A cosy mystery thriller with a lot more fun and frivolity than suspense. An easy read but I won't be reading any further books by this author. An okay read but not for me.

Following Hannah Merrill’s life as the proprietress of a bookstore and niece to the brilliantly eccentric Aunt Violet, Anita Davidson brings readers into World War I London with a new mystery and a murder to solve -- the murder of Hannah’s friend Lily-Anne in Hannah’s own bookstore! Davidson’s characters are the star of this novel, remarkable for any book but especially so for the first novel in the series. Hannah, Violet, and the rest of Davidson’s cast of characters are dynamic, lively, and come with fully established backstories -- some happy, some tragic, some yet unknown. Hannah’s bookstore, of course, plays a major role in the story as a powerful setting and a secondary character, and it adds to the “cozy mystery” atmosphere of the novel. With a premise and mystery that sounds like it came from a game of Clue -- Lily-Anne, with the knife, in the bookstore -- Davidson’s actual plot and mystery tie Hannah and Violet to the world around them which continues to grow more dangerous as World War I rages across the continent. The first novel in the Miss Merrill and Aunt Violet series, Murder in the Bookshop is a fantastic start to this new series.

I loved this delightful new cozy mystery featuring a young society girl and her suffragette aunt. It is set in London during September, 1915. Hannah Merrill is delighted to be running her aunt’s bookshop. Aunt Violet always seems to have lots more to do than help Hannah in the bookshop.

We are introduced to Archie, who works as a stock boy in the bookshop. Monty Carstairs, Darius Clifford, and Lily-Anne Soames are all friends from Hannah’s past. Anita Davison does a fantastic job of giving us great descriptions of the different characters in the book. In addition, the author educates us about World War I London without being pretentious.

The mystery commences when Hannah is shocked to find her best friend, Lily-Anne, dead in the bookshop one morning as she arrives for work. Hannah feels compelled to find the killer because she does not quite trust the police to not pin the murder on her.

I received this Advanced Reader’s Copy from Boldwood Books. It is an excellent entry in the historical mystery category. I gave it 5 stars. I look forward to more in this series.

Murder in the Bookshop was a delightful read!

I enjoyed the characters in this book, even the ones I truly disliked. All were well written and the wrap up/twist was unexpected! My only slight dislike was a little romantic item near the end of the book. As is such with Historical mysteries.

I was excited about this cosy mystery immediately when I saw the title – and what a fabulous setting for a murder Aunt Violet's dusty bookshop is!

Returning from a brief summer visit at her well-off parents in the countryside, Hannah Merrill is happy to be back at her Aunt Violet's where she's been staying. With her fiancé killed in the war, her parents and elder married sister want her home, as it's unseemly for young ladies to live by themselves. So Violet's place offers Hannah a safe, independent place, though her aunt's outspoken Suffragette views are not universally liked.

Visiting Violet's bookshop which she's started to manage with the help of family friend, Monty (for it must be a man who is in charge!), she realises that Monty had let the place slip in. Books in array, dust everywhere, and mice crawling over the shelves. Then she discovers a set of saucy image cards – with a dark secret hidden inside one card. A message in German!

Irritated, she sacks Monty on the spot and thinks nothing more of it. But when she returns the next morning, she finds her best friend Lily-Anne dead in the locked bookshop. Lily-Anne had been looking for her, but why come to the shop after hours when she must've known Hannah was on her way home?

When dashing Inspector Farrell makes it sound like she is a suspect, and Lily-Anne's husband accused her, Hannah decides she must do her own digging to exonerate herself and find out what really happened to Lily-Anne. But she doesn't expect the surprises she uncovers in her best friend's life...

When she finds herself under attack in the bookshop, and she knows time is of the essence. Unbeknown to the inspector, Hannah and Aunt Violet begin to look into Lily-Anne's past – something that has a profound effect on those Hannah has considered friends.

Murder in the Bookshop is a fabulous whodunit. Clever, fast-paced, and with plenty of suspects. Hannah is a very likeable heroine, and Aunt Violet is simply adorable. Outspoken, direct, unfazed.

Hannah's friends are also an interesting bunch, and as her suspicions grow, she's in for a surprise. Their circle is typical upper class of the time, with the matching views. Hannah's and Violet's own views reflect a changing society that struggles to accommodate women in independent positions.

I thoroughly enjoyed Murder in the Bookshop, reading well into the early morning hours. It pulls you into the intricate plot and doesn't let you go. If I could have read it in one sitting, I would have done. A brilliant plot with some clever twists!

I think I've found a new favourite series. I can't wait for the next instalment. Highly recommended!

A good first installment of a new mystery series, set in London during WWI. Hannah is working in her Aunt Violet’s bookstore, rejecting the usual lifestyle for a woman in her social class. When her best friend Lily Anne is found dead in the shop, suspects include Hannah and her Circle of friends. Add in German spies, bombs dropping and love interests for both Hannah and Aunt Violet, and the result is a really good mystery. Recommended, and looking forward to the next one on the series. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I love cozy mysteries but this is my first one from Davison. I liked the plot and Davison's writing style. Hannah is a strong woman, willing to operate her aunt's bookstore at a time when women were not thought capable of doing so. Hannah's aunt Violet is a kick. I like her attitude. She was part of the suffragette movement so Hannah had a good role model. Working together, they make good amateur sleuths.

The historical setting of early WWI is done well and I like the character development. I think Hannah has great potential and I'll be looking for the next in the series.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent and honest review.

Murder in the Bookshop is set in London, 1915 and features two very feisty, independent women, Hannah Merrill and her aunt Violet. The bookshop setting is portrayed so vividly you can almost smell the polished wooden shelves and woody leather book covers.

I found the characters likeable and fascinating. It’s good to see strong women featured in war time Britain. When a friend is found dead inside the bookshop, the women are determined to find out what happened. The plot moves along steadily with plenty of drama and red herrings along the way. Secondary characters are also portrayed vividly and their is humour provided through an obnoxious and outspoken housemaid.

A light, enjoyable read , well written and nicely paced.

After her fiancé dies in the war, Hannah moves to a house in London, much to the consternation of her wealthy parents. It’s 1915, and unmarried women don’t live by themselves. To limit her family’s complaints, Hannah’s flirty, suffragette Aunt Violet moves in with her. This only somewhat mitigates the problem, as there are concerns about Violet’s suffragette activities and her relationship with a female friend.

Violet owns a bookshop, and Hanna works there, or more accurately, is thwarted at every turn by Monty Carstairs, the store manager, who refuses to listen to any ideas Hannah puts forth to promote customer interest and sales.

When Hannah finds erotic postcards in Monty’s desk, she finally has the ammunition she needs to fire him, and become manager. Archie, the boy who has apprenticed at the shop, is happy Monty is gone, and Archie helps Hannah clean and reconfigure the shop.

The next day, coming in early, she finds her good friend Lily-Anne murdered, and this impels Hannah to find out who killed her friend because she feels the stern police inspector Farrell isn’t doing enough.

This sets off a chain of actions that result in Hannah finding out upsetting things about
-Lily-Anne
-Hannah’s deceased fiancé
-Monty
-how easily opiates can be procured and how prevalent drug addiction is, and
-Someone of her acquaintance possibly committing treason for the Germans.

I liked the premise of this, but kept finding myself irritated with Hannah, who keeps evidence to herself, and generally stumbles and bumbles her way around, then gets annoyed when she discovers Farrell is often ahead of her, and that he and her interesting aunt are getting involved. Hannah also pines after a friend who is engaged to another woman. I found him irritating also despite the author wanting readers to love him.

I would actually read more if Violet and Farrell’s roles were increased and Darius, Hannah’s love, were written out.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Boldwood Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.

I enjoyed this cozy mystery set during WW1. The characters were interesting, especially Hannah who was taking on the role of bookshop manager during a time when it was still considered correct for women to be home with looking after their family and home. I enjoyed the mystery, and there were enough red herrings sprinkled in to make the ending a bit of a surprise. I hope that there will be more in this series and look forward to reading them.

I received an advanced copy of this book free from the publisher through NetGalley, all opinions are my own.

This is the first book in the Miss Merrill and Aunt Violet mysteries series and I’m already a convert. More, please!

It is a cozy mystery set in London during World War I. Not only that, it is a murder mystery set in a bookshop (yes, a bookshop… I know you’ll understand my enthusiasm!). And there’s more: our unofficial sleuths are two feisty women, one of whom is a suffragette.

If all of this hasn’t made you run to the nearest bookshop, I will also add that I don’t remember a cozy mystery that has made me laugh so much. Hannah, aka Miss Merrill, and her aunt Violet are funny, sassy, independent and smart women, and I wouldn’t want to be on their bad books!

I loved other minor characters too, such as Archie, Inspector Farrell and Bartleby the cat. The novel also feels well-researched and I thoroughly enjoyed the details that made the historical setting all the more realistic, like the appearance of a ‘white feather girl’ and the mention of real historical figures such as Mrs Pankhurst, Flora Murray and Louisa Garrett Anderson.

A gem of a book, whichever way you look at it!

I love a good historical mystery with interesting characters, particularly feisty women - and Aunt Violet falls into the feisty camp all right… this is a new series/author to me, but I’ll definitely be looking out for future books to continue it, as it had a good plot, characters and potential romances. Would recommend to anyone who likes TE Kinsey, Michelle Salter, Carola Dunn, etc.

I received a free ARC copy of this via NetGalley and the publishers in return for an unbiased review.

A WW1 murder story, what more can you say. Read it, enjoy it and find our "who dun'it" A 5 star novel.

Thanks to Netgalley and publisher for this ARC

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me access to this arc.

4 stars / 5 stars

Things I loved:
love that it was set in 1915
absolutely love the characters
was on my toes the whole time trying to workout who the killer was
cozy mystery
Things I didn’t love:
a bit of a slow pace

This book gives me Stephanie Plum vibes just ina different time period. Quirky supporting characters with an independent and determined female lead. Definitely more fun than suspenseful. A few chapters dragged on for me and though some dialogue might have been able to be deleted which lowered my rating. Not what I was expecting when I opened it up but definitely not bad.

Hannah epitomises women during WWI and the 1920s; she refuses to conform to society's expectations and earns a living in her aunt's bookshop. A suspect in her best friend's murder, acting as an amateur sleuth, is the best way to clear her name and find the culprit. I like the cast of characters in this cosy mystery, the evocative historical detail and the balance of danger and humour. It is written with lots of sensory imagery, making the characters, their antics, and the settings easy to visualise. It's an enjoyable read with humour, mystery and romance.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Hannah Merrill hails from a privileged background, the sort where people inherit property and don’t need to work for a living. This however doesn’t mean she’s adverse to a bit of hard graft, and when she discovers the friend of the family lazy manager of her Aunt Violet’s bookshop in Covent Garden selling dodgy postcards and doing little to earn his salary, she wastes no time in giving him his marching orders and taking over the role. Together with the very likeable young assistant Archie, she determines to get the business back on track but opening up the next morning discovers her best friend Lily-Anne stabbed to death. What’s worse is that the murder weapon belongs to Hannah and she quickly falls under suspicion when the rather dishy Inspector Farrell starts to investigate. Hannah and Aunt Violet decide to make inquiries of their own, if only to clear their names, and soon discover a German spy, a husband acting strangely and a man on the run amongst their suspects.
Set against the backdrop of the war in 1915, with the very real fears of invasion and bombings, the characters are beautifully drawn, especially the wonderfully bold and rather scandalous suffragette Violet who carries a few secrets of her own and who I immediately loved. This is a great start to a new cosy crime series and I am looking forward to seeing what happens next to the amateur sleuths and their friends. 4.5*

Hannah Merrill is a thoroughly modern young woman, and is prepared to forge her own way in the London of 1915. Rather than rely on her father to support her until marriage, she gets a job in her unconventional Aunt Violet’s bookshop. When her best friend, Lily-Anne is murdered in the shop, Hannah sees it as her duty to her friend to find the killer. With Aunt Violet’s help she begins to uncover secrets and lies - and in doing so puts herself in danger. Can she find the killer before it’s too late? Or will she become another victim?

I loved this story for its historical detail and the writer’s ability to draw me into an addictive and fascinating story. I could almost smell the soot and picture the thronging streets of London. 

I admired Hannah. She was strong and determined and prepared to take risks to solve the mystery of Lily-Anne’s death. When confronted with the possibility of German spies and dastardly doings, she was unafraid. Determined to prove she was not naive and unworldly, she wouldn’t rest until the killer was found. 

The time period was wonderfully described. The Women’s Rights movement may have been paused for the duration of the First World War, but their hopes and aspirations were building nonetheless . Hannah was a part of that - as was Aunt Violet, who had some secrets of her own. 

An enjoyable mystery, with an admirable and strong lead character.

This is the first in a new historical cozy series and I think there's a lot of potential as the characters and the setting are interesting.
I wasn't a fan of the mystery as it started strong but it became a bit too confusing after the first half.
I want to read the next book as I think it will be an entertaining series
Many thanks to the publisher for this ARC, all opinions are mine

Hannah’s aunt owns a bookshop that Hannah works at. The day after she fires the worthless manager and decides to run the bookshop herself, she finds her best friend murdered in the bookshop. Hannah is as determined as the police to find the killer. What she finds are secrets, twists and disappointment, but what about the killer?

I liked the author’s character development, and I felt sorry for Hannah. She learned how clueless she was in so many areas of her life. Hannah’s aunt is a character all her own!

The ending would be okay for a standalone book, but I’m glad to see that this the first in a series, and I’m looking forward to the next one.