I was very excited to read this book! The cover alone is intriguing. I enjoyed it but often found myself bored or losing interest. It was good but not my fav.

So silly and fun!

The use of etiquette rules and word origins are interesting plot devices in this cozy mystery, in which a bored 1960s seamstress/wannabe-linguist ends up investigating a murder. The snobbery of high society added to the appeal for me because it shows Billie as a truly outlandish yet interesting character. You can't help but root for her, obsessive nature and all.

The 1960s cultural references are a LOT - for me, they did a nice job setting up the story, but for some I know that can be a turn-off in books. Same with the setting descriptions: I adored Healy's prose at setting up each mansion and corner of Maine, but for some it distracted from the rest of the story. Read at your own risk, I suppose.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for an eARC in exchange for my honest review. Should I get into a historical phase?

This is an amusing, cleverly written and hilarious blend of romance and mystery.

In the 1960’s, etiquette was all the rage for young women. But when murder is involved, it’s difficult to be well-mannered all the time. Young Billie is at a party in a ritzy mansion when she discovers a dead body. She makes it her job to discover who the murderer is. There are too many suspects and not enough clues. It seems the only thing that brings her any joy is Avery, the dashing young man whose family owns the mansion.

This starts off rather slow but ends with a bang. I love Billie’s character and hope there’s a sequel coming. Thank you, NetGalley and Penguin Group Putnam for the eARC.

Against a running background of etiquette rules, 1960's memorabilia, and the vagaries of linguistic references, this tongue-in-cheek cozy historical mystery had me laughing my sox off. Set in 1964 in the area of Passamaquoddy Bay, Maine and its islands it sneaks along at a fairly slow pace but the mystery and twists are almost as entertaining ad the MC mental dialog. Good fun.
I requested and received an uncorrected e-book file from PENGUIN GROUP Putnam | G.P. Putnam's Sons via NetGalley. Pub Date Jul 01, 2025
#EtiquetteforLoversandKillers by Anna Fitzgerald Healy @annaloveswords #NetGalley @putnambooks @fleetreads @penguinrandomhouse #historicalfiction #humor #cozyfun

I am unable to finish this as the galley is not correctly formatted. Full of page cuts and weird dashes in the middle of words. From what I could stand to read, it seems like a good enough cozy. I may check it out from my library in future.

Our MC Billie was such an interesting narrator and POV — quippy, sharp, and curious. Her voice was immediately grabbing and made the story quickly feel like one a friend was telling me. I loved the small town setting, which was quaint while also serving as the perfect place for a mystery, especially when balanced with the intrigue of the uber wealthy. The author did a great job of establishing the time period and giving the story a solid sense of time and place.

I have mixed feelings about this book. On one hand, I enjoyed the occasional humor, etiquette and linguistic notes. On the other hand, I couldn't relate to the main character's poor decision making throughout the book, especially at the end. I liked the premise of a well-educated woman who returns to her rural Maine home interacting with the wealthy, summer population. Her investigation into local murders was clever, yet she left herself vulnerable to becoming a suspect herself by leaving her fingerprints and evidence she found discoverable. Based on the positive attributes of the book, I would be happy to read more by this author.

The setting and period made me hopeful for this one. However, it was so slow-paced that I saw the "big reveal" coming almost immediately. The other reveals surrounding The Big One also felt uninteresting. The plot dragged on; there was a lot of filler with very little payoff, and it lacked a sense of urgency. I found the subject matter and writing neither enjoyable nor compelling enough to offset this absence of urgency, and every character was exceptionally one-dimensional. There was no clarity about what drove Billie or fed her obsession, making her neither likable nor relatable. Overall, it was mostly a miss for me; I finished it, but it was a slog.

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Enjoyed this a lot. Probs one of my favs so far, thank you sm for letting me read this!!

I will recommend this to so many others

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for the ARC.

This was a wild ride through the “have and have yachts.” It was really like nothing I have ever read before. I was not prepared for the twist ending. I am not sure if I would recommend this book to my friends yet I don’t regret finishing it. In fact, I feel like this book may stay with me a long time. I did enjoy the little etiquette twist at the end- those who reached the end will know what I mean!

I really enjoyed this book, the etiquette at the start of each chapter was a fun touch. About 75% it started to slow down for me and I was losing interest. The ending took me out. I was not expecting it all. I loved following Billie on this murder mystery, follow the clues and how she started to change. I would have loved a POV from Avery at the end of this book. Some parts seemed to be drawn out and didn't need to be that long or over done. But I really enjoyed this book and am hoping for a second book to continue Billie's journey.

Too much going on for my meager brain to process apparently. I wasn’t drawn to Billie and her bored socialite energy. The setting ans era were intriguing to me, but were dulled by too many generational references that it became campy. This could make a fun movie if done well.

This was a fun, cozy mystery set in the 1960s. It is not my usual read but it held my attention enough that I was able to finis the books, and I did enjoy it.

Billie McCadie is bored with her job search and wishing something would happen in her life. As a devotee of Victorian fiction, Billie dreams of a handsome man sweeping her off her feet. When she meets the handsome son of the wealthy summer family and is invited to a party at the mansion, she is thrilled. But when a murder occurs, Billie finds herself in the middle of the crime. With a variety of twists and turns, this novel turns the reader upside down.

ETIQUETTE FOR LOVERS AND KILLERS is--I truly hope--only the first of many forays into the world of amateur sleuthing for Miss Billie McCadie. This novel is almost impossible to classify, in the best of ways. The best I can do is say it's the perfect mash-up of Pete's Dragon and Jane Steele, but not really like either. Billie is the most fascinating, droll, whip-smart character I've read in a long time. She has a linguistics degree and is eager to escape Eastport, Maine, but she's also a little bit in love with a townie who summers there--and a woman who has insinuated herself with that set. Coincidentally, she's on the spot, eating a lobster roll, when the woman is murdered in the townie's summer "cottage." Naturally she's curious. Not so naturally, perhaps, she's a little obsessed and proceeds to investigate in the most interesting, curious, and gutsy way, all while juggling an on-again/off-again romance with the townie. I loved it so much!

A seaside town in the 1960s is perhaps the perfect place for a murder. For Billie, a murder mystery is an exciting change of pace in her humdrum life. But that change of pace puts her in a precarious predicament.

If you’re looking for a taste of 60s pop culture, this book is for you. Unfortunately, for me, the references were overwhelming, and it felt like more time was spent setting up the atmosphere, and there was little room for an actual story. I love this era, so I do love a good reference to shows I watch, celebrities I’m more familiar with, and so on, but not so much that I want it to be the majority of a novel, especially when they’re not cohesive references and read more as though they’re there for the sake of fitting as many nods as possible.

I did love the chapter titles/blurbs. That was a cute touch. I would flip through this book again for those alone. It was a unique setting for this era, showing a more prim and proper lifestyle than historical fiction authors typically take in the 1960s, so that was fun as well.

Thanks to Penguin Group Putnam and NetGalley for inviting me to read a free digital ARC of the book.

2.5 stars

This book sounded so interesting and I love that it takes place in Maine. It was really hard to connect to the fmc and the story really lagged. I feel like it tried to a thriller and romance book and neither got the development they deserved.

Etiquette for Lovers and Killers is part murder mystery, part romance. It's set in Eastport, Maine in the 1960's. The main character, Billie McCadie, is a wannabe linguist who works at a seamstress shop in during the day, and at night, reads her heart's fill worth of decorous love stories and murder mysteries hoping that something, anything, interesting would happen to her. Before long, she gets her wish.

After receiving an engagement ring and a cryptic love letter addressed to a Gertrude in the mail, strange things start happening, and Billie's life starts to roll along like the plot of one of her beloved novels. Not only is there murder, but there's coercion, stalking, betrayal, connection, and secrets whispered over cocktails at high society soirees. As the bodies keep mounting, will Billie be able to sus out the killer? As the heart stakes keep rising, will she be able to let herself fall for the gentleman of her dreams or will she be felled by charm and money?

I had hoped to like this better than I did. The etiquette rules were a creative touch at the beginning of each chapter, but the plot lacked suspense and urgency. I also had a hard time connecting to the 60's setting. Perhaps it was how Billie and the other characters talked, maneuvered, but they felt modern to me. I suppose I wanted to be immersed more in the high society environment of it all, I don't know. I liked that Billie was smart, resourceful, and a little unhinged, but the twist and the end kind of gave me whiplash.

2.5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Putnam for the ARC in exchange for my review.

Billie is a young woman waiting for her life to start a new exciting chapter after completing college. It’s 1964 in Maine, and life is moving way too slow for her. She is stuck in a seamstress job while submitting applications each week; and drowns herself in romance novels while wishing something, anything, exciting, will happen. When Billie receives a love letter and engagement ring addressed to Gertrude, life starts to get interesting. Add in handsome and rich Avery and a dead body, and you won’t be able to put the book down, I loved the references to 60’sfashion and the rules of etiquette that start each chapter.

I regret that I cannot embrace the main character in this book or the plotting and find that I am unable to finish reading it.