Isabelle Goddard

Bookshop owner Flora Steele is finally recovering financially from her losses several months earlier when a corpse was found in her Abbymead store, and she and writer Jack Carrington have fallen into an easy friendship. During the wake following a funeral, they encounter Polly Dakers, a one-time receptionist on her way to becoming a fashion model; she seems glamorous but out of place in the village. However, she attracts intense interest, and is seen engaged in fierce arguments during her show more visit. Several days later, Flora and Jack take the village boy Charlie to Brighton for a treat, but their outing is marred by their discovery of a floating corpse off the pier - Polly! While the police are inclined to think she has committed suicide or perhaps had an unfortunate accident, Flora is convinced that something more sinister has occurred, and she is determined to discover just what happened to Polly…. This is the second in a cozy series set in the fictional English village of Abbymead in the mid-1950s, an era not often explored in cozies or indeed, other genres; I like Flora’s independence and am enjoying her deepening relationship with Jack as well as learning more about the earlier lives of each character. A book that is easy to fall into, and I definitely plan to visit Flora again in the near future; recommended. show less

It's 1955 in Sussex and as the "All's Well" bookshop opens for the day Flora Steele never expected to find a dead body. Who is this person? In the small village of Abbeymead Flora usually recognizes everyone even if the individual is not a regular customer. The police seem content with an explanation that only creates rumors in the village and rumors become Flora's angst as she loses her customer base. Flora's determination triggers an idea that the village recluse and crime novelist would show more make the ideal investigative partner. It's simply the best sleuthing pair I've met in a long time!

The character development, the dialogue, the chemistry that the reader felt even before the characters heightened this reader's delight, and the descriptive language that amplified all visual creations during the reading experience.

"Shuffling through fallen leaves and watching the shifting pattern of light and shade filter through thinning branches, she (Flora) was entranced. The trees all around had lifted their heads to a new warmth, their autumn dress of red and gold glowing in the sun’s afternoon rays, and somewhere a bird sang out its joy at the beauty of the day."

I was entranced. I was entranced from cover-to-cover!

I also loved the investigation without the police presence as it was unique eliminating law enforcement personnel reminders to keep out of the investigation and amateur sleuths constantly defending their actions. The history and mystery also provided distinctive elements giving our sleuths fascinating research to acquire facts that would add pieces to the puzzle to weave into interviews.

Algorithms have received negative reviews in many facets of digital life and the criticism is important for our awareness and correction. However, I'd also like to praise the use of algorithms on Amazon as with use of various browsing categories (e.g. Based on your reading, Inspired by your browsing history, Kindle Unlimited Based on Your Reading, New based on your author interests) I have been introduced to authors/series/titles that I may never have discovered independently. My kudos for the algorithms related to novels led me to "The Bookshop Murder" and I loved it!

Don't miss a visit to Abbeymead! I can't wait to spend more time in this village!! show less

I'm happy to report that this second Flora Steele mystery is just as enjoyable as the first, The Bookshop Murder. This time readers are taken to the seaside town of Brighton where Flora and Jack deal with a theatrical group and a line-up of suspects that includes a sugar daddy, a spurned wife, an unsavory character from London, and others. Flora's business has yet to fully recover from what happened in the first book. She is trying to drive sales up by various means, but her investigation show more here in Murder on the Pier kept her away too much yet again. Either Flora is going to be a detective, or she's going to be a bookshop owner. So far the two occupations aren't blending together well. I'm looking forward to seeing how the author deals with this in future books.

Once again, the telling little details about the era add depth to the story. I think most Americans, if they're even aware that there was rationing in this country and in the United Kingdom, believe everything snapped back to normal immediately after World War II ended. It snapped back a lot faster here in the United States, but it took years for rationing to end in the United Kingdom. Meat rationing had ended just the year before (1955), and now Flora lets us know just how precious a brand-new pair of shoes is. Besides, her main source of transportation is Betty, her bicycle.

Readers learn more about Jack in this second book as he and Flora become even more comfortable with each other. When Jack's old flame arrives on his doorstep, I narrowly avoided rolling my eyes, and I'm glad I did. I really like how Jack dealt with the situation. The repartee between Flora and Jack is one of the strongest parts of this series. That and the presence of a young boy named Charlie. With Jack feeling ever more protective of Flora, I do believe he should formulate some sort of fitness regimen to build up his strength and endurance. Why? Because he spent a lot of time dragging Flora out of some hair-raising situations in this book-- none of which were what I call TSTL (Too Stupid To Live).

Interesting characters? Check. Strong setting and historical detail? Check. Fun dialogue? Check. What about the mystery? Well, it's a good'un, too. Although I was blinded by the light of deduction before Flora, she was nipping close at my heels. So yes, I'm looking forward to my next visit to Abbeymead to see what Jack and Flora (and Charlie) get up to next.

(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley) show less

What's not to like about an English village mystery that takes place ten years after World War II and concerns a bookshop? That's what I thought, too, when I picked up Merryn Allingham's very first Flora Steele mystery, The Bookshop Murder. As I began to read and the pages turned, it got even better. Buried treasure? A priest hole? Secret passages? Definitely my cup of tea.

Allingham puts us right in the era with little details like Flora delivering books by bicycle and the fact that meat had show more come off rationing only the year before and people still felt eating it was a wicked indulgence. Flora's Aunt Violet, who left her the bookshop, lost her fiancé in World War I and raised Flora after a car accident killed her parents. (How many parents have lost their lives due to car accidents in crime fiction I wonder?) The village also plays its part in the story by spreading all sorts of scandalous gossip and whispers of gruesome doings and haunted bookshops. The coup de grâce involves a bus driver in a neighboring village, but I'll let you find out for yourselves what he did.

The mystery is a good one, and so is the setting, so... what about the characters? Any traditional or cozy mystery worth its salt has to have characters that readers can care about. The Bookshop Murder rises to the occasion in this, too. Flora is intelligent, hard-working, and even though she seems to know how to get her own way, her life so far has been one of doing for others and putting her own dreams aside. Once she decides to enlist the help of mystery writer Jack Carrington, the story shifts gears and becomes even more enjoyable to read.

Jack has his own past that readers have to learn about. He's decided to shut himself away in a house outside the village, and he's hired a young boy to deliver food and books so he doesn't have to deal with anyone else. That is until the boy becomes ill and Flora decides a mystery writer is the perfect person to help her solve a crime. Watching the two work together and become used to each other bodes well for future books in the series.

If mysteries reminiscent of Miss Marple and Miss Seeton are your favorites, then by all means get your hands on a copy of Merryn Allingham's The Bookshop Murder. It has all the hallmarks of being the start of a beautiful reading relationship.

(Review copy courtesy of the publisher and Net Galley) show less