Just the cozy small town mystery I was looking for. The characters are interesting and likeable. (Most are likable anyway.) The setting is superb, with a really neat bookstore, an old school movie theater, a really cool coffee shop and a pub I'd like to frequent myself. The author does a great job making these places come alive with her in depth descriptions and attention to detail.

If you're looking for a cozy mystery with a tight knit community, an adorable town, some delectably described drinks and meals and a murder to be solved, then this book would suit you well.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Ellie Alexander for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for The A Murder at the Movies coming out June 19, 2024. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

This is a really fun series! I love cozy mysteries. Annie is a strong character who knows what she wants. I think it’s fun the two books in the series have been about different festivals. I love movies and it was great to have the plot center around Hollywood and film in the small town. I thought the mystery was very cozy and I’m definitely interested in continuing this series. I’m excited for the third book!

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys small town cozy mysteries featuring a strong heroine!

Book 2 of the Secret Bookcase Mystery series has bookseller Annie Murray helping put on a film premier in her small town of Redwood Grove. Of course, it’s a thriller, and it brings with it the worst of Los Angeles’ film society. An obnoxious critic, an actress with a past, the hyper director and her nemesis, and the guy with the money. Which one will end up dead?
Great development of the characters and their relationships, both friendships and looming romance, and possible career development for Annie! I also like that there was possible travel coming up for Annie and her bookshop pals.
Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this DRC.
#AMurderattheMovies #NetGalley

Thank you Ellie Alexander ( @ellie_alexander ), Storm Publishing ( @stormbooks_co ), and NetGalley ( @netgalley ) for allowing me to read A Murder at the Movies early (comes out June 19, 2024).

Ellie Alexander pulled a Taylor Swift on us. Not one, but two books from her new Secret Bookcase series drops on June 19. To read my review of the A Body in the Bookstore, visit https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6549249249

Bookseller Annie Murray is back fresh on the heels of her successful literary festival. Now she is helping a director premiere a movie, again with the help of her co-workers and friends in her small town of Redwood Grove.

The thriller becomes a chiller when someone is murdered during the movie! Annie is asked by her former criminology professor turned detective to assist with the case. Soon Annie learns things aren’t always what they appear with this group from Hollywood.

I could not put this book down!

#AMurderattheMovies #NetGalley #ElliieAlexander #StormPublishing

Another enjoyable installment in Redwood Grove. Annie and her friends and her old Criminology professor and her possible love interest are back in action and this time they are taking on the movies. Right from the start, the tension surrounding the movie premiere in Redwood Grove is sky high. Nearly everyone in attendance for the kickoff dinner has their own motive and that motive is not enjoying a movie. Again, our author takes us to a nearly idyllic sounding town where everyone is sure of their safety and their neighbors until they are not, until a killer walks among them.
Not only does the author do a nice job of providing plenty of red herrings as the victim was not a sympathetic character. The motives were plenty. As for the death itself, it was right out of a movie with a brilliant killer using multiple layers of subterfuge to throw suspicion elsewhere.
In addition to the murder, we see one or maybe two romances developing. It is obvious after the last book that one of those romances is going to be Liam and Annie. It is very slow burn because first they need to learn to see each other in a new light. I loved the ending where he made her soup and brought it to her making me wonder if the saying should be the way to a woman’s heart is through their stomach. The author’s approach the Annie and Liam’s relationship is refreshing, it is not instalove, instead they are slowing building a relationship while continuing to drive each other crazy. Somedays it could be moving toward love and other days solidly in the hate column but we all know what they say about love and hate.
Annie, a former, criminology student seems quite comfortable back in that world helping to solve crimes with her old professor. The problem is the bookstore and Hal and Fletcher have been part of her life and her journey for so long, it is hard to know which way she will choose to go in future books. Regardless of her decision, Hal, Fletcher, and the bookstore need to stay part of the story. Speaking of the story, we get another hint of the way it is going when Liam inadvertently finds a clue to Scarlet’s death. Will Annie get answers, will she pursue her dream and what will happen with Liam? The author has left us with a lot of questions for a series that I see having a lot of staying power. This book may have been a skosh long but overall, it was enjoyable and I hope for more to come from Annie and the bookstore team.
Thanks to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I am enjoying this series by Ellie Alexander. A sort of cosy thriller series with a few mentions of Agatha Christie along the way to hold this Christie fans attention. A film festival in a small town which as with the first book in the series an amazing success story following on from the success of the bookshop in the previous book. Quite a feel good book really. Thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

This is an engaging story, set in the small town of Redwood Grove in Northern California. Movie director Heather chose to have her mystery/thriller have its premiere there as a results of the publicity surrounding the Mystery Fest that Annie Murray had arranged in the previous novel in this series. As expected from the book’s title, someone was murdered at the premiere. The victim was Martin, a powerful movie reviewer, who was disliked by everyone involved with the movie. Heather was convinced that a bad review from Martin would doom her movie and her career. Martin made it clear that he hated the movie. With his death, there were plenty of suspects.

Annie and her criminologist friend Dr Caldwell teamed up to solve the mystery, with help from Liam, the handsome owner of the local bar. The story moved along well and kept me guessing. I did find it a bit off-putting that everyone from Southern California, Los Angeles, and the movie industry were portrayed as being vacuous and power-hungry. Aside from that I found the story enjoyable.

A Murder At The Movies is the second installment of Ellie Alexander's new series, A Secret Bookcase Mystery, and it's the perfect cozy mystery!

Since hosting an epic mystery fest, Annie Murray's small, quaint town of Redwood Grove has been receiving a lot of publicity. When an independent filmmaker from L.A. reaches out to Annie asking if she can help her, Annie can not refuse. She agrees to help plan a mystery film weekend in Redwood Grove and host the premiere of the filmmaker's newest movie, Midnight Alibi. During the premiere, however, something unexpected happens. Infamous film critic, Martin Parker, plunges from the balcony to his death. Annie is now working alongside her former criminology professor turned detective, Dr. Caldwell to find out who murdered Martin Parker.

I love this series so much! I love how the author seems to make the murder victims characters with the most unlikable traits (in both this book and the first book). It keeps us wondering and trying to piece together clues as to who committed the murder. I love the romantic tension between Annie and Liam - they're definitely enemy to lovers! I was so consumed by this murder mystery that it wasn't until close to the end that I wondered about Scarlet, Annie's best friend who was murdered. I went into this book hoping to find out what happened to her (given how the first book ended), however, the story was so good I can't be disappointed for not finding out. And then the ending brings us right back to Scarlet, and now I am on the edge of my seat all over again! I am so ready for book #3!

Thank you NetGalley, Storm Publishing, and Ellie Alexander for another wonderful ARC!

"A Murder at the Movies (A Secret Bookcase Mystery #2) by Ellie Alexander sees us picking up a few months after the first book and when Annie is helping run a city wide movie premiere for a Indy developed Horror Film. Then the horror turns to real horror when a very self entitled movie critic falls from the theatre balcony during a particularly ironic scene.

I have to say that I found the turmoil Annie seems to feel over Liam quite annoying. It was a constant dialogue of her confusion over his actions and her feelings. I get it, that can be confusing but does EVERY interaction with him have to be half inner dialogue about that confusion?

The mystery was interesting. It had me bouncing back and forth on suspects for a good part of it. However, my niggling feeling about a particular character turned out to be accurate.

Annie Murray receives a all at the Bookshop from a Hollywood film director who say the reviews online of the successful mystery book festival she helped organize and wants Annie to help organize a film premier for her new film. Annie is glad to do something else to help her small town. What she doesn't realize is the attitudes that come with the array of people from Hollywood that will come to the premier. Before too long it's apparent that not everyone involved in the film gets along and one of the most hated people winds up dead. There is no shortage of suspects and soon Annie is assisting the police again, but this time she has help from someone she considers a frenemy, Liam, the owner of the bar Stag Head.

Wow, Ms. Alexander is on a roll with her new series, two books being released at the same time, both quite wonderful. I already reviewed The Body in the Bookstore, which I really enjoyed. This book adds to our knowledge of the delightful characters, charming setting, and the why of Annie's determination to find justice. Fresh off her success at setting up the Mystery Fest that benefited The Secret Bookcase and the small northern California town that is home, Annie gets a call asking her to help stage a movie premiere in town. When there is a murder at the premiere, after a very awkward dinner at the Stag Head the night before, can Annie, her colleagues and friends help the police figure out who had the most to gain from the movie critic's death? Also, we get another enticing bit of information in the background case of Annie's college friend death. Thanks to #NetGalley and #StormPublishing for the opportunity to discover this new series! #AMurderattheMovies, #EllieAlexander, #bookreview, #bookideas, #retiredreader

Film festivals are the beside especially if there's a mystery. This was a really good cozy read it almost reminded me of clue

I love this series, Annie Murray has let the Hollywood people into the small town of Redwood Grove for a premier of a mystery movie Midnight Alibi. Heather , who wrote the movie was impressed with town where Annie and the town has their first Murder Festival. So it begins as Annie , who works at the Mystery bookshop the other merchants prepare for this event. So the day arrives starting with the guests enjoying dinner at the Stag Head, owned by Liam.. Annie is observant of the people and some of the conversations. Heather is obsessed with Martin, who reviews the movies, supposedly he has written a bad review when he saw it the first time. Sam, who funded the movie, Izzy who was a competitor of Heather, Cora the main star and Rufus the keeper of Vintage Hitchcock movies. The next day at the Premier, Martin fell from the upper deck seating. In comes Dr. Caldwell and the solving of the murder begins.

This is the second book in the series following the exploits of Annie Murray. The setting is a charming Agatha Christie inspired mystery bookstore in an out of the way small town in north California. Following the success of the book festival, Hollywood film director, Heather Hathaway, persuades Annie to organise the premier of her new film, Midnight Alibi. An acclaimed film critic, Martin Parker, arrives for the premiere and tensions run high with Heather wishing him dead. Martin is murdered and other suspects are identified.

The bookshop, townscape and central characters are nicely developed and the growing relationship between Annie and Liam is a nice touch. The plot is well paced and the list of suspects, each with a strong motive, quickly grows. The is an intriguing subplot in the series relating to the murder 10 years earlier of Annie’s best friend, Scarlet. Each book sees Annie make small advances in her investigations of what is now a cold case and an unexpected find hints of further intrigue to come. Overall an enjoyable cosy mystery, in a delightful setting with some good plot twists.

This series just gives me a Sweet Magnolias' feel with murder mystery infused in it.

Coming right out of the first book, I immediately took up the second one. An obnoxious movie critic is killed on the day of a movie premiere and everyone becomes a suspect. Annie once again delves into trying to solve the murder by speaking to all persons of interest.

We get to see a lot of Liam here as where their love hate relationship makes progress. I honestly found the slow romance refreshing and that it doesn't take centre stage. This book was much better than the previous one in terms of keeping you hooked. I do hope though that the Scarlet angle is solved quickly as no one likes to read a long drawn out murder. I am eagerly waiting for the next one. This book is also making small town living seem the right way.

PS: At 96%, there is a name switch. It should be Martin instead of the culprit.

I thank NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the E-Arc and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A Murder at the Movies is the 2nd book in the A Secret Bookcase Mystery series. Our protagonist Annie, former Criminology student and current bookstore employee, finds herself in the midst of another mystery. In this second installment our murder happens in the middle of a movie premiere, and it seems impossible that our victim was killed in the midst of a full theater.
I am really enjoying this cozy mystery series. It is the perfect amount of cozy but still enough high stakes and suspense to keep me interested. Annie, Hal, Fletcher, Pri and Liam are all becoming more interesting as we learn more about them and their dynamics with one another. I am looking forward to continuing this series.

Thanks to Storm Publishing for supplying this free copy for my honest review.

I enjoy Ellie Alexander’s books even if they are all the same trope over and over again. They are just good zoning out east reads everytime.

This was really good and a very solid installment in this new series by Ellie Alexander, whom I absolutely love.

The Secret Bookcase is hosting a movie festival when a famous film critic ends up dead and Annie investigates.

This has a lot of lovely touches - a lot of Hitchcock talk, but also Agatha Christie (as per) and one of the secondary characters is queer and has a few dates, which is always so nice to see. Annie also has an unexpected crush in this book which I didn't see coming but which will be very nice to explore. I thought the first book was a lot cosier with absolutely gorgeous details about the bookshop and Hal, the Luddite who owns the shop, but this was good read and I'm so excited about the third book!

My endlesst thanks to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for this ARC.

A Murder at the Movies is a great cosy mystery read.

Annie is hosting Redwood Groves first film festival and the town is buzzing with excitement.
With the stars in town there is drama and murder.
Dr Caldwell investigates with help from Annie to try and identify the killer.

I really enjoyed this cosy mystery and look forward to the next book.
Annie’s adventures are sure to become a favourite for cosy mystery enthusiasts.

Thank you Ellie Alexander, Storm Publishing and NetGalley for this ARC!

Annie returns for her next crime solving adventures. This time it involves movie people.
The book follows on from the first, but you do not have to have read book one to enjoy this book or follow Annie's story.
A nice easy enjoyabe read.