I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from . This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Staging is Murder
by Grace Topping
Series: Laura Bishop Mystery #1
Series Rating:
Published by Henery Press on April 30, 2019
Genres: Cozy Crafts and Hobbies Mystery
Pages: 262
Format: Kindle
Goodreads
BookBub
Get Your Copy at: Amazon, Book Depository, Barnes & Noble, Kobo
Also in this series: Staging Wars
Laura Bishop just nabbed her first decorating commission—staging for sale a 19th century mansion that hasn’t been updated for decades. But when a body falls from a laundry chute and lands at Laura’s feet, removing flowered wallpaper becomes the least of her duties.
To clear her young assistant of the murder and save her fledgling business, Laura’s determined to find the killer. Turns out it’s not as easy as renovating a manor home, especially with two handsome men complicating her mission: the police detective assigned to the case and the real estate agent trying to save the manse from foreclosure.
Worse still, the meddling of a horoscope-guided friend, a determined grandmother, and the local funeral director could get them all killed before Laura props the first pillow.
It’s raining bodies! Oh, just one body but still!
Staging is Murder by Grace Topping is a fun mystery with a reluctant amateur detective. This book is a wonderful start to a new series. I can’t wait to see what Laura and Nita get into next.
The reluctant sleuth, Laura Bishop
Laura Bishop really doesn’t want to investigate a client’s murder, but she wants to help out her friend Tyrone who is accused of the murder. She promised his Grandmother that she would clear his name. Laura really doesn’t know what she is doing, she has read many mysteries, but she doesn’t remember how the sleuths figured it out.
What I like about Laura is even though she doesn’t feel courageous she is. She stands by her word which I feel like not many people do anymore. The one thing that bothered me about Laura is she is holding on the negative opinions of her dead family members. She needs to embrace the positive aspect of her new life and live the way she wants to live.
Nita Martino
Nita is that crazy friend that pushes us to do the insane things that we never think we can do. I love Nita and her large, loud Italian-American family. They give Laura the support that she needs, with a side of teasing, picking and lots of food. Nita and her husband seem to feed everyone that enters their home. Which is most likely due to them being recent empty nesters.
Nita’s character gives the story the humor and warmth that is needed to keep Laura grounded and moving forward, not only with her looking for clues but also to provide Laura with the confidence to be the Staging professional that she wants to be.
Mystery
The mystery is kind of funny and yet the clues are laid out well, with plenty of suspects and red herrings to throw us off. I enjoyed the small-town atmosphere and how the characters all went to school together. Which made it even harder to figure out who would have wanted to kill Victoria Denton as the list was relatively long. The victim was not a nice person.
4 Stars for Staging is Murder by Grace Topping
My rating for Staging is Murder by Grace Topping is four stars. The story is charming with references to many great detectives. I enjoyed this book and looked forward to the next one in this new series. I recommend it to all the cozy mystery readers out there.
Tour Schedule
April 25 – The Power of Words – REVIEW
April 25 – Readeropolis – SPOTLIGHT
April 26 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW
April 26 – Literary Gold – SPOTLIGHT
April 27 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
April 28 – Cozy Up With Kathy – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
April 28 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT
April 29 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT
Part Two
May 6 – Brooke Blogs – GUEST POST
May 6 – Laura’s Interests – SPOTLIGHT
May 7 – Ruff Drafts – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
May 8 – Baroness’ Book Trove – REVIEW
May 8 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – CHARACTER GUEST POST
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May 10 – Teresa Trent Author Site – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
May 11 – The Book Decoder – REVIEW
May 11 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
May 12 – A Blue Million Books – GUEST POST
May 13 – That’s What She’s Reading – CHARACTER GUEST POST
May 14 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
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About Grace Topping
Grace Topping is a recovering technical writer and IT project manager, accustomed to writing lean, boring documents. Let loose to write fiction, she is now creating murder mysteries and killing off characters who remind her of some of the people she dealt with during her career. Fictional revenge is sweet. She’s using her experience helping friends stage their homes as inspiration for her Laura Bishop mystery series. The first book in the series, Staging is Murder, is about a woman starting a new career midlife as a home stager. Grace is the current vice president of the Chesapeake Chapter of Sisters in Crime, and a member of the SINC Guppies and Mystery Writers of America. She lives with her husband in Northern Virginia.
Reading this book contributed to these challenges:
- 2019 Cloak and Dagger
- 2019 Craving For Cozies Reading Challenge
- 2019 Cruisin' Thru The Cozies Reading Challenge
- 2019 Goodreads Reading Challenge
- 2019 New Release Challenge
Thank you, Baroness Karen, for the lovely review. I’m so pleased that you enjoyed my first book and appreciate the review.