My Review for The Bookshop Murder by Merryn Allingham

⭐⭐⭐⭐ Thank you to NetGalley and Bookouture for the opportunity to read and review an ARC of The Bookshop Murder by Merryn Allingham.

Set in the 1950s, The Bookshop Murder is the first in a new series for Allingham, set in a sleepy Sussex, seaside village and featuring Flora Steele, a bookshop owner, along with her sidekick, Jack Carrington, an antisocial crime writer who seemingly only enjoys his own company. Jack discovers a dead body in Flora’s bookshop and, after the police write the death off as natural causes, they investigate the death together. Along the way, there appear to be many suspects, but Flora and Jack, with the natural inquisitiveness needed, set out to discover what really happened.

I found The Bookshop Murder fairly slow, to begin with, but to be honest, I find a lot of cosy mysteries begin this way and gradually become more fast-paced as we move through the story. I guess because of this; I wasn’t as invested quite as quickly as I usually like to be in a book. However, Flora and Jack bounced off each other and they are both great characters finding a way into my heart by the end. It will be interesting to see what happens between the two of them in future stories. 

There are a variety of other characters in the book who play their own part as the story progresses and I particularly wanted to visit Katie’s Nook and relax with coffee and cake! Merryn Allingham is adept at drawing readers into the lives of her characters and I could envisage myself in many of the situations which are described so well.

I would recommend The Bookshop Murder to anyone who enjoys a cosy mystery. If you’re an Agatha Christie fan or enjoy M.C. Beaton and her Agatha Raisin series, you will enjoy this.