Since the interactive and immersive Mystery Festival in the spring was so successful, Annie Murray is busy coordinating preparations for the fall festival. Annie Murray is a bookseller and event coordinator at the Secret Bookcase. During an unexpected phone call, Annie can hardly believe what she hears! An independent filmmaker, Heather Hathaway, is asking Annie to coordinate the premiere of her new thriller, "Midnight Alibi," which will highlight a mystery film weekend in Redwood Grove. More publicity for the mystery bookstore inspired by Agatha Christie, complete with a secret room in the reconverted old manor house. A request Annie can't refuse!

I love armchair traveling to Redwood Grove! The allure of the bookstore and its special events, along with the chance to meet Annie Murray, her cat Professor Plum, colleague Fletcher, bookstore owner Hal Christie, former professor Dr. Caldwell, and best friend Priya (Pri) Kapoor at the coffee shop is irresistible. Surely, Pri would take me to the Stag Head so I could slyly peek at the pub owner, Liam Donovan, who gives tingles to Annie.

As charming as the setting is, the unexpected event during the premiere necessitates an intriguing investigation. More questions have led to fewer answers, with cleverly placed red herrings leading the way.

Thank you to Ellie Alexander, Storm Publishing, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an eARC of this novel. The double treat of 2 releases on the same day (June 19, 2024) is a delightful surprise for readers like me. We eagerly await the next event hosted by the Secret Bookcase. ( )

“Shouldn’t you say ‘why now’?�

The author is a master at what she does and this story is a perfect example of that. Redwoood Grove takes on a life of it’s own and you can imagine yourself walking through the streets, smelling the coffee and stopping by Liam’s place for a cold drink and an argument or two. Annie, Pri, Hal and Fletcher, the core ‘family’ in this series are likeable in their own quirky ways that make them unique to this series. And then there was the mystery, entertaining, yet in the end I saw this one coming but that didn’t stop me from enjoying the ride. I’m already looking forward to book 3! ( )

A Murder at the Movies by Ellie Alexander is the second in the series that takes place in a small California art town. The main character, Annie, works at an amazing-sounding bookstore but has a side gig as a sort of intern to a local detective. Annie is asked to organize a premiere weekend for a murder mystery film, and the hijinks ensue.
I’ve enjoyed other books by this author quite a bit, but this one didn’t really engage me the way that I expected it to. I did like Annie, she is smart, and has an interesting background ( I probably should have read the first in the series for more on that). She doesn’t go running into danger without letting others know what she is doing. However, she refuses to be friends with the person that will be the love interest apparently because he doesn’t like her favorite reading genre. Annie’s best friend, Pri, is awesome, and I enjoyed their interactions.
There were a good number of suspects, but the final reveal wasn’t too surprising. While there was a somewhat flimsy motivation for the murder, there really was no explanation of how it happened the way that it did, which left me wanting more explanation. Usually, the police try to keep the civilian from investigating, even if they do finally start sharing information and listening to their ideas. Here, the detective actively seeks out Annie, because she studied criminology of some sort. It is a good way to go over theories of the crime from a writing perspective but just seemed like such a far stretch for the police to bring in a student.
Overall, this hit all the cozy vibes for a picturesque town, good friends, yummy food, and interesting premise, it just misses on some of the details. I will likely give the next one a try to see if this is worth continuing.
Thank you to NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the eARC. ( )

california, friends, friendship, amateur-sleuth, tv-film-industry, promotional-event, small-business, small-town, bookseller, local-law-enforcement, movies, unpleasant-suspect, cozy-mystery, publicity, publicity-hound, friction, grief, murder, investigation

I was disappointed in the first book in series (I love the author's other series), but this one proves the adage that books improve with each new in series. Annie Murray works in the Secret Bookcase Bookshop and had dropped out of college where she was a criminology student after an old friend was murdered and her grief became a PTSD nightmare. In this episode she is involved in the madness surrounding a film premier. There is more than one who looks good to be the victim, but the film critic is a real piece of work, so he does indeed get murdered and there is no shortage of suspects.
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Storm Publishing via NetGalley. ( )