Epilogue to a Christmas Murder - the eleventh (and final) Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

It took a lot of strength for me to finally pick up this book and read it.  Ever since I picked up the first two books in this series and began reading about Addie Greybourne back in 2019 (just six years ago???), I have been absolutely hooked.  The characters are so real, the stories so engaging, and the crimes so well-plotted - I felt like this had become a real little world of which I had the privilege to peek in and watch from time to time.  Over the past six years, I have been fortunately enough to communicate with the author, Lauren Elliott (a/k/a Linda Maureen Fowler), on any number of occasions, and I found her to be personable, considerate, and simply wonderful to chat with.  So, it was with shock and profound sadness when, back in August, I and other fans of Elliott and her books learned that this amazing woman had passed away on August 11, 2025.  I was so stunned, and it was shortly after her passing that this next book in her Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery series was published - the last one she wrote before she died.  I bought the book and put off reading it, because I knew that once I did, there would be no more - that the adventures of Addie Greybourne and her ever-growing supporting cast would come to an end.  But my love of Elliott's writing and her story-telling skills got the better of me, so I picked it up, determined to take my time and relish every page for as long as I could.  Well, it only took me two days to read the book, I got so caught up in the story and just HAD to know who did it and why!

 

Epilogue to a Christmas Murder, while not intended to be the final book, is certainly the perfect book end for this series.  Over the past several books, Addie Greybourne's life has gone through a number of changes - her best friend, Serena, has gotten married and had children.  Her first love when moving to Greybourne Harbor, police chief Marc Chandler, found a new love and has settled into marital bliss.  Her bookstore and curio shop has grown so that she had two employees helping her out - Paige and Nikki.  Her most recent love and ex-fiance, Simon Emerson, has reunited with his wife and son, starting a new chapter in their life. Her mentor and mother-figure, Catherine Lewis, has married a globe-trotting man of mystery, and she is rarely in Greybourne Harbor any more.  As for Addie herself?  Well, she has returned after taking a year's sabbatical in England, where she not only solved a murder, but found her heart falling for a certain detective inspector (Noah Parker), only to leave England before it ever even had a chance.  Now, Addie is back in Greybourne Harbor, everything and everyone has changed, and Addie doesn't know where she fits in any more - but one thing's for sure, wherever Addie is, a murder is never far behind!

 

The town is gearing up not only for the Christmas gala at the museum, located just above the rocky cliffs of the harbor, but also for Paige's Christmas day wedding to her boyfriend, Logan.  But nothing is ever easy when Addie is around  first, Paige's wedding plans are disrupted when her wedding planner quits after Paige's mother (who happens to be Addie's business neighbor, Martha!) takes over planning the wedding - since she is paying for it, she will make all the decisions!  As Paige's maid of honor, it's up to Addie to try and smooth things over before Paige and Logan decide to elope!  Meanwhile, the "Twelve Days of Christmas" fundraiser and gala faces an uncertain future when all of the donations - including a first edition copy of O. Henry's The Four Million, which contains his famous short story, "The Gift of the Magi" and was delivered all the way from England - are stolen right out from under Addie's and the entire board's noses!  And when a body turns up at the bottom of the cliff, just below the museum from where the presents were stolen - well, let's just say it does not look like anyone is going to have a very merry Christmas.

 

Oh, did I mention that the book Addie was donating, which was worth quite a hefty sum, signed by O. Henry, and came all the way from England, was hand delivered personally by none other than Detective Inspector Noah Parker!  No one is more surprised than Addie, who thought she was never going to see him again. However, it's a good thing he's in town, because it turns out that the dead body is Nikki's ex-husband, Chad, who she divorced and ran away from because he was so abusive.  All evidence points to Nikki as the killer, and since she is Marc's cousin, he has to take a leave of absence while Noah is asked to step in and head up the investigation.  So, it ends up with Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys ... er, I mean, Addie alongside Marc and Noah ... working together to figure out who the real killer is so Nikki does not end up being railroaded by a politically-minded mayor who is running for re-election and wants this case wrapped up quickly.  As the evidence builds against Nikki, Addie is more convinced than ever that someone else is to blame, and she's determined to prove it, even if that means she has to do it on her own!

 

The book, which, I think, is probably the longest in the series, weighing in at 360 pages, splits its time between Addie trying to figure out who killed Nikki's ex-husband and Addie trying to figure out just who she is now and how she fits in with all of the changes in her friends' lives.  Anyone who has ever had some major upheavals in their life and had to make some major changes will appreciate the frustration, sadness, and constant questioning that Addie goes through over the course of the book.  And while, from the very beginning of this series, I have been a big supporter of Addie and Marc, I can admit that maybe, just maybe, our English inspector might actually be a better fit for Addie.  Thankfully, she figures this out by the end of the story, as well, after she manages to uncover the identity of the real killer, thereby proving Nikki's innocence (and proving, as she always does, that she was right all along!).

 

Elliott, who admits to being a fan of Nancy Drew, having read all her books growing up, manages to sneak a Nancy Drew reference into this book!  When Addie is at the police station, where a press conference is set up, she asks one of the reporters if she remembers her, and the reporter responds with, "My favorite bookseller and Greybourne Harbor's very own Nancy Drew" (p. 149).  Elliott also slips in a British female detective reference, when Noah refers to her as "Agatha Raisin" (p. 194), which is a British television series about an amateur female sleuth (and it happens to be based on a book series by M.C. Beaton).  I suppose Elliott wanted to give both American and British readers a bit of a nod with famous female detectives from both sides of the pond.

 

The only thing that left me a bit nonplussed with this mystery is the fact that we never find out who stole the presents (and Addie's valuable book) from the museum.  Addie kept wondering if the theft and the murder were connected, but after it turned out they were not, and the real murderer is revealed, the theft is pushed to the back burner.  There is an epilogue of sorts (perhaps where the title comes from?) where some of the stolen items show up on the doorsteps of various people in town, all wrapped up in shiny Christmas paper, with sleigh bells being heard by each person who finds the gift on their front porch.  It seems everything EXCEPT the O. Henry book is returned, and nothing further is said about it.  I realize with the Christmas theme of the book, the hint here is that perhaps "Santa" took the gifts and gave them out to those who they should go to (especially since the man who stole them was dressed up as an elf, and no one knew who he was);  however, I just feel like Addie would be more invested in finding that missing book and the thief who took it.  Maybe it was a plot thread that was going to come back in play in a future book, but now....oh, well, it's a mystery that shall forever remain unsolved.

 

And now it's over.  Addie's mystery-solving days in book form are over.  I would like to think that her sleuthing days continue, as she and Noah continue to work together to solve murders in Greybourne Harbor, as well as Pen Hollow, and maybe even Moorscrag, as well.  I have no doubt Elliott had many more ideas in mind for her book-minded sleuth, and I'll just have to imagine what they might have been (perhaps even one day solving the mystery of what book is the REAL first edition of Nancy Drew's Password to Larkspur Lane...).  Elliott will be greatly missed, as well Addie and all of her friends and family...until we meet again!

 

RATING:  10 pairs of red-and-white mittens out of 10 for providing Addie (and readers!) with one final mystery that gives us all a nice, well-wrapped conclusion to the tales of Addie Greybourne.

A Limited Edition Murder - the tenth Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

It's been well over a year since I read the last book in the Beyond the Page Bookstore mystery series by Lauren Elliott.  So, it's been over a year since poor Addie Greyborne's life was quite literally turned upside down by revelations regarding her parentage and regarding her fiance's previous marriage.  Thus, I suppose it was apropos that I waited to read this book, since I discovered upon reading the first few pages that there is quite the time jump from Dedication to Murder to this book - a year, in fact!  Thus, my timing was actually quite impeccable, since I have now spent the same time away from Greyborne Harbor that Addie did.  Of course, just because she's spent a year in England does not mean that poor Addie can get away from finding a dead body...

A Limited Edition Murder finds our intrepid sleuth trying to come to terms with everything that happened in that last book.  Not only did she find out she was not who she always thought she was for her entire life, but she also discovered that her fiance was still married to his first wife - and has a son by her!  So, Addie escapes to England, where she takes up residence in a cottage owned by her friend and best-selling author, Anthony Radcliffe, who is more than happy to have her visiting, since he is about to formally announce his engagement to Hailey Granger, and Lord Bentley and his new wife will be coming for the engagement party!  It's set to be the biggest event that the small village in West Yorkshire has seen in some time, and while Addie is not overly thrilled at the idea of hobnobbing with near royalty, she is happy for her good friend, and so she wants to support him. Besides, it has been a year, and she will be returning to the States the next weekend after the party.  She has delayed returning home long enough.  Of course, that is when fate intervenes, and Addie stumbles upon a dead body in the moors on the morning after!

I will admit, the opening chapters for this book had me a bit concerned.  Honestly, the writing felt a bit different than Elliott's previous books, and it left me a bit off-kilter.  I can't quite put my finger on what it was while I was reading that felt "off," but I do know one thing that definitely struck me as odd in the writing.  On page 39, when Addie accidentally spills champagne on a mysterious woman in a red and white floral dress and says, as she's trying to wipe up the liquid, "I hope the champagne doesn't settle in the intricate gold filigree setting of that exquisite sapphire."  I found that to be a very unusual wording for someone to actually speak - it reads more like a description an author would use when describing the necklace to the reader.  I tried saying the line out loud, just to hear how it sounds, and it came out very awkward.  And if it were just this one instance, I might have written it off (no pun intended!) as merely a poor choice of wording.  But it happens again just 9 pages later, when Addie is trying to calm an argument between Tony and Lord Bentley, and on page 48, she suggests to Lord Bentley, "why don't you take a seat behind that beautiful carved walnut desk?"  Again, that sounds like an author's description and not dialogue.  People don't naturally go around describing things in that kind of way when they are talking to each other, unless the topic of the discussion is that particular item.  But, honestly, there was more to the odd feeling as I was reading it than these lines of dialogue.

However, I can say that once Addie takes Pippi for her morning walk and comes across the body in the foggy moor, the typical Elliott writing I'm used to reading returns, and boy does it return in full force!  From that moment on, even without Serena or Paige or Marc or any of the other regular supporting cast members I've grown to love in the past nine books, the mystery became so engrossing I could not put it down.  It's not often I finish a 300+ page book in less than 24 hours, but this one is one of them.  While there was one minor clue early on that gave away the identity of the culprit a little too soon, there was still plenty of mystery to solve - such as who killed the step-daughter of Addie's boss at the Second Chance Books and Bindery some twenty years earlier, and how does that connect to this murder?  Is it because both murder victims were wearing the very same necklace before they were killed, yet the necklace was not found on their body after?  Or does it have something to do with that first edition Wuthering Heights that Tony gave to his fiance at the engagement party, only to discover the book actually belonged to Lord Bentley, from whom it had been stolen years ago?  Elliott makes great use of this temporary supporting cast, with some of the characters definitely growing on you (I would love to see Jasper Henderson show up again!  and that DI Parker certainly gives Addie a run for her money!), and she does manage to bring in Serena and Paige, albeit briefly.  Of course, there is one bit of news from the States that Addie learns that did not make me happy at all (and I am hoping that in the next book, that will change, because I've still got my hopes on Addie and Marc getting together in the end!).

The final chapters in the book are somewhat bittersweet, as Addie prepares to return home, having to leave her new friends behind (with some tearful farewells), as well as an unexpected revelation regarding one of the new characters.  Whether this will impact Addie's life going forward, we shall have to wait and see.

Elliott throws in a couple of things in the story that brought a smile to my face.  First is the name of the road that leads to the main shopping district of West Yorkshire, which is aptly named "Crooked Lane" (p. 2).  I realize it is nothing more than a coincidence, but way back in the day - back in 1936 to be exact! - Mildred Wirt, the original ghostwriter of the Nancy Drew books, had a mystery published that was called The Clue at Crooked Lane (The Clue at Crooked Lane).  Which, of course, makes the Nancy Drew reference on page 215 even more ironic!  I'm still holding out hope that since this series is premised on first editions of various famous books, one of these days, Elliott is going to have a mystery that centers around a Nancy Drew book (and if she were to ever do so, I know exactly which Nancy Drew book would make the perfect plot point that someone would kill for!).  Ah, well, one can always dream...

Thus, even though the book got off a rocky start, the murder got everything back on track and left me enjoying the book immensely by the time I finished it!  Now to sit back and wait to see what Elliott has in store for book eleven!

RATING:  9 buckets of composting food out of 10 for another well-plotted murder mystery that once again shows just how well Addie Greyborne can hold herself, even against arrogant, self-absorbed detectives from the English countryside!

Dedication to Murder - the ninth Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

I have been super fortunate to have made (online) friends with author Lauren Elliott, specifically in reference to her "Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery" series.  I follow her Facebook page and have shared all of my blog reviews with her as I have read through her series.  While not necessarily a fan of "cozy" mystery series, I have thoroughly fallen in love with Elliott's Beyond the Page series, as well as Lena Gregory's Bay Island Psychic series.  Both series have strong female sleuths, well-plotted and engaging mysteries, and characters that you can't help but be drawn into their lives.  Recently, I had the good fortune of winning a Facebook page contest, for which I received an ARC (Advance Reader Copy) of Elliott's ninth book, which is not set to hit bookshelves until later this month (April 25th, if I recall correctly).  Elliott not only personalized my ARC, but she also sent along an autographed bookmark for her series, which I treasure now (and will use every time I read one of her books!).  So, since I had this treasure in my hands before the release date, I felt it only right that I open the pages and find out what kind of trouble Addie Greybourne gets herself into this time!

Dedication to Murder is definitely a game-changing book.  And when I say everything changes, I mean it!  Elliott definitely shocked the heck out of me with some of the revelations in this story, and after this one, there is definitely no going back.  Obviously, I'm not going to spoil those big shocks for you, but all I can say is that you better prepare yourselves.  If you have been a fan of this series from the beginning, like me, or even if you are a new reader who is just starting to get into the series, this one will rock you.

Elliott lulls you into a sense of security with the opening chapter, as Addie prepares to walk down the aisle and marry the man she has fallen in love with, Simon.  It's all sunshine and rainbows, and Addie is all aglow as she makes the last minutes plans for Pippi to be cared for while she and Simon are on their honeymoon.  The church is perfect.  The flowers are perfect.  The gown is perfect.  The day is perfect.  Addie's biggest worry is whether she left the price tag on the bottom of her shoes and did anyone see it.  Nothing could possibly go wrong!  Yeah, okay, right - this is a murder mystery series, after all, so what did you expect?  Did you really think the wedding would go off without a hitch?  In pure soap opera fashion, the minute the minister asks if anyone has any objections or knows of any reason why these two should not be married....

Well, from that moment forward, everything you ever thought you knew about some of these characters changes!  BIG TIME!

I so want to talk about those changes, but it would be unfair to those who have not read the book yet to spoil it.  But let's just say that the changes that occur have a major effect on two of the main players in this series, and both changes happen to center around the murders in this book.  Yes, murders, as in two - one in the present and one that is decades old.  And while Addie tries her best to keep her nose out of one of them, she has no choice but to focus her attention on the other - because it happens to be connected with a first printing copy of The Velveteen Rabbit that she finds in her attic.  A first printing that is inscribed to her great-aunt's granddaughter - which makes no sense, because as far as Addie was aware, her great-aunt had no children, which is why she left the house in Greybourne Harbor to her.  This leads Addie on a quest to solve a murder that happened over fifty years ago.

But don't think Elliott leaves her alone with that one mystery to solve.  Oh, no.  Soon enough, Marc comes calling on Addie to help him with the present day mystery - one that actually had its set up in the previous book when Addie was in Pen Hollow - and kudos to Elliott for setting that up (although, in all honesty, I knew some of the things mentioned in the previous book would come back into play, I just didn't realize it would be so soon!).  Just like in this book, it's obvious that there is a set up for a murder in the next book when Addie takes off for .... well, let's just say she's headed out for another great adventure!

I do love the idea of Addie's search for a killer from over half a century ago, and the solution did come as a surprise.  And the fact that the solution to that mystery also leads to the revelation of the killer's identity in the present - well, that was just icing on the cake!  Elliott did a magnificent job of tying the two murders together, all the while dealing with the fallout and drama of what is happening in the personal lives of these characters.  And if you thought this series had more than enough supporting cast, guess again!  Elliot introduces her readers to two new characters who are likely going to be around for a while - a young sixteen year old boy named Mason and Marc and Serena's young cousin, Nikki, who takes on a part-time position at Beyond the Page Books (and just in time, too!).  I look forward to seeing how these character mix things up (and how you know they will eventually be involved one way or another in some future murder mystery!).

This book literally has everything!  Two murders! A wedding!  Two long-hidden paternity revelations! A cover-up! A betrayal!  A rekindled romance! Lies! Secrets!  Basically everything a great soap opera has to attract viewers, this book has in spades!  There's so much I want to say about this story and some the things that take place (like the fact that with one event, it opens the door for something I've been wanting for a while to happen - whether it will or not, I guess we'll have to wait and see - the last book gave a very small hint that there was a possibility, and this book makes that possibility a reality, but we'll see what Elliott has in store).

If there's ever a book in this series to read, this is the one!

RATING:  10 first edition sets of Winnie-the-Pooh books out of 10 for rocking the reader's world with some of the most unexpected events all wrapped around a superbly-plotted murder mystery!

A Margin for Murder - the eighth Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

Are we really up to eight books in this series already?  Geesh, it seems like just yesterday I came across the first couple of books in this series at Barnes & Noble and picked them up, being introduced to Addie Greybourne, her best friend Serena, her then love interest Marc, and the growing cast of characters that support this new bookstore owner.  Now, here we are several years later (both in reality and in the series) and up to book eight (with the ninth book coming out very soon!), and I am still enjoying each book as much, if not more, than the first.  I have been very fortunate with the few "cozy" series that I have picked up, in that the writing has been exceptional, the mysteries very engaging, and the characters lovable (or not-so-lovable, depending on the intent of the author).  The Beyond the Page Mystery series is definitely one of those.

A Margin for Murder finds Addie getting ready to celebrate her birthday in some of the most wonderful ways - heading off for a weekend of book-buying at a "going out of business" sale for a library in the neighboring town of Pen Hollow, as well as a very special birthday dinner with Simon, the man Addie is hoping will finally pop the question.  The weekend becomes even more perfect when Addie and Paige (her sidekick of sorts) are offered the chance to buy the library's bookmobile and all the contents therein!  Addie discovers four very valuable first editions in the bus, and that discovery is only the first domino that starts them all tumbling down, ending with the murder of one Luella Higgins - the town's mayor, president of the town council, and the current head of the library committee!  With so many people at the library sale, Addie and Paige are left wondering who would want her dead?  Well, the small town sheriff has no doubts at all about who did it - and sets about proving that Addie and Paige (the "outsiders") are guilty!

This book definitely has it ALL!  There's a murder where not only do we not know who the killer is, but we don't know how the victim was murdered or what the motive was (there were certainly plenty of different possible motives, that's for sure!).  There's a myriad of suspects - from the town pharmacist, to the disgruntled library employees, to the wife of the man the victim slept with, to just about pretty much anyone in Pen Hollow - Luella Higgins definitely ruffled a lot of feathers, and not in a good way.  There's also the four first edition books that disappeared months ago, turn up in the book mobile Addie is buying, then disappear again.  Then there's the surprise appearance by an old boyfriend from Addie's high school days who happens to be in Pen Hollow - who also happens to be the grandson of the library's biggest donor and who put a stop to that funding the minute he arrived in town!  And that brings up the huge, Gothic mansion where he is staying, the one that belonged to his grandmother and comes complete with a Mrs. Danvers-like housekeeper (you know the one - from Rebecca?).  And there are all of the secrets that are being kept by so many of the townsfolk, and the more secrets that come to light, the more Addie and Paige wonder if they will ever make sense of it all.  Oh, and let's not forget to mention that both Simon and Marc show up in town - but between Simon being so distant and Marc being so suddenly protective of Addie, our poor sleuth is left wondering just where any of her relationships currently stand.  And then there's poor Serena - pregnant with her first child, coming closer and closer to that due date, when Simon discovers there is something important going on with that pregnancy (and that little mystery is probably the ONLY thing I actually figured out right away in this book!).

Yes, Elliott (as in Lauren Elliott, the author) really kept me guessing on this one.  I have to give her the highest kudos, because every time I even got an inkling of who I thought might be the killer, she pulled the rug out from underneath me and gave the story a completely off-beat twist - again ... and again ... and again.  I'll be honest, the ending to this books is one I never saw coming, and I doubt very seriously you will either!  It was truly inspired and, quite honestly, a solution that I don't think I've ever read in a murder mystery before.  But once revealed, it all made sense and actually fit quite well with everything that was going on in this story.  So, way to go, Elliott - way to go!

A few things I did want to make mention of that stood out for me in this mystery (aside from the superb mystery itself!).  First, Elliott gives readers a nice Nancy Drew reference.  When discussing their situation, Paige tells Addie:

Besides ruining your birthday, my sister lives in this town, my brother-in-law is a state trooper stationed here, and me and one of my best friends are murder suspects in the death of a woman we just met.  Now we have to get all Nancy Drew about it and start looking for skeletons in closets in a murder investigation that should have nothing to do with us.  (p. 103)

It's always fun to see a reference to everyone's favorite teen detective - just another reminder of just how much of an American pop icon Nancy Drew has become since her first appearance wayyyyyy back in 1930!  Although, I'm still patiently waiting for Addie to solve a crime centered around a rare edition of a Nancy Drew book (like, say, that super-elusive, never-before-seen alleged first printing/edition of The Password to Larkspur Lane?).

Another incident that  not only had me laughing out loud, but also had me cheering Addie on, saying, "Attta girl,Addie!" was when the Sheriff's wife, who is intent on taking over as the new chairperson of the local garden club now that Luella Higgins, the former chairperson, is dead, humiliates Addie in front of a room filled with women from the community by flat out accusing her of killing Luella.  Addie, never one to back down, happens to recall where she first saw the Sheriff's wife and decides to let the whole community in on that first meeting:

"I know you ... Aren't you the woman I saw on the stairs just prior to the potluck dinner starting?  Yes, I'm certain it was you.  Paige and I were heading down to the book sale for one final look before the dinner commenced, and you were on your way up to the meeting room.  You stopped and asked us if we'd seen Luella upstairs.  I remember clearly now.  I told you she was in her office, and you said, and I quote, 'The poor dear must be starved.  I bet she hasn't eaten a thing all day.  I hope Gretchen has started to put the food out so I can make up a plate for her ... As you are obviously aware, it was something she ate that night that killed her, right?" (pp. 169-70)

It is moments - and lines! - like this that truly make this series so enjoyable to read.  Addie knows how to throw out a zinger when needed, and boy, was this one a doozy!  Of course, it has its consequences, because let's face it - accusing the wife of a small town Sheriff of being a killer is not going to sit too well with the Sheriff!

And finally, there are some moments in this particular book that I believe are foreshadowing of future stories to come.  Addie's old boyfriend invites her to come visit him in England some time (I can picture it now - Addie solving a crime in an old English manor!).  Addie volunteers to put in a good word for the niece of one of the townspeople with the vet in Greyborne Harbor who is looking for help (and this niece happens to have once known a guy named Simon ... which happens to be the name of Addie's current man - yeah, like we don't see the trouble that's going to cause!).  These kind of hints at things to come is another thing I love about this series, as it creates a sense of continuity and provides a bit of real-world feel to the characters.

If no other book in this series can get you interested, this one DEFINITELY will.  You are missing out on a wonderful world of characters, settings, and mysteries if you aren't reading this series!

RATING:  10 chocolate covered cherries out of 10 for keeping the identity of this killer a well-guarded secret up until the very end - a truly surprising reveal that I never expected in the least!

To the Tome of Murder - the seventh Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

Seven books in, and this series is still as exciting and as fresh as the first book!  Author Lauren Elliott has a way with words and characters that truly draws the reader in, makes the reader care about each and every person in the story, and ultimately has the reader rooting for the villain to be caught and locked away.  Addie Greyborne and her small little world of Greyborne Harbor is like a soap opera in book form, with each book furthering the tale of the lives of Addie, Paige, Serena, Kalea, Simon, Martha, Marc, and the rest of the cast.  With each book I pick up, I can hear in my head, "Previously, at Beyond the Page Bookstore..." and I settle right in to finding out what is going to happen next!  And it certainly doesn't hurt that each book, and each murder, somehow connects to a rare and/or collectible book.

To The Tome of Murder is set in the autumn, with Thanksgiving just around the corner.  This would mean that it's been approximately three years since Addie moved to Greyborne Harbor and opened her bookstore, since Murder by the Book (book one) was set in the autumn, Prologue to Murder (book two) was set in the Spring, Murder in the First Edition (book three) was set at Christmas, Proof of Murder (book four) was set in the summer, A Page Marked for Murder (book five) was set at New Year's time, and Under the Cover of Murder (book six) was set in late Spring.  And I guess this is a good thing, because seven murders over the course of three years is probably not that horrible of a statistic for a small town, all depending on the actual size of the town.  (Am I the only one who actually keeps track of these things?  Does that make me weird?)

Anyway, this time around, the murder mystery hits very close to home for Addie, because it is her cousin's boyfriend who is murdered!   The town is all abuzz about the Civil War-era themed baking competition, and Addie can't seem to keep any books from that era in stock.  In particular, author Sarah Josepha Hale's books seem to be the hot commodity.  The woman in charge of the competition is even on the hunt, looking for a first printing of Hale's famous nursery rhyme, "Mary Had a Little Lamb."  So what in the world does any of that have to do with Kalea's boyfriend?  You know, the one she is living with - the one she had a big fight with and was planning to break up with?  The one who left everything to Kalea upon his death?  Yeah, okay, that definitely sounds like motive for murder, right?  Well, let's add in the fact that he was killed in Kalea's dress shop, located just beneath their apartment, and there are no signs of any break-in and nothing was stolen ... nothing except an old briefcase that he had just gotten from a pawn shop.

In true Elliott style, Addie sticks her nose into the middle of everything, determined to prove her cousin's innocence.  But what happens when even she begins to question Kalea's guilt?  Well, that's when Martha steps up to help ensure her FRIEND doesn't get railroaded into a prison sentence.  Yes, you heard that right.  Martha and Kalea are now friends!  And how does Martha help?  Well, her bakery being gossip central for Greyborne Harbor, she makes it known that anyone who had dealings with Kalea's boyfriend is a suspect, and the next thing you know, half the town is pointing fingers at one another, making it next to impossible for Marc to get any actual investigating done.  This, of course, leaves Addie with plenty of opportunity to do her own investigating.  And, as with all of her mysteries, a rare book is at the dead center of it all!

Now, I'm not going to spoil it, but I will say that the matter of the briefcase was pretty easy to figure out early on, as was a certain case of mistaken identity.  I debated back and forth for a while about the identity of the killer, or even who was the force behind the murder, and I give Elliott credit for keeping me guessing until pretty near the end.  The ultimate revelation actually left me feeling a bit sorry for the killer (not enough to wish them unpunished, but enough to say I can see why they did what they did - or at least, what they thought they had to do).

And as if all of this weren't enough to keep a reader's interest, Elliott gives readers some life-changing surprises for Serena, for Catherine, and for Kalea (aside from the obvious) and reminds everyone that family is more than just blood relation - family is made up of those you love and who are in your life, for better or for worse.  A definite Happy Thanksgiving for Addie and her "family."

RATING:  10 Sweet Treats Ice Cream truck locations out of 10 for showing that not only can words be deadly, but they can be enjoyable to read as well!

Under the Cover of Murder - the sixth Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

Six books in, and author Lauren Elliott still has me hooked with her Beyond the Page Bookstore mystery series!  I have so been enjoying the antics of Addie Greyborne and her friends - Serena, Simon, Catherine, Paige (get it? Paige? Books?), Zach, Jerry, and yes, even Marc!  Elliott has created such a well-rounded cast of characters, and each time I pick up a book, it's like visiting with old friends again.  And each mystery is so well-crafted, somehow connected to a different book each time - Sherlock Holmes, The Secret Garden, Charles Dickens, Alice in Wonderland ... I'm still holding out hope that one of these days, Addie is going to solve a mystery involving a first edition, first printing of the first Nancy Drew book, The Secret of the Old Clock!  I mean, after all, the author's biography in the back of the book says that Elliott grew up "devouring" Nancy Drew!  But, while I wait, I'll continue to enjoy each of these fantastically plotted whodunnits...

Under the Cover of Murder deals with an Agatha Christie book - The Mysterious Affair, which happens to be the first Hercule Poirot novel.  It's the wedding of her best friend, Serena, and Addie is the maid of honor.  The wedding is to take place on the very opulent yacht owned by the groom's parents, and from the moment Addie first set foot on the yacht, she couldn't wait to get into that library of what is clearly some very valuable first printings!  Little does she realize that it will take not one, but two!, murders before she is able to get in there and examine the books.  First, a body turns up on the beach the morning of Serena's wedding; and then, another body washes ashore that same night, after Serena and Zach have left on their honeymoon.  The first body has no identification; the second body, though, is Lacey Davenport!  Marc's high school sweetheart and Serena's former best friend - before she stole from Serena and wreaked havoc in Greyborne Harbor (as told in Prologue to Murder).  The murders appear to unrelated - except for the fact that the mystery man was holding a torn piece from a page of a book in his hand when he was found, and traces of Lacey's blood are found in a book in the yacht's library - the very same book that has a piece torn from one of its pages!

Addie has quite a mystery on her hands this time and a very limited time within which to solve it.  Locked on the boat with all of the other wedding guests, she (with the help of Paige and Catherine) create a new clue board to list suspects, write up motives, and put down all of the clues they find.  And while many people had a reason to dislike Lacey - after all, she managed to tick off a lot of people at the wedding reception! - who hated her enough to killer her?  And how does she connect to the man found on the beach that morning?  Was the motive personal, or had Lacey uncovered something that someone would kill to keep secret?  And talk about secrets!  Elliott certainly fills this book with tons of them!  From spouses cheating on their better halves, to unscheduled and untraceable stops by the yacht, to false copies of first editions of some very valuable books - this mystery has it all.  But that simply means Addie and friends have so much more to sift through in order to find the true motive and real killer before he or she strikes again.

I truly enjoy the fact that Elliott provides opportunities for some of the supporting cast to shine in each book.  Sometimes it is Serena, sometimes it is Simon, and in this one, Paige and Catherine get their turn.  I also enjoy the ongoing subplot of Addie's love life - first it was with Marc, then he left her and ended up with the former FBI agent, Ryley; then she fell for Simon, and it seems to be going well - however, events in this book could change that dynamic, and honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about that.  I mean, when the series started, I was rooting for Marc and Addie to get together.  But after Ryley came along and the way Marc treated Addie, I kind of adjusted to her being with Simon.  What will happen next?  I guess only future books will tell...

Now, something in this book that immediately caught my attention while reading it.  In the scene, the captain of the yacht comes up to the group, and Addie realized from his good looks "why the normally meek Ida Biggs, a book club member, and the usually prickly Martha had both schemed to get closer to him during this past week's festivities" (p. 18).  The thing that immediately stood out was "Ida Biggs."  Quite an unusual name - unless you happen to have read The Dana Girls Mystery Stories (a children's mystery series in the vein of Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys, where sisters Jean and Louise Dana solve mysteries at a boarding school).  In that series, the Dana sisters have a nemesis by the name of Lettie Briggs, who has a cohort in crime named Ina Mason.  No, it's not exact, but it is rather close enough - Ida/Ina and Biggs/Briggs.  Left me to wonder if perhaps Elliott had grown up reading more than just Nancy Drew, and the names inspired this book club member's name.  A mystery for another day, I suppose.

Another reference in the book that caught my eye (and delighted my geek side!) was in the scene where Addie has joined Serena and the other bride's maids to get their hair done.  Serena finally relents that a braided coil may not have been the best, to which Ellie replies, "...that wasn't until Paige pointed out that you'd look like Princess Leia" (p. 30).  To which, Serena snickers and replies, "...then I decided taking on the Dragon Lady [referring to her future mother-in-law] this week has been bad enough, I really didn't want a go-around with Darth Vader, too" (p. 30).  Let's face it - any book that no only references the greatest sci-fi film of all time (uhm, Star Wars! Duh!), but also has that possible homage to the Dana Girls - well, no way around it, it's a huge hit in my book (pun fully intended!)!

The climactic confrontation of Addie with the killer in this book was definitely something to look forward to, as there were certain scenes earlier that set up that climax, and which I could not wait to see happen.  It was also fun to figure out with Addie just who was involved in the murders, in the cover-up, and in the book forgeries, as there were so many possibilities - it's nice to read a murder mystery where the killer turns out to be a true surprise!

This series is a definite must read for cozy-mystery fans, non-cozy-mystery fans, and, well, just about anyone who loves a really good murder mystery!

RATING:  10 slices of mile-high chocolate cake with gold flakes sprinkled across the icing out of 10 for one heck of a superbly written murder mystery!

A Page Marked for Murder - the fifth Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

You don't know what the murder weapon was. You don't know who the murderer is. You don't know where the murder took place. So how in the world are you supposed to solve this crime? Well, Lauren Elliott shows readers exactly how it's done in her fifth Beyond the Page Bookstore mystery!  This series has been thoroughly enjoyable from the get-go, and as Elliott continues the series, it's nice to see the characters learn and grow and to the see the cast continue to expand. I still keep hoping that sooner or later Addie and Marc will wake up and see that they were made for each other (not that I have anything against Simon, but to me, Addie and Marc actually fit together better).  Oh, well, that's neither here nor there - for now, I will just follow along as Addie continues her amateur sleuthing adventures...

A Page Marked for Murder brings the mystery closer to home when Addie finds a body behind Martha's bakery next door to her bookstore.  And when the deceased turns out to be the father of Martha's granddaughter - a man with whom she has recently been seen having some very public arguments and about whom Martha told Addie she would take care of - well, let's just say that things do not look good for poor Martha.  Of course, Addie doesn't believe for a second that Martha is the killer, but since all of the circumstantial evidence points to her, Marc and his former-FBI partner, Ryley, focus all of their attention on her ... which leaves Addie free to explore all of the other possibilities.

There are plenty of people with motive.  Brett Palmer was not a popular man by any means. Yes, Martha certainly had reason to hate him - after all, he got her daughter pregnant and then left. But Martha's ex-husband also has issues with him, and he was even seen arguing with him the week before he turns up dead.  But he has an alibi.  Then there is Brett's latest girlfriend, with whom he has an argument the night his body is found.  But she has an alibi.  Then there is that mysterious new man in town, who happens to be dating Addie's cousin, Kalea - he is overheard arguing with Brett's girlfriend about money.  But he also has an alibi.  In fact, every suspect on Addie's whiteboard seems to have an air-tight alibi, except Martha.  Could she have done it?  Addie refuses to believe it and sets about to prove her innocence.

What makes this murder mystery so interesting is that Elliott not only obscures the identity of the killer, but she also makes it difficult to figure out what the murder weapon was and where the murder actually took place.  Without any idea of where it happened or how it happened, Addie, as well as the police, are completely stalled in their ability to track down the killer.  But Addie knows someone who holds the key to figuring it out, if she can only convince him to reveal what he knows!

And, oh, yeah, in the middle of all this, Addie discovers that Martha's granddaughter has possession of a first printing of The Secret Garden that could be worth as much as $25,000.00!  When the book disappears at the same time as Brett Palmer is found murdered, Addie has to wonder if there is a connection.  And if she can figure out who took the book and where it is now, will it lead her to the murderer?

This was definitely a cleverly plotted mystery, and while I began to suspect the real killer about half-way through the book, I had no way to really connect the dots until Addie herself stumbles across the murder weapon (and a rather ingenious one it is! kudos to Elliott for coming up with something this creative!).  So, it was fun to fight off my own frustration in trying to figure out whodunnit right along with Addie, knowing that Martha is innocent but no way to prove it.

And with all of this going on, Elliott does not shy away from addressing the personal lives of her characters, such as Kalea's irresponsibility and lies, as well as the police sergeant's birth right in the middle of Martha's bakery.  Things like this are what keep the stories grounded in reality and help build a very "real" world in which Addie lives, and thus, make it all the more enjoyable for the reader to feel like this is a full, fleshed-out-reality and not just a murder-by-the-numbers mystery with the same old characters in the same old situations book after book.  (And, since Elliott admits in her bio paragraph at the end of the book that she grew up reading Nancy Drew, I'm waiting for the day when Addie gets involved with a mystery where she has to find that elusive first printing of Nancy Drew #10, Password to Larkspur Lane, that most collectors believe to be a phantom printing!)

Can hardly wait to see what Elliott has in store for Addie and her friends in book six!

RATING:  10 small solar garden lighthouses out of 10 for making an unsolvable crime not quite so unsolvable, but definitely a fantastic read!

Proof of Murder - the fourth Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

The books in this series are coming out faster than I can keep up with reading them!  I just now finished the fourth book in the series, and the sixth book came out already at the bookstores.  Which, is not necessarily a bad thing, since that simply means I have more stories of Addie Greyborne to look forward to!  And that, without a doubt, is definitely a good thing!  I've grown to appreciate Addie and her sleuthing skills, as well as her will she/won't she relationships with the police chief (Marc) and the doctor (Simon).  This go-around though, the status quo definitely changes!

In Proof of Murder, Addie finds herself facing a locked-room mystery that would make Sherlock Holmes proud.  Of course, that would be too easy, so author Lauren Elliott throws in another twist - Addie becomes the prime suspect in the theft of some very rare and very expensive Sherlock Holmes first printings!  It seems Marc Chandler, the Chief of Police for Greyborne Harbor is back in town, and he has brought Special Agent Ryley Brookes from the FBI with him!  So, when Addie stumbles across the body of an appraiser at an allegedly haunted house whose contents are being auctioned off and simultaneously finds that several first edition Sherlock Holmes books that she had seen the previous day have been mysteriously replaced with more recent copies, it turns out her keen sense of observation and theories are the last things Chandler and Brookes want to hear.  Addie quickly learns that Agent Brookes believes Addie is the one who stole the books, and if the appraiser was murdered, then it was likely Addie who did that, too!

Now, I'll quickly admit that Marc's attitude toward Addie seems completely out of character and out of place in this story.  Yes, the two of them have had their ups and down in trying to figure out whether they have a relationship or not, but this sudden about face, and his not only cold shoulder but outright cruelty towards Addie does not read like the Marc of the previous three books.  Now, this could be because of his new relationship with Agent Brookes (who has some secrets of her own, and who, throughout the entire book, seems to have it in for Addie, determined to prove her guilty of the crime no matter what the evidence says), or it could just be that his time away from her and his return to find her in a budding romance with Simon Emerson, the town's coroner.  In either event, I found it very difficult to read the scenes featuring Marc and Addie, and I was the same as Addie in not at all understanding this sudden harsh treatment of her.

Aside from that, the mystery was exceptional!  The death of Charlotte McAdams in a library that was locked from the inside, the door bolted and the window jammed shut, makes for a wonderful mystery.  Spilled tea and a missing feather pen leave one to wonder if she was poisoned.  The missing books lead one to wonder if she was killed solely for the purpose of stealing those books.  And the room locked from the inside leave one wondering how in the heck did the murder and theft take place?  Of course, these are all questions that Addie has to answer in order to clear herself of the crime that she is being accused of committing.  Despite repeated warnings from Marc to stay out of it, she brings out her trusty board in the backroom of her bookstore and starts keeping a list of suspects and clues.  

Now, I'm not going to say that the secret passage in the library was not really a surprise - I mean, read enough mysteries, and you pretty much know that in a locked room murder, there is more than likely a hidden passage.  However, in this instance, the hidden room, and the passage that went out from the hidden room was rather unique, and I have to wonder if Elliott researched and discovered a house that contained a real floor plan like this to be able to describe it in such detail.  If she did, then I'd sure love to know where that house is!  With passages and hidden rooms like this, it is definitely a house I'd love!

What was a surprise, however, is the identity of the killer and thief!  I definitely did not see that one coming.  With the plethora of suspects, including Addie's very own cousin who unexpectedly showed up in town, helped her catalogue some of the books, then disappeared, it was hard to narrow it down to just one person.  In fact, at one point, I thought I was certain I had it all figured out - and then, wham! Elliott throws the reader a curve ball that, once revealed, definitely makes sense and fits with all of the clues in the story.  So, bravo to Elliott for keeping me guessing up until the very end (not too many mysteries do that any more!).

Thus, aside from the very off characterization of Marc, this book is another winner for Elliott, and I look forward to seeing what she has in store for Addie and her ever-growing supporting cast in the next book.

RATING:  8 wisps of white, ghostly smoke out of 10 for giving readers a mystery that Sir Arthur Conan Doyle would be impressed by!

Murder in the First Edition - the third Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

Time to find a cozy place to curl up and read the third "Beyond the Page Bookstore" mystery by Lauren Elliott.  It's funny how quickly this series and its characters have become a comforting place to visit - like settling down with old friends and hearing all about the latest adventures in their lives.  Only, with Addie Greyborne and the citizens of Greyborne Harbour, it's all about the latest murder in what used to be a quiet little New England town.  (It's almost like Murder, She Wrote - you love Jessica Fletcher, but you really don't want to go anywhere near her, because everyone around her seems to get murdered!)  But, with my love for mysteries and Elliott's fantastic writing, plotting, and characterization, it's a perfect match!

 

Murder in the First Edition is set right at Christmas time, so I guess this was the perfect time for me to read it, what with Christmas just around the corner. With two murders now solved and behind her, Addie is hoping to settle down for a nice, quite holiday. There's still that small matter of Marc being mad at her after saying her dead fiance's name when they kissed ... and her conflicted feelings over Simon, who is showing her all the attention she craves.  But all of that goes to the backburner when Jonathan Hemingway shows up unexpectedly in her bookstore - the father of her now deceased fiance.  A father who had little time for his son, and who Addie has always known to be a bit of a womanizer. Everything suddenly becomes a jumble for poor Addie, and when she stumbles across the body of Teresa Lang at the bottom of the hospital stairs, she once again finds herself in the middle of a tangled mess of a mystery.

Elliott does a superb job of intermingling Addie's past with her fiance and his father with the present, as well as Addie's own indecision about Marc and Simon and how she can possibly have a romance with either one when she is still hung up on her own past.  All of this, plus throw in the murder mystery with all of its suspects (including her own almost-father-in-law!), her ongoing feud with the baker next door, her friendship with Serena, her managing of the bookstore, and her concern for her friend, Catherine, who has developed feelings for Jonathan Hemingway! You'd think with so much going on in this one book, the reader would get confused as things jump from one to another; but Elliott blends the action, romance, mystery, and subterfuge so smoothly, it's like watching a well-written soap opera with a murder mystery for the characters to solve!

As for the mystery itself, it is rather a tricky one. Teresa Lang was heading up the fundraiser at the hospital, and Addie had donated a first edition of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. It was going to be a big event for the small town of Greybourne Harbour - until Teresa turns up dead at the bottom of the stairs, smelling of alcohol, and Addie's book is oddly missing from Teresa's office. At first, it appears to simply be an accident, with Teresa having one too many and falling down the stairs. But Addie knows something is wrong. What happened to her book? And is it just a coincidence that her almost-father-in-law shows up in town just before this happens - and he just so happens to know Teresa and had a meeting with her before her untimely death? And how could the fundraising committee be so badly in the red, when the hospital board had been informed by Teresa on many occasions how well funded it was?  And whose lipstick was on the Styrofoam cup left in Teresa's office?  So many unanswered questions, and Addie is not one to rest until she has her answers. Marc warns her repeatedly to stay away from it, and even Simon is not certain there was a murder until he gets the toxicology report back. But Addie has always learned to trust her gut instinct, and this time, she's sure something is wrong.

One thing I have to make a note about, considering what a huge fan of Nancy Drew I am - Elliott manages to squeeze in not one, not two, not even three, but FOUR references to America's favorite teen sleuth into this one book!  On pages 79, 82, 115, and 203, Addie references, is referred to, or is directly called "Nancy Drew" by other characters in the book.  Considering the iconic status of Nancy Drew as the epitome of all female detectives, I would say Addie should take this as a compliment to her amateur sleuthing skills!  (And just in case anyone feels left out, there are two references to Jessica Fletcher in the book as well - but I don't know that I would want to be compared to Ms. Fletcher, as it seems everyone she comes in contact with is murdered!)

I am thrilled this series is still going strong, as the author has indicated she is working on book seven right now!  So that means I have a few more books to read before I get caught up with this series...

RATING:  10 twinkling white fairy lights out of 10 for giving readers an amazing world of characters and a wonderful Christmas mystery that truly is "A Dickens of a crime..."

Prologue to Murder - the second Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

As the year comes to a close, I can't think of a better way of ending it than reading a murder mystery being solved by a woman who owns a bookstore.  Two things I love - mysteries and bookstores - combined in one story makes for great reading, and a strong, likable protagonist certainly doesn't hurt!  And Addie Greybourne is just that - a strong-willed, determined woman who doesn't let anything, or anyone, get in her way of solving a mystery.  And it doesn't matter that she's surrounded by townspeople who don't particularly care for her, but when she becomes the prime suspect in a murder investigation, well, it doesn't make things easy for her.

Prologue to Murder finds Addie trying to get her bookstore going strong after the events of the last book. She helped Police Chief Marc Chandler solve a murder, and so one would think she would be on stable ground. But, no, because the local librarian has gone missing and the gossip columnist for the local newspaper points the finger right at Addie! Marc doesn't believe she had anything to do with it, nor does her best friend (and Marc's sister) Serena. Of course, when the librarian turns up dead, and Marc's ex-fiance Lacey shows up in town, it's certain that Addie is going to find herself in the middle of things once again.

Author Lauren Elliott provides plenty of twists and turns in her second "Beyond the Page Bookstore" mystery. A librarian's death appears to be an accident - she seems to have fallen down a ladder. But forensics shows a blow to the head may be the real cause of death, so the question Addie must answer is - who wanted June Winslow dead, and why? The local gossip columnist, known only as Miss Newsy, appears to be gunning for Addie - and she's not the only one! Marc's ex, Lacey, has blown into town, and she has set her sights on rekindling that old romance; but to do so, she will have to get Addie out of the picture. To Addie's dismay, not only does it look like Marc is falling for the conniving pariah's tricks, but so is Serena, who has suddenly let Lacey become a partner in her tea shop! Lacey has everyone wrapped around her little finger, leaving Addie to try and figure out who killed June Winslow on her own.

Well, not quite on her own...

A very handsome doctor by the name of Simon Emerson has entered the picture. After a slight mishap (in which Addie and Marc are finally acknowledging their feelings for each other and she slips and says "David"), Addie and Marc aren't speaking. So, who could blame her for going out with a handsome doctor? Especially when he seems to have no problem with her investigating a murder - in fact, he actually helps her! But as attractive as he may be, deep down, Addie still has feelings for Marc. So, now not only does she have to solve a murder and clear her name, but she has to figure out exactly who she really loves before she ends up losing both men in her life!

Oh yeah, on top of all of this, Addie has been invited to host the ladies' local book club at her bookstore.  As if she didn't already have her hands full.

It was rather fun to follow along with Addie as she weeds through the numerous possibilities of who wanted June dead, why did they want her dead, and exactly how did they kill her. With all of the distractions, it certainly was not easy to figure out, but then again, in real life, is anything clear cut and without distraction?  Never!  Plus, with a possible buried pirate treasure, this book has all the makings of a great mystery!

One last thing that I just have to mention - the world's most popular female detective, Nancy Drew, gets a mention in this book. On page 149, when asking the good Dr. Emerson for help, he comments about her detective skills by saying, "Good work, Nancy Drew." And don't think that I missed the Emerson reference, either (Nancy Drew fans will easily recognize that as the name of the college where Nancy's boyfriend, Ned Nickerson, was a student). No mystery book with a female lead is complete without at least one Nancy Drew reference!

RATING:  10 original manuscripts out of 10 for keeping me guessing up until pretty much near the end as to the identity of the killer!

Murder by the Book - the first Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery

Vacations and work and other things have made it difficult of late to keep up with the review for the books I've been reading, and the stack is growing - but ne'er fear, the next review is here!

Now, I have never been a big fan of "cozy" mysteries; however, once in a while, something does catch my eye and I have to pick it up.  Such is the case with the first Beyond the Page Bookstore mystery. It doesn't involve psychics or the supernatural.  It doesn't have any superheroes or comic book references. It doesn't even really appear to have a "hook" that so many cozy mysteries seem to have in this day and age. No, what caught my attention for this series is the author's bio on the inside back cover. "Lauren Elliott grew up devouring Nancy Drew..." As soon as I read that one line, I knew I had to pick up this series.

(Now, before you go getting all concerned, I don't believe she actually sat down and physically ate Nancy Drew for lunch or dinner - - I have no doubt the "devoured" means that she read one Nancy Drew book after another and couldn't get enough, so sought out as many of the books as she could find to read!)

So, did Murder by the Book meet my expectations?  Without a shadow of a doubt, yes, it did!  The protagonist, Addie Greyborne (love the name!) leaves the big city after the death of her fiance for a small New England town to take title to Greyborne Manor, the Dark Shadows-esque mansion at the top of the hill overlooking the harbor. Having inherited the manor from an aunt she never knew, Addie finds life in this small town to be a bit daunting at times - particularly when it seems that everyone knows her family name, whereas she knew absolutely nothing about this aunt or her connection to the town! But the inheritance offers her a chance at a new beginning - a fresh start after the loss of her father and and fiance.

Yet, as any reader of mystery novels knows, the secrets in this town will come back to haunt her!

Elliott provides a well-written mystery that doesn't exactly keep you guessing (although there are some surprising twists), but it does make you fall in love with the characters. Addie is every book lover's dream - someone who has the opportunity to open her own bookstore and solve a mystery!  Addie's first friend in town, Serena, who owns the tea shop next door, is the fun-loving friend that everyone wants to have. Serena's brother Mark, who is also the towns police chief, is the "Ned Nickerson" of the series - Addie has an attraction to him, but solving the mystery of who murdered the local merchant and tried to pin it on Serena definitely comes first. Martha is the curmudgeonly old woman who owns the bakery next door, who is bound to cause trouble for Addie at every turn.

Of course, two of my favorites are the lawyer - Raymond James! - and the British curator who offers Addie a job - Roger Moore! Clearly, Elliott is having a bit of fun with names in the series, since Raymond James is a financial services company, and Roger Moore is, of course, the British actor who portrayed James Bond in a number of films. I would be curious to know how many people reading the book actually picked up on those names...

Plus, we get a mysterious key, a box hidden in a secret compartment of an old desk, and plenty of other Gothic tropes that play out during the course of the mystery.

Needless to say, Addie gets into the thick of things, despite being told countless times by Police Chief Marc to stay out of it, and she ultimately finds herself at gunpoint, nearly run down, and facing danger over and over. And, as with any good Nancy Drew mystery, the suspicions she has surrounding the death of her father and her fiance are resolved, when they are revealed to be connected to the current murder mystery, and by the end of the book, Addie (as well as the reader!) gets resolution to all of it, providing Addie with a true brand new start to her life.  At least, until the second book comes out, sure to bring with it yet another murder for Addie to solve!

RATING:  9 first printings of Alice in Wonderland out of 10 for writing a cozy mystery that is well worth the read, with a strong protagonist worthy of a Nancy Drew shout out!