Michelle Blanchard Ardillo

Writing under the pseudonym P. J. Nelson, the author of Booked for Murder (An Old Juniper Bookstore Mystery) said in his bio that he had done a great many things, most of which appear to involve acting and theatre, but, he has never ever run a bookstore. This was a little nagging thought I had as I read this ARC, given to me by Minotaur Books via NetGalley.

Booked for Murder is set in an old Victorian home, most of which is being run as an independent bookstore. Each room on the ground floor, save the kitchen, houses a different genre: “the dining room is the mystery section, and two cases of poetry, plus one wall of records…the parlor is for contemporary fiction and nonfiction…the study is history, biography and older nonfiction…the smaller parlor…is where the college textbooks are.” But, that is about as close to bookstore talk as you get with this mystery scheduled for publication in December 2024.

Madeline Brimley, the protagonist in this cozy mystery, has returned to Enigma, Georgia, after the death of her beloved Aunt Rose, having inherited her home/bookstore. Even though she grew up in Enigma, she has been away for a long time, first college, then New York to try her luck at being an actress, and then Atlanta, where something has gone down, but that is not shared with the reader, nor does it appear to be relevant to the mystery itself.

Even though the murder mystery is set in a bookstore (of sorts), which is typically quite appealing to me, there isn’t much talk of books or authors, a casual mention here and there, but not what I would expect from a storyline about a bookstore owner, or a book with “book” in the title and a stack of books on the cover.

All that being said, I enjoyed this debut novel. Yes, it was a bit slow in some points, but I liked the development of the three main female characters. Madeline, our protagonist, has quite the dramatic flair, true to her history as an actress, where she “solves” the mystery not once, not twice, but, oh I don’t know, I lost track of how many people she is convinced committed the murder. The other two main females, an elderly college professor and a pastor of the local church, become Madeline’s support group and rescue her several times. The men in this novel are all really likeable, even the drug dealer. I also enjoyed the food discussions in the storyline, where the Southern locale really shines, with chicken and biscuits, BBQ, potato salad, and more.

Booked for Murder was a quick read, and apparently the first in a series from P. J. Nelson. It will be interesting to see where future storylines take Madeline, the newly appointed bookseller.