Little Bookshop of Murder by Maggie Blackburn

Little Bookshop of Murder (A Beach Reads Mystery, #1)

by Maggie Blackburn

A Shakespearean scholar inherits her mother’s romance bookstore—and a puzzling mystery—in this delightful cozy mystery series for fans of Kate Carlisle and Ellery Adams.

Summer Merriweather’s career as a Shakespeare professor hangs by a bookbinder’s thread. Academic life at her Virginia university is a viper’s pit, so Summer spends her summer in England, researching a scholarly paper that, with any luck, will finally get her published, impress the Dean, and save her job. But her English idyll ends when her mother, Hildy, shuffles off her mortal coil from an apparent heart attack.

Returning to Brigid’s Island, North Carolina, for the funeral, Summer is impatient to settle the estate, sell Beach Reads—her mom’s embarrassingly romance-themed bookstore—and go home. But as she drops by Beach Reads, Summer finds threatening notes addressed to Hildy: “Sell the bookstore or die.”

Clearly, something is rotten on Brigid’s Island. What method is behind the madness? Was Hildy murdered? The police insist there’s not enough evidence to launch a murder investigation. Instead, Summer and her Aunt Agatha screw their courage to the sticking place and start sleuthing, with the help of Hildy’s beloved book club. But there are more suspects on Brigid’s Island than are dreamt of in the Bard’s darkest philosophizing. And if Summer can’t find the villain, the town will be littered with a Shakespearean tragedy’s worth of corpses—including her own.

Reviewed by pagesbycyndy on

3 of 5 stars

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I am hoping that this is a series and that there will be more books to come because I want to revisit this town and characters.

 

 

Summer Merriweather is home for her mother’s funeral, returning to the idyllic seaside town of Brigid’s Island, NC, Summer is at odds with everything in her life. Hildy, Summer’s mom has died an untimely death, and Summer suspects foul play. Summer and her Aunt Agatha start an investigation on their own and soon discover that there could be more than one reason that someone would want Hildy dead. Hildy, was a free spirit and loved by all so Summer, Aunt Agatha, and Summer’s cousin need to dig deep without the aid of the local police who do not think Hildy was murdered. Along the way Summer, who is a disgraced Shakespearean Professor, comes to understand her mother in ways that she never thought that she could, like reading and enjoying a romance novel that she previously never would have even looked at but Summer tells herself that this is only for the investigation! Summer investigates unlikely suspects like her Mother’s book-club, a group of mostly older, would not hurt a fly, women but Summer needs to look at every possibility, even pink-haired little old ladies!

There are plenty of red herrings and quirky characters to keep me satisfied. Of course, my favorite character is Mr. Darcy the talkative bird who has a few ideas of his own as to who may have murdered his beloved owner. The small-town setting was nice and Summer’s backstory kept me intrigued as well.

I am hoping that this is a series and that there will be more books to come because I want to revisit this town and characters.

This review was originally posted on Cindy’s Book Stacks

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  • 29 June, 2020: Reviewed