(3.75 stars)
If you’re a fan of cozy mysteries, you definitely should take a look at the Secret Bookcase series by Ellie Alexander. It is filled with interesting recurring characters, from the main female character, Annie Murray, who is the special events coordinator of this mystery-centric bookstore, to her boyfriend/pub owner, Liam, to her bookstore-colleague/detective-partner, Fletcher, to her good friend, coffee shop owner Pri. Each book takes place in a small town in northern California, Redwood Grove. The bookstore itself is almost a character! As always, Ellie Alexander knows how to write a strong mystery story.

This time, the Secret Bookcase bookstore is hosting a Valentine’s-themed event: a matchmaking weekend revolving around books! This makes it perfect for readers who love a seasonal story.

A local philanthropist is found dead and an investigation ensues. (I had trouble guessing the perpetrator!) In addition, there’s progress in a case that has been an overarching theme in each of the previous four books, the murder of Annie’s friend Scarlet, a number of years ago; it looks like we are getting close to the solution at last!

I zoomed through this one, mainly via the audiobook version, which was well narrated by Ellen Quay.

Thank you to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a review copy of this book and to Dreamscape Media to the opportunity to listen to a review copy of the audiobook. All opinions are my own.

Such a great edition of this fun series! I loved the character progression and the updates in Scarlet’s murder. The overarching narrative of the mysteries is just so intriguing!!

This was a good cozy - nothing spectacular, but it held my interest for sure. I would like to see more of the sleuthing, kind of felt disconnected from that.
The narrator did a nice job.

This was a cozy murder mystery set in an independent bookstore at Valentine’s Day - check, check, check 😉 It’s an easy, entertaining read (/listen) that manages to feel low stakes (you know, minus the whole murder situation).

It is part of a larger series, so there was a continuing storyline that I couldn’t fully appreciate, but it didn’t take away from the main story in this book!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the audio ARC!

A Victim at Valentine’s was a great addition to the Bakeshop Mystery series. The cozy town that the story took place in gave it a homelike vibe, despite the underlying suspense and mystery of solving a murder. I thoroughly enjoyed this classic “whodunnit” story and it was perfect for this Valentine’s Day season. The story kept me engaged the entire time and the narration was absolutely amazing!

Annie is enjoying working at a cozy bookstore, but when a Pilar of the community is murdered and left outside her bookstore, she has to investigate the likely, unlikely, and usual suspects to solve this murder mystery. Join these easy to love characters as they piece together clues to find their culprit.

Thank you Dreamscape Media for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

A Victim at Valentine's
by Ellie Alexander
Narrated by Ellen Quay

I received an ARC of this audiobook through Netgalley.

This was a cozy mystery mostly that takes place in an ideal bookstore. I enjoyed the book, but not the characters.

I felt like I was coming to a movie late and missed the main plot, the character development, and a clear idea of what the movie theater even looked like.

When I looked the book up - it turns out this was book 5 in the A Secret Bookcase Mystery series by Ellie Alexander.

I am hopeful that the other books give the target audience a better idea of those things. But, since I read this as a standalone book - it was only okay.

I can only hope I would have liked the book better if I had read the other 4 books first!

Overall: Good as a cozy mystery as long as you don’t feel the need for character development. My advice: Read the other books first.

I loved this audio! This was such a spectacular story, I was impressed with the twist of this book. Such a good Valentine's book. I was not expecting the end at all. A Victim at Valentine's is the must read thriller for February.

The Victim at Valentine's by Ellie Alexander is a charming and fresh take on the classic cozy mystery. The unique dynamic between the protagonist and the lead detective—who encourages her to help solve the murder—adds a fun twist to the genre. The cast of intriguing suspects and lovable supporting characters makes you feel right at home, and you’ll find yourself rooting for them every step of the way. With a clever plot that keeps you guessing, the unexpected ending will leave you pleasantly surprised. Ellen Quay’s narration is engaging and perfectly matches the story’s tone. (I received an advance listener copy and all opinions are my own.) A delightful read from start to finish!

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the audio version. First off I enjoyed the narrator. I have read a previous novel from this series. So I was excited to read another one. I think this book was okay. If you are looking for a fast cozy murder mystery, you will like this one. Even though it is part of a series there is mention of a previous murder but in the last novel I read in the series this is just about an unsolved murder of her friend she has been trying to solve. I will say I think the story felt very very rushed in some spots and the ending more so. I don't think it needed to be longer but maybe planned out a little better. It just felt so abrupt. Anyways I would recommend for all those murder mystery novel fans out there!

Thank you to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for allowing me to listen to this in exchange for an honest review.

When Annie Murray agrees to host a Valentines Day event at the Secret Staircase she gets more than she bargained for when village patron George shows up dead. Could his murder have something to do with the death of her best friend Scarlet years ago?

This was a fun cozy mystery with a great narrator.

This book puts you in the Valentines Spirit for a detective murder mystery! It was an easy read or listen if you get the audio book. Unfortunately I figured who the killer was when we were introduced to the character but glad in the end it did have a lil twist that wasn't expected. Overall a good read for everyone who loves detective murder mysteries.

A Secret Bookcase mystery rises to the top of my TBR. A Victim at Valentine’s is no exception. Annie gets the chance to play matchmaker with books while a matchmaker brings together people at a Valentine’s weekend event.
Annie assists the police when a man dies during the event. There is also movement on the underlying story of Annie’s friend Scarlet. There were a number of good suspects as George had his hands on many pies.
I enjoy the characters in this series.
This was the first time I had listened to a book in this series. The narrator was quite lovely. I also love reading the ebooks.
I happily recommend A Victim at Valentine’s. There is plenty of fun and suspense to this mystery.
Thanks to Netgalley, Storm Publishing and Dreamscape Media for the chance to read this story.

A cozy mystery with a little dash of cute romance. It was an easy, fun read. Some of the dialogue was a little unrealistic to me, but I still enjoyed the book overall. Full review on Instagram

Thank you to Dreamscape Media and NetGalley for the gifted copy of A Victim at Valentine's. While I do wish I would have started with book #1 in the series, I still loved this book and thought it was just adorable. I will definitely be going back and starting at the beginning. This is a cute cozy-mystery with a great bookshop right at the center. I think one of my favorite things about fluffy popcorn mysteries, is that I can actually figure out the mystery pretty quickly. It makes me feel accomplished and proud of myself. :) I did pin down the culprit fairly early on, but I did miss on the motive. The narrator was great! I loved her voice and the way she narrated all of the different characters. She gave them all a clear and distinct sound. I can't wait to jump into the rest of this series!

Broken record alert! This is my first book from Ellie Alexander and so my first book from A Secret Bookcase Mystery series. I absolutely loved it. Annie Murray is a fabulous character and the cast of characters were very well done.

I enjoyed the mystery, it kept me guessing. The coziness of the town was also a delight. This is book 5 of the series, but I quickly caught up on the “bigger” mystery of Annie’s best friend’s murder, which is the cause of her wanting to be an investigator and start her own detective agency. I appreciated Annie’s passion, not only find the murderer, but also for her need to find out what happened to Natalie. The climax was exciting and surprising! Great twists and turns.

AND! Another draw to this audio was Ellen Quay, she is one of my favorite narrators. Her crisp, clean voice pulled me into this intriguing mystery. I love the variation of voices Quay can pull off. She is a master!

I am looking forwarding to listening/reading more books from Ellie Alexander!

Huge thank you to the publisher for the NetGalley approval.

I've been getting into these cozy mysteries that revolve around books stores lately. I find them to be fun and entertaining. This one was no different. You got your typical nosy bookshop owner who wants to investigate a murder that happened behind her bookshop. It's almost like playing the game clue to figure out who did it. The only downfall was it kept referencing a previous murder and since I have not listened to the previous books, I was a bit lost there. Overall a fun listen though. I liked the narrator and felt she did a good job.

I had enjoyed the lead up to this book as they were really making progress with the investigation into Scarlett’s murder and, while they seem to have figured it all out in this one, it just seemed so abrupt and anticlimactic. The other mystery in this one was well paced but again, the solution seemed to just happen, not really revealed in a dramatic way. Add in the blossoming and super cheesy romance and it feels like this series has gone backwards for me in relation to my enjoyment of it. There’s just something about these characters that aren’t as cozy and inviting as the characters in Alexander’s other series.

This was a very good, cozy book. Entertaining and fun, with a little romance. Even though I figured out the killer in the beginning, I didn't expect the plot twist. Haven't read the previous books, but now I will definitely.

This was a good mystery with a twist in the end, but somehow, I was not fully engaged. I feel Annie is just a little too predictable. This book does move forward the killing of her childhood friend as well, so now Annie just has to find proof.

#netgalley #AVictimAtValentines

This was a super cute cozy mystery that had a good clear storyline but j couldn't get over the narrators voice. I'm sorry I felt like I couldn't pay attention fully because of it