Extra Sensory Deception - the 4th (and Final) Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery

And so, with sadness in my heart, we come to the fourth, and final, Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery.  With this last book in the series, we get our last adventure with Clara Quinn, her cousin Stephanie, her dog Tatters, her mother Jessie, her boyfriend Rick, the town's sheriff Dan, the sheriff's deputy Tim, Clara and Stephanie's employee at the bookstore Molly, and Molly's new addition to the store, a small homeless cat named Edgar (after Poe, of course!).  Author Allison Kingsley has created a quickly little world in the small New England town of Finn's Harbor, Maine, with a diverse cast of characters that I've grown to really like and about whom I have enjoyed reading.  I will miss them all, and it's a shame Kingsley did not continue the series...

 

Extra Sensory Deception features a murder mystery that is set in the most unlikely of places, considering the location of Finn's Harbor.  A rodeo has come town!  Yes, you read that right.  A rodeo - in a small town on the coast of New England. Definitely not where I thought the author would take our intrepid psychic sleuth next, but it turned out to be quite the intriguing mystery.  A great improvement over the last book, whose murderer just sort of popped up out of nowhere.  This time around, Kingsley provides readers with some subtle clues along the way (if you are careful enough to catch them!), and the visions Clara has with her Quinn Sense are a lot trickier than they've ever been - but they all come true, just not how Clara (nor the reader) expects them to.  Plus, we get a lot more of Tatters in this book, one of the supporting cast finally learns about Clara's abilities, and Clara herself discovers that dogs are not the only animals whose minds she can read.  For a final book, this one pulls out all the stops!

 

The story centers around the rodeo and a murder that takes place on the opening night.  A woman is found dead, strangled behind the main stage.  The problem is, the piggin' string used to stranger the woman belongs to Wes Carlton, a good friend of Clara's boyfriend, Rick.  So, needless to say, Clara, with her cousin's help, begins asking questions, hoping to prove Wes' innocence (although everything she finds seems to point to Wes as the guilty party!).  The visions she has - a clown getting run down by a truck, a cowboy with a red shirt standing over the body, and a clown tumbling down the stands and being chased by an angry bull - make absolutely no sense, and her attempts to warn the one clown she meets are not taken seriously.  The digger she deeps, however, the more secrets she uncovers.  Like, how the dead woman was known for turning down suitors in a hateful manner, making herself any number of enemies. Like, how some of the other women in the rodeo hated the idea that the men they liked were in love with the victim.  Like, how the owner of the rodeo was possibly having an affair with the victim.  And like, how the wife of the owner had some very damaging evidence that she destroyed in order to protect one of the suspects!

 

It is funny how Clara and Stephanie are so careful to avoid doing anything to attract the attention of the Sheriff, since he has made it super clear in previous books that they are to stay out of it; the only problem is, when Clara has her final confrontation with the killer (someone she never even suspected, although some of the clues had been right in front of her the whole time!), it means the Sheriff has no way to show up in time to save her.  It is only through Stephanie's concern for her cousin and Rick's quick actions that Clara is saved from a charging bull and the killer is brought to justice!

 

I have to wonder if Kingsley had been to a rodeo recently, or knew someone who worked in the rodeo circuit, or perhaps even was a fan of rodeos; the story has some pretty good details about the inner workings of such an event, and it lends some reality to the story.  Also, I thoroughly enjoyed Clara's bantering with Tatters (even if no one else can hear the dog's thoughts), and was thrilled when Clara discovered she could also read the minds of cats when Molly happens to hide a stray cat in the bookstore storeroom.  I thought that opened up the doors for some interesting possibilities, had the series continued.  And speaking of which, it definitely felt like Kingsley was setting up the premise of the next book (or, at the very least, a near future mystery), because there were several references to the bookstore getting an author or two to come out and do a signing.  That definitely sounds like a great set-up for a new murder mystery.  But, alas, that was clearly not to be, and such a set-up leads me to believe that the termination of the series was not Kingsley's choice. 

 

It's a shame to see this series end, but if it had to come to a conclusion, this book was a fitting book to do so.  While there were a few plot lines that remain unresolved (does Clara ever tell Rick about her abilities?  does Clara ever move out of her mother's house? do Clara and Rick take their relationship to the next level?), the book ends with a relatively happy, satisfying conclusion that leaves the reader smiling.

 

RATING:  10 thick white pillars wound with English ivy out of 10 for a superbly plotted murder mystery, a fun story, and a sad, but satisfying, ending to the series. 

Trouble Vision - the 3rd Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery

What better way to start off the new year than reading a great murder mystery?  Well, to be honest, I read this book and am writing this blog post before the New Year - but since it's not going up before 2025 begins, I figured it would be a great way to ring in the new year!  And thus far, I've enjoyed the Raven's Nest Bookstore Mysteries by Allison Kingsley, the first two books in the series having some great mysteries to them - and the fact that one of the main characters has a psychic ability is just an added plus.  As the blurb on the back cover says, "Delightful ... [A] winning addition to the cozy paranormal mystery realm" (from bestselling author Yasmine Galenorn) - and I could not agree more.

Trouble Vision is the third book in this series about cousins, Clara and Stephanie Quinn.  After having solved two previous murders in their small coastal town of Finn's Harbor, the only excitement the new year has brought with it is a town uproar concerning the new resort being built along the coast.  The townspeople are fearful the resort will take away a lot of their summer tourist business, but the mayor believes it will only bring in more business for everyone.  The town meeting is heated, and a number of people are extremely irate - but the question is, was someone mad enough to kill the foreman in charge of the construction, Scott Delwyn?  Clara's "Quinn Sense" visions sure think so!

Kingsley provides a superb mystery here, as the foreman's fall from the scaffolding appears to be nothing more than an accident.  No one saw anything, there are no signs of a struggle, and the cause of death is attributed to the damage sustained from the fall.  There is absolutely nothing suspicious about the fall at all.  So, why, then, does the Quinn Sense keep nagging at Clara that there is a lot more to this death than it appears?  She can't go to the police with what she suspects, because who would believe her hunch is based upon a psychic impression, especially when Clara is determined to keep her abilities a secret from everyone except her cousin.  Thus, she and Stephanie, along with their assistant at the Raven's Nest bookstore, Molly, set out to uncover the truth of what happened that night.

The mystery is intriguing through pretty much the entire book.  Kingsley provides only the slightest of hints / clues as to the identity of the killer, and it becomes even more confusing with someone robs the local bank right in the middle of mid-day and gets away without anyone knowing who it was!  Clara's second sight suddenly changes, and she sees the ghost of Scott Delwyn outside the bank, convincing her that his death and the bank robbery are connected.  Clara also finds herself being pulled (psychically) into the past to witness his murder (but not the murderer) and the robbery (but not the identity of the thief).  She even tries to convince the chief of police the two incidents are connected, but he will not listen and warns Clara that she and her cousin better stay away from this or he will throw them both in jail!

And not only does the reader get treated to the evolving powers of Clara's psychic abilities, but we also get treated to Clara's evolving relationship with Rick Sanders, who owns the hardware store across the street from the Raven's Nest.  After what happened in New York, Clara has been ambivalent about whether she has been ready to enter into another relationship - but in this book, she finally takes a step in the right direction, and readers who have been enjoying this series will all breathe a sigh of relief - finally!

The only drawback to this book is the final revelation regarding the killer's identity.  There's no clue anywhere in the story as to the killer's motive, so when it is revealed, it almost feels the same as when Mrs. Voorhees is revealed as the killer in the first Friday the 13th film - absolutely no way the viewer (or in this case, the reader) could have known based upon everything that has been revealed up until that point.  I took a look back through the book, and although there are things that point to the identity of the killer, there is nothing that gives even the slightest hint as to the motive.  For me, that was a let-down, as I have been enjoying this series so much, and I felt Kingsley owed it to her readers to at least give us some tidbit of a clue prior to the final reveal.

Nevertheless, I'm still looking forward to reading the fourth (and sadly, final) book in the series, and hopefully it goes out on a high note!

RATING:  7 gift certificates for a day at the spa out of 10 for a great combination of psychic abilities and mystery crafted into a nice tale of murder!

A Sinister Sense - the 2nd Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery

It was definitely time to return to Raven's Nest bookstore to see what trouble Clara Quinn and her cousin, Stephanie Quin, will find themselves in this time.  Surprisingly, the author, Allison Kingsley, moved away from telling the story from both cousins' points-of-view and instead focuses more on Clara in this book.  We only get one brief chapter from Stephanie's point-of-view, and it is merely her trying to get ready as she and Clara prepare to confront the person they believe to be the killer.  Personally, I prefer the story being told from one character's point-of-view, as the alternative POVs can become a bit much at times.  So, I'm happy Kingsley settled on just one character to take us through this second mystery in the Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery series.

A Sinister Sense does not give us a time frame for how long it has been since the cousins managed to unmask the killer in the previous book.  There are a couple of mentions in passing of the women having involved themselves in the last murder mystery, but it comes across as if that happened months ago, if not longer.  Clara and Stephanie have settled into their routine at Raven's Nest, with the help of their young assistant, Molly, and Clara continues to fight her obvious attraction to that hunk of a man who works at the hardware store across the street, Rick Sanders.  And, of course, that ever-bothersome Roberta Prince still runs her stationary store next door, and she still has her eyes set on Rick, even though he has absolutely no interest in her whatsoever.  Life has settled back to normal in Finn's Harbor, and we all know what that means - time for another murder!

Kingsley starts the story innocently enough - Rick's ex-wife has dropped off their humongous shaggy dog for him to take in; and the first thing it does is chase after poor Roberta, who made the mistake of offering it a few dog biscuits, in the hopes of getting in good with its owner.  The next thing you know, the dog chases Roberta into Raven's Nest, and Clara has to prevent the dog from damaging the store!  Rick shows up, bandaged finger and all, to reclaim the dog and explain the situation to Clara (who, by the way, was not even aware Rick had an ex-wife!).  Rick explains how he hurt his finger, giving details about the man who came in asking directions to city hall, the other customer browsing through the garden tools, and him trying to keep control of an uncontrollable dog.  Little do any of them realize that all of these daily things are about to lead to a murder...

The next day, Clara learns that a body was discovered in the back of Rick's truck, apparently placed there last night while Rick was at the bowling alley.  He is only a person of interest at first, since the body was found in his truck and the police have no clue as to the identity of the victim.  Soon enough, however, the evidence against Rick starts piling up.  The victim was in Rick's store the day before the murder.  The hammer used to kill the victim was from Rick's store.  And the clenching piece of evidence is Rick's DNA discovered from the blood on the sleeve of the victim's shirt!  The mayor is clamoring for Rick to be arrested, charged, and convicted so that the tourist town can once again be safe.  But Clara is confident Rick is innocent, and that little voice inside her head (otherwise know as the "Quinn Sense") is telling her the same thing.  The question is, though - who did kill the man and why?

Kingsley crafts a wonderful tale filled with plenty of suspects, and she keeps the clues given by the Quinn Sense vague enough to keep the reader guessing.  But every whispered word Clara hears, and every vision she sees, they all connect and point to a very specific person as the murderer.  For seasoned mystery readers, the killer will likely comes as no surprise (as with the first book, the identity of the killer is not hard to spot - it's the motive that takes some time to figure out); but it's getting there that is all the fun!  The "Quinn Sense" is not overused, nor is it a crutch that Clara is able to rely on to give her clues at exactly the right moment; rather, it is an unreliable tool that requires Clara to research and dig more into things to figure out what the clues mean.  Kingsley also manages to sneak in a bit more about Clara's past in New York and what happened between her and her fiance, which gives the reader a stronger sense of sympathy for the main character, making you root even more for her and Rick to get together!

 

One other thing I enjoyed about this book is seeing (reading?) more about Clara's relationship with her mother.  There is some strain, some love, some contrast, some battles, and ultimately some family bond that shines through, and it comes across very natural and real.  

 

Definitely a must-read for mystery fans and especially those who love these type of cozy mysteries.  It's truly a shame the series didn't make it past four books, but I guess those four are better than none at all!

 

RATING:  9  Northern Italian dinners out of 10 for another fantastic mystery with just a touch of psychic thrown in to make it all the more interesting!

Mind Over Murder - the 1st Raven's Nest Bookstore Mystery

This is probably not a series I would have ever picked up on my own.  A friend of mine gave me this book a few years back, and I set it up on my shelf and promptly forgot about it.  Once in a while, when going through my stack of books to be read, trying to decide which one to read next, I would see it and say, "I need to read that someday."  Well, that someday finally arrived, and I made the decision to pull it down and read it.  I wasn't really sure what to expect, but I figured since my friend put enough thought into it to give it to me, I should at least give it the benefit of the doubt.  And I was surprised how much I enjoyed it!

Mind Over Murder is the first book in the "Raven's Next Bookstore Mystery" series by Allison Kinglsey. It is different from other mystery series that I read, in that there is more than one main character in the story.  The protagonists are Clara and Stephanie Quinn, sisters who reside in the small town of Finn's Harbor, Maine.  Stephanie, who is married with children, has recently opened a bookstore (Raven's Nest - hence, the title to the series), and Clara just recently returned to town after living for years in New York.  To complicate matters, something happened to Clara while she was in New York that is keeping secret from her family, and it is one of the reasons she came home.  She agrees to help out at Stephanie's store until she can get herself established and find a job of her own.

Oh, and Clara also happens to have inherited the Quinn's family gift - a psychic sense of the future and other's thoughts.  But Clara does not like, nor does she want this "Quinn Sense," and she has spent years pushing it down.  Only, when a body is found in the back room of her sister's store, Clara finds herself in a position of having to turn to that "sense" in order to help figure out who the murderer is!

 

Kingsley does a great job of balancing the story between the two sisters.  I think writing the story in third-person rather than first-person helps.  I've noticed that with both The Hardy Boys: Undercover Brothers and The Hardy Boys Adventures series, which are written in first person with alternating chapters changing character points-of-view, the biggest complaint is trying to keep up with which character is now the focus.  But with this book, there is no confusion, and the transitions between Clara and Stephanie are smooth and easy to follow.  Plus, the characters are written sufficiently different, so that even without being named, the reader knows which one it is.  Now, the book does focus more heavily on Clara, which I think has to do with the fact that she is the one who just returned to town, she is the one carrying a secret regarding her past in New York City, and she is the one with psychic powers.  I'll be curious to see if that holds true in the other books of this series.

With regard to murder mystery, I have to admit the killer was fairly easy to spot.  Kingsley did try to throw in a number of possible suspects - the new owner of the business next door who turns out to have basically forced the victim to sell her the business before she died; the man whose life was basically ruined by the victim years before; the bookstore assistant whose last run in with the victim resulted in her threatening the woman; and even the good-looking guy who owns the hardware store across the street, who had his own ax to grind with the victim.  It seems the victim made an enemy of pretty much every person she met!  And even though Clara and Stephanie don't see it until the end, I think any astute reader who has been reading mysteries as long as I have will spot the killer early on - the signs are there, and while the means may not be clear, the motive and opportunity definitely are!

Overall, it was a really great read, and I will definitely be purchasing the next three books in the series (sadly, it appears there are only four books in this series - not sure if sales just didn't warrant any more, or if the author moved on to other things).  

RATING:  8 tiny whale charms out of 10 for a new mystery-solving duo with a twist!

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!