“In a charming cozy mystery series debut, Leslie Nagel’s irrepressible small-town heroine finds that her fellow mystery book club members may be taking their Agatha Christie a bit too literally—and murder a bit too lightly.”
Charlie Carpenter runs a vintage clothing store in the town of Oakwood, and in an effort to increase her clientele she became a part of Agathas Book Club. A book club that reads a selection of mystery novels, including of course the works of Dame Agatha Christie. The members are not Charlie’s cup of tea, being composed of privileged ladies who are prone to gossip. When a series of murders take place, Charlie discovers that each crime scene mirrors that of a book on the club’s reading list. She soon becomes a part of the investigation alongside Detective Trenault with whom she has a rocky history with.
This is a cozy little mystery and a nice, light read. The premise is fun and appealing, especially for an Agatha Christie fan. For me there are two key things that made it a must-read; a murder mystery book club, and the Agatha Christie connection. While I typically enjoy fun mysteries such as this, I was not able to get into The Book Club Murders as much as I would have liked. The mystery itself is interesting, however the protagonist comes across as whiny and immature in her attitude. Also, the romantic connection and behaviour along with the internal and external dialogue comes across as quite silly. As a reader it took me out of the story and I was not as invested or as interested in the actual mystery. Overall, a nice read with an interesting concept that ultimately did not match my reading preferences.
*ARC provided by NetGalley. Publication date: September 27, 2016.
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