Murder in the Mystery Suite (A Book Retreat Mystery, #1)

by Ellery Adams

Johanna Parker (Narrator)

Someone resorts to murder and mayhem in the first mystery in the New York Times bestselling Book Retreat series...

Tucked away in the rolling hills of rural western Virginia is the storybook resort of Storyton Hall, catering to book lovers who want to get away from it all. To increase her number of bookings, resort manager Jane Steward has decided to host a Murder and Mayhem week so that fans of the mystery genre can gather together for some role-playing and fantasy crime solving.

But when the winner of the scavenger hunt, Felix Hampden, is found dead in the Mystery Suite, and the valuable book he won as his prize is missing, Jane realizes one of her guests is an actual murderer. Amid a resort full of fake detectives, Jane is bound and determined to find a real-life killer. There’s no room for error as Jane tries to unlock this mystery before another vacancy opens up…

• ISBN10: 1494508303
• ISBN13: 9781494508302
• Publish Date: 23 December 2014 (first published 5 August 2014)
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 14 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Tantor Media, Inc
• Edition: Unabridged edition
• Format: Audiobook (CD)
• Duration: 8 hours and 48 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[Mystereity Reviews]

I was scouting around looking for a book for the r/CozyMystery Online Referral book bingo square and BeachbumBookworm swooped in on Discord with this recommendation. It had all the things I like in a cozy mystery; a deftly written plot, likeable characters, secrets (I love secret anything in books!) and the absence of tropes. Perfect!

Jane Steward runs a resort catering to book lovers, Storyton Hall, in the tiny town of Storyton, VA. Looking for an event to host that will bring in loads of book lovers paying to stay at the inn, she settles on a Murder and Mayhem mystery event, highlighting (and encouraging cosplay of) famous fictional sleuths. After receiving the grand prize of a first edition book, the winner is later found dead in his room, the victim of murder. Tasked with finding a murderer in their midst, Jane has to deal with learning a big family secret while caring for her twin sons, her elderly aunt and an entire inn of guests.

There was a lot to like about this one; a delightful cast of characters, the beautiful setting and a masterfully written plot with more twists and turns than the roads leading to Storyton Hall. What more could a cozy mystery fan want? I figured out the "who" around halfway through the book, but nothing could have prepared me for the why and the how. I also liked how the world of Storyton grew as the book went on, giving enough rich detail to pull you in without being too much to make it clumsy, something the author does very well.

Overall, an enjoyable first and a big thank you to BeachbumBookworm for recommending this one, and I'll definitely be reading the rest of the series!

[mrs_mander_reads]

Ellery Adams is definitely one of my favorite cozy mystery writers. This is a great quick read, and the setting of Storyton Hall is perfect.
** I did listen to this book on audio and I do NOT like the narrator. I can't get past her voices for the children (which aren't realistic at all, and kind of grating) and her pronunciation of gazebo as gah-ZAY-bo. Over. and Over. I'll be picking up a print copy of the rest of the series.