A Murder at Midnight by Ellie Alexander:

4 stars

If Annie and Fletcher had ever heard of “Sleeping with the Spirits”, they might have been more excited when they received a call about featuring their business, The Secret Bookshelf, on the show. As it is, business being business, they agree…and quickly learn to regret it. All of Redwood Grove is thrilled, but their small town doesn’t have to listen to the cast and crew’s endless bickering. The locals aren’t there to witness the show’s host, Palmer, die dramatically during filming, either. But who murdered the ghosthunter and why?

I’m a newcomer to the Novel Detectives Mystery, and starting with book 4 is less than ideal, but I didn’t feel like I was catching up. A Murder at Midnight, while no doubt richer with series familiarity, held its own as a standalone. Redwood Grove, a Californian coastal town with plenty of cafes and boutiques, is a wonderful setting for a cozy mystery. The cast is believable for a bookshop (Ash the teen, Hardy the young adult, Mary Jane of the darker reads, and Hal the former owner/current co-owner and occupant of the apartment in the same Clue-style house). You can actually run a business with that many staffers.

The police procedures were slightly questionable—opening a business, which was the scene of a crime, the morning after the murder—and Annie’s style of investigating does seem to involve creating a theory based on one or two clues, and then confronting the associated suspect with, “and that’s why you killed them, isn’t it?” I will give her credit, however, for wielding this approach intentionally rather than being fully convinced of her own intuition. It weakens the plot, but does not undermine the story.

In recent years, there have been a fair number of mysteries that don’t invite the reader into the investigation itself by planting clues that create a clear path of deduction. A Murder at Midnight has plenty of red herrings, but it is still a solvable puzzle. I did not guess the conclusion; I overlooked possibilities because certain people annoyed me or seemed more suspicious.

A Murder at Midnight is thoroughly cozy and a fantastic seasonal read, thick with cinnamon rolls and cottages, crows and Halloween fun. It’s less insulated than is typical in the genre, with a TV crew and ghost-hunting show in town that bring some external disruption to this delightful pumpkin-spice world. Ellie Alexander has written a lovely escapade, rich in atmosphere, twists, and with a poignant drop or two.

Thank you to Storm Publishing for the opportunity to read this book. I received a complimentary copy through NetGalley, and I am voluntarily writing this review.