Murder by the Seashore by Samara Yew

Item: Murder by the Seashore
Rating: 4
Author: karenbaron

Posted September 10, 2023 by karenbaron in Mystery, Review, Series / 0 Comments

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from NetGalley. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Murder by the Seashore

by Samara Yew

Series: California Bookshop Mysteries #1
Series Rating:

Published by Crooked Lane Books on October 17, 2023
Setting: Oceanside, California
Genres: Cozy Mystery
Pages: 256
Format: Hardcover, Kindle
Source: NetGalley
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Get Your Copy at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Nook

Perfect for fans of Jenn McKinlay and Ellery Adams, Scarlett Gardner’s dream was to open a bookshop in Southern California, but it soon becomes a nightmare when she finds the dead body of a customer—and becomes the prime suspect.

Southern California is where dreams come true—or so Scarlett Gardner thought. When she moved there and opened the Palm Trees and Page Turners bookshop, she thought her boyfriend and business partner would be part of the story. When he leaves her for a better job, Scarlett finds herself struggling to keep her new business afloat. That’s not the only thing she has to worry about—she discovers something underneath the pier by her bookshop that she didn’t outline for her life’s story: the dead body of a book-buying customer.

After Scarlett gives a statement to the police, she thinks her life can go back to business as usual. But when a lawyer, representing someone named Lorelai Knight, tells Scarlett that she now stands to inherit a small fortune, she’s left with more questions than answers. Before she can make sense of any of it, the police bring her in for questioning; the body she found was Lorelai Knight. And the evidence they have against Scarlett doesn’t look good. Business is booming as Scarlett returns to Palm Trees and Page Turners, but for all the wrong reasons – curious tourists don’t want books, they want a glimpse of the Bookshop Killer.

Who could really be behind all of this? And why frame Scarlett? To clear her name, she’s going to have to get creative—and hope she can remain one page ahead of the killer.

Murder by the Seashore by Samara Yew has new business owner Scarlett Gardner being thrust into a murder mystery to solve.

Can Scarlett solve this mystery?

Scarlett Gardner

Scarlett Gardner is our sleuth and a new business owner who is trying to run a business all by herself. To be fair, she’s actually doing a pretty good job, especially with the help of her employee, Evelyn. Scarlett lives with her new friend, who also happens to be a lawyer, and the two of them are funny. At first, Scarlett seemed unsure about herself. As the story progressed, she started to grow and proved not only to herself but to her ex-boyfriend that she could run Palm Trees and Page Turners bookshop without him. Scarlett did grow on me the further I read the book, and I just hope in more installments, she gets more confident in herself.

The Mystery

Scarlett Gardner got to work early one day and found Lorelai Knight’s body on the beach under the pier. Of course, at the time, Scarlett had no idea who the body was or why Lorelai was even looking for her. I have to say that this mystery had me going for a bit, but then I realized that there was someone else that seemed suspicious. In the end, I was totally right about who killed Lorelai and actually on the why as well. I do feel bad for Scarlett regarding how she ended up solving two mysteries with one murder suspect.

Four Stars

I am giving Murder by the Seashore by Samara Yew four stars and a recommendation to try it out. Ms. Yew did a good job of sprinkling her clues around and throwing in her red herrings at the right moments.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of Murder by the Seashore by Samara Yew.

Until the next time,

Happy Reading!

About Samara Yew

Samara Yew is a cozy mystery author who writes about adorable bookshops and dead bodies. Her new series is being released with Crooked Lane Books in 2023. A full-time mom, full-time dog servant, and part-time writer, Samara lives in British Columbia, Canada, where she can often be found watching Psych reruns. Samara loves to travel, especially visiting her husband’s home country of Singapore or donning Mickey ears in Disneyland. She’s a member of Sisters in Crime and International Thriller Writers.

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