Book Review | ARC Review | Murder by the Seashore by Samara Yew | CONTAINS SPOILERS

Murder by the Seashore

Perfect for fans of Jenn McKinlay and Ellery Adams, Scarlett Gardner’s dream was to open a bookshop in Southern California, but it soon becomes a nightmare when she finds the dead body of a customer—and becomes the prime suspect.

Southern California is where dreams come true—or so Scarlett Gardner thought. When she came out and opened the Palm Trees and Page Turners bookshop, she thought her boyfriend and business partner would be part of the story. When he leaves her for a better job, Scarlett finds herself struggling to keep her new business afloat. That’s not the only thing she has to worry about—she discovers something underneath the pier by her bookstore that she didn’t outline for her life’s story: the dead body of a book-buying customer.

After Scarlett gives a statement to the police, she thinks her life can go back to business as usual. But when a lawyer, representing someone named Lorelai Knight, tells her that Scarlett now stands to inherit a small fortune, Scarlett is left with more questions than answers. Before she can think about any of it, the police bring her in for questioning; the body she found was Lorelai Knight. And the evidence they have against Scarlett doesn’t look good—not only does she have a motive because of her inheritance, but a bottle of the same poison found in Lorelai’s system was discovered near the bookshop. Business is booming as Scarlett returns to the bookshop, but for all the wrong reasons – they want to question the last known suspect of the murder.

Who could really be behind all of this? And why frame Scarlett? To clear her name, she’s going to have get creative—and hope she can remain one page ahead of the killer.

Characters

• Scarlett – main character, owns Palm and Page bookstore
• Lorelai Knight – murder victim
• Lucia – Scarlett’s roommate and a lawyer in town
• Martin – Lucia’s coworker, rival lawyer
• Conner – Scarlett’s ex, had opened the store with her but then left her to go work at a startup
• Evelyn – works at the bookstore with Scarlett, married to a detective
• Detective Marshall – Evelyn’s husband
• Olivia – Scarlett’s sister
• Haruki – Scarlett’s friend that works at a local sushi shop
• Autumn – college student looking to work in the bookshop for the summer

My Review

I love a book about books – this is a coastal town with the main character own a book store. I loved the idea of the Date Night with a Book where she wraps the books up and just puts a few comments about what the book is about so it’s a surprise for the reader. Our library near our house did this and it was fun!

I think the author could have cozied it up with a little more book shop vibes. I also don’t think that the characters gave off enough to get attached to them, except Conner, he’s a butthead.

The book was a lovely cozy, especially since I got to read it while being close to the coast. There was nothing, though, that really stood out to me. It’s a solid 3 star book. The narrator did a fine job as well.

Thanks NetGalley and DreamScape Media for the ARC audiobook.