A PAGE MARKED FOR MURDER

A bookseller investigates the murder of her assistant’s baby daddy.

Take a woman not in her first youth but not yet middle-aged, recovering from a failed relationship, return her to the small town of her childhood after being left a property she could never afford on her own, giving her the financial freedom to open a shop selling rare, vintage, or artisanal goods, and murder is sure to follow. In this case, Addison Greyborne returns after the death of her fiance to Greyborne Harbor, where her great-aunt Anita has left her a large, charming Victorian house she converts into the bookstore Beyond the Page. Addison soon develops a promising relationship with local physician Simon Emerson and strong friendships with fellow shopkeepers Serena Chandler, owner of SerenaTEA, and Martha Stringer, who owns the bake shop next door. She welcomes Martha’s industrious daughter, Paige, to work in her store along with her own less diligent cousin Kalea, whom she also allows to live in her home. Her domestic tranquility falls apart when Brett Palmer, father of single-mom Paige’s daughter, Emma, comes to town with a new girlfriend and his eye on joint custody. It isn’t long before Brett’s dead, Martha’s behind bars, and Addison’s confronting the obligatory admonitions from friends to leave it alone and let the police do their work. She doesn’t, and her highly organized approach to sleuthing will be a hit with cozy fans who like a strong emphasis on the puzzle.

Formula fun.