A Page Marked For Murder, by Lauren Elliott
Review by Julie S., ePen staff reviewer.
A cozy village, a winter festival, and sizzling secrets waiting to disrupt the peaceful nature of Greyborne Harbor all come together in a mystery needing to be solved.
A Page Marked For Murder is the fifth book in Beyond the Page Bookstore Mysteries. I have not read the other books in the series, but that didn’t deter me from enjoying this book.
The author introduces the characters in such a way that not having read the books that came before didn’t matter. Immediately a reader is attuned to the quirks and personalities of the residents of Grayborne Harbor. I must admit my heart fell in love with Pippi, the small dog that is dropped straight into this mystery right away. I could resonate with Addy, the main character, and her apprehension of taking on her friend Gloria’s small pet, after Gloria’s supposed accident, for even a short time. Adding this little pup was icing on the cake to the story.
I must admit I wasn’t sure while reading the first couple of chapters, though interesting, if it would hold my attention. However, soon I was forgetting about time and the world outside. The author draws you into the book and its mystery with her smooth writing style.
I found myself rooting for Bill, the homeless man, and wanting to help Addy give her cousin Kalea her comeuppance. The romantic relationship between Addy and Simon works, as does the never-wavering friendship between Paige and Addy. It is a treat to read because of a solid cast of characters that keep you guessing as to who brought murder to this small community. The beautiful cover enticed me to pick it up, the characters invited me to stay, and the mystery left me wanting more in this series.
A Page Marked For Murder (A Beyond The Bookstore Mystery)
Cozy Mystery, Fifth In Series
Setting: Massachusetts
Publisher : Kensington Books (October 27, 2020)
From Kensington books:
A murder and a missing book have Addie Greyborne running around her Massachusetts town trying to read the clues . . .
January isn’t the season for the seaside, but the big Fire and Ice festival is keeping bookstore owner Addie busy. Amid the plans for a fireworks display and an ice-carving competition, she’s also dog-sitting for a friend in the hospital. When Addie goes to her friend’s house to gather supplies, she notices an interesting item on the nightstand that belongs to her shop assistant, Paige: a very valuable copy of the beloved children’s book The Secret Garden.
But Addie’s blood runs cold when she finds something else: a dead body behind the bakery next door to her shop. Martha, the bakery owner, has no alibi—and has been seen in a heated argument with the victim. And the next thing Addie knows, that first edition has gone missing. Is there a connection between the body and the treasured tome? If there is, it’s up to Addie to find a killer with a motive as hidden as Frances Hodgson Burnett’s famous garden .
USA Today best-selling author Lauren Elliott grew up devouring the entire Nancy Drew series and then graduated to Victoria Holt, Agatha Christie, Barbara Erskine, Lynn Kurland, and Michael Crichton, to name a few of her favorite authors. When it came time for post-secondary education, journalism seemed like the logical choice as she had written for as long as she could remember. Soon after graduation, while working for a small publication, she discovered that reporting wasn’t what fueled her writing passions. As someone with an additionally strong background in professional theatre who had the love of storytelling and captivating and holding an audience, her fiction-writing career began to take center stage.
Lauren’s imagination is boundless. All her books, whether they explore different aspects of the paranormal with a dab of romance or fantasy or a suspense-filled cozy murder mystery, never fails to take her readers on a fun page-turning adventure.
Author’s Website: https://laurenelliottauthor.com/novels.html
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53440624-a-page-marked-for-murder
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/laurenelliottauthor