Murder by the Month (Lantern & Quill Bookshop, #1)

Charlie Vale expected to inherit a crooked little bookshop. She did not expect to inherit a murder plot.

When Charlotte "Charlie" Vale takes over The Lantern & Quill, she gets her late aunt Wren's temperamental shop cat, several thousand books filed by a system no one else understands, and a beloved local the Mystery by the Month club, which has delivered hand-wrapped novels to Bramblewick's most devoted readers for years.

Then Charlie notices something strange. Each of Wren's old selections quietly echoes a real crime from the town's past—a vanished church chalice, a sabotaged greenhouse, a burglary everyone agreed to forget. And when retired sergeant Elias Bell is found dead inside the historical society's locked map room, an advance copy of the club's next book lies open beside him, its pages describing his death almost exactly.

Someone has stopped remembering Bramblewick's crimes and started rewriting them—with the last book on Wren's list pointing toward a second victim. To stop the killer before the final chapter, Charlie must learn to read her aunt's shelves the way Wren as a hidden record of everything this village would rather forget.

The Lantern & Quill Mysteries, Book One. A traditional, fair-play cozy for readers who love bookshops, small-town secrets, and a village with a long memory.

Perfect for fans of Kate Carlisle's Bibliophile Mysteries, Jenn McKinlay's Library Lover's Mysteries, and Ellery Adams's Book Retreat Mysteries.