Once Upon a Seaside Murder (A Beach Reads Mystery)
by Maggie Blackburn
I really liked the bookstore setting; the bookstore scenes were my favorite in this novel. The author does a good job at capturing life in a little coastal town. I enjoyed getting to know Summer’s co-workers, friends, and her loyal aunt and cousins in the book as well.
~View from the Birdhouse
What I did like was the seaside, small-town setting, and the bookstore.
~Nellie’s Book Nook
As journaled, I liked that the author used Journaling and keepsakes and saved moments to offer clues from the past . . . Once Upon a Seaside Murder was a great cozy read.
~My Reading Journeys
. . . a welcome return to the North Carolina beach community and its lively characters. . . . Once Upon a Seaside Murder expands protagonist Summer Merriweather’s character to include developments that affect her identity, romantic possibilities, and career choices–all of which build interest in the series going forward.
~Book Club Librarian
Ms. Blackburn created an unsolved mystery with a lot of twists and turns and then threw in a kidnapping in the current day that complicates the mystery. I found the whole mystery pretty compelling and kept turning the pages to see how it all turned out and loved the twist near the end.
~Jen K. for Novels Alive
About Once Upon a Seaside Murder
Once Upon a Seaside Murder (A Beach Reads Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Brigid’s Island, NC
Publisher : Crooked Lane Books (October 12, 2021)
Hardcover : 336 pages
ISBN-10 : 1643858327
ISBN-13 : 978-1643858326
Digital ASIN : B08TV4GK2C
As the holidays approach, bookstore owner Summer Merriwether learns a dark secret in this second volume of Maggie Blackburn’s Beach Reads mystery series.
There’s no place like home for the holidays, even if home is sleepy, beachside Brigid’s Island, NC. During this season for giving, the town wakes up to a welcome throng of shoppers–and Beach Reads is no exception. But bookseller Summer Merriwether’s Christmas cheer turns to cringing fear when she uncovers a deadly secret about her late mother–a secret someone will kill to keep.
When the local library hosts a cozy mystery panel discussion, Summer learns that one of the authors on the panel based her book on an actual murder that shook Brigid’s Island thirty-five years before. Worse, she soon learns that her dearly missed mother, Hildy, took a disturbingly deep interest in the case, going so far as to collect clippings and keep a journal of the dark doings. This doesn’t jibe with Summer’s memories of her usually cheery mother at all.
Tidings get worse when Summer learns of her long-lost biological family’s involvement in the crime…and still worse when the life of the book’s author is threatened. With the help of Hildy’s plucky book club, Summer puts her scholarly smarts to work on protecting the cozy author and solving the decades-old murder.
But this ghost from Christmas past may still be deadly in the present, and if she can’t find the killer, Summer’s future will be brief.
About Maggie Blackburn
Maggie Blackburn is the pen name of Mollie Cox Bryan. She writes cozy mysteries with edge. She’s the author of several bestselling mystery series. She’s recently released a novella mystery series: The Victoria Town Mysteries. Her book, “Goodnight Moo,” has been shortlisted for a Fresh Fiction Reader’s Choice Award. Her books have been selected as finalists for an Agatha Award and a Daphne du Maurier Award and as a Top 10 Beach Reads by Woman’s World. She makes her home at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Shenandoah Valley, Va.
Author Links
Website http://www.molliecoxbryan.com
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/molliecoxbryanauthor/
Twitter https://twitter.com/molliecoxbryan
Instagram https://www.instagram.com/molliebryan/
Purchase Links – Amazon – B&N – Kobo – IndieBound
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Enjoyed the first book – looking forward to reading book 2!
Looks like a real good book and series. Would love to read & review in print format. You’re a new author to me and I look forward to being your friend, getting to know you and your books. Love books like this.
Thanks for giveaway
Hope I Win
This sounds like a mystery I’d really enjoy. Thanks for sharing.