by P.J. Nelson
Publisher: Minotaur Books
Pub Date: December 10, 2024
Genre: Adult, Mystery, Thriller
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Book Links: Goodreads Amazon
Madeline Brimley left small town Georgia many years ago to go to college and pursue her dreams on the stage. Her dramatic escapades are many but success has eluded her, leaving her at loose ends. But then she gets word that not only has her beloved, eccentric Aunt Rose passed, but she's left Madeline her equally eccentric bookstore housed in an old Victorian mansion in the small college town of Enigma. But when she arrives in her beat-up Fiat to claim The Old Juniper Bookstore, and restart her life, Madeline is faced with unexpected challenges. The gazebo in the back yard is set ablaze and a late night caller threatens to burn the whole store down if she doesn't leave immediately.
But Madeline Brimley, not one to be intimidated, ignores the threats and soldiers on. Until there's another fire and a murder in the store itself. Now with a cloud of suspicion falling over her, it's up to Madeline to untangle the skein of secrets and find the killer before she herself is the next victim.
I ended up leaving this book as a DNF about 10 chapters in. I even tried to skip ahead a few chapters to see if could grab me and just couldn't. I really wanted to love this book, but unfortunately for me it was not only too slow, but kind of boring.
I just could not get pulled into the book. It came off more juvenile than adult, especially in the beginning. The characters were kind of boring, especially the main character just coming off with no care for anything. Barely seemed to care about her aunt's death, the inheritance and even the fire and threatening phone calls. Lack of detail in parts and overall just wasn't for me.
My Rating:
✪
