Murder In The Bookshop by Anita Davison is a fabulous historical novel that entertained me from the start. It is part of A Miss Merrill & Aunt Violet Mystery series but can be read as a stand-alone.
The action is set in London in 1915. Britain is embroiled in World War I and the atmosphere of fear has been captured by the author. We witness the devastation of zeppelin raids. As life is hanging in the balance, we see hasty promises turning to regrets.
There is a search to uncover the truth, whilst simultaneously some are in a hurry to bury it. A character wishes to hide a murky past. There are no lengths to which one will not stoop.
Childhood friends have forged deep bonds as they look out for each other.
Some set out their plans as deception is the order of the day – for some there are ulterior motives. Others practice smoke and mirrors in order to protect.
All the characters were well drawn and likable. We see the role of women changing. With World War I came more opportunities. Lives that had fought to expand as suffragettes, opened up further as women stepped into roles vacated by men going to war.
Murder In The Bookshop is a cosy crime novel as amateur sleuthing works in tandem with the police to solve crimes. It was reminiscent of Miss Jane Marple but in an earlier age.
I loved the inclusion of Bartleby, the bookshop cat who was very much a character in his own right.
I think Murder In The Bookshop would make a marvellous early evening television drama. It is an extremely entertaining book that captured my attention from the start.
I received a free copy from Rachel’s Random Resources for a blog tour. A favourable review was not required. All opinions are my own.

Absolutely delightful! The characters were fresh and completely not of their “time”. Aunt Violet, the owner of the book shop, is a free thinking and independent woman. And Hannah, her niece, who runs the book shop is the central character who finds the murdered body of her best friend and a coded German message in the book shop. From there the hunt for the murderer, and the German spy begins. An interesting group of characters emerge, and the mystery unfolds with a surprise ending. I totally enjoyed this book and look forward to the next in the series.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Boldwood Books for an advance copy of Murder in the Bookshop. This is the first novel of the Miss Merrill and Aunt Violet Mysteries, set in London in 1915.

For a first book in a series, the book was pretty good. Both Hannah Merrill and her Aunt Violet are believers of suffrage, despite what Hannah’s parents wish for her. She’s moved to London to help her aunt run a bookshop she acquired instead of settling for marriage and babies like her sister. She had reluctantly agreed to marry her friend, Gerald, as he headed off to war, but was killed in battle, letting her off the hook, so-to-speak.

Unfortunately for Hannah, one morning she arrives at the store to find her best friend, Lily-Anne, stabbed to death, with Hannah’s own knife. Besides being terribly upset about her friend’s murder, she realizes she’s a prime suspect given the locale and murder weapon. So she decides to do some sleuthing of her own in order to find out her best friend’s killer.

There’s a cast of characters introduced in the book whom I’m sure will make future appearances in the books. Despite having been engaged to Gerald, it is really Darius to whom she pined for, but now he is engaged to an utterly loathsome uppity woman. One thing I did note, despite this being a Miss Merrill and Aunt Violet mystery is that Violet is absent for about the first half of the book. When she appears, the pages light up. She’s a great character, hanging out with the leading suffragists of the day, and helping her niece solve the mystery of Lily-Anne’s death, too.

I’ve read a lot of cozy mysteries set in the days leading up to the Great War, and the days after, but never smack dab in the middle of WWI. It makes for a unique setting, with the horrible women giving men and boys who stay home feathers to accuse them of being cowardly. In this book, it’s a 15-year-old boy who is big for his age who works at the bookstore who is targeted. There’s also a subplot about German spies, and of course, the awful air raids come into play in this book as they did in real life.

I look forward to future volumes of this series, and hopefully future volumes will have Hannah and Violet interacting even more. Highly recommend!

This was quite good, l so love a murder book, I found it quite enjoyable. I liked the feisty auntie, the references to the suffragettes and the history and glamour. I would like to read more and find out more about the characters so hope more are written. Thank you NetGalley for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was a cozy mystery set in London during the beginning of World War II. I'm a sucker for a good historical mystery. Hannah and her suffragette Aunt Violet work to figure out who murdered Hannah's best friend in their own book store. I was initially excited to have a feminist plot line where they break out of the confines of society to solve a mystery, but the end was a little disappointing as they don't solve the mystery but find out that the men did.

Overall, this book was engaging, and I loved the plot twist at the end!

Murder in the bookshop by Anita Davison.
Working in the dusty bookshop that her Aunt Violet mysteriously inherited, Hannah Merrill is accustomed to finding twists in every tale. But discovering her beloved best friend Lily-Anne – with a paperknife through her heart – in the middle of the bookshop, is not a plotline she saw coming.
I did like Hannah and Aunt Violet. Good story. 4*.

Someone's been given their last rites.... 1915, London: Working in the dusty bookshop that her Aunt Violet mysteriously inherited, Hannah Merrill is accustomed to finding twists in every tale. But discovering her best friend Lily-Anne with a paperknife through her heart - in the middle of the bookshop, is not a plotline she saw coming. The case is anything but textbook. With the discovery of a coded German message, and Hannah's instinct that Lily'-Anne's husband is keeping secrets, she is determined to get to the bottom of it. She can't do it alone though. To crack this case, Hannah will need to enlist the help of her outrageous, opinionated Aunt Violet.

Set in London, 1915, during WWI, this story is filled with twists, turns and red herrings. The pace is steady. The characters are well developed. The story covers family secrets, German spies, suffragettes and murder. While Hannah and her aunt decide to investigate the murder of Hannah's best friend Lily-Anne, Inspector Farrell is doing his own investigation. I liked Hannah and her aunt. All the characters have their own parts to play.

I would like to thank #NetGalley #BoldwoodBooks and the author #AnitsDavison for my ARC of #MurderInTheBookshop in exchange for an honest review.

I throughly enjoyed this WW1 era novel. The bookshop setting was a delight, as always, and the characters were bright and well-formed. I did find that the story ended very abruptly, but realize this is to be part of a series so will hope for some further resolution in the next book.

What makes this book unique among cozy mysteries?

Not much, but its combination of familiar elements makes it an appealing, if predictable, choice for mystery lovers. Set primarily in Covent Garden and along the Strand in WWI London, against the backdrop of air raids, German spies, the arts and literature world, class conflict, and gender expectations, this mystery is a Christie-esque who-done=it, complete with red herrings, multiple suspects, unexpected character identities, and a twist at the end. The formula works for a reason. It is comfort food for mystery lovers.

Characters are well-drawn if not completely unique. Would-be investigators, unmarried socialite Hannah and maiden Aunt Violet both rebel against social norms, their lifestyle choices raising the eyebrows of friends, family and strangers. When Hannah's best friend is murdered in her Aunt's bookshop that Hannah manages, earnest policemen question the motives of everyone: but can the police themselves be trusted? Add a diverse cast of characters ranging from servants to upper crust, and stir well into a plot that travels in several plausible directions until the crime is solved at the end, and you have a satisfying story that will leave you wanting more.

A mismanaged bookshop, bomb attacks, a potential spy ring and the murder of her best friend are the challenges facing Hannah Merrill in this cosy mystery set in WWI Britain. Add to that a touch of romance, barely-disguised jealousy within her social circle, and the shenanigans of her Aunt Violet - an ardent suffragette and frequent thorn in the side of the authorities – is it any wonder Hannah’s mother wants her to return to the safety of Surrey’s elite?

Well, that’s not going to happen.

After sacking the bookshop’s manager – Monty Carstairs – for mismanagement, Hannah determines to run it herself. She has far more in common with her aunt than her mother, and relishes the opportunity to be an independent woman in business. But Monty’s legacy (a series of postcards with secret messages in German indicating further attacks on the city), the subsequent discovery of her best friend, Lilly-Anne, murdered in the bookshop, stabbed with Hannah’s paper knife, and a series of strange visitors thwart her endeavours.

Inspector Farrell is called in to investigate the murder, and Hannah also shows him the postcards. Instinctively, she knows there is more to her friend’s death than meets the eye, and with the help of her wonderful aunt, she sets out to find the killer. But what of the spy ring? Could she be asking for more trouble? Is she in danger herself?

Murder in the Bookshop is a fun cosy mystery. There are plenty of red herrings, and the killer’s identity is kept secret until near the end. While that’s a good sign for a mystery novel, I felt the resolution itself was rushed and not as convincing as it could have been, and the spy plotline was a bit glitchy and lacked credibility. I loved Aunt Violet’s personality, and her incessant flirting with Farrell. Hannah is harder to like, as she keeps a lot of her emotions bottled up, especially when it comes to the romance that never was with the soon-to-be-married Darius. That said, the twist in the tale infers there may be a happy ending after all. I’ll be looking out for the next in the series to see how things develop.

As usual in my reviews, I will not rehash the plot...there are already some reviews like that out there if that's what you are looking for!

The first book in a new series, this novel is set in 1915 in London during WW1. This is an enjoyable "cozy" mystery with a bit more of an edge to it than I expected (this is a positive thing!).

I liked the main characters (Hannah and her Aunt Violet, Darius, Archer) who were very well written and well rounded, and there is a good cast of supporting characters each with their part to play in the mystery.

The action is set in various parts of London, including Covent Garden (an area I know well). There's an underlying tension throughout due to the threat of Zeppelin attacks. A dash or two of scandal, murder, espionage, and a touch of romance all adds to the atmosphere. The book ends on something of a cliffhanger, and leaves me looking forward to the next edition of the adventures of Hannah and her Aunt Violet!

My thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC. All opinions my own.

I would like to thank Netgalley and Boldwood Books for an advance copy of Murder in the Bookshop, the first novel to feature Hannah Merrill and her unconventional aunt, Violet Edwards, set in London in 1915.

Hannah has taken over the running of her aunt’s bookshop and she loves it, but is less enamoured when she finds her best friend, Lily-Anne Soames, stabbed to death in a reading armchair. With Inspector Farrell suspicious of her she decides to investigate herself after finding messages in German and Lily-Anne’s husband keeping secrets and where is the manager she sacked the day before.

I thoroughly enjoyed Murder in the Bookshop, which is a light read with a genuine mystery attached. I must admit that I never guessed the perpetrator or the motive, so it kept me turning the pages to find out more.

The novel is not laugh out loud funny like some in the genre, but it doesn’t take itself too seriously and gets it comedic element from the intrepid Aunt Violet, suffragette and woman of mystery, with Hannah playing the straight woman to back it up. I was very impressed by the historical detail and think that the author portrayed the era strongly with small incidents and lines showing the fear and worry and the horrors of war.

The plot rattles along at a fast clip with Hannah investigating various leads and having a few close shaves. After her fiancé died in the war she is ready to love again and has feelings for her childhood friend, Darius Clifford, who unfortunately is engaged to someone else. There is murder, secrets and a hint of romance making the novel an easy but compelling read. The pacing seems even and it is well written, so what’s not to like?

I’m not sure about Hannah, but I think she will grow on me. The novel is told from her point of view and she seems quite strait laced and sensible, unlike her more adventurous aunt. Having said that, she is ready to buck convention by leaving the family home and working and further shows her independent streak by investigating. She obviously has hidden depths that I hope will be explored in future episodes.

Murder in the Bookshop is a good read that I have no hesitation in recommending.

1915 Hannah Merrill arrived at her aunt's bookshop only to find the murdered body of her best friend, Lily-Anne Soames, stabbed. She and her aunt decide to investigate meanwhile Inspector Farrell has his own investigation going. Did Hannah real know Lily. I think Farrell would have been the more interesting character rather than focus on the somewhat immature and shallow Hannah who is obviously not as intelligent as she thinks. Maybe she will improve as the series develops.
An ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley for the electronic advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review of Murder in the Bookshop by Anita Davison.

An absolutely enjoyable cozy mystery read! Murder in the Bookshop follows Hannah as she traverses the hardships of a woman who wants to work in 1915 London while also, you know, solving the murder of her best friend. Filled with interesting and believable characters, this story immerses you in the time of war and women’s rights while feeling so lighthearted and entertained. I really enjoyed this book.

If you are looking for
An engaging mystery with a nice twist
Colorful, well rounded characters
Hints of intrigue and scandal
Budding romances and second chance romance
The need to light a candle and read while listening to a thunderstorm outside
Fast paced story telling coupled with small town charm

Then this book is a win for you! It left me wanting to read another installment so that I can watch the relationships grow and see how life will turn out for not only our main girl, Hannah, but also the other people in her life. Well done and well written. I finished with a smile on my face.

Miss Merrill and Aunt Violet mystery series first book “Murder in the bookshop” is the story of a women during WW1 in England. After her fiancé died during the war she decides to live with her aunt Violet and help her run her little bookshop in London. Everything was hopeful until Miss Merrill finds herself in the middle of a murder incident and in danger of being hurt while helping resolve the case.
This book is full of historical details about the city of London during the war and how everyone was affected by it. It also has humorous and romantic moments in the story which I’ve hoped to see through an epilogue or something like that. I understand the need to keep in suspense the reader but the unknown date of the following book left me somehow frustrated. I understand that the story will be continuing but I expected more gumption from Miss Merrill to not left things so unfinished with Darius. He's always the one to insinuate everything while she just thinks about it. I just wanted to shake her! That part sort of repeats itself though their story. Hopefully, next book that will change.

Set in 1915 London, this is the first book in a new cozy series. With Zeppelin's starting their bombing raids on London, the world seems mad indeed. When Hannah discovers bombs have fallen hear her Aunt Violet's bookshop, she rushes there to ensure all is well. While it is, the bookshop manager is a complete waste and she fires him even while figuring out how to tell Aunt Violet that she plans to run the shop. When Hannah returns the next morning, she discovers the lifeless body of her best friend, killed with Hannah's desk knife. There are several subplots, including drugs, spies, old friends/enemies and the ever-present WWI as a looming storm over everyone and everything.
Hannah has strong potential and this is a good first book. The secondary characters provide interest and support. There's a potential love interest that develops (or redevelops).

"1915, London: Working in the dusty bookshop that her Aunt Violet mysteriously inherited, Hannah Merrill is accustomed to finding twists in every tale. But discovering her beloved best friend Lily-Anne – with a paperknife through her heart – in the middle of the bookshop, is not a plotline she saw coming." Talking about the death and murder of her best friend is more than Hannah can take. The fact that she is a suspect doesn't help.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley. This in no way affects my opinion of this book.

This was another cozy mystery that takes place in WW1
Theres old London, books shop and a mystery to be solved
YES! Sign me up for this
I enjoyed the whole experience. It was entertaining and quick paced

What a delightfully fun read this was! Filled with German spies, suffragettes, bombings, nefarious employees, family secrets and a murder or two, well, what more can you want? I loved both Hannah and her Aunt Violet.

London 1915: War is raging in Europe while Zeppelin raids over London leave the city in tatters, much to the dismay of Hannah's mother who wishes her daughter would return to the safety of Surrey. On the morning after a raid, Hannah hurriedly heads to the bookshop her Aunt Violet owns in Covent Garden and is relieved to find it undamaged. Their apprentice Archie is instilled behind the counter but their manager is nowhere to be found. Hannah casts her eye over the bookshop and is horrified to see the state it is in. It seems manager Monty Carstairs has been somewhat lackadaisical in keeping shop. It seems he is never there and leaves the running of the shop to their apprentice.

Hannah begins the task of tidying up and comes across what appears to be a deck of cards but upon closer inspection reveals they are postcards of scantilly clad girls that Archie informs her Monty has been selling on the side. Stuffing them into her handbag when she hears the bell over the shop door ring out and turns to find their absentee manager. But it seems he is not stopping. He only wanted to make sure Archie was doing his job before he headed off to lunch. Hannah fires him on the spot and declares that she will manage the shop herself. Monty threatens that this won't be the last she hears from him. After he storms out, Hannah realises she neglected to ask for his keys back.

The next morning when she arrives bright and early to continue with the work she and Archie made a start on the day before, she is horrified to discover her best friend Lily-Anne in her reading nook...with a paper knife protruding from her chest. She has Archie run for a policeman, who calls for his superior Inspector Farrell, who then investigates the murder.

Despite knowing she is a suspect, Hannah wants to know who killed her friend and so she and Aunt Violet stealthily do their own sleuthing.

There is so much more to this cosy little fun read but I won't spoil it for you. Let's just say there are red herrings aplenty and a little bit of romance along the way. There are no sex scenes and this is just good clean fun, in the form of Agatha Christie. But with more witty humour added.

I will be interested to see where things head next for the sleuthing duo as well as with Darius. Overall, an entertaining fun read that whiled away a few hours I read in one sitting.

I would like to thank #AnitaDavison, #Netgalley, #BoldwoodBooks and #RachelsRandomResources for an ARC of #MurderInTheBookshop in exchange for an honest review.

This review appears on my blog at https://stinathebookaholic.blogspot.com/.

This author is new to me but the storyline sounded appealing, I was not disappointed. The main characters are aunt and niece, Violet and Hannah. Violet owns a bookshop which Hannah would like to manage, however the society of the early 20th century frowns on women in management positions.
Set at the beginning of the First War, the author combines a fairly well plotted whodunnit with the very real horror of war. I found it difficult to put this book down, it is well written and well paced. This is the first in a new series and look forward to more. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for the chance to read Murder in the Bookshop.