Book Review: THE BOOK CLUB MURDERS by Leslie Nagel

Synopsis

Charley Carpenter has poured heart and soul into her clothing store, Old Hat Vintage Fashions. She’ll do anything to make it a success—even join the stuffy Agathas Book Club in order to cultivate customers among the wealthy elite of Oakwood, Ohio.

Although mixing with the most influential women in town has its advantages, Charley finds the endless gossip a high price to pay. But after two women with close ties to the Agathas are brutally murdered, everyone falls under threat—and suspicion. When key evidence indicates that both murders are the work of the same hand, Charley realizes that the killer has arranged each corpse in perfect imitation of crime scenes from the Club’s murder mystery reading list. She uses her membership in the Club to convince Detective Marcus Trenault to use her as an inside informant. Not that he could stop her anyway.

Intelligent, fearless, and every bit as stubborn as Marc is, Charley soon learns the Agathas aren’t the only ones with secrets to protect. Passions explode as she and Marc must race against time to prevent another murder. And if Charley’s not careful, she may find herself becoming the killer’s next plot twist.

Review

This was a quick-paced mystery with lots of personalities and red herrings.  The Agatha's of course read mysteries and talk about murder, but now there is a murder and it somehow seems connected to the Book Club.  Now the members of the Agatha's, other than Charley and her BFF Frankie, are not your typical members, but prominent in society and not the nicest of folks.  As the story unwinds and the Agathas keep being implicated, Charley uncovers the seamy underside of her fellow Agatha readers.  Throw in the maybe romance of Marc and Charley, her friend Dmitri, and, well, this book has it all.  Including a steamy scene or two. Once the story got going, I didn't want to put the book down. Unfortunately, it looks like I'll have to wait until next April (2017) for the next in The Oakwood Mystery Series.

FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book in the hopes that I would post an honest review as part of this blog tour. This has not affected the content of my review in any way.

Author Bio

Leslie Nagel is a writer and teacher of writing at a local community college. Her debut novel, “The Book Club Murders”, is the first in the Oakwood Mystery Series. Leslie lives in the all too real city of Oakwood, Ohio, where murders are rare but great stories lie thick on the ground. After the written word, her passions include her husband, her son and daughter, hiking, tennis and strong black coffee, not necessarily in that order.

Author Links

Webpage – http://www.leslienagel.com/
Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/LeslieNagelAuthor/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/@leslie_nagel
Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/leslie_nagel/

Purchase Links

Amazon – B&N – Kobo – Ibooks

New Release: MURDER A LA CHRISTIE (Marilyn Levinson)

Synopsis:
Professor Lexie Driscoll is conducting the first meeting of the Golden Age of Mystery book club in her best friend’s swanky mansion when another friend is murdered. More members are knocked off as Lexie unravels secret after secret, leading her to believe she's living in Christie's novel, And Then There Were None. Using Miss Marple’s knowledge of human nature and Hercule Poirot’s cunning, Lexie reveals the murderer.


Review:
Agatha Christie fan?  Murder a la Christie is set in a small town, with Lexie Driscoll, college professor, visiting old friends and house sitting for the summer as she deals with financial issues.  Because she and others in  Old Cadfield are fans of the tried and true mystery, she is asked to lead a book club and starts with some of the classics of Agatha Christie.  Although not a resident of Old Cadfield  she has met the members of the book club before through her friend Rosie.  She is startled to hear Gerda threaten Sylvia before the first meeting about a book Sylvia has written.  Sylvia dies before the first club meeting is over, and all but Lexie attribute it to Sylvia’s poor health.  Lexie may have been reading too many Agatha Christie murders or not.  She contacts the detective in charge and advises him of her concerns despite the admonitions of her friends.  So now she is not just an outsider, but basically accusing various members of the small community of murder, one at a time, in true Christie fashion.  So who kills first Sylvia, then Gerda and then Anne?  Is the other newcomer to Old Cadfield really interested in Lexie or does Allistair have ulterior motives to romancing her?  Levinson spins a mystery with multiple twists and turns, complex and multi-dimensional characters, and potential romance.  Whether you are an avid Christie fan or not, this is an enjoyable read that keeps you guessing to the end.