Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop

By: Emmeline Duncan

Narrated by: Emily Durante

Normally, spooky season is Bailey Briggs's favorite time of year, and her Halloween-themed small town's time to shine. But between managing Lazy Bones Books, working on her graphic novel-in-progress, and running the Spooky Season Literary Festival, Bailey hardly has a moment to enjoy Elyan Hollow's spot-on seasonal vibes. Not to mention, at every turn she seems to be tripping over the contentious crew of Gone Ghouls, a ghost-hunting reality TV show currently filming around town. Bailey tries to stay focused on the Lit Festival, which is supposed to kick off Elyan Hollow's annual Halloween Fair; instead, this year's festival begins with a murder . . .

It's bad enough Bailey discovered the victim, but now, as a lead suspect with some (admittedly) damning evidence pointing her way, she's got to clear her name! With the help of her librarian friend, Colby, and Jack Skeleton, her world-class bookshop dog (and the absolute bestest boy ever), Bailey sets out to solve a murder . . .

As her investigation weaves through family secrets, professional rivalries, and town feuds, the list of suspects is growing fast . . . and unfortunately, so is the list of victims. If Bailey doesn't find the killer soon, Elyan Hollow's haunted reputation will get a little too real . . .

©2024 Kelly Garrett (P)2024 Tantor

5 stars

Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop is an entertaining cozy mystery with engaging characters and an entertaining plot. I look forward to the next book.

The Plot Thins

The idea was cute but the execution was scattered and unrealistic. The characters react like they’re in a cartoon. It lacks nuance, big questions are revealed without any effort being made by the protagonists and delivered without any emotion. This might be a good book for an extremely young reader. The narration didn’t help.

Happy murder story

I've never read a cozy mystery, but I think I found a new genre. It was an easy, lovely read. I will actively seek out more from this author.

This Is A Perfect Halloween Themed Cozy Mystery!

This is the perfect Halloween Themed Cozy mystery! Most Halloween themed mysteries happen after Halloween... There is a murder on Halloween, and the books then go on with the investigation afterwards.

In this cozy mystery book everything happens before Halloween, and it takes place in the town of Elyan Hallow , which became famous by a movie filmed there, and it has a year-round Halloween theme. Even the stores have appropriate names like BOOrito...

The lovable protagonist is Bailey Briggs, who owns a bookstore called Lazy Bones, and she has an also lovable dog called Jack.

The characters in this series are all likeable (well...not everyone) and very quirky, plus the small town atmosphere really does create a cozy feel throughout the book. Of course there is a murder, and Bailey must investigate...fortunately the police are not obnoxious to Bailey, so she investigates along with her BFF Colby.

The ending came as a surprise, and it was nice to read that Bailey was not in danger as she unveiled the culprit.

This book is is narrated by Emily Durante, who has a great voice, and she acts out all the parts beautifully. I only give her a 4 star rating because she constantly speaks the word LIBRARY/LIBRARIAN as "LIBARY" or "LIBARIAN". She also speaks words in Spanish well, except for the word POLLO (Chicken), which she incorrectly pronounces it POLO (like the sport).

I became addicted to the story and characters, so now i am listening to the second book in this series.

I hope you will really like this book and future ones in the series.

Great story

Fun and not easily solved mystery. I hate guessing too early. The narrator was fantastic as well. Was all around a great listen!