small town vibes

Review: Slay Bells Ring (A Christmas Cozy Mystery #2) by Mona Marple

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Slay Bells RingSlay Bells Ring by Mona Marple
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Slay Bells Ring is the 2nd-installment in Mona Marple’s Christmas Cozy Mystery series. I finished the 1st-book, Christmas Corpse, yesterday and thought it was so cute and fun, I couldn’t wait to start this next installment.

I ended up reading this entire thing today. They are novellas, so that wasn’t a difficult feat, but nevertheless, I did and now feel like I’m in peak Christmas mode.

This series centers around Holly Wood ((yes, that is her real name)), who in the 1st-book is rescued from her car after an accident by a woman claiming to be Mrs. Claus. Holly is then brought to the Claus family home in the magical town of Candy Cane Hollow to recuperate.

Holly becomes enmeshed in the village life, even helping to solve the homicide of their doctor’s receptionist. She also has become quite enamored with Mrs. Claus’s son, Nick, and he seems to be with her in turn.

This installment is a New Year’s Eve mystery, but the Christmas vibes are still heavy throughout. It is Candy Cane Hollow after all, where every day feels like Christmas.

The entire town, including Holly and Nick, attend the annual New Year’s Eve Ball, where all is going well, until a giant glitter ball comes crashing down, crushing an elf, Greasy, a local restaurant owner and chef, to death.

Though the local authorities believe it was an accident, Holly’s not convinced. She decides to lean into her new-found sleuthing skills and see if she can find the truth of what happened to Greasy.

Just like the 1st-book, this was such a pleasant read. It’s simple in its construction, and the perfect read for the holiday season when my brain feels pulled in a million different directions.

There’s something so warm and comforting about these little mysteries. Holly’s life outside of Candy Cane Hollow wasn’t going well. She had just got done at her job, and she had no close relationships. She felt very alone.

In Candy Cane Hollow, she’s found a place to belong, with residents being welcoming and inclusive. It has a found family element that’s so charming.

I also am enjoying the slow romance evolving between Holly and Nick. It’s very charming and I’m looking forward to watching that progress.

I do have the 3rd-book in the series on audio, they’re currently being released on audio and the narration from Charlie Albers definitely fits Holly’s personality. I would recommend the audio if you can get them, but I’m sure the physical copies are just as fun.

Thank you to the publisher, Tantor Audio, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I am having so much fun with this series. It’s exactly what I needed right now!

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Review: Christmas Corpse (A Christmas Cozy Mystery #1) by Mona Marple

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Christmas Corpse (A Christmas Cozy Mystery #1)Christmas Corpse by Mona Marple
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The Cutest Cozy Christmas Mystery Novella!

Christmas Corpse was exactly what I needed to put me into the holiday spirit. This story follows Holly Wood ((yes, she knows her name is ridiculous)). After losing her job, Holly is driving home to her empty house for Christmas.

Along the way, she ends up in a spot of trouble and goes off the road. When she awakens in her freezing cold car hours later, it’s to a Good Samaritan coming to her rescue.

The Samaritan in question claims her name is Mrs. Claus, and she whisks Holly away to her home in the magical, seemingly secret, village of Candy Cane Hollow.

Holly is more than happy to recuperate at Mrs. Claus’s home, where she gets to know the jolly, kind-hearted woman, as well as her handsome son, Nick.

Shortly after Holly is coming to realize just how magical a place Candy Cane Hollow is, they receive word that the local doctor’s receptionist, Persephone, has been murdered, apparently poisoned by a mince pie.

Well, most unfortunately, Mrs. Claus happens to be the best mince pie baker in the village, and therefore becomes the prime suspect. Holly vows to stay on and clear Mrs. Claus’s name. After all, Mrs. Claus saved her from freezing to death in a snowbank, it’s the least she can do in return.

This is just the cutest story. It’s like a warm hug, with just a touch of murder. I won’t deny it’s a simple story, but it’s also funny, engaging, full of likable characters and cozy Christmas cheer.

If you’re like me, and your brain feels pulled in a million different directions this time of year, this could be the perfect holiday read for you. I know it certainly made me much more in the mood for the holidays than I was before.

I love how Holly gets pulled into this magical little village, seemingly hidden from the rest of the world, and becomes completely enmeshed in local life. The villagers were more than happy to take her in and treat her like one of their own.

This is the 1st-book in a Cozy Christmas Mystery series, and I already have the next 2-books on audio from the publisher. I’m so excited to keep going with the series.

I have no doubt that the further I go with it, the more attached I’m going to become to this cast of characters and the adorable setting. I would definitely recommend this to anyone looking for some Christmas Cozy vibes!

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Review: Bidding for Murder (Stamford Mysteries #3) by E.C. Bateman

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Bidding for Murder (The Stamford Mysteries 3)Bidding for Murder by E.C. Bateman
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Bidding for Murder is the 3rd-installment in E.C. Bateman’s Cozy Mystery series, The Stamford Mysteries.

If you’re unaware, this series follows Felicia Grant, a single-mom, who has returned to her home village of Stamford to help her Dad run their family-owned Auction House after her Dad’s health took a turn.

At this point, Felicia has been back in the village a while, and a lot has happened, including a few murders, which she’s become embroiled in solving.

Felicia’s ex, Dexter, the father to their son, Algernon, now 13-years old, has also returned to the village, so the family dynamics are chaotic and fun to follow. Add in her curmudgeon father, and you’re sure to be chuckling.

The mystery in this book kicks off when an old classmate of Felicia’s, Lucia, comes to town and asks Felicia to appraise some of her jewelry. The two meet up at the exclusive and mysterious Aquitaine Club, a private lodging and club in Stamford that regular residents really know nothing about.

Lucia, wife to a powerful politician, is staying there at the invitation of a friend, and Felicia is a bit overwhelmed and intrigued to even be invited in.

The meeting with Lucia is memorable indeed, and Felicia is drawn into the dramatic and secretive world of the Aquitaine. In fact, she’s invited back, along with her family, for their annual Halloween celebration the following day.

The evenings activities include a truly haunting Mummers performance, but everyone seems to be in good spirits. That is until the first body falls, followed quickly by another.

Before she knows it, Felicia is caught up in another investigation. Will she be able to weed out the killer lurking in the shadows before they successfully take another life?

There’s no doubt this is my favorite of the series thus far. A Murder Mystery set on Halloween night at a prestigious private club? Yes, please.

As a Spooky Season girlie through and through, I was loving the atmosphere Bateman was bringing to this story. It definitely had full-fledged Halloween vibes.

Additionally, I’m so attached to these characters now. As with many Cozy series, I feel like the further you go along, the more you feel like returning to the main characters is almost like going home. You get attached to their lives and whatever they have going on in it.

I found the mystery in this story so fun. I loved the locked room feel. Since it is set at the Aquitaine, and its being a private club, it is quite insular. The only people involved were those members staying there, as well as the employees, and Felicia and her family.

Over the course of the story, you learn a lot about the members and employees, and boy are they messy. There was so much going on amongst them, a lot of unlikable folks and certainly plenty of motives for any potential killers.

Pettifer and Jess are the police called to the scene, who we’ve come to know in previous books, and I loved having them back. I love how Pettifer and Felicia’s relationship has grown an developed across the books.

I really enjoyed trying to solve this one. There were so many clues, and I did have a lot of theories. It kept me hooked and therefore, up late into the night until I was able to finish. There’s no way I was sleeping on it.

I’m guessing from the final chapter and Epilogue that we’ll be getting another installment too, which I’m very happy about. I have no idea how long this series is slated to be, but I’m here for the long run.

I would definitely recommend this to Cozy Mystery fans, particularly if you enjoy charming village vibes and an amateur sleuth with a lot of pluck and a fun family dynamic.

Thank you to the publisher, One More Chapter, for providing me for a copy to read and review. I’m so excited for more Stamford Mysteries!

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Review: Murder on the Marlow Belle (The Marlow Murder Club #4) by Robert Thorogood

~ megs14malloy

Murder on the Marlow Belle (Marlow Murder Club, #4)Murder on the Marlow Belle by Robert Thorogood
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Murder on the Marlow Belle is the 4th-installment in the Marlow Murder Club series. I’ve had a lot of fun with the previous 3-books in this humorous Cozy Mystery series, so had been anxiously awaiting this latest.

This series follows Judith Potts, a widow in her 70s, and her two best friends, Suzie and Becks, as they tackle mysteries in their local Marlow community.

This mystery begins when Verity Beresford contacts Judith asking for help locating her missing husband, Oliver. Verity, like most residents of Marlow, is well aware of Judith’s superior sleuthing skills, and she believes Judith maybe able to help her find Oliver faster than anyone else.

Oliver’s only been missing overnight, but the circumstances are concerning. Oliver, the founder of the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society, had hired The Marlow Belle, a private pleasure cruiser, for a party cruise for his committee members, but no one remembers seeing him disembark.

Of course anytime someone goes missing upon the water, there’s cause for concern. In this case, it’s more than warranted, when shortly thereafter Oliver’s body is discovered, having washed ashore with two bullet wounds.

As it turns out, Oliver was a complicated man, with no shortage of enemies. Nevertheless, Judith and her friends are confident they can weed out the killer.

Unfortunately, the task proves more difficult than they’d hoped when they discover what a twisted web the Marlow Amateur Dramatic Society actually is.

Will the ladies be able to find Oliver’s murderer before they’ve flowed out of their grasp like the River Thames?

Overall, I thought this was a really fun installment to this Cozy series. I love books set at a theater, or involving a theater troupe, so this was perfect for me in that regard.

I’m fully attached to this charming cast of characters at this point, so find it hard to believe that I would dislike any of these books. Judith is plucky and resourceful.

I love that she’s found these two friends at this stage of her life, and though they’re all very different, they’re so supportive of one another. Squad goals!

I’m in for the long haul with this series. I have no clue how long it is slated to be, but I’ll be reading each and every one.

I would highly recommend this series to all Cozy Mystery fans, in particular if you enjoy friendship groups solving mysteries together, or elderly amateur sleuths. The small town vibes are on point as well.

Thank you to the publisher, Poisoned Pen Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I’m excited to solve more cases with Judith, Suzie and Becks.

The 5th-book in the series, The Mysterious Affair of Judith Potts, is set to release on January 15, 2026. I’ll be marking my calendar, and so should you!

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Review: 13 Months Haunted by Jimmy Juliano

~ megs14malloy

13 Months Haunted13 Months Haunted by Jimmy Juliano
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

13 Months Haunted follows Piper Lowery, a public librarian, who meets a strange young girl while volunteering at the local middle school.

The events of Piper’s tale take place in the 1990s, but the set-up of the story itself, is Piper actually relaying these events to an interested relative. I did think that was a fun and slightly-different way to present this story.

The young girl’s name is Avery and she is new to the school. She does have some odd behaviors, but the oddest thing about her is the fact that her mother attends school with her, sits in all Avery’s classes, and literally tails her daughter like a shadow, even to the restroom.

Piper begins hearing rumors about Avery and her Mom. They’re sort of the talk of the town. People say the Mom is a witch, that they fled their old town after Avery’s sister and father were killed by a supernatural force.

While Piper finds this a bit extreme, there is something off about the mother-daughter duo. Through multiple interactions, Piper ends up befriending them and the rest proceeds from there.

This book started off great. It captured my attention early and I loved the small town setting, and the fact that the main action takes place in the 1990s; definitely a nostalgic period for me.

I was about the same age as Piper was during this same time period, so I could relate to a lot of what she was experiencing starting out her life as a young adult. There’s also a lot of focus on the new, popular use of the internet.

For people who grew up using the internet from the time they were small children, let it be known, it was very different for those of us who never really had access, or even email, until around college-age. It was like a wild-west landscape. Unless you were in IT, you didn’t really know what was going on, or how it worked.

Piper has a blog and she shares a lot on it. It was really more of a diary for her and she does relate the odd goings-on after she meets Avery for the first time.

So, there are some fun details involving that whole aspect of her life as well, particularly after she starts getting comments on what she’s posting. It added a bit of a mixed media element, which I do tend to enjoy.

I loved the mystery surrounding Avery and her Mom as well. I really wanted to know the truth about them, and their past. Was something supernatural actually at play?

Even though the rumors circulating about them were fairly vicious, Piper comes to learn that there may have been some truth to them, but how much? She starts digging in with force, really out of an effort to try to help Avery, and I enjoyed those amateur sleuthing components.

Unfortunately for me, eventually the intrigue started to wear off. I’m not sure exactly why, but the plot just seemed to drag for me after about the halfway point.

I had theories, none of which I was particularly confident in, but it did start to seem repetitive and took me over 2-weeks to finish. I can’t explain why I felt this way about it.

I just think once the initial mystery of what was going on with Avery was out of the way, it sort of lost it’s main excitement factor. I did like the way it wrapped-up though. I felt the conclusion interesting to contemplate. There were some real repercussions there at the end.

Overall, I did find this to be an interesting and unique story. Although some of it did seem a little drawn out to me, I did love the ending and overriding premise. Additionally, the mysterious elements were solid, as were the details of Piper’s amateur investigation.

Thank you to the publisher, Dutton, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Juliano is very talented. I love his concepts and will continue picking up his work for a long time to come!

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Review: No Rest for the Wicked by Rachel Louise Adams

~ megs14malloy

No Rest for the Wicked: A NovelNo Rest for the Wicked: A Novel by Rachel Louise Adams
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Almost 20-years ago, Dolores Hawthorne fled her hometown of Little Horton, Wisconsin. She attended college, worked hard, and became a successful forensic pathologist.

She never planned to go back, until she gets a phone call from the FBI, telling her that her father, Little Horton’s former mayor turned US Senator, has gone missing under mysterious circumstances.

In spite of everything, Dolores cares for her father and returns to help in the investigation in any way she can.

Her reunion with her remaining family and the town is mixed, but before long, she’s coming to grips with her past and aiding the FBI with the search.

Other startling occurrences hit the town hard and it becomes clear, something sinister is haunting Little Horton this Halloween season.

Confession time. When I was offered an ARC of this book, I took one look at the cover, read the title, and thought, yes, absolutely, yes. It just looked like something I would enjoy, and luckily, that was true.

However, I had no clue what it was about, but made certain assumptions, and they were all wrong. I actually Buddy Read this with a friend and we both commented quickly that we both assumed it was YA, which it’s clearly not.

If you read the synopsis, unlike me, you’ll have no problem understanding that, but I just felt like the cover, though one of the most gorgeous covers that I’ve set my eyes on lately, really doesn’t portray the feel that I took from this Adult Mystery/Thriller novel.

With this out of the way, my head scratching at the cover art choice really has nothing to do with the book, or the story. I really enjoyed the twisted nature of this and all the dark small town drama. It was captivating and also contained one of my favorite tropes.

I absolutely adore when an MC returns to their hometown, after a number of years away, and ends up digging into some sort of mystery from their past. It’s even better when there are past and present mysteries intertwined, and that’s exactly what Adams delivered here.

It was interesting watching Dolores reintroduce herself to the home she left behind. The interactions among her family were interesting, and I liked how we learned about the past via various timeline/perspective shifts.

We also get a front row seat to the investigation into her father’s disappearance, as well as the other incidents happening around town.

Little Horton was a fun setting. It’s a self-proclaimed Halloween town, so they really lean into the holiday. It gave a lovely, moody backdrop to our overriding mysteries.

Overall, I had a lot of fun with this. It was intriguing and fast-paced. I was surprised by it in many ways, and look forward to reading more from this author. I actually would love another book with Dolores as a main character. I grew very fond of her over the course of the story.

Thank you to the publisher, Minotaur Books and Macmillan Audio, for providing me with copies to read and review.

Everything from the tone, setting and characters, to the mystery itself, was engaging for me. Rachel Louise Adams is definitely an author I’ll be reading more from the future!

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Review: A Very Bookish Murder (Ally McKinley Mystery #3) by Dee MacDonald

~ megs14malloy

A Very Bookish Murder (Ally McKinley Mystery #3)A Very Bookish Murder by Dee MacDonald
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

A Very Bookish Murder is the 3rd-book in the Ally McKinley Mystery series, which has quickly become one of my favorite, currently-running Cozy Mystery series.

These books, set in the Scottish Highlands, follow recent-retiree and widow, Ally McKinley, who fell in love with the village of Locharran while on a holiday. Shortly thereafter, she purchased the old malthouse and transformed it into a now successful B&B.

Ally has settled into her new life very well. She’s made many great friends, adopted a beautiful Labrador puppy, Flora, and has even found a charming new love interest.

Her quiet life in the Highlands is going better than she could’ve ever dreamed. Well, except for the fact that she keeps finding herself adjacent to suspicious deaths.

Silver lining: Ally has turned into quite the intrepid amateur sleuth. There’s no stopping her once she starts digging.

This mystery revolves around a group of women authors, who are all visiting Locharran to attend a Writers’ Retreat Workshop led by successful novelist, Jodi Jones. A few of the women, including Jodi herself, will be staying at Ally’s B&B, while the rest stay in the village at the local hotel.

The women who check themselves into Ally’s guest house are all pleased with the accommodations, and hospitality. They seem to take to her, and invite her to attend one of the very first sessions of the retreat, which is being held at the hotel, the Craigmonie.

Ally is certainly interested by all the goings-on, and is surprised to hear a few complaints lodged against the host, Jodi Jones. Jodi’s accused of stealing plots, and plagiarism, amongst other things, and then Ally finds the famous author strangled in the Ladies restroom.

The authorities, as well as Ally, believe that the culprit is most likely one of the other retreat attendees. Ally uses her past experience cracking cases to methodically work her way through the cast of suspects, discovering new evidence and plenty of potential motives along the way.

When another attendee is found murdered, hours after she told Ally she knew who the killer was, Ally is positive the murderer is close at hand. Will she be able to figure it out before they stop her snooping for good?

Another fun, fulfilling and engaging Ally McKinley Mystery book complete. Let the countdown begin for the next one. I can’t wait to see what mystery unfolds next.

As mentioned above, this has become one of my favorite Cozy Mystery series and I think a lot of that has to do with Ally. She’s a great protagonist. There’s something about her that’s just so thoughtful and comfortable. She’s like getting a nice warm hug from your Gran.

Additionally, the Scottish Highlands setting is a huge plus, as well as the quirky cast of characters and always intriguing mysteries. As soon as I finish one of these books, I want the next one in my hands.

I loved that this one revolved around this group of women writers. They were each unique and distinct, yet all of them could have had reason to get rid of Jodi, so there were plenty of red herrings swimming about.

There wasn’t as much focus in this one on the local characters, which I sort of missed, but there really wasn’t reason to be, because there were so many new characters in town for the retreat. With this being said, we still got Ally having interactions with her friends, like Hamish, her cleaner and other local business owners.

I have a feeling that perhaps the next mystery will be more village-focused. Either way, even if it’s not, I’ll be reading it, and I’m more than confident that I’ll be enjoying it.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Bookouture, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Dee MacDonald has a real gem on her hands with this series, and I hope there’s many more installments to come!

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Review: Mayhem at a Halloween Wedding (Halloween Bookshop Mystery #2) by Emmeline Duncan

~ megs14malloy

Mayhem at a Halloween Wedding (Halloween Bookshop Mystery, #2)Mayhem at a Halloween Wedding by Emmeline Duncan
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Mayhem at a Halloween Wedding is the 2nd-installment in Emmeline Duncan’s Cozy Halloween Bookshop Mystery series.

These books are set in the quaint town of Elyan Hollow, Oregon, where it’s Halloween 365-days a year. Our protagonist is Bailey Briggs, who has taken over her family’s well-loved local bookstore, Lazy Bones Books.

In this 2nd-book, Bailey’s college friend, Raven, has planned a Halloween-themed wedding for herself and her partner, and there’s no better place to pull off her signature spooky style than Elyan Hollow.

Bailey is committed to the hilt, both with being a bridesmaid in Raven’s wedding, and assisting with the prep for Elyan Hollow’s annual Halloween festival. She needs everything to go smoothly if she wants to save her sanity.

Sadly, it does not.

Fellow bridesmaids, Ivy and Harmony, who also happens to be the sister of the bride, are both absolute nightmares. Demanding and rude, these girls are pushing Bailey and her best friend, Colby, to their limits.

When Ivy is found dead mid-bachelorette party, as the women are attending the Halloween parade, Colby is immediately considered a suspect. The two had been witnessed in a few heated arguments prior to the murder.

Bailey knows that there is no way Colby would actually kill someone, but now she needs to prove it.

I had a lot of fun with this latest installment to the Halloween Bookshop Series. I love the small town vibes of this series, and the MC, Bailey, as well as her canine companion, Jack, are really growing on me.

It would be hard to beat a setting of a town where it’s always Halloween. That’s like literally my aesthetic. I read this one so quickly, in under 24-hours, because I was hooked into the wedding party drama.

It was honestly the most judgmental and negativity-fueled wedding weekend I’ve ever experienced, and I’ve been to a lot. Even I was getting stressed. I’m not sure how any of these women survived.

Ivy and Harmony were the pits, but they weren’t the only ones sus as heck. I loved trying to guess who had taken Ivy out, and whether or not it had been related to the wedding. I had no clue how anyone could have pulled it off.

The Halloween costumes everywhere added another layer to the confusion at the time the crime was committed, and I liked that unusual aspect.

Additionally, I do just want to note, IMHO, this 2nd-installment shows a lot of improvement over the 1st-book in writing and the mystery plotting itself. The 1st-book was good for me, but I did have some issues with it.

This one, I really didn’t have any issues. I was completely invested in the mystery and also, am enjoying the trajectory of Bailey’s character arc. I truly hope there’s another book. I’d love to see more of these mysteries.

Thank you to the publisher, Kensington Cozies, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I would recommend this to any Cozy Mystery Reader who loves a small town atmosphere, as well Halloween!!

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Review: The Widows’ Guide to Skulduggery (The Widows’ Detective Club #3) by Amanda Ashby

~ megs14malloy

The Widows’ Guide to Skulduggery (The Widows’ Detective Club #3)The Widows’ Guide to Skulduggery by Amanda Ashby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

The Widows’ Guide to Skulduggery is the 3rd-book in Amanda Ashby’s Cozy Mystery series, The Widows’ Detective Club.

As the name suggests, the stories center around a group of older women, all widowed, who work together and end up solving mysteries in their local area. Our MC is Ginny Cole, who after recently losing her husband, moves to the village of Little Shaw looking for a fresh start.

We get all of the stories from Ginny’s perspective and I think Ashby has done an incredible job building out her character. I adore her so much.

When Ginny moves to the area, she gets a new job at the local library, and also gets befriended by a group of women, who really take her under their wings, as she begins the process of trying to move on with her life after the loss of her beloved husband.

At this point, she’s solved a couple of cases with her friends and they’re all becoming quite comfortable with their new labels as amateur sleuths.

The mystery kicks off at wedding, when the canine ringbearer uncovers a skull that happens to have belonged to a local woman who was killed 20-years prior.

The wedding was already tense, as the two families hail from rival villages, so the skull is the nail in the coffin so to speak. The police get called in, and the ceremony gets called off.

Ginny and the rest of the widow detectives feel terribly for their young friend who has called off her wedding. They suspect that someone may have placed the skull there purposefully in order to break the couple up, but who would do such a terrible thing?

With a few suspects in mind, they kick off another stellar investigation, which ends up spanning 2-towns, 2-decades and involves a colorfully-catty set of characters.

While I wouldn’t say the mystery of this 3rd-installment, was the most intriguing for me, probably my least favorite of the series thus far, TBH, I’m nevertheless so comfortable with this group of characters at this point, I hardly minded.

I like being with them. I’d be down for any mystery they want to get involved in. Additionally, I feel like every series has books you connect with more than others, and even though this wasn’t my favorite, it was still a lot of fun.

It could just be that it is a different sort of mystery. It doesn’t read as a straight up murder mystery from the start, though it does eventually turn in that direction.

I’m genuinely pleased with it overall. It got wild, and I loved how the Widows really put themselves out there in this one. They were each following leads, thinking on their feet and working together in a super compelling way.

Thank you, Storm Publishing, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I am quite fond of this series at this point, and as mentioned, love the women in this group.

I hope they’re back in many more mysteries to come!!

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Review: The Widows’ Guide to Backstabbing (The Widows’ Detective Club #2) by Amanda Ashby

~ megs14malloy

The Widows’ Guide to Backstabbing (The Widows’ Detective Club, #2)The Widows’ Guide to Backstabbing by Amanda Ashby
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

The Widows’ Guide to Backstabbing is the 2nd-book in the Widows’ Detective Club Cozy Mystery series by Amanda Ashby.

This series follows Ginny Cole, a recent widow, who after the death of her beloved husband, moves to a new village, Little Shaw, for a fresh start.

It’s there that she secures a job at the local library, makes a great group of new friends, and ends up solving a brutal murder. That’s what I call a successful fresh start!

In this installment, which takes places, I believe a few months after the conclusion of the 1st-book, Ginny is even more settled into her life in Little Shaw.

She’s still working at the library, has become even more fond of her adopted cat companion, Edgar, and is talking to her dead husband less. One thing she is still doing though, is stumbling across dead bodies.

This time at the local haberdashery shop.

Timothy Harlow, the shop owner, has been stabbed in the back with a set of shears. The police quickly arrest a young upholsterer, Milos, for the crime, but Ginny and her friends don’t believe he’s the actual culprit.

With the police looking in the wrong direction, it’s time for the Widows to do what they do best; solve a murder.

This was another cute installment to what has quickly become one of my go-to Cozy Mystery series. I love Ginny as a protagonist, as well as the small town vibes, the incorporation of the library, and of course, the cat, Edgar.

While I wasn’t quite as swept up in this one as I was the 1st-book, I still think it was engaging and I’m glad I read it.

For me, there is a little less focus on Ginny’s character arc in this one, and that is something I really connected with in the first installment. There was also less time spent in and around the library, and I did miss that as well.

I already have a copy of the 3rd-book, The Widows’ Guide to Skulduggery ((thank you, Storm Publishing)), which is releasing at the end of the month, and I’m so excited to get to it. I’m sure I’ll be starting it very soon.

If you are looking for a new Cozy Mystery series to start, just in time for Summer, I definitely recommend checking this one out. Particularly if you are a Cozy Reader who enjoys more mature characters, and small town settings.

There’s also a lot of fun hi-jinks and banter amongst this group of widows, but also a lot of love, heart and support. They are, in short, friendship goals.

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