What a change from the cozy mystery genre: this is a cozy mystery but the written words are like poetry. To me, this reads like the lyrics to “The Sound of Music.” What an image comparing dust motes to smallest ballerinas in the universe and so the prose continues. There is a bookstore (yeh) but located within the owner’s own home. The owner, a niece of the recently deceased, arrives to her new inheritance site and within hours, a gazebo in the back yard is on fire and a threatening phone call has been made. The bookstore is popular to the students of the local college and life is almost back to the way it was when a young gal is murdered during the evening and attempted arson of the place takes place. Madeline relies upon her aunt’s best friend, Philomena, and the female Episcopal priest, Gloria, to figure out the murderer and who wants her to give up the bookstore and return to Atlanta. Highly recommend this cleverly written story. Thanks to NetGalley and Minotaur Books for an ARC; this is my honest opinion..

Booked for Murder was an interesting murder mystery. I had a bit of a harder time connecting with some of the characters, but other people might be able to connect to them better! The mystery was well done and the resolution was nicely done in my opinion. If cozy mystery and quirky characters are your thing this book will be perfect for you!

3.5 Stars rounded up to 4!

This was a nice semi-cozy mystery. I personally found it a bit predictable, but it’s a perfect read for a holiday weekend or something! Engaging, not stressful, and fun.

Booked for Murder is the debut novel by author P.J. Nelson, and is the first book in their Old Juniper Bookstore Mystery series.

Madeline Brimley has returned to the small town of Enigma, Georgia, where she grew up, to take over the small bookstore left to her by her aunt. No sooner does she arrive, than someone sets fire to the gazebo in her back yard, and she starts receiving threatening phone calls. Soon after that, a young woman is killed in the store, and the store set on fire. The question is, was the young woman the real target, or was someone trying to kill Madeline?

I really enjoyed this debut novel, and think the author, and the series, shows a lot of promise.

Written in first person from the point of view of Madeline, the story is engaging, and the characters interesting. My biggest disappointment was that the author killed off one of my favourite characters, but that just made me more invested in finding out how Madeline solved the mystery, and who the culprit was.

Madeline seemed to concentrate, quite early on, investigating people who were after the young woman who was killed, and I thought the author could have muddied the waters more by looking more closely at people who might have wanted to harm Madeline. After all, the young woman was killed after hours in the store, while Madeline slept in the living quarters upstairs. Few, if any, people should have expected the young woman to be sleeping downstairs in the shop.

Unfortunately, it was kind of obvious to me from fairly early on who the culprit was. Funnily enough, they were about the only suspect in the story that Madeline didn't openly accuse of the murder. This only lead me to believe that my guess was right, and that the author was trying to steer the reader away from them.

I would recommend this novel to any lover of cozy mysteries, although it's probably slightly darker than some. I will be watching for more books in this series.

This is a lovely cozy mystery. Madeline inherits a bookstore from her grandmother which comes with a lot of secrets and problems. The plot of the story moves quickly as this quirky cast of characters search for clues. It is set in a very small Georgia town where everybody knows each other and all their business. The dialogue between the characters helps the plot move along at a quick pace. Readers will enjoy the story as they go along with the characters and uncover the clues.

This was a cute, cozy read! Overall I enjoyed this story. The characters and plot were interesting, although a tad cliche. One of the biggest things about this book that irked me were the very obvious ad placements that weren’t naturally written into the book lol. Aside from this, it was a fun read! The mystery itself actually threw me for a loop, which I was pleasantly surprised about!


Thank you to NetGalley and Minotaur for this arc!
3.75 ⭐️

My thanks for the ARC goes to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books. I'm voluntarily leaving a review, and all opinions are my own.

Genre: Mystery
Gore Level: Not actually too gory, but it was surprising (read on to find out why)
Representation: Gay secondary character
Theme: Forgiveness, Found Family, Poverty

Is BOOKED FOR MURDER a cozy mystery? It's got elements of a cozy, but whenever a book has some profanity, it knocks it out of the complete cozy realm for me. But here's the real kicker—I actually loved the person who was murdered...

so...

that changed the temperature of the novel for me.

Was that a bad thing? Not necessarily. I was more invested in it getting solved, but I was actually mourning the fictional person too.

It is a well-constructed novel and had a few twists that I didn't see coming too early.

I think mystery readers will enjoy this book.

Happy reading!

PS—I suspect a slow-burn romance is building.

If you enjoy atmospheric southern cozy mysteries, then this debut and first novel in the Old Juniper Bookstore Mysteries may be the book for you. Booked for Murder by P. J. Nelson features Madeline Brimley returning to her hometown of Enigma, Georgia when she inherits the bookstore after her aunt Ruby dies.

Madeline left Enigma to go to college and then follow her stage acting dreams in New York and Atlanta. The bookstore is in an old Victorian mansion with living quarters on the second floor. But restarting her life isn’t going to be easy. A fire and a threatening phone call don’t deter her, but when a second fire, a murder, and another threatening call occurs, she knows she needs to find the killer.

Madeline is outgoing, tends to do foolhardy things, and doesn’t feel at home anywhere. The other characters have some depth and I would expect more in future books for the recurring characters.

The premise was great and I enjoyed meeting Gloria, the priest of the nearby church, Philomena, who was Aunt Roses’s friend and someone Madeline knew from her childhood, and David, the handyman. However, the pacing was a little slow for me. There are several sub-plots that impact the overall flow, but add another dimension to the narrative. I enjoyed the literary and movie references throughout the story. My biggest quibble is its predictability, including the identity of the murderer reasonably early in the novel, leading to a sparsity of suspense. However, there were plenty of conflicts, secrets, and humor to go with threads of murder, grief, forgiveness, resentment, gossip, amateur sleuthing, and self-reflection.

Overall, this enjoyable mystery was full of unique characters and was very atmospheric. It’s a good start to the series.

St. Martin’s Press, Minotaur Books and P. J. Nelson provided a complimentary digital ARC of this novel via NetGalley. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. The publication date is currently set for December 10, 2024.

The book's concept of a failing actress named Madeline inheriting a bookstore from her aunt, while also inheriting secrets and danger is fascinating. I got gothic vibes from the Southern setting and the Victorian mansion that holds the bookstore. I also liked the eccentric personalities of the neighbor friends Gloria and Philomena. The plot moved a bit slowly for me, but I normally read more thrillers than cozies. I would have loved more backstory from Madeline, and maybe more of it will come to light in the next book of the series. I think cozies fans will enjoy this one.

A cozy, fun mystery read. The FMC inherits a bookstore and this start to go awry. Threatening phone calls, fires & then a murder! Since this is the first in a series, the author sets up side characters and side plots that will most likely pan out through the series. This was a cozy, fun read!

What a fun and cozy debut novel! Booked for Murder by P.J. Nelson is a cozy, southern mystery that follows Madeline Brimley as she returns to her hometown after inheriting a bookstore from her eccentric Aunt Rose. Drama quickly picks up when someone sets her gazebo on fire and she receives a threatening phone call. And like a good cozy mystery, of course the main character takes it upon herself to investigate what is going on. I really liked the small town vibes of this book. So many of the characters were unique and complex. I loved getting to know them as their stories unfolded. And I was definitely surprised by some of their secrets. This is a must read for fans of southern, cozy mysteries.

Thank you to the publishers and netgalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

A nice start to a new cozy series. Maddy has inherited a bookstore and home but someone doesn't want her there. At first it's nuisance stuff but then there's a fire and worse-Tandy who worked there is murdered. Luckily Maddy has made friends with the somewhat eccentric Gloria and Philomena, and the three of them set out to solve the crimes. Know that this is one of those cozies where the protagonist and her pals don't involve the police but work on their own. As this is the first in the series the characters aren't as well rounded as you might want but there's good potential. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

I really enjoyed the premise of this book but the story overall felt lackluster. It could have had more suspense, I figured the twist out pretty fast

This was an Advanced Reader Copy given to me by Net Galley! Thank you so much for the opportunity to review this book.

This was a fantastic book, it ticked off all the boxes in all the categories I like to have in a cozy mystery book. This book had fantastic characters I could connect with, felt like I was part of the book. I kept me wondering who done it...a couple of times I thought I had figured it out, then something would happen and change my mind. The book was well written and described the atmosphere like it was actually in the Little town of Enigma, Georgia. Felt like it was my hometown.

In this book we get to know Madeline, Aunt Rose, Professor Waldrope, Father Coleman and a few others in town. Madeline had just inherited a bookshop from her Aunt Rose, while she had to go back to the place she grew up there's a fire and a murder. Now Madeline with the help of new found friends and family she's determined to find the killer.

A fun debut that has me looking for more from PJ Nelson. Madeline returns to her hometown expecting to stay only as long as it takes to put her aunt's affairs in order. But when a worker at her aunt's bookstore is murdered, Madeline finds herself looking for the murderer, and finding reasons not to sell the bookstore..

This was a good start to this series. The mystery was good even if I did figure it out before they did.
I did think Madeline was a little flighty at times. The side characters were a little interesting. I’m interested in seeing how book two comes out

There are several things I liked about this book. The first was the author’s writing style, and the second was that the author jumped right into the action and filled in the background information as the story progressed. Unfortunately, the main character seemed clueless and constantly put herself in dangerous situations which I found really annoying.

Booked for Murder is supposed to be a cozy mystery. But for some reason, it did not read like one. Maybe there were too many things in the story that distracted me from the real mystery. Like the purported existence of the ghost of Ruby; and the angry townspeople that wanted to burn down a rival church. And by the time I read through 36% there wasn't the "hook" that made me want to continue further. An unfortunate one star (I didn't like it) DNF.

I was invited to read a DRC from St. Martin's Press through NetGalley. This review is completely my own and reflects my honest thoughts and opinions.

Rating: 3/5
Pub Date: 12/10
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After inheriting her Aunt’s bookshop, Madeline decides to take it over; that is until someone sets the gazebo on fire… and worse a murder…
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I love always enjoy cozy mysteries like this. Set in a book store, a murder, a little love story, a mystery. They just are easy to read books. This was no different. I enjoyed the mystery behind the town and the Aunt. I liked the trio and how they teamed up to solve the murder (though totally unrealistic).
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This was more of a slow burn for me. I felt that it was a bit repetitive at times but it is super easy to follow. I felt that the ending and resolution to the mystery and the murder was a bit predictable and almost a little rushed, especially with all of the buildup throughout the story. I feel like I just wanted a little bit more.
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I listened to this one via audiobook and Hallee Bee Bard was a great narrator. I felt like she really brought Madeline to life for me. I am so happy I listened to this one while simultaneously reading my eARC.
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Overall, I think that cozy mystery fans will really enjoy this one! Give this one a shot! Huge thank you to NetGalley, P. J. Nelson, Dreamscape Media and St. Martins Press for the ALC and eARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was a great debut novel for Madeline Brimley. I found myself hooked on the book right from the start but my did struggle a little with the last few chapters. I liked the main character and most of the supporting characters but felt that there were too many side characters for me to easily keep them all straight. The rest of the book was well paced and I enjoyed all of the twists. I look forward to the next book in the series.