plans as deception is the order of the day – for some there are ulterior motives. Others practice smoke and mirrors in order to protect.
All the characters were well drawn and likable. We see the role of women changing. With World War I came more opportunities. Lives that had fought to expand as suffragettes, opened up further as women stepped into roles vacated by men going to war.
Murder In The Bookshop is a cosy crime novel as amateur sleuthing works in tandem with the police to solve crimes. It was reminiscent of Miss Jane Marple but in an earlier age.
I loved the inclusion of Bartleby, the bookshop cat who was very much a character in his own right.
I think Murder In The Bookshop would make a marvellous early evening television drama. It is an extremely entertaining book that captured my attention from the start.
I received a free copy from Rachel’s Random Resources for a blog tour. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

Absolutely delightful! The characters were fresh and completely not of their “time”. Aunt Violet, the owner of the book shop, is a free thinking and independent woman. And Hannah, her niece, who runs the book shop is the central character who finds the murdered body of her best friend and a coded German message in the book shop. From there the hunt for the murderer, and the German spy begins. An interesting group of characters emerge, and the mystery unfolds with a surprise ending. I totally enjoyed this book and look forward to the next in the series.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Boldwood Books for an advance copy of Murder in the Bookshop. This is the first novel of the Miss Merrill and Aunt Violet Mysteries, set in London in 1915.

For a first book in a series, the book was pretty good. Both Hannah Merrill and her Aunt Violet are believers of suffrage, despite what Hannah’s parents wish for her. She’s moved to London to help her aunt run a bookshop she acquired instead of settling for marriage and babies like her sister. She had reluctantly agreed to marry her friend, Gerald, as he headed off to war, but was killed in battle, letting her off the hook, so-to-speak.

Unfortunately for Hannah, one morning she arrives at the store to find her best friend, Lily-Anne, stabbed to death, with Hannah’s own knife. Besides being terribly upset about her friend’s murder, she realizes she’s a prime suspect given the locale and murder weapon. So she decides to do some sleuthing of her own in order to find out her best friend’s killer.

There’s a cast of characters introduced in the book whom I’m sure will make future appearances in the books. Despite having been engaged to Gerald, it is really Darius to whom she pined for, but now he is engaged to an utterly loathsome uppity woman. One thing I did note, despite this being a Miss Merrill and Aunt Violet mystery is that Violet is absent for about the first half of the book. When she appears, the pages light up. She’s a great character, hanging out with the leading suffragists of the day, and helping her niece solve the mystery of Lily-Anne’s death, too.

I’ve read a lot of cozy mysteries set in the days leading up to the Great War, and the days after, but never smack dab in the middle of WWI. It makes for a unique setting, with the horrible women giving men and boys who stay home feathers to accuse them of being cowardly. In this book, it’s a 15-year-old boy who is big for his age who works at the bookstore who is targeted. There’s also a subplot about German spies, and of course, the awful air raids come into play in this book as they did in real life.

I look forward to future volumes of this series, and hopefully future volumes will have Hannah and Violet interacting even more. Highly recommend!

This was quite good, l so love a murder book, I found it quite enjoyable. I liked the feisty auntie, the references to the suffragettes and the history and glamour. I would like to read more and find out more about the characters so hope more are written. Thank you NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cozy mystery set in London during the beginning of World War II. I'm a sucker for a good historical mystery. Hannah and her suffragette Aunt Violet work to figure out who murdered Hannah's best friend in their own book store. I was initially excited to have a feminist plot line where they break out of the confines of society to solve a mystery, but the end was a little disappointing as they don't solve the mystery but find out that the men did.

Overall, this book was engaging, and I loved the plot twist at the end!

Murder in the bookshop by Anita Davison.
Working in the dusty bookshop that her Aunt Violet mysteriously inherited, Hannah Merrill is accustomed to finding twists in every tale. But discovering her beloved best friend Lily-Anne – with a paperknife through her heart – in the middle of the bookshop, is not a plotline she saw coming.
I did like Hannah and Aunt Violet. Good story. 4*.