Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop (Halloween Bookshop Mystery, #1) by Emmeline Duncan #bookreview #mystery

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Title: Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop

Author:  Emmeline Duncan

Publisher: Kensington Cozies

Publication Date:  July 23, 2024

Page Count:  269 

My rating: 3 1/2 stars

About the book:

Bailey Briggs adores her year-round Halloween-themed town of Elyan Hollow, Oregon, but when she takes over her grandfather’s beloved bookshop, Lazy Bones Books, she accidentally discovers the town’s secret dark side . . .

 Normally, spooky season is Bailey Briggs’ favorite time of year, and her Halloween-themed small town’s time to shine. But between managing Lazy Bones Books, working on her graphic novel-in-progress, and running the Spooky Season Literary Festival, Bailey hardly has a moment to enjoy Elyan Hollow’s spot-on seasonal vibes. Not to mention, at every turn she seems to be tripping over the contentious crew of Gone Ghouls, a ghost-hunting reality TV show currently filming around town. Bailey tries to stay focused on the Lit Festival, which is supposed to kick off Elyan Hollow’s annual Halloween Fair; instead, this year’s festival begins with a murder . . .

It’s bad enough Bailey discovered the victim, but now, as a lead suspect with some (admittedly) damning evidence pointing her way, she’s got to clear her name! With the help of her librarian friend, Colby, and Jack Skeleton, her world-class bookshop dog (and the absolute bestest boy ever), Bailey sets out to solve a murder . . .

As her investigation weaves through family secrets, professional rivalries, and town feuds, the list of suspects is growing fast . . . and unfortunately, so is the list of victims. If Bailey doesn’t find the killer soon, Elyan Hollow’s haunted reputation will get a little too real . . .

Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop by Emmeline Duncan is the first book in the new cozy Halloween Bookshop Mystery series. The Halloween Bookshop Mystery series is like most cozy mystery series in which each book of the series is going to contain it’s own mystery to be fully solved by the end of the book so they will be able to be read as a standalone or in any order if choosing to do so.

Bailey Briggs is from the Halloween-themed town of Elyan Hollow, Oregon and has just taken over running Lazy Bones Books, her grandfather’s beloved bookstore. With the spooky season upon the town that celebrates the season year round things are certainly ramping up around town with Bailey also running the town’s first ever Spooky Season Literary Festival.

Bailey has lined up plenty of authors for her festival but seems to be spending a ton of time avoiding the crew of a ghost-hunting television show, Gone Ghouls, who want to film from her bookstore. Just as Bailey gets a moment to explore the local hay bale maze with her good friend Colby things go even more awry when the two stumble upon a dead body and when it’s found that a murder has occurred Bailey herself ends up a suspect.

I have to say that Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, Christmas is great and all but I love all things kooky and spooky so of course the Halloween Bookshop Mystery series stood out to me. This one had all the elements that I enjoy in a cozy with an even more appealing small town charm aspect being all Halloween all the time. With likable characters, a cute furry companion and a fun mystery to solve I’ll definitely be returning to this series with this first book falling in at three and a half stars as I began to know the characters and town.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online:

Goodreads  /  Amazon

About the author:

Emmeline Duncan is a mystery writer based out of Portland, Oregon. She’s the author of the Ground Rules Mystery Series, which includes Fresh Brewed Murder, Double Shot Death, Flat White Fatality, and the upcoming Death Unfiltered (April 2024). The first book in her Halloween-bookstore-themed series, Chaos At The Lazy Bones Bookshop, will arrive in August 2024.

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