The Bookshop Murder: An Absolutely Gripping Cozy Mystery (A Flora Steele Mystery, Book 1)

Sussex, England in 1955 and bookshop owner Flora Steele opens her bookshop for business one morning and hidden within the bookcases she finds the body of a dead young man. Not knowing who he is and how he got there, she has to save the reputation of her her bookshop and solve the mystery. Flora asks Jack Carrington, a crime writer, and friend, to help her solve the crime. They follow a lead to Abbeymead, and when they find the hotel where their victim was staying, they also find that the gardener for the hotel suddenly dies. They are very suspicious and they have to find out if the two deaths are connected. A cozy murder mystery that takes place in a bookshop, I love the idea. The detailed description of the village was very intriguing, and the plot twists and turns of this story make it a rapid page turner. I enjoyed this book from beginning to end, it was a fabulous read.Thank you Merryn Allingham for such a wonderful, well written cozy mystery. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The characters were relatable and I highly recommend this book. I look forward to the next installment in the series…loved it.

I really enjoyed this book. It was well written and there were very few grammar or spelling errors as there are in so many ebooks. It did have a few twists and turns that kept me guessing. Looking forward to the next book in the series.

This had the makings of a good novel, but just missed it. The main character inherited a small bookshop in an English village. A man was found dead in her shop. There is a writer in the village who is busy writing and not very involved with the locals. The store owner gets certain the two of them must investigate the murder. She keeps insisting he do whatever she believes necessary to find the murderer. Very little concern for his job or his likes. I found her bossiness too much. I won't read anymore of this series.

I loved this book. Although, spending most of the book having the protagonists over looking the obvious of why Anderson was in the bookshop to begin with... The interplay between Flora and Jack and the subtlety of humor made this a fun read. I'm looking forward to the next in the series.

I really wanted to like this story as it was set in a pleasant location and interesting time period.Unfortunately I didn’t find the main characters at all likeable and in fact lacked depth.I’m sorry but I couldn’t drag myself more than halfway through before deciding that I’d had enough.

Please read this! You will not be disappointed! I haven't read a mystery that's so good and interesting! I am in love with Flora and Jack!

Flora Steele owns a bookshop in a small village. She meets Jack Carrington, a local crime writer, who lives as a hermit. Then, they find a dead man in the aisle of Flora's bookshop. They join forces to search for the murderer. It has wonderfully interesting characters, and it has an excellent plot. You feel like you are in the company of old friends. Come along with them, and enjoy the journey.

It's always better having two heads to solve a crime; or a number of crimes. This mystery just kept getting more and more dangerous. So many twists and dangers lurked at each step. How do you get the police to do their jobs? How do you move forward? This was a very good sooty that I didn't want to put down; didn't want to end.

Flora Steele runs a bookshop, not huge nor modern but in 1955 after years of war and rationing the Sussex village of Abbeymead isn't a bad place to be. Of course, it would be better if her beloved Aunt Violet was still alive but Flora inherited her cottage and the bookshop so, even if she is a little lonely, at least her future is secure. Or it would be if, alongside one of her regular customers, crime writer Jack Carrington, she hadn’t discovered a dead body in the second hand book section! With her clientele leaving in droves, and the police adamant no crime was committed,  Flora has no hesitation in railroading Jack into joining her in finding the truth before her Aunt's legacy is just a memory.Although I enjoyed what is the first book in this series I did have a few issues with it. Luckily I am a big fan of historical cosy crime mysteries because there was nothing to say that is what The Bookshop Murder is. The other problems include spoilers so suffice to say Flora, as an ex librarian, had a few gaps in her knowledge and some injuries seemed to be rapidly forgotten! I could however, be being a bit picky!As for Flora and Jack, initially their relationship was strained, and although, in the storyline, they didn't connect at all, their thought processes and scenes together and apart worked well. There was also a gentle humour between them which always appeals. The way ahead looks promising, again with no spoilers, and I will definitely be on the look out for the next book in this series.I was able to read an advanced copy of this book thanks to NetGalley and the publishers but the opinions expressed are my own. I enjoyed this book and think it will herald an ever improving series. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4.

When Flora Steele discovers the body of a young man in her bookshop, the police don't suspect foul play. But Flora thinks otherwise, and enlists the initially reluctant reclusive author Jack Carrington to help her as she turns amateur sleuth. There follows an intriguing story involving village folk-lore, buried treasure, secret documents, and even a priests' hole. The twists and turns kept me guessing throughout, and I especially enjoyed the Sussex setting as it's my home county. Lovely book.

What an enjoyable read! The story is set in the 1950’s where we are introduced to the protagonist, Flora Steele, who finds the body of a young man in the bookshop she owns. The police don’t suspect foul play but Flora thinks differently, and when rumour and conjecture about his death start to circulate in the village, affecting her business, she knows she needs to discover the truth about what happened if she is to have any chance at all of saving her beloved bookshop.Enter Jack Carrington, a reclusive crime author in the village, who makes the mistake of being first on the scene when Flora discovers the body. Before he knows it, Jack has been reluctantly roped in as Flora’s accomplice, and as the two of them set out to solve the mystery, and the body count rises, they find themselves caught up in a situation more dangerous than they ever could have imagined.This book is an absorbing blend of mystery, crime and suspense, with just a hint of romance that may or may not develop between Flora and Jack as the series progresses. A great read for cozy mystery lovers in what looks set to be a highly enjoyable and gripping new series

A new cozy mystery series set in a bookshop during the 1950's in the quaint countryside of England.Flora, having worked alongside her Aunt who owned the bookshop til she passed away recently, has now been bequeathed it in her Aunt's will, so she now owns it. It's not going too well, and gets worse when she discovers a body at the back of the shop between some packed bookshelves.If sales weren't good before, they got much worse; if she's to save her livelihood, she needs to solve the mystery. Help comes from an unlikely source, a reclusive writer who lives in the village and buys his reference books from Flora.A good cozy mystery series, I look forward to the next books to be released!

This is the first book in a new cosy mystery and I will definitely be buying the next one.Flora is intelligent and observant. Well-liked intelligent the village of Abbeymead, she is running a bookshop she has inherited from her aunt. The bookshop barely makes a profit and Flora’s dreams if travelling around Europe have been put on hold.There’s little excitement in her life until one morning she finds a dead body in the bookshop. She finds an unlikely crime fighting partner in reclusive writer, Jack Carrington.There is a lot of humour in this book – Flora is witty and charming and wins Jack over. There is a definitely a spark if attraction between them and it will be intersection to see how it develops.The mystery that unfolds is clever and well-paced to keep the reader interested with a satisfying conclusion.The writer also sets up the potential for further mysteries as Jack begins researching new a new crime series that will take him traveling around the country.I’m so glad Twitter made me buy this book! And I can’t wait to see what happens with the characters in the future.If you like cosy mysteries with a vintage twist then I recommend you give Flora Steele a try.