Ellery Page, aspiring screenwriter, Scrabble champion and guy-with-worst-luck-in-the-world-when-it-comes-to-dating, is ready to make a change. So when he learns he’s inherited both a failing bookstore and a falling-down mansion in the quaint seaside village of Pirate’s Cove on Buck Island, Rhode Island, it’s full steam ahead!
Sure enough, the village is charming, its residents amusingly eccentric, and widowed police chief Jack Carson is decidedly yummy (though probably as straight as he is stern). However, the bookstore is failing, the mansion is falling down, and there’s that little drawback of finding rival bookseller–and head of the unwelcoming-committee–Trevor Maples dead during the annual Buccaneer Days celebration.
Still, it could be worse. And once Police Chief Carson learns Trevor was killed with the cutlass hanging over the door of Ellery’s bookstore, it is.
**This story contains NO on-screen sex or violence.**
[I received a digital arc for a honest review]
Murder at Pirate’s Cove is the first book in Josh Lanyon’s Secrets and Scrabble series. An highly enjoyable cozy mystery that will capture your heart.
Ellery page is starting his life over in a small town after his great-great-great aunt leaves him her old bookshop and run down castle of a house. When a body is found murdered in his shop he ends up as suspect number one. He starts to fear maybe he hasn’t been as accepted into his new town as he thought. He may not read mystery books but his life seems to have turned into one, and he needs to find out the real murderer before it’s too late.
“Sorry. But it can’t all be intuition and Scrabble tiles. Sometimes you have to rely on ordinary policework.”
I absolutely love love love cozy mysteries and this is my first time reading one with a main LGTBQ lead. Ellery was flat out fantastic. A great character who was kind, sarcastic at the wrong times and completely loveable. His crush on the stern Police Chief was cute and I look forward to hopefully a sweet relationship happening between them slowly as the series continues. The mystery itself was entertaining and well planned out, I had my suspicions at the outcome and even though they were right it all wrapped up nicely in the end.
Murder at Pirate’s Cove is a light fun read that is perfect for any lover of cozy mysteries. I plan to continue with the series because I am definitely invested in Ellery’s life now and can’t wait to see where ti goes from here.
OnceUpon_A_BookDream 