Under the Cover of Murder by Lauren Elliott

Under the Cover of Murder

Book Summary

Under the Cover of Murder by Lauren Elliott has Addie Greyborne as the maid-of-honor for Serena Chandler who is marrying Zach Ludlow.  Serena is ready to call off the wedding thanks to Zach’s dragon of a stepmother who has changed every plan the happy couple made for their nuptials.  The vows will now be exchanged on a luxury yacht and their intimate ceremony flew away with the seagulls.  The one upside is Addie gets to spend the night after the ceremony is a luxurious stateroom.  The day of the ceremony the chief of police visits Addie to see if she recognizes a man found dead on the beach with only a piece of a torn book page on him.  Unable to assist, Addie returns to calming down the bride and getting her down the aisle.  The morning after the ceremony, Addie is enjoying breakfast on the yacht with her friends when Chief Marc Chandler arrives.  A body has washed up on the beach and everyone on board is a suspect.  While the police are conducting their questioning, Addie browses the yachts library that contains valuable first editions.  She finds a clue inside a rare Agatha Christie that may help lead them guilty party.

My Thoughts

Under the Cover of Murder by Lauren Elliott is the 6^th A Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery.  This is not a standalone novel. A new reader will not know the various characters and their relationships.  While I enjoy the setting of Greyborne Harbor, you can only have so many murders in one small town.  I like that we get a change of venue in this book plus it is a good way to keep all the parties in one place.  I enjoyed the vivid descriptions of the opulent yacht plus the clothing of the wedding party and the fantastic library. 

The whodunit was interesting with multiple suspects and misdirection.  I like how books were incorporated into the whodunit.  I was, though, able to identify the killer before the wedding took place (my mother says that I have read too many mysteries). The why took longer to find out.  I must admit that I was happy to see the second victim get offed (I found this character to be annoying).  Unfortunately, we are still stuck with Addie’s cousin, Kalea.  You must extend your disbelief a little with Addie’s investigating.  Addie does things she would not get away with in the real world, but it works in the story.  I like how Catherine and Paige help Addie with the investigation as well as the murder board.  The ladies uncover some surprising information.  There is repetition of the case details when Addie shares with friends and police plus with Addie rehashing the information in her head (she gets to reviewing the case details in her head and forgets the world around her).  I did not enjoy the amount of romance in the book plus I am not a fan of Addie’s relationship with Simon.  Their relationship feels syrupy (best word I can think of to use).  I prefer Addie with Marc.  They seem to have a better connection.  It seems that Marc understands Addie and he definitely cares for her.  Readers of the series will enjoy this new addition.  Under the Cover of Murder is a cute cozy mystery with wedding woes, shoe suffering, a difficult detective, surprising secrets, luxurious lodgings, and curious clues.  

Under the Cover of Murder can be obtained from Amazon*.  You can find the other novels in A Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery series here.  To Tome of Murder is the 7th A Beyond the Page Bookstore Mystery and it will release on October 26.  Thank you for reading my review today.  The Shipyard Girls on the Home Front by Nancy Revell is being featured tomorrow.  It is the 10th novel in The Shipyard Girls Series.  I hope that you have a blissful day.  Take care, be kind, and Happy Reading!

Kris

The Avid Reader 

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