Book Review: Murder at the Bookstore by Sue Minix

She can write the perfect murder mystery… But can she solve one in real life? 

Meet Jen Dawson, mystery writer, coffee lover, and amateur detective? Crime writer Jen returns to her small hometown with a bestselling book behind her and a bad case of writer’s block. Finding sanctuary in the local bookstore, with an endless supply of coffee, Jen waits impatiently for inspiration to strike. But when the owner of the bookstore dies suddenly in mysterious circumstances, Jen has a real-life murder to solve.  

The stakes are suddenly higher when evidence places Jen at the scene of the crime and the reading of the will names her as the new owner of the bookstore … Can she crack the case and clear her name, before the killer strikes again?[summary via Publisher]

Readers, I have a new favourite bibliomystery series and it's dynamite! Murder at the Bookstore is the first in a new series by Sue Minix, and if this debut is anything to go by it's going to be fabulous!

Jen Dawson is a mystery writer with writer's block. She's trying to work on her second novel and it's just not forming. However, lucky [or maybe unlucky] for her there is about to be a major distraction in town. When the owner of the bookstore is killed in a not-really-a accident it looks like she's going to have put the pen down and solve a real life mystery!

I love, love bibliomyisteries. If they are set in a library, bookmobile or bookstore it's almost guaranteed that I'm going to like it. However, I loved this one! I was intrigued from the very first page. As always, I tried to solve the mystery alongside the sleuth, and I thought I had all the pieces in place... but I didn't! The final pieces of the denouement definitely surprised me, and the ending was fantastic!

If you're looking for a new bibliomystery, you just have to pick up Murder at the Bookstore! You won't be disappointed, and you'll be counting down the days until the next one! I know I am!

Book Review: Vinyl Resting Place by Olivia Blacke

When Juni Jessup and her sisters Tansy and Maggie put all their beans in one basket to open Sip & Spin Records, a record-slash-coffee shop in Cedar River, Texas, they knew there could be some scratches on the track, but no one was expecting to find a body deader than disco in the supply closet.

Family is everything to the Jessups, so when their uncle is arrested by Juni’s heartbreaking ex on suspicion of murder, the sisters don’t skip a beat putting Sip & Spin up for bail collateral. But their tune changes abruptly when Uncle Calvin disappears, leaving them in a grind. With their uncle’s freedom and the future of their small business on the line, it’s up to Juni and her sisters to get in the groove and figure out whodunit before the killer’s trail—and the coffee—goes cold.

Music and mocha seem like a blend that should be “Knockin' On Heaven's Door,” but caught up in a murder investigation with her family and their life savings on the line, Juni wonders if she might be on the "Highway to Hell" instead.[summary via Publisher]

Oh my! Oh my! Do you ever pick up a book and right from the first page it is instant love? That is how I felt when I read Vinyl Resting Place. I'm by no means a music aficionado. I listen to music, but would I know the difference between listing to a vinyl and listening on streaming? Nope! Did this stop me from loving every single page of this debut? Also no!

Right from the beginning I was hooked on the family dynamic between the three Jessup sisters, Juni, Tansy and Maggie. Together they are opening a vinyl shop and cafe in the exact location where their grandparents used to operate a record store. It is fate! Or it will be if they can solve the murder case that has literally landed in their laps!

With the backdrop of mouthwatering Texan food [where can I get some of the delicious barbecue?!] and delightful, puny names for drinks in their cafe, this was a most tantalizing mystery! With their Uncle Calvin's penchant for laying [just] on the wrong side of the law, the girls needs to put their heads together to solve the crime. Their dynamic is brilliant, and I liked how they had just enough differences to not always get along, but that they also had each others backs when it counted!

This was a first class debut! I'm still in bathing in that afterglow of reading a good mystery, and not quite ready to move on to another book yet. Surely a sign of a good read! The mystery is exciting, the sleuths are delightful and readers will be patiently waiting, wanting to visit Cedar River again. I know I sure can't wait!