Murder by the Book

A mystery, where our protagonist runs a bookstore and dealt with rare books in a previous career? I was hooked!

Murder by the Book is a cozy mystery that borders on romantic suspense to me. Addie Greyborne is new in town, having just inherited the estate of an aunt she didn't know she had. She's lost both her father and her fiance to mysterious deaths that were ultimately deemed accidental, and to make a fresh start, she's opening a used bookstore in Greyborne Harbor. She doesn't expect to make an enemy of a fellow shop owner in town, and she certainly doesn't expect to find herself at the center of a police investigation.

There's a LOT going on in this book. Addie's new store is broken into her first day there. Her home is also broken into more than once. Martha, another business owner, is trying to run her out of town, saying Addie was involved in criminal activity and has brought it to the town. Serena, Addie's new friend, finds herself a murder suspect, and Serena's brother Marc is trying to stay impartial on that front and investigate all of Addie's unfortunate events, too. It all got to be a little confusing at times. However, it is the first in a series, and I felt like a good bit of this might be necessary to lay the groundwork for future books.

The Marc/Addie relationship has potential, although it feels like he needs to commit to either wanting her help with an investigation or telling her to stay out of police business. He seemed to waffle back and forth between wanting her to help and telling her she needed to leave the scene now. A good defense attorney would have a field day with that if any of these cases ever went to trial.

I love the friendship between Addie and Serena. I also love that Addie has hired Paige, the daughter of her new nemesis, as her part-time help. I hope to see Paige develop more as a character. She seems to have some spunk to her, and I'm curious as to why she and her mother are on the outs.

I'm giving this 3.5 stars, rounded up to 4. I look forward to seeing how other books in the series develop.