Murder by the Seashore by Samara Yew Published by Crooked Lane Books on October 17, 2023
Genres: Cozy Mystery
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Scarlett Gardner’s dream was to open a bookshop in Southern California, but it soon becomes a nightmare when she finds the dead body of a customer—and becomes the prime suspect.
Southern California is where dreams come true—or so Scarlett Gardner thought. When she moved there and opened the Palm Trees and Page Turners bookshop, she thought her boyfriend and business partner would be part of the story. When he leaves her for a better job, Scarlett finds herself struggling to keep her new business afloat. That’s not the only thing she has to worry about—she discovers something underneath the pier by her bookshop that she didn’t outline for her life’s story: the dead body of a book-buying customer.
After Scarlett gives a statement to the police, she thinks her life can go back to business as usual. But when a lawyer, representing someone named Lorelai Knight, tells Scarlett that she now stands to inherit a small fortune, she’s left with more questions than answers. Before she can make sense of any of it, the police bring her in for questioning; the body she found was Lorelai Knight. And the evidence they have against Scarlett doesn’t look good. Business is booming as Scarlett returns to Palm Trees and Page Turners, but for all the wrong reasons – curious tourists don’t want books, they want a glimpse of the Bookshop Killer.
Who could really be behind all of this? And why frame Scarlett? To clear her name, she’s going to have to get creative—and hope she can remain one page ahead of the killer.
My Thoughts
I recently finished the first book in the California Bookshop Mystery series, Murder by the Seashore. The narrative and its characters held my attention throughout. The author’s writing style made for an easy-to-read but entertaining book. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good cozy mystery.
Thank you to Lori at Great Escapes Book Tours and the author for allowing me to read and review this book.
About Samara Yew
Samara Yew is a cozy mystery author who writes about adorable bookshops and dead bodies. Her new series is being released with Crooked Lane Books in 2023. A full-time mom, full-time dog servant, and part-time writer, Samara lives in British Columbia, Canada, where she can often be found watching Psych reruns. Samara loves to travel, especially visiting her husband’s home country of Singapore or donning Mickey ears in Disneyland. She’s a member of Sisters in Crime, including her local chapter SinC-Canada West, and International Thriller Writers. She can also be found at hollyyew.com where she writes the Rose Shore Mysteries.
Samara is represented by Dawn Dowdle of the Blue Ridge Literary Agency.
