Reviews

Booked for Death by Victoria Gilbert

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lilacs4b's review

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lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

wraithofbooksandbones's review against another edition

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It felt dragged out and I got bored.

cradlow's review against another edition

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mysterious

5.0

peggyemi's review against another edition

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3.0

This is the first book in a new series by seasoned author Victoria Gilbert. It hit all the right criteria for me when I considered reading it. It is set in a charming town and it's a book-themed bed and breakfast. I found it to be well written with an even pace. I had a hard time getting into this book. It didn't grab me from the start, but I kept plugging along. The problem for me was that I couldn't connect with the main character Charlotte. She fell flat for me. When I pick up a cozy mystery, I like my stories to be character-driven, so when I don't or can't connect with the characters I am left feeling disappointed and unsatisfied.

This was not a bad book. As I said, it was well written and the mystery was fairly solid. I'm sure fans of this author will find this book to be just right for them. That just wasn't the case for me.

I voluntarily read a digital ARC provided to me by the publisher through Netgalley.

rebeccai's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

caitkom's review against another edition

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4.0

Chapters is a book-themed B&B set in beautiful Beaufort, North Carolina. Charlotte inherited the B&B from her late great aunt when she passed away. Charlotte was a school teacher, and is still mourning the loss of her late husband, who passed away heroically.

Charlotte decides to host a literary retreat featuring the author, Josephine Tey and finds herself with an eclectic mix of characters including a rare book dealer, his wife and daughter, a wealthy professional athlete, a set of eccentric twins who live in town, a resident author and her friend and book shop owner, Julie. Her neighbor, Ellen and friend of her late great aunt also joins the group from time to time. When the rare book dealer accuses her great aunt of being a book thief and then winds up stabbed during a garden party, Charlotte recruits Ellen to help her find the killer and prove that her aunt was not a thief.

Charlotte and Ellen meet regularly to go over the latest clues. I was pleasantly surprised by the killer and the way they went about solving the murder. Without spoiling anything, the reveling of the murderer was well thought out and intriguing. I found my mind wandering during some of the other parts of the book, but this section kept me riveted until the end!

I received an advanced copy of this title from Netgalley in response for an honest review.