Friday, October 22, 2021

Great Escapes Blog Tour, Review, and Giveaway: Once Upon a Seaside Murder by Maggie Blackburn

 

Today I’m participating in the Once Upon a Seaside Murder Great Escapes Blog Tour. In this post you’ll find information about the book and author along with my review. And be sure to enter the giveaway contest via the link further below for a chance to win a prize package.


About the book . . .

 

Once Upon a Seaside Murder (A Beach Reads Mystery)

 Cozy Mystery
2nd in Series
Setting – Brigid’s Island, NC
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Crooked Lane Books (October 12, 2021)
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 336 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1643858327
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1643858326
Digital ASIN ‏ : ‎ B08TV4GK2C


Synopsis . . . As the holidays approach, bookstore owner Summer Merriweather learns a dark secret in this second volume of Maggie Blackburn’s Beach Reads mystery series.

There’s no place like home for the holidays, even if home is sleepy, beachside Brigid’s Island, NC. During this season for giving, the town wakes up to a welcome throng of shoppers–and Beach Reads is no exception. But bookseller Summer Merriweather’s Christmas cheer turns to cringing fear when she uncovers a deadly secret about her late mother–a secret someone will kill to keep.

When the local library hosts a cozy mystery panel discussion, Summer learns that one of the authors on the panel based her book on an actual murder that shook Brigid’s Island thirty-five years before. Worse, she soon learns that her dearly missed mother, Hildy, took a disturbingly deep interest in the case, going so far as to collect clippings and keep a journal of the dark doings. This doesn’t jibe with Summer’s memories of her usually cheery mother at all.

Tidings get worse when Summer learns of her long-lost biological family’s involvement in the crime…and still worse when the life of the book’s author is threatened. With the help of Hildy’s plucky book club, Summer puts her scholarly smarts to work on protecting the cozy author and solving the decades-old murder.

But this ghost from Christmas past may still be deadly in the present, and if she can’t find the killer, Summer’s future will be brief.

 

My review . . . In the months since her mother's death, Summer Merriweather has devoted her energy to the day-to-day operations at Beach Reads, Hildy's beloved boardwalk bookstore. When not at the store, Summer is becoming newly acquainted with the Bellamysthe relatives of the father she never knew or met. 

In preparation for the holiday buying rush, Summer coordinates a cozy mystery panel at the local library, which generates a high level of interest for one book in particulara novel based on a decades-old unsolved local murder. When the book's author vanishes without a trace after the panel, Summer is compelled to find her. Is Mimi Sinclair's disappearance linked to the novel she wrote about the cold case? And why did Hildy have an obsession with the details of the murder all those years ago?

With the help of her mother's family and members of the bookstore's Mermaid Pie Book Club, Summer sets out to find the missing author. Her investigation uncovers long-buried secretssome of which are too close for comfort. Can Summer make sense of recent strange events and past wrongs before further calamity befalls her and the Brigid's Island community?

This second installment in the Beach Reads mystery series is a welcome return to the North Carolina beach community and its lively characters. In addition to presenting a new mystery to solve, Once Upon a Seaside Murder expands protagonist Summer Merriweather's character to include developments that affect her identity, romantic possibilities, and career choicesall of which build interest in the series going forward.

 

About the author . . . 


Maggie Blackburn is the pen name of Mollie Cox Bryan. She writes cozy mysteries with edge. She’s the author of several bestselling mystery series. She’s recently released a novella mystery series: The Victoria Town Mysteries. Her book, Goodnight Moo, has been shortlisted for a Fresh Fiction Reader’s Choice Award. Her books have been selected as finalists for an Agatha Award and a Daphne du Maurier Award and as a Top 10 Beach Reads by Woman’s World. She makes her home at the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in the Shenandoah Valley, Va. 

 

Author links . . . 

Website: http://www.molliecoxbryan.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/molliecoxbryanauthor/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/molliecoxbryan

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/molliebryan/

 

Purchase links . . .

 Amazon      B&N     Kobo     IndieBound 

 

Giveaway . . . Enter for a chance to win a prize package including a signed copy of the book and self-care products (a candle, bubble bath, and chocolates) by clicking on this link.



 


Tour participants . . .

October 14 – I’m All About Books – SPOTLIGHT

October 14 – Novels Alive – GUEST POST

October 14 – #BRVL Book Review Virginia Lee Blog – SPOTLIGHT

October 15 – View from the Birdhouse – REVIEW

October 15 – Literary Gold – CHARACTER GUEST POST

October 15 – Sapphyria’s Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

October 16 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

October 16 – Books a Plenty Book Reviews – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST

October 16 – Maureen’s Musings – SPOTLIGHT

October 17 – Nellie’s Book Nook – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW

October 17 – Satisfaction for Insatiable Readers – SPOTLIGHT

October 18 – Socrates Book Reviews – SPOTLIGHT

October 18 – I Read What You Write – SPOTLIGHT WITH RECIPE

October 19 – FUONLYKNEW – SPOTLIGHT

October 19 – The Book Diva’s Reads – GUEST POST

October 20 – Ascroft, eh? – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

October 20 – Christy’s Cozy Corners – AUTHOR INTERVIEW  

October 21 – Mysteries with Character – GUEST POST

October 21 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW

October 21 – Baroness Book Trove – CHARACTER INTERVIEW

October 21 – Hearts & Scribbles – SPOTLIGHT

October 22 – Book Club Librarian – REVIEW

October 22 – Novels Alive – REVIEW

October 22 – Angel’s Guilty Pleasures – SPOTLIGHT

October 23 – BookishKelly2020 – SPOTLIGHT

October 23 – Brooke Blogs – SPOTLIGHT

 

 

 

 

Note . . . I received a complimentary copy of Once Upon a Seaside Murder from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.




 


This Blog Tour post was originally composed and/or compiled and published by Catherine for the Book Club Librarian blog.  It cannot be republished without attribution.

2 comments:

  1. I didn't love the first one so I held off on getting the second books but it sounds like I need to pick this one up!

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