The murder of an acerbic reviewer. Bookseller and avid ready of mystery novels, Sam Wisemann decides to investigate as it is his best friend under suspicion.

The narrative is likeable enough, and the plot well constructed with enough twists and turns to keep you guessing to the end. It is a cozy-mystery not a psychological thriller.

This was the final in the series (the first being A Death at the University and the next being a Brush With Death), however there is enough background given that this can be read as a stand-alone mystery.

The Book Review of Death is the final book in The Bookshop Mysteries cozy crime series by Richard King. This has all the elements of a enjoyable cozy mystery. A very enjoyable read that has the right amount of suspects, clues and great characters.

Sam owns a bookstore with his friend Jennifer, but he seems to spend more of his time following his friend Gaston around, helping him to solve the most recent murders. I find it difficult to believe that any good homicide detective worth his salt would allow a bystander (friend or not) to accompany him on interviews and arrests. Sam seems to have carte blanche with this investigation, and for no particularly good reason. Frankly, I think Gaston is a pretty inept detective if he needs Sam's help. And Jennifer is a saint for putting up with her always absent "partner" in the bookstore. Thus, I found this book a bit too unbelievable. It also switched back and forth between Sam's first-person perspective and then a passive voice describing (usually) Gaston's activity when Sam wasn't around. That was a bit annoying, if not confusing. And, they always seem to be going to restaurants or bars to do their investigating. I was hoping to get more of the feel of Montreal from this book, but it really didn't do much in that department either. It was an interesting read, but quite predictable in outcome.

It's the third book of a trilogy called: The Bookshop Mysteries The Book Review of Death a classic murder mystery by Richard King published by Bonnier Zaffre and it's not just a book about some murders.

It's also a great book if you want to understand how it works the book industry from the inside and how can count a review of an influential reviewer.

In general publishing houses asks to be honest in our reviews, but what happen when a big reviewer for maybe just destroying a writer, or for being nasty try all his best to sink his latest book and its launch? We are not anymore in the field of: "I tell what I think, let's hope I won't be damaged by my ideas." We are in the field of being nasty for being nasty and for destroying other people's lives.

We don't speak of a common reviewer with a little audience and unable so to make a great difference but of someone able to make THAT difference, and so to change the opinion of a lot of people, masses, who, once out will go to a bookstore for buying or leave there that certain book because of the word written by a reviewer.

It can be a big problem.

Hate, is in general, a big problem because bring with it other problems, murders as well.

The story told in first person. The protagonist of this story owns the Dickens & Compagnie Bookstore in Montreal.

Being the third episode of the series, and I didn't read the previous books, the narrator tell to the new readers something of the past: at first in the first episode, accused of a murder and slowly when discovered the real killer, he became a friend with Gaston the local police man who follows the investigations.

Thanks to him he met also his companion Gisele, the sister of Gaston although at the moment their relationship is moody.

Dornal is the book reviewer. For certain reason he find joy and happiness destroying, being another maybe missing author, the career of who, for a reason or another arrived at the top.

That night, someone obviously tired of this behavior, kill him.

The body discovered only the day after and at first. The man strangled and left reversed on the laptop, at first supposed that he was sleeping.
Once discovered the truth, detective Gaston will return in the scene of the murder for sorting out this problem.

Many the people who could have wanted the departure of the man but the first suspected will be Ben.

I love this book because times are perfect. There is no rush, there are according to my point of view the times of a murder's investigation, not frenetic but precise and there is the element surprise.

Enjoy this book and enjoy what you can learn from it!

I thank NetGalley and Bonnier Zaffre for this book.

2.5 stars

This was an odd and implausible mystery. When a caustic book reviewer is murdered after a public confrontation with an author, Montreal police investigate. In a totally unbelievable scenario, main character and bookstore owner Sam Wiseman thrusts himself into the middle of the murder inquiry because he is acquainted with investigator in charge. The unlikelihood of a civilian being allowed to sit in on homicide suspect interrogations is a hurdle I could not overcome. Coupled with fairly wooden dialogue and a bit of awkwardness in the writing, I would have trouble recommending this one.

I was provided with an ARC of this novel in return for my honest review.

Book reviewers beware!

Elias Dornal is a journalist, albeit not a good one, who spends most of his time writing scathing and personally insulting reviews of books by writers he considers beneath him in the hierarchy of literature. However, he meets his match one night when he is murdered in the offices of the Montreal free weekly magazine ‘Reflection’. Add to this the fact that Reflection is publishing a set of anonymous articles outlining corruption in high places in local government and we have a recipe for murder and mayhem.

Dornal’s murder occurs hours after the launch of a book by the writer Ben Fairman in the ‘Dickens and Compagnie Bookstore’. The store is co-owned by Jennifer Riccofia and Sam Wiseman, the latter being a good friend of the author. Unfortunately, Dornal makes an appearance at the launch and is seen having heated words with Fairman regarding the proposed review Dornal is planning to write.

From here on in we observe Sam Wiseman playing the amateur detective, insinuating himself into the investigations being run by another of his friends, Detective Sergeant Gaston Lemieux, whose sister Giselle is having an on-off relationship with Ben, and trying to prove that Ben is innocent.

Whilst the story is a pleasant enough read – no real blood and guts or cursing – I do feel that in real life, no professional lawman would allow an outside amateur influence the amount of time and information that Ben is able to accrue.

Sméagol

Breakaway Reviewers received a copy of the book to review.

A book reviewer who is not well-liked by the local writing community is found strangled. The author of the latest book he panned is suspected. Sam, a bookstore owner and the narrator, and Gaston, a homicide detective investigate beginning with his workplace, where he was found.

Often, in reading mysteries, the fun is figuring out who did it. Here the murderer is pretty obvious, but that brings in another kind of fun: watching the evidence and case built.

As always in this series, the characters are great and the local color of Montreal is wonderful.

I love this series.

This book kept me reading well into the night. The storyline had many twists and turns and the character have personalities that you either like or not. I love the beginning of the book, it really got me hooked into the story.

3 Stars

A Montreal book reviewer and wannabe novelist is strangled at his desk. Since his reviews were often scathing and critical, the suspect list is long. However, an author becomes the primary suspect.

Enter Sam Wiseman, a friend of the accused murderer. He teams up with homicide detective Gaston Lemieux to prove his friend’s innocence.

There are many typos in this book. In fact it lost its way a few times. Overall, I would give the writing a C+ for effort. Perhaps the typos did the book in for me.

An okay book, but not so interesting that I would purchase it or read Richard King’s other novels.

I want to thank Netgalley and Bonnier Zaffre/Zaffre for forwarding to me a copy of this book for me to read.

This book had me struggling to finish. While the story was good, I found myself having to go back because I was a bit confused.
Although I read an ARC, the grammar was also a struggle. I don't mind an occasional error, but I found myself trying to make sense out of some of the sentences.

The concept of the story was good, a book reviewer who leaves scathing reviews winds up dead and a local author is the prime suspect.

I voluntarily read an ARC of this book provided by the publisher & NetGalley.

Cozy mysteries do not have profanity. This book should not be labelled a cozy.