Hayley Burke is the new curator of The First Edition Society, a library dedicated to first editions from the Golden Age of Mysteries. How she got the job, I’m not sure, because she’s never read a mystery, which made me laugh. It’s a sweet position she doesn’t want to lose, but when a member of an Agatha Christie fanfic group is murdered at the library, Hayley’s future there is threatened — she allowed them in, after all.

I loved the setting of Bath, England, and the gorgeous Georgian home that housed the precious books. The murder mystery is definitely Christie-inspired, with many quirky suspects. With her job at stake, as well as the survival of the society itself, I can understand why Hayley would want to launch her own investigation, or at least give the police a gently nudge here and there. I can’t resist a cozy mystery revolving around books, and this one was a quick, fun read. Now I need to catch up on my Christie.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. ( )

You can read all my review on Blog - Books Teacup and Reviews

The Bodies in the Library was interesting cozy murder mystery that revolved around Hayley’s job as curator of Lady Georgiana Fowling’s First Edition Society at Lady Fowling’s Middlebank House, turned into library containing vast collection of first edition books by women authors from Golden Age of Mystery. It was about fanfiction, maintaining and respecting the legacy, secrets, conflicts, and friendship.

Book was first person narrative. Hayley’s voice was relatable, fun and so very British. Like her, I also haven’t read Christie, Slayers or Daphne books, and similarly I feel so bad for not reading them now. I could see how she felt when her position as curator was questioned.

Hayley’s expertise was 19th century literature. She never read mystery novels, knew nothing about Miss Marple and Poirot. She was lucky to have this job. With job, she was given accommodation in same premises, a grand and beautiful Georgian house. Mrs. Woolger, former secretary and caretaker of society, also lived and worked at Middlebank and didn’t know about Hayley’s lack of knowledge about the Golden Age of Mysteries. She didn’t like Hayleys’ ideas ways of running things. They didn’t see eye to eye. So, Hayley’s constant fear of being taken as fraud and losing her dream job was palpable.

She worked hard to fulfil her job and to spread word about the society, she invited fanfiction writers to society’s library for weekly meet up, but when one of the writer’s dead body was found in the library, that ended up in jeopardizing her job and Society’s reputation.

No clues and many suspects, I was curious to know how Hayley was going to find the murderer. What made the idea even more exciting was, she knew nothing about investigation until she read Christie’s Miss Marple book, The Body in the Library. It was fun to see her growing interest in mysteries and she did wonderful job in gathering clues. We could see how armature she was, not asking questions so subtly, taking risks and not keeping an open mind.

Hayley was great throughout the book. I liked her passion and ideas. Her efforts to keep her job safe. Her relationship with her mother was lovely. I also enjoyed Hayley and Mrs. Woolger contrasting nature in the book and how both could work together when it came to saving Society.

All characters, especially writers, were quirky and inetreting. Author did wonderful job with them. Their fanfiction ideas and stories were fun. It was entertaining to see them inquiring about murder. Each had lot of questions and advise for Sargent who was so frustrated within few days of murder. And did I tell you anything about that cat in the cover. All credit for discovering clues and mysterious things goes to him.

The romance in between murder mystery was sweet. Hayley’s conflicting emotions for Van Moffatt and Wyn Rundle added spice to story. Wyn was really exhausting and I wonder why she liked him in first place. Val was brilliant throughout the book. I didn’t appreciate Val’s behavior in first meeting. He looked a bit jealous but as I knew him more, I liked him better.

What I loved most in the book was modern day setting along with Golden age of Mystery. It created wonderful atmosphere. Description of Middlebank house, the First Edition Society, Bath was mesmerizing. It was interesting to know Lady Georgiana Fowling’s life and her passion. And book cannot be complete without Christie and other mystery writers’ characters.

Suspense was good. I couldn’t guess who the murderer was until last few chapters. And the motive was only cleared in last chapter. End was satisfying and lovely. I can’t wait to see what new mysteries awaits for Hayley in next books.

Why 4 stars-

Everything was perfect but that motive for murder ruined the fun.

Overall, it was promising first book in new series. Interesting writing, atmospheric setting, and cozy mystery makes this book perfect for fans of Agatha Christie and this genre.

*** Note: I received e-copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review. Many thanks to PRHGlobal for free copy. ***
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A paranormal bookclub in the making at an old library? This was an ok cute quick read. ( )

As the new curator of the First Edition Society in Bath, Haley Burke has her hands full trying to raise the society’s visibility while keeping peace with its secretary, Mrs. Woolgar. The two women are thrown together a lot, as they not only work together at the society, but also live on the society’s premises. Mrs. Woolgar has a basement flat, while Hayley is upstairs from the library.

The society library houses first editions of Golden Age mysteries. One of Hayley’s new initiatives is allowing a fan fiction writers’ group to meet in the library on Wednesday evenings. Mrs. Woolgar does not approve. When one of the writers’ group members is found dead in the society library, Hayley is forced to take an interest in the investigation to clear the society from suspicion. Did I mention that Hayley’s specialty is 19th century literature, and she’s never read a Golden Age mystery? She’ll get a crash course in detection in the course of the novel.

Although it wasn’t too difficult for me to guess the killer’s identity, the author did a decent job of casting suspicion on several of the characters. The plot is nicely paced, and it’s not overly weighted with character development as so many other first-in-series cozies are. The Bath setting will be a draw for many Anglophile cozy fans, so it’s disappointing that the author doesn’t take better advantage of the location. Hayley spends an awful lot of time in Waitrose, and it’s a chain supermarket not unique to Bath. ( )

An adorable mystery story, rather forgettable a few days after the fact. The protagonist is new to her position in a rather stuffy private library, Lady Fowling's First Edition Library. When death is found in the library, the mystery of who and how is on. The story is engaging enough that I've taken out the second title ( )