Tag: seaside massachusetts

A Margin for Murder review

Tari Hann

This is the eighth book in the fun Beyond the Page Bookstore Mysteries by Lauren Elliott. It’s another series I’ve read from the very beginning, and I just loved this installment. At times in this book, I thought Addie was at her peak of being annoying, yet she’s grown on me enough that I’m just like “Oh, that’s just Addie having a cow, she’ll get over it!” lol, all part of her charm, right?  She was super paranoid about something to do with her boyfriend, Simon, but you’ll just have to see how that all works out. I’ll give one clue being that I absolutely loved the ending of the book. Serena’s got a baby on the way, and we get to see how that turns out as well.

Along with continuing where this book left off, I’m eager for this series to continue since we met a fun new character named Valerie, the neighbor to Paige’s sister’s house where she and Addie stayed part of the time while on the peninsula. I really liked Valerie’s character and hope she eventually adopts a dog she kept talking about. She was so crazy over little Pippi and was world’s best dog sitter when Paige and Addie needed to sleuth without their furry buddy.

#KensingtonCozies #LaurenElliott

My Goodreads review:

A Margin for Murder (Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery #8)A Margin for Murder by Lauren Elliott
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

There’s never a dull moment when Addie and Paige go sleuthing together. They started out at a book sale where Addie bought a bookmobile, then they eventually ended up at a friend of Addie’s mansion house complete with a creepy housekeeper. Addie’s paranoia about her relationship was almost out of control during this book, so I was glad when the book ended as awesome as it did.

Addie did figure out what was going on after someone died, and the local police were itching to blame Addie and Paige for it. There was such an awesome twist that I’ve not really seen in many if any other books–it was pretty cool and I sure didn’t guess it! I did guess something having to do with Serena though and her fun surprise. The collective ending was just awesome, and I’m eagerly waiting or at least hoping there’s another book coming. This book releases next Tuesday, April 26, 2022. If you’ve been keeping up with this series, you definitely won’t wanna miss this one!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Kensington Cozies via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

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How to Knit a Murder–review

Tari Hann

Depending on how you want to keep track, this is the second in the Seaside Knitter Society series (it changed publishers hence the series name change), which is how Amazon shows it. But Goodreads shows it as being #13 in the Seaside Knitters Society. Either sounds ok by me, since I haven’t read any of the early ones.

I read the first one last year as an ARC (then couldn’t resist gifting to myself as a beautiful trade paperback), and it worked perfectly as a standalone. It didn’t take me long then or now to get caught up with who was who. The author provides a very handy character list in the front of the book. Some people have said they don’t like those, but I think they’re kinda cool and handy. I love what I’ve read of this series and I really want to start at the beginning.

My Goodreads review:

How to Knit a Murder (Seaside Knitters Society, #13)How to Knit a Murder by Sally Goldenbaum

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

After reading only my second in this awesome series, I realized what sets them apart, and that is people. These books are more than just a great cozy that is solved by a group of friends. They’re about the people they come into contact with. Sometimes some of the people don’t have much to do with the case itself, but I never have the urge to speed read or read super fast. There’s just a feeling you get afterwards that you want to hold onto for awhile. I feel like I’ve been with some real friends.

Rose Chopra was a newcomer to town, although she’d lived there as a child and young teen. She made friends with the Knitters as well as another newcomer who was their friend, Bree. When Bree’s husband was killed at a house that Rose was doing repairs on for her new boss, Stella, she was the only person of interest the police could come up with for that moment. But after this clever group of friends put their heads together and refused to let go of this case, the truth came out. Rose had a very interesting story which was shared by another person in the town but who had unfortunately died. Getting to that point was bittersweet but led them to their killer.

I do want to start this series at the very beginning and see how these friendships came about and grew. I just love that they always consult with each other. None of them braves out on their own or seems to be in any mortal danger. That’s kind of refreshing. These ladies, along with their two new friends are definitely people that I would want to hang out with! I love the friendship of the older guys in town too. They always celebrated as if their fourth buddy was still with them. They loved life and weren’t afraid to let anyone know. I think I’ll need to visit Sea Harbor again soon!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher and NetGalley. My opinions are my own.

View all my reviews