TO THE TOME OF MURDER by Lauren Elliott

Addie Greyborne is ready for Thanksgiving! Her bookstore, Beyond the Page, has its Thanksgiving display ready and her assistant, Paige Stringer, has ensured they have plenty of Civil War-themed recipe books and memorabilia ready for the upcoming cooking and baking competition in town. Unfortunately, Addie’s cheerful mood comes to a screeching halt with one cryptic phone call from her cousin, Kalea. Kalea’s boyfriend, Jared Munroe, is dead and it looks like murder. Worse yet, the prime suspect is Kalea and even Addie has her doubts about her cousin’s truthfulness. Addie is determined to uncover the truth, however, as Kalea is her only living blood relative… but the clues she uncovers seem odd and won’t convince the police unless she digs more.

TO THE TOME OF MURDER is the 7th book in the delightful Beyond the Page Bookshop series by Lauren Elliott. Readers can easily jump right in and enjoy the series but note that the relationships between the characters continue to grow with each new installment and you’ll likely find yourself hooked. Lauren Elliott provides sufficient back history on all the characters although readers already familiar with Addie’s troublesome cousin, Kalea, will better appreciate Addie’s own emotional turmoil as she attempts to clear her cousin of murder.

I learn something new with every installment in the Beyond the Page Bookshop series because Lauren Elliott intertwines literary history with her mysteries. Who knew that the same woman who wrote “Mary Had a Little Lamb” also edited the Godey’s Ladies Magazine AND repeatedly petitioned Abraham Lincoln to sign an executive order proclaiming Thanksgiving a permanent national holiday? Even better, this fascinating history is relevant to the storyline as the town is featuring a Civil War-themed cooking/baking competition and everyone is clamoring for one of Sarah Josepha Hale’s magazines featuring recipes of that time period. I love how Lauren Elliott takes the bookstore theme to a higher level by also including books as part of the mystery and it is part of what makes TO THE TOME OF MURDER so enthralling!

TO THE TOME OF MURDER is yet another smashing success from Lauren Elliott and should appeal to booklovers of all genres. The character development is phenomenal, the mystery has plenty of red herrings, and the literary aspects are fascinating! Lauren Elliott works her magic and makes history both alive and relevant in her modern-day cozy mystery series, Beyond the Page Bookshop. I can’t wait to see what is in store for us with the next installment!

Three weeks before Thanksgiving, bookshop owner Addie Greyborne already has a full plate—and a killer on her case . . .

Addie’s determined to turn a seemingly ordinary November in coastal Greyborne Harbor into one for the books. The windows of her shop display carefully curated works by American writers, including a rare selection of traditional holiday recipes from the influential 19th-century publication Godey’s Ladies Magazine. And then there’s the town’s Civil War-era themed cooking and baking competition, with a hefty cash prize and free publicity going to the winning dish . . .

But when she finds her cousin’s boyfriend murdered, a stunned Addie reluctantly realizes she may be the only person who can blow the cover off a grisly crime. With so many unanswered questions surrounding the victim’s death, Addie must figure out the strange connection between a mysterious vintage briefcase, the disappearance of a first edition copy of Sarah Josepha Hale’s famous nursery rhyme, “Mary Had a Little Lamb,” and a dangerously well-read culprit . . .