Author: Lauren Elliott
Genre: Mystery
Mass Market Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781496735133
Kensington Publishing
320 Pages
$8.99; $6.99 Amazon
April 26, 2022
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Addie leaves her Greyborne Harbor bookstore, Beyond the Page Books and Curios, in the capable hands of her assistant while she travels to the neighboring town of Pen Hollow to attend a book sale at a library that is closing due to lack of funding. But the real find is a bookmobile bus, which she's excited to refit as a traveling bookstore to hit all the summer festivals. The bookmobile also holds a surprising treasure: several classic first editions and an early edition of Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses.
But before the bookmobile can be delivered to Addie, a fatal crash occurs. When an autopsy reveals poison in the victim's system and the first editions go missing, it's up to Addie to determine what would drive someone to murder. If she's not careful, however, she may be the next one to be dead on arrival...
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Addie Greyborne is the owner of Beyond the Page Books and Curios, and loves nothing more than to find a good book sale. When she and her assistant Paige decide to take a trip to the neighboring town of Pen Hollow, they leave behind a very pregnant, petulant, and weepy Serena, who wants to go with them. But, since it is nearing Addie's birthday, Paige has also decided to treat her to a night out, so they will be gone until the next day...or so they think...
While at the sale, Addie discovers an old school bus that has been converted to a bookmobile, and she's excited to find it's also for sale. Completing the sale with the local mayor, Luella, she's ready for it to be turned over. But Luella wants it public, complete with television airing and turning over the keys.
Addie is also surprised -- extremely -- to find her old high school boyfriend, Tony Radcliff, living in Pen Hollow. He disappeared without a trace, and now he wants to catch up and talk to her about their pasts and where it led them today. But she's also concerned about her growing relationship with Simon, the coroner, and thinks he's been distant. Addie wonders what's going on with him, too.
But before the bus can be delivered, there's an accident and the driver is dead. The local sheriff is sure the murderers are Addie and Paige; all because they're 'outsiders' and he's sure no one in his district could have committed the crime. When Addie discovers that both Simon and Chief Marc Chandler of Greyborne Harbor have arrived, she knows she's in trouble. With both men trying to clear her, she can't just sit back and wait. Now she and Paige are on the hunt for a killer, and it isn't making them very popular in town...
This is the eighth book in the series and my favorite one so far. (A series which I hope will continue for a long time yet). I have read every one of them and have followed the characters from their beginnings -- when I didn't care for Addie at all to now, when I do like her immensely. The characters have developed and evolved, and they feel like old friends at this point.
Therefore, when Addie gets in trouble through no fault of her own, it peeved me that the police force in this town were crazy. But, it makes for good reading, and that's definitely what this is. There were a couple of good people in town -- Paige's sister's neighbor Valerie, for one; but most were crazy themselves. Not a town I'd want to visit. However, I would love it if Addie made a trip to England (read the book and you will know why).
While her relationship with Simon is put on the back burner, Addie has to ask herself who wanted the victim dead the most -- because, as we already know, there will be a plethora of suspects on the horizon -- and trying to find answers isn't easy, at least not here. But when she starts digging around, she finds that the victim wasn't as upstanding as they seemed.
The story line is original, the writing descriptive (especially of Pen Hollow), and again, the characters engaging. Ms. Elliott has warmed to her persons; she gives them life beyond the page (see what I did there?) and it's heartwarming, suspenseful, and intriguing as you try to discover the killer along with Addie. When the ending comes, and justice is served, it's a strange thing all around, but quite satisfying to read. Highly recommended.
I received an advance copy from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Lauren Elliott's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/e/lauren-elliott/
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