#AmReading Murder By The Book

Murder By the Book by Lauren Elliott 2018, Kensington Books – Following the mysterious deaths of her father, and fiancee, Addie Greybourne discovers that an aunt she never knew has left her everything. That includes a family house in a town named for her family. The move seems like a good break with the painful memories of her past. Once in Greybourne Harbor, she opens a rare book store, calling on her own background in the field. She doesn’t anticipate that murder will follow her in this sleepy small town.

This is Lauren Elliott’s first novel and she does a nice job creating a “cozy mystery” centered on the specialized world of rare books. The idea of a mystery series (this is the first book of that series) based in a bookstore is what snared me. My reward was a fun and interesting story.

The building blocks here are pretty simple. A lonely young woman arrives in a small town which is suspicious of outsiders. She makes a friend, finds a handsome young man who helps her, and faces down some of the ghosts of her past. The answers aren’t surprising but weren’t painfully obvious either. That gave me the chance to sit back and enjoy the book. Elliot is a solid storyteller who keeps the action moving. Addie has a lot thrust on her from the first minute she arrives in town. The problems range from the small (the owner of the business next door doesn’t like her) to the more serious (break-ins, assaults, and murders). There are some small issues in the story. While the bad guys need some information from Addie, they spend much of the first part of the book trying to run her over with a car. It would seem counterproductive and is never explained. But it’s a small issue in an otherwise enjoyable story.

I did find the “blushing young girl romance” portions a little tiresome, but that probably is an issue with a middle-aged, male reader rather than the writing. I’m certain fans of the genre will have no problem with it all.

There is one piece of action that nagged at me. Early on, Addie is making dinner and puts spaghetti sauce on to simmer. Shortly thereafter, her smoke alarm goes off and she returns to a “red hot” handle on the pot of now burning sauce. Either the author or the character doesn’t understand what simmer means. Cooking at a very low heat would require quite some time to get the sauce smoking and the handle would never become red hot. A tiny detail, but I spend a lot of time in the kitchen and it nags at me!

And if that’s my biggest complaint, Lauren Elliott’s debut novel is a great start!

On the whole, this is a fun read and a good launch to a new series of mysteries. Especially for fans of the cozy mystery genre, this will be a fun read.

Rating – *** Worth A Look