Prologue to Murder by Lauren Elliott
Book #2: Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery Series
Source: Purchase
Rating: 3/5 stars

Just like in music, television, and sports, the sophomore slump is a real thing!

In round two of the Addie Greyborne Beyond the Page Bookstore series, Addie is once again faced with a crime she gets sucked into and a slew of gossip and rumors that threaten to shut down her livelihood!

With a lightness in her heart, Addie walks into work one morning only to find the local gossip column has smeared Addie’s name and business to no end. Addie is used to this type of behavior from her next-door neighbor, Martha, but the gossip column is a new type of attack and Addie has no idea where the new threat is coming from. Unfortunately, Addie’s suspicions are quickly peaked when she meets Lacey, the police chief’s ex and newest member of the local newspaper staff. Lacey is a snake on legs, and she makes no secret of contempt for Addie.

Though Addie can’t prove Lacey is behind the “news” column, she can make a start on disproving everything reported. Topping the list is disproving the accusation that Addie had anything to do with the death of Greyborne Harbor’s beloved local librarian, June. Proving her innocence and preserving her reputation is going to be crazy difficult which leads Addie to once again utilizing her murder board. As she begins to add questions, clues, and suspects to the board, Addie finds that the investigation is taking her down a quite unexpected path.

Librarian June was also a local historian and author whose work focused on the lives and legends of the early history of Greyborne Harbor. Through the course of her work, June was able to establish that the now cozy village was once a pirate haven which has spawned legends about still-buried treasure. In fact, June’s research was thorough she even marked the locations of the supposed buried treasures on a map of the village. It doesn’t take long to figure out that someone is after the buried treasure and is more than willing to kill for the find of a lifetime.

In between solving the latest crime and salvaging her reputation, Addie also has the added complication of being the third member of a love triangle. What a mess! Though Addie doesn’t feel she’s ready to move one following the death of her fiancé, she can’t deny her feelings for both Marc and Simon. There are no good choices and Addie feels torn at every level and after nearly every encounter. If Addie’s life could get any more complicated, well that would just be awesome 😊

The Bottom Line: This book really fell into the sophomore slump for me and it has everything to do with the plot. Outside of Johnny Depp, I really don’t care for pirates or pirate stories ☹ Outside of the pirates, I liked the rest of the story including the newly established love/friendship triangle between Addie, Marc, and Simon, the whole gossip column fiasco, and the Lacey situation. Lauren Elliott has a knack for writing truly unlikeable characters and I like that, a lot! Thankfully, the pacing of this story was fast enough that I got through this pirate-infested read quickly and was able to move on to the much more enjoyable book three! ( )

Addie Greystone owns a bookstore in Greystone Harbor. The residents of the town are not enthused by Addie's lineage so when the town librarian is found murdered shortly after visiting the bookstore, word around town has Addie as the villain. At the same time, Addie's new beau, Marc, the chief of police, has been seen with his ex-fiancée. Digging into the activities of the victim, Addie discovers that her past may be the reason for her demise.

The new characters don't really add to the likability of the store. I hope they don't hang around. Love triangles/rectangles aren't really necessary for a good cozy aand detract from the development of the main characters. ( )

Addie Greystone owns a bookstore in Greystone Harbor, named after her family. When the body of town librarian June Winslow is discovered, thanks to the local gossip column, everyone thinks Addie had something to do with it and are now shunning her. She also discovers that police chief Marc, whom Addie has just started seeing, has been visited by his old flame, Lacey Davenport. It doesn't help when Marc's sister wants Addie to back off and let Lacey have him, even though Marc assures her they're done; or that new doctor Simon has shown up and is interested in Lacey himself.

Then June's daughter visited Addie at the bookstore, giving her a box of her mother's things that contain an old treasure map. Addie's convinced that this is the reason June was murdered, and convinces Marc that this is the reason June was killed. Even if he disbelieves it, he wants to stay close to Addie, since Simon is going along with her theories. So the three set out to discover the truth, but someone wants her out of it for good...

This is the second book in the series, and I have to say that it greatly disappointed me. While I might have been interested in the mystery, two things that I absolutely detest occurred to stop it: the entrance of the 'evil nemesis,' in the form of Lacey; and the beginning of a love triangle. I absolutely abhor these things, and from what I can tell of future books, it doesn't get any better. I've quit reading other series because of this. There was no reason to bring in Simon, except to cause tension. I did like Marc; not so much Simon; and unfortunately, this will be my last book in the series. I'm not interested enough to continue because so much time is taken up with the 'will-she-or-won't-she' angle. Let me put it this way: if it were one man stringing along two women, people would think he's a dog, or worse. But for some reason it's fine if a female character does it? No thank you. Not for me.

Because of this, I couldn't even get into the mystery, due to the fact that every time something happened, one or the other would show up, and then the second man would show up right afterward. Good way to ruin the mystery angle. Things like this actually dull my enjoyment of a book.

At any rate, when the ending comes and the murderer is revealed, it didn't really interest me anymore, and I didn't care about the reason why June was killed. Sorry to say it, but it is what it is. ( )

My Rating: 3.5 Stars

Addie Greyborne finds herself dead smack in the middle of a gossip column when a "Miss Newsy" points the finger at her after the town's librarian, June Winslow, disappears after a book club meeting. Shockingly, soon after Ms. Winslow is found dead. It is actually a blessing that Addie is involved with the police chief, Marc, or else she just might be in more hot water than she already is.

The gossip has hurt her and her business. Meanwhile a reporter breezes into town. This reporter seems dead set on creating problems for Addie right from the outset. Addie really wants two things: to find Ms. Winslow's murderer, and for business to pick back up. Her skills as a keen researcher come in handy as never before.

Addie begins digging deep and clues lead her to a book June once published. However, the deeper she digs, the more danger she finds herself into. Before moving to the small town, Addie worked for the Boston Public Library and was an exceptional researcher. It is these very skills that will help her now.

I read the first book in this series, Murder by the Book,and enjoyed it a bit better. This read was pleasant, but there were some conflicts that I felt got in the way of the story. Nonetheless, I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Murder in the First Edition, when it is released in September.

Many thanks to Kensington and to NetGalley for this ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion. ( )

Addie is scurrying about in this second installment, chasing down leads to find a murderer, dealing with a gossip columnist's unsavory comments about her in the newspaper, and coming to grips with a mean-spirited reporter who just happens to be Marc's former girlfriend. Addie begins to wonder if she is more attracted to Marc, Chief of Police, or Simon, the new doctor in town. Throw in a rumor about a pirate's hidden treasure, one that may be buried somewhere in the town, you'll know why there's never a dull moment in this tale. ( )