A funny start for a new cozy mystery series

Can’t Judge a Book By Its Murder (Main Street Book Club Mysteries 1)

By: Amy Lillard

Rating: 5 of 5

Amy Lillard is a new author to me. I so enjoyed this mystery, I’ve now finished the first book in her Amish mystery series.

This book is not about the Amish. It is set in a small town where everybody knows everyone else’s business.

Arlo Stanley is co-owner of a bookstore and coffeehouse. She is responsible for the books and her business partner, Chloe is in charge of coffee and food.

Arlo is gearing up for a whirlwind weekend as the local boy who left town and made good as an author is going to do a book signing at her store. Instead, he show up dead on the sidewalk in front of the bookstore. As Chloe has had a relationship with him in the past and had seen and talked to him the morning of his death, suspicion falls on her.

Arlo, with the help of her new Book Club (made up of several rather older but feisty ladies) determine they will look for clues and solve the murder. Well, maybe, Arlo isn’t quite on board but she wants to get her favorite customers from getting hurt or worse.

As usual with first books in series, there is a lot of introduction of characters but still the pace moves rapidly.

The dialog is funny and the plot is both interesting and different. I am looking forward to both more in this series and reading the author’s other mystery books.

I was provided a digital advance reader copy of this book by the publisher via Netgalley.