ARC Review - Publish Date October 17, 2023
Author: Samara Yew
Series: Stand Alone
Category: Cozy Mystery
"I tried to convince myself I was being ridiculous, probably working myself up over nothing. It had to be a piece of garbage or driftwood or something. Ugh. It was a hand. I was going to be sick." - Scarlett
Fun, intriguing cozy murder mystery on the steps of the seashore. This book is a quick, easy read and review that had me picking up clues and trying to guess the end up until the last few chapters.
Scarlett was a super likable character, in over her head even before discovering a body on the beach. Having recently opened a bookstore without her ex-boyfriend who was supposed to help her manage it, her life was already complicated before being thrown in the middle of a murder case.
"Over the past few months since Connor had left, I'd quickly realized there was more to running a bookshop than simply being a huge bookworm." - Scarlett
Thankfully, Scarlett has perseverance and determination in spades as she tackles owning a popular small business and trying to solve a murder as the number one suspect. And it didn't hurt to have a kick-ass lawyer and roommate in her corner when things got serious.
"It wasn't long before I heard shouting down the hall. I recognized that voice. And Lucia was yelling in Spanish, meaning she was really mad. I almost felt sorry for the officers who had to deal with her right now. Almost." - Scarlett
The name of the store, Palm Trees and Page Turners was delightful, I would love for this store to be real! There was lots of humor, kooky side characters, and enough red herrings to make almost anyone Scarlett encountered a suspect. I loved the town of Oceanside and that small-town feeling of nosy neighbors being in everyone’s business. I can definitely see how this book set up the possibility of a series. Overall, a great cozy mystery read!
*I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the opportunity.
Tropes and Themes: Cozy Mystery, Bookstore.
Blurb
Southern California is where dreams come true—or so Scarlett Gardner thought. When she moved there and opened the Palm Trees and Page Turners bookshop, she thought her boyfriend and business partner would be part of the story. When he leaves her for a better job, Scarlett finds herself struggling to keep her new business afloat. That’s not the only thing she has to worry about—she discovers something underneath the pier by her bookshop that she didn’t outline for her life’s story: the dead body of a book-buying customer.
After Scarlett gives a statement to the police, she thinks her life can go back to business as usual. But when a lawyer, representing someone named Lorelai Knight, tells Scarlett that she now stands to inherit a small fortune, she’s left with more questions than answers. Before she can make sense of any of it, the police bring her in for questioning; the body she found was Lorelai Knight. And the evidence they have against Scarlett doesn’t look good. Business is booming as Scarlett returns to Palm Trees and Page Turners, but for all the wrong reasons – curious tourists don’t want books, they want a glimpse of the Bookshop Killer.
Who could really be behind all of this? And why frame Scarlett? To clear her name, she’s going to have get creative—and hope she can remain one page ahead of the killer.
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