Death on the Page
There are a thousand stories in New York’s scenic Thousand Islands, and Bayside Books co-owner Shelby Cox stocks them all. But lately, the Blye Island bookseller’s life is more about investigation than inventory. True-crime writer Savannah Page caps off two successful signings at Bayside Books with a night in Blye Castle. She’s there to research Joe Cabana, a colorful Prohibition-era mobster who owned the castle–until he was found dead in the island Grotto.
But crime becomes all too true for Savannah. Her body turns up the next morning in a secret passage at the bottom of the stairs. The last thing Shelby Cox wants is to sleuth another murder, but she’s intrigued about how a killer could have reached the island after hours. She’s not at a lack for suspects either. It could have been anyone from Savannah’s fiancé, Liam Kennelly, who argued with her the evening before, to island caretaker Matthew Kessler, recently cleared of his wife’s murder. Can Shelby keep regular store hours, elude the police chief, and assemble the clues into a hard-bound case without getting permanently shelved?
Series: A Castle Bookshop Mystery – Book #2
Author: Essie Lang
Genre: Cozy Mystery/ Book Store
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books
Page Count: 330
Rating: 
New from Essie Lang (AKA. Erika Chase/Lina Wiken) comes the second book in the “A Castle Bookshop Mystery” book store cozy series, Death on the Page.
Shelby has begun to think of the Castle bookshop and Blye Island as home. She doesn’t want anything to ruin her newfound happiness, and even though she doesn’t go looking for trouble, it ends up practically on her doorstep. In this latest book store cozy, the main character finds herself asking questions that could lead her into danger, or worse. Shelby is a wounded character, a quiet and isolated childhood, with a father who didn’t trust anyone made for a lonely life until she moved to Blye Island. It takes a lot of patience and love to gain her trust and friendship. But slowly, she is beginning to grow emotionally and realizes that she loves having friends and family around.
The characters in this book store cozy are everything a reader would want, with just a hint of weirdness we all need in our lives. Some are lovable, some are quirky, and some are stubborn, but they all keep readers wanting to know more. Blye Island is a perfect setting for a book store and a murder. The suspects are sparse but enough to keep readers guessing. The investigation seems to be a little on the lite side and motives slim. I did not wholly believe the ending. The killer did not seem likely, and this took away some of my enjoyment, but not so much that I don’t want to read the next book in the series. Death on the Page is an enjoyable read that won’t take up too much of the reader’s time. The characters are fun, the plot, although done many times in murder mysteries, is still interesting.
Another book store cozy series readers may find interesting is Amy Lillard’s book club series “Main Street Book Club Mysteries” or Lorna Barrett’s series “A Booktown Mystery”.
About the Author:
In a parallel life, Essie Lang/Erika Chase is also known as Linda Wiken. A former mystery bookstore owner (Prime Crime Books in Ottawa, ON, Canada), Linda is also a short story writer. She is a member of those dangerous dames, The Ladies’ Killing Circle.
Before life in the world of mystery, she worked as an advertising copywriter, radio producer, journalist, and community education worker. Besides writing and reading mysteries, her other passion is choral singing; she is a member of two choirs. Okay, maybe one more passion — chocolate! She shares her house with Keesha and Mojo, her two Siamese cats. Actually, they allow her to live there.
Contact Essie: lindawiken@rogers.com
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