Murder by the Book by Lauren Elliott is the first book in the NEW “Bookstore” mystery series, coming October 30, 2018.

Addie Greyborne loved working with rare books at the Boston Public Library—she even got to play detective, tracking down clues about mysterious old volumes. But she didn’t expect her sleuthing skills to come in so handy in a little seaside town . . .

Addie left some painful memories behind in the big city, including the unsolved murder of her fiancé and her father’s fatal car accident. After an unexpected inheritance from a great aunt, she’s moved to a small New England town founded by her ancestors back in colonial times—and living in spacious Greyborne Manor, on a hilltop overlooking the harbor. Best of all, her aunt also left her countless first editions and other treasures—providing an inventory to start her own store.

But there’s trouble from day one, and not just from the grumpy woman who runs the bakery next door. A car nearly runs Addie down. Someone steals a copy of Alice in Wonderland. Then, Addie’s friend Serena, who owns a nearby tea shop, is arrested—for killing another local merchant. The police seem pretty sure they’ve got the story in hand, but Addie’s not going to let them close the book on this case without a fight . . .

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Bad luck has befallen Addie with the death of her fiancé and father. She inherits a home and when she arrives, it appears that bad luck continues to find her. With too many incidents and a few close calls, someone wants Addie out of town, sooner rather than later.

I love the premise of the multi-arc plot where anything that could happen, happens, a dead fiance, a dead father, a dead aunt and soon more dead bodies populate the landscape. The author set me up for a tightly woven mystery that kept me engrossed throughout the telling of this tale. The plot thickened as the story moved forward and with each clue investigated, it became apparent that this was a bigger deal and I liked how it all together, in a sleek and methodical way.

The author did a great job with several key strategic twist, especially one that had me gasping as the person behind the nefarious doings was revealed in a climactic scene that had my heart palpitating as I read with abandon as I had to know how this was going to play-out. Excellent job done by the author in delivering a satisfying tale with great aplomb. Boasting a wonderful cast of characters, great play-by-play action and good conversation, this was very enjoyable and I can’t wait to read the next book in this delightfully engaging debut series.

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FTC Full Disclosure – I received a digital ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.