When Annie, Fletcher and the crew come to a book fair she has a plan to finally confront Logan, Scarlett's killer. Witnessing a murder right on stage and having to help the local police solve it is the last thing she expected. This wraps up the mystery of Scarlett's death and promises the new adventures for Novel Detectives. Can't wait to see what cases they get in the future!

Here we are, the final book in the series as we know it before heading into the spinoff! The focus is split between a murder at the book convention and the ongoing arc involving Scarlet's cold case. Both wrapped up satisfactorily, but I felt there were some lingering points that I wish had been addressed.
The main plot brings up the increasingly relevant and debated subject of technology in reading and writing. There are some interesting ideas here, and I'm sure it's very possible something similar could be a real product someday. Although much of the regular crew is along for the ride, being in an entirely different setting means we're introduced to many new characters. I hope a couple of them could make a guest appearance in the future.
I'm excited to read the new spinoff series and see how Annie and Fletcher balance the bookstore and detective agency.

i discovered ellie alexander's a secret bookcase mystery series this month and read the first 5 books in 2 days. i was absolutely hooked. it had all the things i look for in a cozy mystery; lovable characters, comforting and soothing atmosphere, descriptions of delicious sounding food and drinks, and of course, mystery. i loved annie right away as our protagonist and the found family that she has in redwood grove (being a northern california girl, i love books set in the area). the mysteries were fun and interesting, and i especially loved the overarching mystery of scarlet's death. the underlying mystery and the way that unfolds throughout the series makes it extra compelling, and i appreciated that annie had a background in criminology and an understanding of case solving, which made certain aspects of the series much more believable than other cozies i've read.

i was so excited to get an arc of a body at the book fair and as expected, i read it in one sitting. this one had be longing to be at a book convention; i loved the atmosphere surrounding the book convention, and it being set in the silicon valley made it extra easy for me to imagine everything. personally, i didn't find this new mystery as compelling as i did the other single book mysteries throughout the series, but i was so excited for the mystery surrounding scarlet's death to finally be solved and for annie to get that much needed closure that she deserves. a body at the book fair continued all of the fun characterization and storytelling from the rest of the series and wrapped up this chapter of annie's story in a very lovely and satisfying way. i'm looking forward to reading more ellie alexander books for sure!

A fun, cozy, and satisfying end to a series! I really enjoyed each mystery in this series, as well as the overarching Scarlet mystery, so I was thrilled to solve both in this book. I’m looking forward to the continuation of Annie and Fletcher in the new series!

This was a fun, well-paced read. As a former Scholastic Book Fair Chair and fan, the title immediately drew me in. While I don’t typically gravitate toward mysteries, I loved the setting in a charming bookstore. The Silicon Valley locale also was a draw, as I live there, so I enjoyed trying to suss out the locations described as the story unfolded. The most compelling part of the story was the interconnected friendships among the main characters.

Former criminology student/bookseller Annie Murray had dropped out of college after an old friend was murdered, and her grief became a PTSD nightmare. This has haunted her throughout the other books in the series as she made more friends and developed a working partnership in the bookstore and in investigating murders in their small town. There is a new murder for investigation, and in the dangerous course of that investigation they find answers to the murder that started the detour in Annie's life. Now Annie and Fletcher open a new PI business, Novel Detectives, in an office above the bookstore and there is the promise of a new spin-off series to enjoy.
I requested and received a free temporary uncorrected digital galley from Storm Publishing via NetGalley. Pub Date Jun 16, 2025
#ABodyattheBookFair #SecretBookcaseMysteriesBk6 by @ellie_alexander @StormPublishing #NetGalley @goodreads @bookbub @librarythingofficial ***** Review #CozyMystery #Murder #coldcase #friend #grieving #closure #suspense #friends #bookseller

Title: A Body at the Book Fair
Series: The Secret Bookcase Mystery #6
Author: Ellie Alexander
Publisher: Storm Publishers
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Pub Date: June 16, 2025
My Rating: 4.3 Stars.

I love the Dedication. .. .
This book is for you!
To the super sleuths and armchair detectives –
Here’s to finally solving Scarlett’s cold case.

In this story we readers are back to Redwood Grove. Annie Murray is the new part-owner of the Secret Bookcase bookstore- an Agatha Christie inspired bookstore which is set up in a mansion that pays homage to the ‘queen of mystery’ in every room including the garden.

Fletcher Hughes, Annie’s colleague decides since there is so many rooms that it is also an ideal setting for their private detective agency “The Novel Detectives’. What better place than in a bookstore. Annie passed the private detective’s exam and now is a licensed Private Investigator in California.
The Book Store was something Annie needed. She had gone into a deep depression when her best friend Scarlet was murdered. Annie and Scarlet were students in criminology and planned to be partners in their own PI Business.

This story is a continuation of [book: A Victim at Valentine’s] as Annie is still trying to bring justice to those who were responsible for Scarlet’s death.
When Annie heads to Santa Clara for the annual California Booksellers Convention, she’s looking forward to meeting fellow booklovers. Additionally she will be close to Silicon Summit Partners; the powerful investment firm she just knows had a hand in Scarlet’s death.

While at the Book Fair, Annie as well as other book Sellers are curious about the ‘Virtual Headset’ Fox Andrews a tech guy is pitching. He claims he has digitized the reading experiences so that readers can actually see what they are reading about.
He has a screen set up for his demo in a packed room. He cued the lights to dim- the light go out-there is a popping sound – then an explosion.
Fox is dead –it appears he has been electrocuted!
Well we knew there would be a murder at the book fair didn’t we?

I know this part of the story was filler and we do find out whodunit but, of course, I was more interested in the Scarlet case coming to an end.

Yes! This is the conclusion to The Secret Bookcase series. Although I was sad I am delighted that in Ms. Alexander’s “A Letter From The Author’ that “The Novel Detectives’ series will launch in 2025.- Detectives Annie and Fletcher and their first case –‘Investigating Agatha Christie and the Perfect Murder’.

Want to thank NetGalley and Storm Publishing for granting me this e Galley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for June 16, 2025.

I have been a big fan of The Secret Bookcase mysteries. While I am sorry to see the series end, it seems that fans are not going to be left high and dry as there appears to be a spin-off, Novel Detectives, coming in the future. I was a little sad that this final book takes place away from the Secret Bookcase and the town of Redwood Grove, both of which I have come to love. I missed some of the regular characters, the charm of the town and bookstore. While the idea of a book fair is a great setting for a book, I felt it was kind of short-changed as we not only have a murder at the book fair that Annie witnesses but we also have some resolution in the case of Annie's friend Scarlet. I did feel that both cases were rushed and honestly felt the solution to Scarlet's case was very improbable. That being said, I enjoyed this series, I was glad that Priya and Liam were along for our finally and that we got some peace for Scarlet. I will definitely be interested in checking out the spin-off to this series. A big thanks to #Netgally, #StormPublishing, and the author for an opportunity to read. #ABodyattheBookFair #ASecretBookcaseMystery #EllieAlexander #bookreview #bookideas #retiredreader

Reading this book was bittersweet knowing we were coming to an end with the Secret Bookcase. Annie, Fletcher, Pri, Penny, Liam and Hal were off to solve a final mystery, the one that started it all and then it was curtains for this series. Admittedly, I waffled reading the book because ending are hard even if it is just the end of a book series with a bookstore in the center I can see in my mind.
This book was Scarlet's book or the book in which Annie with help solves her murder and steps back into the life she intended in college. The author knew we knew this story so she through another murder into the make things more interesting and test the resolve of our team. I will note, our victim was killed demoing a headset that would take you into a book through VR which I hope never comes to fruition. I think the point of reading is to allow your own imagination to run wild and build the story for yourself. Maybe your own experiences influence what you see but that makes it fun so while I appreciate the author giving this story a tech angle, I hope it is one we never see. In my mind I can see the secret bookstore and I can see the characters and they are my own vision based on what the author tells. Reading is about getting into the story but being clobbered over the head with tech. I digress too much. This story was fun to read. Annie and Fletcher found a new ally who might need their help in the future and they built their dream. Both cases wrapped up nicely and we got a happening ending but still it is sad to see it go. I won't spoil anything but to say I am doing a happy dance after finishing this book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC.

The story is about bookseller -turned detective Annie Murray as she navigates a murder investigation which now takes place at the book fair she's attending while trying to solve her best friend's murder.
With a long line of suspects, a celebrity author with a hidden agenda, a rival with a grudge and crime solving partner Fletcher.
Annie must follow and untangle web of clues while focusing on the real task at hand: Solving Scarlet's murder and bring the killer to justice.

The dynamic between Annie and Fletcher is well written.
A body at the book fair is a well-crafted murder mystery with great characters who add wit to the narrative.
Annie's passion for justice makes this such a great read.

I have read all the books in this series, and sitting down to read this final book in the series was like spending time with good friends. The author, Ellie Alexander, does a great job in summarizing the backstory, so readers would still have a great reading experience without reading prior books. However, this is such a delightful mystery series, that I’d encourage reading all.

I’ve loved the series for the coziness of the bookstore in an old estate in Northern California. The way the townsfolk and town are described, I wish it were not fictional so I could visit. Each book has had a well plotted mystery with the overarching theme of Annie, the main character, trying to discover who murdered her best friend when they were in college.

In this last installment, Annie and her business partner, Fletcher, attend the California Booksellers’ conference in Santa Clara. As always, there are some real characters among the attendees. Prima Donna authors, tech bros peddling e-reader type inventions, and other bookstore owners. Annie solves the murder that occurs at the conference and the mystery covered in all the books in the series.

This series provides a wonderful escape, and I’m glad there will be more stories featuring some of the characters.

Thank you, NetGalley, Storm Publishing and Ellie Alexander for this ARC.

It took me a couple of days to read this book. It wasn't cause the story was slow, but because I didn't want to have this series end. I wanted to find out who killed Scarlet, but I wasn't ready to say good bye to these characters. I'm so happy to find put that this isn't really good bye since Annie and Flectcher will be back fir another series!

As for the murder at the book fair, it was interesting and kept me guessing. I will admit that my focus was more on Scarlet's murder and not the one at the book fair. It was fun to read Annie, Fletcher, Pri and Liam in a different setting and to read about the book fair. I want to now attend a book fair, but without the murder.

I can't wait to read about Annie's next adventure in her new series.

What a wonderful ending to Scarlet and Annie’s story. It wrapped up nicely. Maybe a little quickly but seeing Annie close that part of her life was so nice to see. I want to attend this book conference and tag along with Liam and Pri to the coffee rounds. I loved this series as a whole and I cannot wait to see the next step in Annie (and Liam’s) life and relationship.

𝑰𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚, 𝑺𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒓𝒐𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒖𝒔 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒐𝒈𝒆𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓. 𝑰𝒕 𝒘𝒂𝒔 𝒂𝒔 𝒊𝒇 𝒔𝒉𝒆 𝒉𝒂𝒅 𝒈𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒑𝒆𝒓𝒇𝒆𝒄𝒕 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎, 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒕𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒑𝒂𝒕𝒉𝒔 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒍𝒆𝒂𝒗𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒉𝒆𝒓 𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒃𝒍𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒌 𝒐𝒏 𝒆𝒂𝒄𝒉 𝒐𝒇 𝒖𝒔.

In this final installment of the Secret Bookcase series, the mystery was much more tightly focused on a running sub-plot introduced in book one, and that was Scarlet's murder. Annie is headed out of town for the annual book fair, and she's looking forward to mingling with other industry professionals and gleaning knowledge that she can apply to the shop she's about to take ownership of. However, this trip will also put her close to the powerful investment firm that she knows played a role in her best friend's death.

But once again, Annie's personal investigation takes a backseat when an industry colleague is murdered. The list of suspects is long and diverse, but they all have one thing in common--each stood to gain something from the victim's death. Can Annie solve this crime AND avenge her best friend's death?

This was such a satisfying end to a fun mystery series, and I was delighted to know that there will be a spin-off featuring Annie running her bookstore AND her newly formed detective agency! Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this early copy. This title is expected to publish June 16, 2025.

I read this book in one sitting, and I enjoyed it!
I was a bit worried, having not read any of the previous books in the series, but I ended up enjoying it!
Annie is our FMC. She is haunted by the death of a friend (Scarlet). A friend that she knows died under suspicious conditions. Now, Annie can look into her suspicious death.
Some scenes were a little bit over the top. For example, Annie was able to get past top-level security to investigate her friend's case.
She also gets entwined in other happenings and cases along the way.
Also - Annie and Fletcher (forgot to mention him earlier) set up their detective agency - it seems that there is going to be a spin-off series from this one.
The plot was well structured. The pace was great.
This is a good, cozy, quick, thriller, suspenseful read.
Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to review this ARC.
Happy Reading!

3.5 Stars
One Liner: The finale…

Annie and Fletcher, the new co-owners of the Secret Bookcase and private investigators, attend the annual book fair in Santa Clara. Their plan is for Annie to finally solve the mystery behind her best friend, Scarlet’s, death all those years ago. However, Annie ends up becoming a part of another case when an industry colleague dies in front of an audience, and it is clearly a murder.
Can Annie, with help from her friends, solve both cases and come out alive?
The story comes in Annie’s first-person POV.

My Thoughts:
This is the concluding book in the series. While the first two chapters provide the necessary backstory to make this a standalone, I think readers might enjoy it more if they read at least the previous two books. That shouldn’t take long since these are short books and can be finished in a couple of hours or so.
Here, the main mystery is about the death at the annual book fair. The other is not a mystery since the FMC figured things out in the previous book. This is more of a confrontation/ conclusion part, but not without risks, of course.
Technological advancement is the central theme, focusing on the use of tech in the publishing and bookselling industry. Would you like a VR (virtual reality) device that ‘shows’ a book’s setting, characters, story, etc., or do you prefer to imagine it yourself? I fall into the latter category. While VR sounds fun, I don’t want technology to replace my imagination!
We also get some insight into the cut-throat world of publishing, like how stressful the auctions for popular authors’ manuscripts are, how not everything is ethically done, and so on.
There are some mentions of coffee and food, too. On that note, can anyone tell me what a progressive Indian restaurant is supposed to mean? I thought most Indian restaurants in the West don’t serve traditional dishes (even if they say they do) like we have them here (and anyone willing to try avocado raita? Not me!).
Anyhoo, the mystery is solved, and the overarching plot is also handled pretty easily. There’s a bit of danger, but since someone in the FMC’s team is actually sensible, everyone is safe and alive.
There’s a surprise for series readers at the end. Don’t miss the author’s note (it’s a short one anyway). If you enjoyed the books so far, you’ll be happy with the update.

To summarize, A Body at the Book Fair is the final book in the series and keeps the pacing, plotting, and character development aligned with the previous books. Since the series has been a steady 3.5 stars for me, I think it’s only fair to round up this time.
Thank you, NetGalley and Storm Publishing, for the eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

Thank you to Netgalley and Storm publishing for the arc of this book. A Body at the Book Fair is the sixth book in the A Secret Bookcase Mystery. This is the final installment in this series. I read this book in one sitting. This book brings a new murder mystery and ties up the loose ends of the series. This book is a cozy murder mystery. I absolutely loved this book and series. I am very glad we will see these characters again in a new series. I recommend if you haven't already read the entire series.

I was invited by the publisher to review this book. This is the sixth and final book in a series involving Annie and her bookstore, the Secret Bookcase. Annie is in a good place with her store and soon will open a detective agency, but the unsolved murder of her friend from a decade ago still nags at her. She heads to a book fair, excited to be among fellow book lovers, but also glad she will be in the vicinity of the company she believes had a hand in her friend's death. While at the book fair, a colleague is murdered, and of course Annie is on the case. The suspect list is full of varied characters, and Fletcher helps her not only figure out the killer, but gives her room to work on the case of her friend, as well.

This was a great wrap up to the series, each character received a satisfying ending, and there were plenty of those cozy settings. Both cases were able to get an equal amount of attention, and I liked the twists for each case. It was really nice to see how this series ended, but also I enjoyed the set up for the continuation of the characters in another series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the chance to read the book in exchange for my honest opinion.
A Body at the Book Fair is a satisfying conclusion to this series. It has given us not only a great group of characters, but in the course of six books we've had seven tricky murders to solve. In this book Annie and Fletcher head to Santa Clara for the California Booksellers Conference. They are there for two reasons, as the soon to be owners of the Secret Bookcase Shop they are looking for new and interesting items for the shop as well as learning about the newest trends in all things book-related. They are also there as it is the home of Silicon Summit Partners where Annie plans to confront Scarlet's killer. Along with the book fair, we get the murder of an obnoxious "tech bro" who is disliked by most of the people he has interacted with, but who hated him enough to kill him. Annie and Fletcher put on their newly licensed PI hats to assist the police in bringing the perpetrator to justice. Their were just enough red herrings and twists along the way to keep me turning pages as both cases were brought to a conclusion. The only negative for me was most of the book was not set in Redwood Grove and at the Secret Bookcase.
Now that Scarlet's killer has been arrested, Annie and Fletcher, Liam and Pri head back to Redwood Grove, not just to run the bookstore, but to open their newly approved detective agency, Novel Detectives. Hopefully we will see more of Detective Greene in the new series. As the new detectives and their friends celebrate it becomes clear that not only are they ready for that first case, someone is ready to have them get to work! Excited to read book one in the new Novel Detectives series!

A Body at the Book Fair is the 6th book in the Secret Bookcase Mystery series. It takes place in the town of Redwood Grove, CA. Annie Murray is the main character. She and Fletcher Hughes are the new owners of The Secret Bookcase book store. They are buying it from their old boss, Hal Christie who made the book store what is now the largest mystery book shop on the west coast.

There are two parts to this story. Finding the murderer of Annie's friend from college, Scarlett. She and Annie had planned to open an investigation company when they graduated. Scarlett was killed the day before the graduation. Scarlett had been working at a company Silican Summit Partners. a brokerage firm. The CEO is a man named Logan Ashford. The other part of the story is the murder of Fox Andrews at the Booksellers Convention.

Annie and Fletcher are going to the convention for the week. Hal is going to take care of the store while they are gone as well as Professor Plum, Annie's cat who was once owned by Scarlett. Her friends are going with her to help her confront Logan as the killer. Liam Donovan is Annie's boyfriend and owns a pub. Pri is her best friend and owns Cryptic Coffee Shop. Fletcher's girlfriend, Victoria worked for a large bookstore when she met Fletcher. She now owns her own business The Book Bus, a bookmobile that takes books to people in rural areas.

Annie and Fletcher are going to open Novel Detectives a PI agency that will be operating out of the Bookstore. Annie has gotten her license but they are waiting for the license for the agency. Annie's old professor at college, Dr. Caldwell is now the head of police in Redwood Grove.

Annie and Fletcher arrive at the convention. The both go to the seminars that interest them and plan to meet up later at the bar. Annie goes to the seminar that has a panel of authors, Fox Anderson who has developed a Headsert that is suppose to be better than an E-Reader; Victor Moore who has created Read Moore, an E-Reader who automatically registers eye movements to suggest what to read; Phillip Kaufman, a longtime editor who has just started a digital first publishing house called Cloudbound and Theodore Calodin owner of Comic Vault a graphic novel and manage shop. Serena Highbourn is the main speaker. She is a famous author who writes books of scandels of celebrities.

Fox opens the panel. He and Serena are looking at each other with lots of animosity.. He puts on his Headset and pretends to shoot her. Annie sits next to an older woman named Laurel Detero who owns a new bookstore called The Last Chapter When her husband died he left it to her as she had always wanted to own a bookstore. She told Annie that Fox had come to her store to promote his Headset. She was not impressed with him and planned to give him a piece of her mind.

Fox took over the panel and talked about his invention, Headset. The others were able to eventually talk a little about their companies. Victor and Fox's discussion became heated and contentious. Fox was going to show the audience how the Headset worked on a screen. When he turned it on there was a high pitched sound. As Fox tried to adjust it his eyes grew wide. There was a terrible popping sound and explosion, The power went out. Fox's head slumped and fell onto the table. He was dead. He was electrocuted.

Annie went to the stage and told everyone to not touch anything until the police arrived. She told the audience to stay calm and stay in their seats. She had Theodure call 911, The police arrived. Annie spoke to an officer telling him what happened. She also told him that she didn't think it was an accident. A Detective Greene arrived. After speaking to Annie she agreed with her that the Headset had been tampered with. It was premeditahted. Detective Greene wanted Annie to work with her on the case when she heard that Annie had her PI license.

Annie later spoke to everyone on the panel and Laurel about Fox's death. They each had been involved with Fox and were not happy how he had used each of them. There stories made each one a suspect. Annie reported back to Detective Greene what each one said.

This is where I will leave it to the reader to enjoy the story to the end. There is too much going on to put on paper. The ending is exciting with the murderer being arrested.

Annie believed that Mark who worked at Silican Summit Partners was Scarlett's source named Bob. Natalie Thompson, a former employee pretended that she had died and went undercover. She told Annie that Scarlett had hidden papers somewhere in Silican Summit Partners that could implicate Logan. Annie had a plan to get into the company to find the papers. She would go and see Logan and ask if she could work for him. Annie is the last loose end. She was able to get in and met with Logan. She hinted that there was a problem with a mole in his company and she could interview his employees to find the mole. He hired her to do it and sent her to HR to get an employee badge.

Annie's friends felt it was unsafe for Annie to go back to the company at night by herself. She and Liam would go back and she would pretend to be drunk and wanted to get her glasses she left there. Fletcher and Pri were on lookout at the company. They would text Annie when it was safe to go into the company. Again I will leave the story to the reader to enjoy to the exciting ending.

I have read this series from the beginning. I have enjoyed the characters as they developed. The murder of Scarlett has been the plot in the story from the beginning. It is nice that her murder is finally solved. The book ends with a party given to Annie and Fletcher by her friends for the opening of Novel Detectives. They have finally gotten the license for the agency., The story ends with Hal's girlfriend, Caroline speaking to Annie at the party that she has a case she wanted Novel Detective Agency to check out. I look forward to the new series of Novel Detective,

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this ARC.
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