Howdy, howdy! It’s the last Wednesday of the month, which means it’s book review time. The book I requested from NetGalley was never approved or denied (I hate when they just leave you hanging like that), but on the day I decided I should just pick something from their “read now” list for August, I got an email saying a book I forgot I had pre-ordered was now available to read. It’s the first in Victoria Gilbert’s new series, so I figure it’s as good a book to review as any. Booked for Death is the debut volume from the new cozy mystery series A Booklovers B&B Mysteries. It came out on August 11th from Crooked Lane Books. Let’s get to the review!

Booked for Death follows Charlotte Reed, a widow who recently inherited a book themed B&B from her mysterious great aunt, as she throws an week-long series of events celebrating the mystery writer Josephine Tey. During one of the events, one of the guests is found dead. He was an odious fellow, so there’s no shortage of suspects, including Charlotte herself. With the help of her strange older neighbor, Charlotte tries to unravel the mystery of the murder as well as her great aunt’s past.

Sounds pretty interesting, right? Meh. The plot is pretty predictable and the foreshadowing of the murder “twist” is super obvious. Especially if you’re used to reading these types of books. The whole thing with the great aunt was kind of out there. In my head, I know it’s probably happened to someone, but I wasn’t convinced it was “real” in this context, which kind of pulled me out of the story. It seemed like an unnecessary addition to make the story more interesting, but for me it just muddled things up. I rolled my eyes a lot once it was revealed.

The characters. I didn’t really connect with them the way I was hoping I would. Charlotte is wishy-washy. As soon as the murder happens she thinks everyone did it, including her friend and employees, then it seems like she wants to clear her friend of suspicion, then maybe not. And back and forth like that with just about everyone, but she never takes anyone off her list until the night of the big reveal. It was kind of annoying. I think I liked just about everyone else more than Charlotte. I didn’t dislike her. I was just meh about her.

The world building. It was a bit much. I forgot how much Victoria Gilbert likes to describe houses. I get it. There is beadboard in every single building in town. Every house has gingerbread moulding. At least shake things up a bit because those are basically the same descriptions as the buildings in the Blue Ridge Library Mysteries. This book has a lot more in the way of street directions though, which would be pretty neat if I were in Beaufort, NC and could retrace Charlotte’s steps.

The writing itself is decent enough. The dialogue is a little stilted sometimes and it seems like people say things for the reader’s advantage rather than slipping those tidbits more naturally into the story. Beyond that, it’s a smooth read.

Ultimately, I wasn’t super into Booked for Death, but it wasn’t bad. I liked it enough that I’ll probably give book two a try just to see if it gets any better. If not, I’ll give it up.

Overall, I gave it 3 out of 5 stars. Probably closer to 2.5 if I’m being honest. If you enjoy cozy mysteries and want something with an older protagonist (42) without the typical romance subplot, check it out.