Ellie Alexander is a gem of a writer! Her cozy mysteries are not to be missed and this book was an absolute delight!

The first book in the Secret Bookcase mystery series begins with Annie regretting the death of a close friend just before their graduation. Set in Northern California, the story is easy to read and has many British literary references, which appealed. The small-town community has a believable dynamic, and the themes of friendship, mystery, and romance are all in evidence. The murder mystery reminds Annie of the death that haunts her. There are many suspects and false leads. I enjoyed the characters, the setting, and the well-thought-out mystery.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Thank you for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Ellie Alexander’s The Body in the Bookstore via NetGalley.

Book is about Annie Murray, a bookseller in a small town. The setting in a bookstore reminds me of when I was a kid, enjoying going to the library and volunteering every summer. While reading all the mysteries and thrillers I could find.

In a big fan of Ellie’s books and certainly enjoyed reading this one! It has a bit of a cliffhanger at the end, but the mystery of “who done it” gets resolved and luckily I was able to read the second book in this new series right away.

If you are a fan of Ellie’s work, I definitely recommend you read this new series.

The Body in the Bookstore & A Murder at the Movies by Ellie Alexander (ARC review)- both released on 19th June. @ellie_alexander @netgalley

To say I was pleasantly surprised by these two books would be an understatement. Even though I lean more towards the darker murder mysteries I thoroughly enjoyed both of these books and felt compelled to follow the story to the end.

These two books make up volumes 1 & 2 in a new series "A Secret Bookcase Mystery" by Ellie Alexander and if you enjoy cozy murder mysteries then these books will scratch an itch.

The series follows Annie Murray, a former criminology student now working in a bookstore, as she investigates two cases in Redwood Grove. Fortunately, Annie is a warm protagonist and the people she interacts with are equally as easy to like. While both books are whodunnits there is a strong emphasis on relationships with the side characters featuring heavily.

The mysteries are well written with plenty of intrigue and suspects to keep the momentum up. There is one overarching mystery storyline that will probably make up the backbone for the series but I'm not sure how long that can be drawn out for.

Both books fall to the usual cozy murder mysteries contrivances you come to expect (an amateur sleuth invited into the investigations because of historical ties, overactive imaginations, etc) but none are so great that they cannot be overlooked.

These books are homages to the murder mystery genre and accomplish that task admirably. The inspiration of Agatha Christie is worn on the sleeve and these books are fitting tributes. The mystery genre is continuously alluded to via Easter eggs and direct references. These books truly are love letters to the mystery genre.

If you enjoyed the Saturday afternoon murder mysteries, in particular Murder She Wrote, then you will enjoy these books. I haven't read any other Ellie Alexander books so I cannot attest to differences or similarities to her other books but these two books are worth reading.

Finally, there are some T-Shirts that many readers would love to have (e.g. "I closed my book to be here" and "Punctuation Saves Lives. Let's Eat Kids. Let's Eat, Kids).

The Body in the Bookstore by Cozy author Ellie Alexander is one of those books that begs to be devoured in one sitting. I started reading at midnight and finished at 2:30 am. It was so good I wanted it to never end, but couldn't wait to see whodunnit.

Previous Criminology major turned bookseller Annie Murphy dreams up the idea of a Mystery themed Festival in her new hometown of Redwood Grove, CA to try and boost sales at The Secret Bookcase bookstore. The whole town is enthusiastic about the influx of tourists and cash, but unexpectedly, several of Annie’s college acquaintances end up in town and one of them is murdered. With the help of her friends, and her former professor turned detective, Annie is on the case to discover who the killer is and save the Festival weekend.

There is also a mystery across the series that Annie is trying to solve - the murder of her best friend just days before their college graduation.

I want to live in charming Redwood Grove, and work at The Secret Bookcase mystery bookstore. The bookstore sounds like the most fantastic place - housed in an old English manor type house, with rooms themed after Agatha Christie, there’s even a secret room hidden behind a bookcase!

The amateur sleuth majored in criminology in college, and it makes me wish I could go back (way too many years ago!) to my college days and change my major to the same. Although my English degree is as ingrained in me as my love of all things books.

Cozies are my favorite genre to read, and this series debut encompasses everything I love about the genre: Small towns, close-knit communities, themed storyline, BFF, cats, etc. I found myself thinking about this exciting first book in the Secret Bookcase Mystery series long after I’d finished reading it, which is a sure sign that this will be a hit series.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for letting me read this fabulous book. I’m thrilled to share my honest opinion of this series-starter.

This book didn't grab my attention as much as I'd hoped it would. I think because I totally disliked the victim I didn't really care what happened to them. Other readers will probably love it but just not for me.

Bookseller Annie Murray is thrilled when the mystery-themed book festival she sets up to revive the dwindling fortunes of her workplace and sanctuary seems poised for success. But events take a shocking turn when a body is discovered hidden behind the shelves, and it’s revealed that the victim is Annie's old college acquaintance.

Determined to ensure the festival’s success and save the small town of Redwood Grove from a killer, Annie begins piecing together clues with the help of her friends. But as the list of suspects grows longer – a local boutique-owner, an envious old classmate, a bitter ex-boyfriend – Annie is drawn deeper into the case.

With the aid of her old criminology professor-turned-detective, can Annie unmask the murderer before they turn her festival into a real-life whodunit.

I love Alexander’s Bakeshop and Sloane Krause mysteries, so I was excited for a new series! For me, cozy mysteries are built on likable characters (especially the side characters/ friends that help the sleuth) and an intriguing/ inviting environment, and this series has both in spades. Annie is very likable (and way more qualified than your average cozy sleuth!) but also intriguing with her backstory being teased out slowly (which reminds me of Sloane in Alexander’s other series), and her friends are delightful. I love how supportive Pri is, and the bookstore cast are great. I also want to visit the bookstore in the giant house with rooms themed for different authors— heaven! I already have book 2 queued up and am anticipating book 3 later this year!

This is the first book of a new series for Ellie Alexander. I'm a fan of her other series so I was very pleased to have an opportunity to read this book. It introduces us to Annie Murray, Fletcher, Hal, Pri, Liam and the community of Redwood Grove, This cozy mystery centers around a bookstore and the adventure begins when Annie comes up with the idea to hold a weekend mystery festival. Hal is the owner of the local, independent book store and Annie and Fletcher both work there. They need something to help make sure the bookstore stays open and Hal can continue to own the store they all love. With this mystery festival and the cooperation of most everyone in the small community, they come up with a charming plan for a weekend of sleuthing for avid mystery readers. Unfortunately, a real murder occurs during the weekend and Annie, who holds a criminology degree, ends up trying to solve the mysterious crime with her old professor, now a detective on the Redwood Grove PD, Dr. Caldwell. There are several possible suspects from a couple of locals to a couple old college alumni. The occurrence of the murder and the descriptions of the people are very well done and I really enjoyed reading the story. My only criticism regarding this story was during the finding of the murderer. I felt short-changed in the clues as to whom it was but I did like the conclusion quite a bit. Look forward to the next book from this author.

Great first book for Ellie Alexander’s new cozy mystery series. The Body in the Bookstore introduces us to the adorable town of Redwood Groove where bookseller Annie Murray sets up the first annual mystery-themed book festival and everything is going great until a body is found behind the secret bookcase. What’s even more bizarre is that several festivals attendees are old college classmates of Annie and the lead detective was her favorite college professor. With Annie’s past meeting her present, an old grief becomes more prominent as we slowly learn more about Annie and the citizens of Redwood Groove.

I’m immediately starting the second book, A Murder at the Movies, because I want to know what the detective shared with Annie and see Liam get under her skin more.



Thank you @ellie_alexander @netgalley and publishers for this eARC in exchange for my honest feedback.

Thank you to Storm Publishing for allowing me to read an advanced copy of Ellie Alexander’s The Body in the Bookstore via NetGalley.

The Body in the Bookstore is about Annie Murray, a bookseller at a small, struggling bookshop in her town. She has an idea to bring more revenue to the store and town and it also brings some trouble.

I am a fan of Ellie’s other series and this one was on par for me. I felt like it had a slightly darker vibe to it and I really enjoyed that aspect. Some points in the book felt like it got too busy and didn’t wrap up entirely, but it also didn’t ruin anything for me, either..

The first installment of the series left me with questions and suspicions that I hope will be addressed in future books!

🖤BOOK REVIEW🖤
📚The Body in the Bookstore by Ellie Alexander
⭐️⭐️⭐️

The start of a cozy mystery series that introduces fun characters who love a “who dunnit” as much as we, the reader, do!

This series main setting is a mystery bookstore — perfect for dropping nods to Peroit, Holmes and Marple, to name a few!

As a series starter, this book subtlety weaves in larger story arcs and relationships that will continue as we read along!

Ellie Alexander's new cozy mystery series is set in the town of Redwood, CA and the main character works in the Secret Staircase Bookstore. In 'The Body in the Bookstore' Annie Murray is traumatized by the murder of her college friend as they studied Criminology. As a twist her Criminology Professor, Dr. Caldwell is now a Detective in Redwood. The book surrounds the death of a former college acquaintance of Annie's in the bookstore. There are numerous suspects, and an interesting conclusion. The next in the series is out and I look forward to reading it.

Thanks to Netgalley & the publisher for the opportunity to read & review this title. I was excited to see that one of my favorite authors was starting a new series combining two of my favorite things, a bookstore & cozy mysteries. Annie Murray works at the Secret Staircase Bookshop in Redwood Grove, CA. She loves her job but continues to grieve the murder of her best friend in the final days of their criminology program. Annie comes up with the idea of a Mystery Book Festival to help revive the bookstore & the town. All is going swimmingly until a body is discovered in the secret staircase in the bookshop. The victim happens to be a college acquaintance of Annie's. Annie is drawn into the investigation by her curiosity, her connection to the victim, her determination to make the festival a success, and her connection to the lead investigator.

What a fun book! I want the Secret Staircase to be real & located near me. I enjoyed the mystery and learning about the people in Annie's life. I love her bestie, Pri, and her coworker, Fletcher. I love the feel of this book. There's a good bit of backstory & set up in this, the first novel in the series, and it helps to understand Annie and her motivations, actions. I'm really looking forward to more in this series. Bonus is that book 2, Murder at the Movies is also released the same day.

The book is well-written, engaging, has excellent pacing and left me wanting more from these characters.!

3.5 stars
One Liner: Decent series starter

Annie Murray has made the Secret Bookcase her home for the last eight years. Located in a small town in Northern California, the independent bookstore is struggling to attract enough customers. A chance comment sparks an idea in Annie’s mind. She plans an elaborate Mystery Festival weekend to bring people to her town. This is supposed to help every small business in the town.
The event starts on a high but Annie is shocked to find a dead body hidden behind the bookshelves in the Secret Bookcase bookstore. Annie knows the victim too! When her professor in criminology arrives as the detective on the case, Annie becomes a part of the investigation. She is back doing what she does best. But can Annie find the killer before it is too late?
The story comes in Annie’s first-person POV.

My Thoughts:
A new cozy mystery series for me to try!
The opening is quite a hook. It starts with the overarching mystery and provides us an insight into the main character’s past. Her being a student of criminology certainly helps the arc.
There is some repetition, but it helps understand how much the past weighs on the MC’s mind and how it changed her life drastically.
The setting is beautiful. I love how cozy small towns are (at least in books). The descriptions of the bookstore make me want to go there. Such a lovely place!
The side characters like Priya, Fletcher, and Hal are also well-etched. Though we don’t get a lot of information about them, there’s enough to imagine their roles in the story. Dr. Caldwell is also likely to be a recurring character. She could be interesting.
The list of suspects is decent, making it an engaging read to guess who the killer could be. I did guess who it was but not the reason. It makes sense, though I wish we had more detail about the relevant events.
The investigation could have been stronger. It’s mostly done through conversations where people reveal details without persuasion. Though it makes a little sense given how everyone in the town has a good opinion of Annie, it doesn’t really show us her skills as a criminology student. Mentioning spreadsheets is not enough. She needs to do more brain work. Since this is the first book in the series, I have hopes for some improvements.
There’s a possibility of a love track with a guy. I know it is bound to happen. Just not sure if the transition will be seamless based on how things are now. I hope it works out well. Let’s see. As long as we don’t have any triangles to make it even more messy!

To summarize, The Body in the Bookstore is a decent start to a new cozy mystery series. While it is not great, it has the potential to become better. I have a copy of book #2, so reading it right away.
Thank you, NetGalley and Storm Publishing, for eARC. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.

I really enjoyed this book a lot! I never could quite narrow down the suspect until it was revealed in the story. Really good book. Cannot wait to read the next book in the series. I’m excited to see what Annie finds out about Scarlet. If anything happens with Annie and Liam and if she does another book event for the town.

Cute Cozy mystery and it was entertaining, however, I am not interested in reading sequel. Very scripted and formulaic. Didn’t land with my reading tastes

Annie is the social media manager for a struggling bookstore when she has the brilliant idea to have their small town in Northern California host a mystery bookfest. She bands together with the other small business owners in town to schedule author talks, a pub crawl, themed food, an interactive mystery and more than entices hundreds of mystery reads to the region. But when the interactive mystery gets a little too real, and a dead body is discovered, Annie helps look into things. A criminology major, who turned her love of solving mysteries to the fictional ones after her college BFF, Scarlet, was murdered, she puts her old skills to good use to help catch a killer.

Ellie Alexander is a cozy mystery icon, so I'm willing to try whatever series she puts out--and I love that this one is available on KU. The continued emphasis on Scarlet's death was perhaps a bit dark for a cozy, but it did provide an interesting backstory for our main character that will surely provide a series arc. But more importantly, was the main mystery arc for this book--which I loved. There were so many suspects, with many of their stories woven together, and the ending was a true surprise to me. I'm definitely interested in trying the next book, which is actually already out, as well!

Thanks to Storm Publishing for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 8/10

Ellie Alexander is one of my favourite cozy mystery authors and I’m always eagerly awaiting her next book, so when she announced that she had a new mystery series coming out, I couldn’t wait to get more details! Can you imagine my excitement when she mentioned that the main character would be working at an Agatha Christie-themed bookstore (what a dream come true!)

Annie Murray is a wonderful protagonist – she’s a bookseller and event planner who loves mystery novels but she has a tragic past – her best friend, Scarlet, was murdered during the last days of college and Annie is still obsessed with finding Scarlet’s killer.

Now, her college is past is back to haunt her, as several of her college classmates are in town to attend the mystery festival. I loved meeting the people close to Annie, including her boss, Hal, her quirky co-worker Fletcher, and Annie’s best friend, barista Priya. We also get introduced to some of the other people who call Redwood Grove home, including pub owner Liam, who I am DEFINITELY hoping is Annie’s future love interest (although they have more of an antagonistic vibe at the start of this book.

The mystery itself was quite interesting. The victim was not a nice person and it was easy to understand why there were so many suspects. All their motives were believable and there were enough twists to keep me guessing until nearly the end. The story was very evenly paced and I honestly had a hard time putting this book down until the end.

Being a student of criminology meant that Annie had a solid grounding in police procedures, and she is allowed a lot of access to the investigation since the lead detective is her old college professor. I know every cozy mystery has to have a reason why the main character is barging in on the policework, but this time it actually feels plausible (plus, I’m not really a fan of the grumpy police vs the amateur sleuth who solves everything on their own stories).

My goodness – an Agatha Christie-themed bookstore (that has a Secret Bookcase – get it?), a flawed, but smart main character, solid friends, an interesting potential love interest, a detective who seems keen to have Annie involved, a mystery book festival… this series has definitely hit every checkbox for me!

*** Thank you to the publisher, Storm Publishing, for providing me with an e-copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.

This is the debut book in the charming new cozy series '"The Secret Bookcase Mystery Series" by cozy mystery author Ellie Alexander. A 5 star read ! The second book is released as well and is " A Murder At The Movies.". The author has gifted her readers with a wonderful new series that captured me from beginning to end. This is a exciting mystery you will not put down until conclusion. I loved the characters, the charming small town and the sleuth. Both books are a 5 star read. Thank you to the author for releasing both books in the series on the same day !

We are introduced to a savvy smart protagnist Annie who lives in a fictional small town of Redwood Grove, She works in a failing bookstore named The Secret Bookcase. Hal is the owner and not sure he can keep the bookstore open when Annie has a wonderful idea to hold a town wide "mystery festival". The festival is a success drawing mystery readers in to follow clues at various businessess to try to solve mysteries. The turn out is unexpected and the bookstore's involvement is a huge success when a murder occurs. Annie has a criminalogy degree and her favorite professor is now the police detective in town and works with her on the case. They have a unsolved murder in common of Annie's best friend in college that haunts Annie as she still seeks closure in that case.

I loved the charming small town descriptions , the murder mystery festival and the characters. This was a engaging well crafted sleuth that kept me guessing to conclusion. I look forward to reading more of this successful series. Well done to the author. ,
Thank you to Net Galley, the publisher and the author for the opportunity for review. My review opinions are my own.

I am enjoying this series and can't wait for the next one. I want to know what happens. The mystery kept get guessing. I like the characters and setting.

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.