Amazon.in:Customer reviews: The Bookshop Murder: An absolutely gripping cozy mystery (A Flora Steele Mystery Book 1)

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 30 July 2021

A cosy mystery by Merryn Allingham took me into the sleepy town of Abbeymead. Set in the 50s it was refreshing to see the story unfold by sheer human ingenuity n intelligence with not much involvement of gadgets etc.

Flora Steele is a bookshop owner and is surviving barely but when a young man's dead body is found in her shop one morning the negative reputation takes a hit on her business. She teams up with Jack Carrington, an author of mystery books to look for clues and solve the case to bring back the business to the shop.

It was an evenly paced story interspersed with the right amount of twists and turns and a great friendly chemistry between the protagonists. I loved the feel of the story. It truly is a mystery that you can snuggle up and read with not too much of action or anything extra.

If you live to read cozy mysteries with very sweet protagonist then this book is for you.

I thank Netgalley and Bookouture for providing me with an ARC and the opinions expressed are mine alone.

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Srivalli R

Engaging

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 1 August 2021

Set in the sleepy town of Abbeymead in 1955, Flora Steele, a young bookshop owner, is shocked when the reclusive crime writer Jack Carrington discovers a dead body in her old store. The police call it a natural death, but Flora is doubtful. When rumors spread about the bookshop being haunted, Flora starts to lose her business and savings.
Having no one to call her own after Aunt Violet’s death, Flora is determined to unearth the mystery behind the death. After all, how can a healthy young man die of a heart attack? Why was he in her bookshop, and when did he even enter?
Flora enlists Jack’s help to get to the bottom of the mystery, only to stumble upon more deaths in the process. Why are people related to the Priory dying, and why is the new owner not bothered about it?
The list of suspects keeps changing, and Flora is even determined than before. How can she let the killer get away? So what if the police are least interested?
The Bookshop Murder is the first book in the series and an engaging cozy mystery set in Sussex. Flora is a 25-year-old single woman, running her deceased aunt’s bookshop (now her own), All’s Well. She has a simple and routine life with the dreams of traveling the world to keep her company during the lonely days.
Jack is a recluse who had no choice but to step out to collect his books from All’s Well when the boy running errands falls sick. He discovers a dead body during his visit to the store, and there starts the story. Torn between writer’s block and the unexpected feeling to help Flora, Jack teams up with her to solve the mystery.
The book stays true to its genre and gives us an enjoyable mystery to solve. It’s neither complicated nor silly. Flora and Jack balance each other rather well. Neither of them is always right or wrong. They have their strengths and weak points.
As the first book in the series, the story gives us quite a bit of detail about the lead characters’ pasts. This adds to the character arc. The subsequent books are likely to have a budding romance between the leads, and yeah, I’m looking forward to it.
The case is solved in this book, and we have a definite ending. Picking it up as a standalone, and you’ll still enjoy it.
Overall, The Bookshop Murders is an engaging book with books, deaths, and amateur sleuths. Don’t expect much except for a nice little crime, and you’ll enjoy it more.
I received an ARC from NetGalley and Bookouture and am voluntarily leaving a review.

2 people found this helpful

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Bharath Ramakrishnan

Decent cozy read

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 15 December 2021

The story piqued my interest – a dead body found in a bookstore. I liked the characters and the descriptions of the village where it is set (Abbeymead), though the story had more potential.

The bookstore – All’s Well is owned by Flora Steele who inherited it from her diseased aunt. The dead man Kevin Anderson was discovered by a customer, writer Jack Carrington. Kevin was visiting from Australia and was staying at the Priory. On the face of it, the death seems the result of a heart attack but why would Kevin break into a bookstore of all places is a mystery.

The incident makes the financial situation of the bookstore worse, already being precarious. Flora seeks Jack’s help in finding out what could have led to this curious and tragic death. As they begin their enquiries, there is further tragedy in the village.

The suspense does hold went into the end sections. The amateur sleuthing engaged in by Flora and Jack lacks sophistication of articulation and style is more like a mystery novel for early teens. The story also had greater potential, though it is a nice (somewhat slow) read. Hopefully the next story in the series will be deeper.

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Aparna J

Brilliant

Reviewed in India 🇮🇳 on 20 November 2021

Verified Purchase

This is an amazing book. A fascinating cozy mystery set in 1955 in the quaint town of Abbeymead, Sussex, England. Wow. I could almost imagine the events in this book taking place in my mind's eyes.
Flora Steele owns the bookshop, 'All's well' bequeathed to her by her deceased Aunt Violet. She finishes delivering the books ordered by some customers and is about to enter her bookshop as she thinks about the yummy food given by Alice Jenner, a cook, in the Priory Hotel and also reminisces the time spent there when it's previous owner, the late Lord Edward Templeton was alive. She notices a handsome man wearing a Fedora who asks her for the books ordered by him. He introduces himself as Jack Carrington. She fetches his orders while he beckons her near one of her bookshelves where he discovers the dead body of a young man. Flora is shocked because her shop has been broken into and a guy is dead inside her shop.
The police dismiss the case citing heart attack as the cause of death. Nevertheless, Flora smells a foul play and gets Jack, who is a popular author of crime fiction, involved into the investigation to convince everyone that her shop is not tainted or spooked.
The Priory Hotel was inherited by Reggie Anderson, an Australian citizen and second cousin of Lord Templeton because he had no heir. He sold it to the current owner Vernon Elliott. His son, Kevin Anderson, is the deceased found at Flora's shop.
Flora is stumped because of the break in by Kevin. She learns that he was celebrating his birthday and ordered cake from Kate Mitchell, Cyril Knight's daughter and Bernard Mitchell's wife. Cyril Knight was the former Gardner at The Priory Hotel. She suspects Cyril of killing Kevin and getting Bernie arrested but Cyril ends up dead in a similar fashion. His death is also exactly similar to that of Kevin and Bernie vanishes mysteriously with just his clothes recovered from the beach. Is he alive or dead? Kevin was also seen prowling around the library before his death. Both Flora and Jack are baffled because no trace of poison was discovered on both the corpses. Who is the murderer? There is also a mysterious attack on Jack and Flora with an arrow shot from a crossbow. Who wants to get rid of Flora and Jack? Why did Kevin enter Flora's shop before his death? Highly recommended for reading. Deserves more than five stars. Awesome. I can't stop raving about this book. The story gets super exciting with plenty of twists.

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Amazon Customer

The Mystery in Books

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 24 March 2023

Verified Purchase

A sleepy Sussex village recovering from the war. Nothing very exciting, then the body of a healthy fit young man is found in the local bookshop, dead from heart problems. Then another death what is happening? Flora is curious.

Lexa L.

Absolutely gripping!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 1 March 2023

Verified Purchase

(Yes, I know I’m repeating the blurb, but there are a lot of ‘cozy’ books with this description that fall far short of the mark!) Death of a long-haired young man in a bookshop of a presumed heart attack doesn’t sound promising - but leads to a fascinating mystery, set in the 50s - *not* in the Golden Age. Set in a small village - not London. With a romance - but not between a feisty female setting up a detective agency and a policeman - between a young lady struggling to run a bookshop and a reclusive author. When you realise how original it is, it is also well-written, with characters you care about and a thrilling and chilling denouement *and* a happy ending, with more to come - read it!

S. Bodle

Easy read murder mystery

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 13 March 2023

Verified Purchase

This was the first book iveread by this author.
It was a very good read sometimes I guessed where the story was going but I still enjoyed it.
No unnecessary swearing or sex and no blood and guts that put me off this sort of book.
Download the next two.

Amy Clinton

Cosy little mystery, light read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on 5 March 2023

Verified Purchase

I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

jasmin d'été

too long and no real mystery

Reviewed in France 🇫🇷 on 21 March 2023

Verified Purchase

I was really bored when reading it and never saw a mystery because not many people were suspects .....

Kindle Customer

Flora finds a fella and a murderer.

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on 25 January 2023

Verified Purchase

After her beloved aunt's death, Flora finds herself stuck in a small village, struggling to make a living with her aunt's bookshop. When a suspicious death threatens to cut off business, she is determined to find the killer. Enter Jack, a reclusive writer, whom Flora enlists in her quest. It's the 50's when women were expected to be quiet and reserved. Luckily, Jack finds a feisty Flora and the mystery intriguing. They make a good pair.

One person found this helpful

5 star		49%
4 star		32%
3 star		14%
2 star		3%
1 star		2%

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