The cover of Book 2 in A Secret Bookcase Mystery grabbed me, as did the gripping story in which the store sponsors a movie festival inspired by Hitchcock. Murder ensues with intriguing twists and turns and you have one fine mystery. More, please!

Guess who's back, back again? Annie's back, tell a friend.

Wow, just wow. Ellie Alexander is proof that a series can only get better with tim, which is hard to imagine considering the wonderful first outing in The Secret Bookcase Mystery series.

Join Annie and her delightful cast of friends as she finds herself embroiled in the drama of a Hollywood movie premiere, but all in her small town of Redwood Grove. The overarching mystery leaves us with another cliffhanger that has me eagerly awaiting the third instalment in the series.

It was great to see the development of Pri and Liam, even finding out who the mysterious Double Americano is to top it all off.

Any reader will find it hard to put down this enchanting mystery, filled with as many delights as the eponymous Secret Bookcase Store itself.

Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the absolute pleasure of reading this book for free in exchange for my honest review.

A Murder at the Movies (A Secret Bookcase.Mystery) is the 2nd book in the series and both books are really good. The characters are likable and interesting and the cozy mystery kept me guessing. Annie Murray works for the Secret Bookcase Bookstore along with her boss Hal and coworker Fletcher. A movie premier is happening in town and the bookstore is involved with the events and the visiting stars. One of the movie people ends up dead and the suspects include this people there for the movie premier. There is chemistry between Annie and Liam Donovan and their relationship is slowly moving forward. Their relationship adds some humor and warmth to the story. There are several things going on that kept the story intriguing. An interesting part to the story is that Annie graduated from college with a Criminology degree and her professor is now the Detective in town. Annie gets inside info on the case and the suspects along with discussing the course of action. It makes the series informative and unique. This was an enjoyable cozy mystery! #AMurderAtTheMovies #ASecretBookcaseMystery #NetGalley #StormPublishing

When a Hollywood director wants to debut her film in the quiet town of Redwood Grove, Annie Murray jumps in to make it happen. When the film critic that everyone despises turns up dead, Annie helps her former teacher solve the crime. I really like that Annie has a background in criminology; makes total sense that she would have the skills to solve murders.
Very excited that I got to read the second book in the series right after the first one!

The first two books coming out on the same day for a new series! What more could an Ellie Alexander fan want? This one & its predecessor The Body in the Bookstore both come out on June 18th.

And as though the setting of a bookstore wasn’t ideal enough, the second book adds in mystery movies & a film festival. I loved it! I think I enjoyed this one even more than the first. The suspects & murder itself were really intricate. You get actors, producers, directors & film reviewers, all you could want. Also in this one we get the presence of Annie’s former criminology professor who wants her assistance & for her to quit the bookshop and work for her. I really enjoyed that the protagonist has a past with actual crime solving techniques, mixing that in with the cozy book store she works at, makes a perfectly balanced heroine.

I can’t wait for more! Since Alexander is the author that first got me into cozy mysteries, consider me a life long fan.

📽️

Read if you like:

* Bake Shop series by Ellie Alexander
* Witch Way Librarian series by Angela M. Sanders
* Cozy Capers series by Maddie Day

Annie, Fletcher, Hal and Liam strive to put on the perfect movie festival in Redwood Grove, California at the Secret Bookcase, the Stag Head and the downtown theatre but they are stymied when a major film critic Martin Parker is murdered during the world premiere of Heather Hathaway’s movie Midnight Alibi.

So starts A Murder at the Movies, the second book of Ellie Alexander’s new series that began with A Body in the Bookcase.

Annie, who majored in criminology at college, is again asked to assist in the investigation by the lead detective, Dr. Caldwell, who was her college professor.

The rest of the book is the solving of the murder and the various twists and turns through the strange characters that are the producer Sam, the actress Cora, Heather, the film’s director, and a local who owned some prized reels of Hitchcock films, possibly putting Annie in danger.

Who is the killer? Read this fascinating book to find out!

Good premise but poorly executed. The writing is like a child’s with over usage of adjectives, adverbs and lengthy irrelevant descriptions. I love and have read every Agatha Christie book and I’m sure Ellie Alexander would like to be associated with that esteemed author, but sadly she misses by a country mile. It’s 5 hours of my life I can never get back.

After her unexpected success with Redwood Grove’s first mystery festival, Annie Murray is planning on a few quiet months selling books before her Halloween celebration planning begins. However, when a Hollywood producer asks you to arrange her new movie's opening night it would be churlish to refuse especially as an excited Annie knows it will encourage more visitors to The Secret Bookcase store.

The visiting movie people aren't quite what she expected and from the start the atmosphere is fraught with a tension which makes it seem as if a shouting match is only ever a misplaced word away. When disaster strikes Annie knows she's going to have to step up and help the local police chief with the investigation. The victim, unfortunately, had more enemies than friends and everywhere she and her friends turn they discover more people with revenge in mind. They need to solve the case if the festival and the town’s reputation are to be saved but this isn't the movies and sometimes the good guys might lose!

The second story in the Secret Bookcase Mystery Series is released in tandem with book one and it's great to be able to just carry on reading. Ms Alexander must have known some seriously disagreeable people in her life as she once again has written disturbingly spiteful and vindictive antagonists for Annie and her friends to lock horns with! The five main protagonists are already familiar, relatable, and likeable characters I look forward to reading about again in the near future. Redwood Grove is a great fictional backdrop but I would love there to be a map I could peruse.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Storm Publishing, but the opinions expressed are my own. I thoroughly enjoyed this and happily recommend it.

Annie is asked to set up a movie premiere in Redwood Grove. I might be the suspicious type but I wondered if it was a set up for the movie people to get away with murder in a small town. But surely that isn’t what was intended. Heather, the director, wanted a unique setting for her thriller movie.
Redwood Grove does seem the perfect place to visit. The peacefulness was juxtaposed with the frantic energy of the movie people.
Then someone does die, and the reader has a hard time finding sympathy due to how he used his influence in negative ways.
Murder at the Movies is absorbing and the reader will want to follow the clues to a successful end.
I enjoyed visiting Redwood Grove and getting further acquainted with Annie, Priya, Hal, Fletcher and Liam.
Thanks to Netgalley and Storm Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.

A charming cozy mystery series. A hint of romance. Many suspects. Small town vibe. Continuing back story mystery. I look forward to reading the next one. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary.

Everything I loved about the first book is still true in this installment. The characters, plot, and setting interested me and made me want to keep turning the pages until the killer was revealed. I liked Liam, Annie's love interest, much more in this book than in the previous one. He seems to have done a 180 and hopefully soon he will explain to Annie what his problem was. The movie stuff was a great addition and I had quite a bit of fun while reading. Plenty of twists turns, and red herrings kept me guessing who the killer was until it was revealed! I will keep up on this series, and I can't wait to see what kind of mischief Annie will end up in the middle of next!

Second book in the series, With the success, although a murder happened, of the Mystery Weekend, the small town decides to sponsor a movie premier of a new indie movie. Think of an off-broadway play vs the main stage. Obviously there are many personalities that are clashing, and during the movie a body is thrown from the balcony. With lots of people having reasons to see the movie critic dead, there are many choices of who was the murderer. Liked this one, and enjoyed following the clues. Would highly recommend.

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!