A Killer Read by Erika Chase is the first book in the new “Ashton Corners Book Club” mystery series. Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime (Penguin), April 2012

No one thought much of the stranger who stopped by the Ashton Corners Mystery Readers meeting. But when he’s killed just moments later, Lizzie Turner finds herself in the midst of a dangerous murder mystery.

Reading specialist and mystery book lover Lizzie Turner was excited for the first meeting of the Ashton Corners Mystery Readers and Cheese Straws Society hosted in Molly Mathew’s old Southern mansion. But she didn’t expect the gathering to become the scene of an actual murder. A stranger has been shot—and nobody knows who the victim is, or how Molly’s antique gun came to be used as the murder weapon.

As the plot becomes all too real, the police chief—Lizzie’s former high school crush—steps in to investigate. Then Lizzie begins finding mysterious manuscript chapters in her mailbox, and Molly surfaces as the next name on the killer’s list.

When a stranger is found dead outside their book club meeting, concerned for her friend prompts Lizzie and others to learn more about him and who wanted him dead. When Lizzie start receiving a manuscript with an interesting plot, Lizzie begins to suspect the two are somehow connected and she’ll have to read between the lines to find an elusive killer. I like it. This charming mystery boasts a well-charted and action-filled storyline that I could not put down as the drama moved closer to the killer’s identity. I love how each chapter started with a line from books by cozy mystery authors as well as mentions within the pages. With a great cast and good conversation, this is a wonderfully lighthearted and appealing whodunit that I hope it here to stay. I look forward to the next book in this delightful series.

Full Disclosure – The publisher sent me a copy of this book