Publication: 29th January 2026 – One More Chapter
Nothing is deadlier than angry readers… especially when you murder one of their own.
When the manager of The Quaint Bookshop is found slumped between the shelves, the four members of the shop’s reading group decide to put into action all the skills they’ve picked up from their favourite fictional detectives.
If anyone knows how to solve a killer of a crime, it’s a team of murder-mystery superfans. The police might be investigating but the reading group are on the case…
A cozy murder mystery set in a bookshop will attract all kinds of readers and it certainly kept my attention: a murder, a group of amateur detectives, and many secrets to uncover.
The Quaint Bookshop is a safe place for many people, especially for the retired professor Stone, the housewife Bella Bourton, the out-of-work actor Harrison Fforde, and the aspiring writer Lauren Sherwood, who hold their own bookclub every week. When the manager of the bookshop, Felicity Penman, is found murdered after one of their meetings, the group decides to investigate on their own, especially since the police are convinced that the killer is one of them.
Murder by the Book is an entertaining and intriguing read. There is a cast of likable characters, all from a different background, with different stories and personalities, but also with secrets to hide, and each chapter is told from the perspective of each character. There are mysterious letters, lots of references to classic detective fiction, an hostile detective who doesn’t appreciate the interference of a group of bookworms, and an interesting mystery to solve. The pace was a bit slow, but, overall, Murder by the Book is an engaging and compelling novel, the first of a series that will see a group of determined and promising sleuths at work.
A huge thank you to One More Chapter and NetGalley for providing me with a proof of this novel.
Michael abandoned a successful career as a newspaper editor to write fiction. As an author, he completed Desmond Bagley’s thriller Domino Island for posthumous publication and has written two sequels, Outback and Thin Ice, both published by HarperCollins. His debut play Rasputin’s Mother won the Bristol Old Vic playwriting competition and subsequent work for the stage includes The Seagull Has Landed (Power Plays festival winner), MacHamLear (UK tour), Reality (Royal & Derngate) and the book and lyrics for Tess – The Musical (workshopped at the RSC). He has written narrative non-fiction for worldwide television, had short stories and poetry commissioned and published, and contributes regular essays for theatre programmes.
Facebook: Michael Davies – Author
BlueSky: @mrgdavies.bsky.social
Book After Book 