Booked for Murder

A wonderful and fun read. It had me from page one. I’m looking forward to reading more from this author! 5 stars!

This is the enjoyable debut of a new mystery series set in a southern bookshop. Madeline Brimley had already inherited a sense of adventure and love of drama from a beloved aunt. Now she inherits her aunt's beloved bookstore, and all of the secrets that come along with it.

This was so fun and cozy! I really enjoyed this and flew through it. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this ARC!

In this atmospheric southern cozy debut, Madeline Brimley returns to the bookstore she inherited, discovering that small towns hold deadly secrets!!
Good book!! This book was definitely a cozy mystery type book but with a bit of grit! It had good suspense, intrigue, action, murder, mystery, a good who done it and a few twists and turns! The story was interesting! I definitely recommend reading this one! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

I flew through this book. If you are needing a cozy murder mystery, pick this book up! Would absolutely recommend this book. Can't wait for the other books!

Many thanks to NetGalley for sending me an Advance Reader's Copy.

I am a big fan of murder mysteries! This pne did not disappoint! Easy and quick read that captured me and had me enjoying the caper!

I was provided an electronic copy of this book by NetGalley and the publisher.

Other reviewers have offered synopses of this book and I will not duplicate their efforts here. I found the book to be a fairly typical cozy mystery, with the protagonist playing amateur Nancy Drew and sticking her nose into places that would rather not have outside noses snooping around. As is typical in cozies, there were certainly red herrings, surprises and twists, especially in the matter of "whodunit." All in all, an enjoyable read, albeit a bit cliched.

Such a a cozy, entertaining, and quick mystery novel! I truly enjoyed it and couldn't believe this was a debut novel. I look forward to reading more from P.J. Nelson! Highly recommend to all mystery novel lovers.

Thank you NetGalley and Minotaur Books for this e-ARC of "Booked for Murder"!

This was a great cozy mystery. Some great twists and turns.. but the end left me with some remaining questions. Maybe a sequel? I do enjoy a mystery about books!

Like other reviewers, I did find this book to slog slowly in the first third. But the more time I spent with these characters the more I liked them. One big thing that irks me about a lot of recent titles is that the character who seems the most interesting is dead (to begin with), in case the protagonist’s aunt Rose, a former Broadway actress who loved jazz LPs and ran a profitable bookshop in a backwater Georgia village. It’s telling that I can’t even remember the name of the main character without looking it up, but I definitely remember aunt Rose. Despite that, I will probably read more if this does become a series. Thank you for the ARC.

A gripping tale with an impeccable writing style that would keep you on the edge of your seat. The plot twists are brilliantly executed, and kept me guessing until the very end. I love how the author builds tension and delivers a satisfying conclusion. A true page-turner that deserves all the 5 stars!

I adore a great cozy mystery. I am glad this was not centered around romance as some can be a bit more romantic than mystery. I found the idea of an odd ball Aunt passing away and leaving a bookstore to her niece a great chance. A big issue I had was the character of the niece. She is noted for being an actress who was struggling to land roles in New York, so she moved back home. However, she did not own a cell phone which is a major red flag since Actresses need a phone to reach their possible new roles. She also was extremely hesitant to react to the fire on her first day at her aunt's. I would imagine that if someone threatened to kill me and light a part of my property on fire, I would not hide that information. The Fire Department was also extremely incompetent to a large degree which was a bit off. Also, if she was only away from her old hometown for a bit why did she not recognize the people she used to work with or babysit. I found that was a bit odd since he was not a newborn but a teen himself and I do not feel like he would have changed so dramatically. Otherwise, it was a good mystery and storyline. I hope there is a lot more of this series to come because I adore the set up. I would recommend this to my book club group. Solid 3.5 Stars.

Having escaped the small town of Enigma, Georgia to pursue a career as an actress, Maddie finds herself right back where she started when her eccentric Aunt Rose dies leaving her the old house in which she lived and ran the local bookstore. Finding that acting jobs are drying up for women past a certain age, and having no real home of her own, Maddie takes over running the bookstore and meets all the small town characters that were involved in Aunt Rose's life. Unfortunately, one of those people wants her out of the house and attempts to burn the house down. With telephone threats, fires, and the murder of a young girl in the bookstore, Maddie is determined to figure out who is the murderer before the local police officer, (who she actually used to babysit) does.

With a cast of small town locals (who often have more knowledge then they present), author P.J. Nelson keeps the reader guessing which potential suspects had the right amount of motive to commit a murder. A chance or two at possible romance sneaks into the plot with both a handsome landscaper/builder and a hunky firefighter. Assuming there will be more books in the series, readers will have to wait to see how Maddie's romantic life develops in a place called Enigma.