A Deadly Dedication (The Open Book Mysteries, #4)

by Margaret Loudon

When murder taints writer-in-residence Penelope Parish’s charming British bookshop, she must follow the clues to catch a killer before tempers boil over.
 
Penelope Parish thought she’d turned the page on her amateur sleuthing days but when the owner of Upper Chumley-on-Stokes’ proposed first high-end gourmet shop is poisoned, the American novelist starts to wonder if she and her quaint British town are in for another rewrite. It turns out that not everyone was a fan of Simeon Foster’s farm-sourced charcuterie and imported pastries—many of the locals were outraged by the potential new competition.
 
With a full menu of suspects on her hands, this just might be Penelope’s toughest case yet. Luckily, her friends at the Open Book are there to help with every twist of the poisoned pen.

• ISBN10: 0593547179
• ISBN13: 9780593547175
• Publish Date: 1 August 2023
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Paperback (US Mass Market)
• Pages: 320
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780593547175

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.

A Deadly Dedication is the 4th Open Book cozy mystery by Margaret Loudon. Released 1st Aug 2023 by Penguin Random House on their Berkley imprint, it's 320 pages and is available in mass market paperback, audio, and ebook formats. t's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats. 

This is a nice bookstore cozy series with well written dialogue and a fun/quirky cast of characters including expat American writer-in-residence Penelope. All the things readers love in shopfront cozies are present and accounted for, including the requisite feline, Mrs. Danvers. The violence is off-page and the language is clean and unobjectionable; nothing worse than "bloody" in the text. Spelling and vernacular are British standard English (torch, flat, crisps), but shouldn't pose any trouble for American readers in context.

The plot is self contained in this volume so it works well as a standalone. With four books extant in the series at this point, it would make a good candidate for a binge or buddy read. All the books are entertaining and engaging. The denouement and resolution were satisfying (if expected).

Four stars. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.