This and That with Karen : Death on the Page by Essie Lang

May 27, 2020

Death on the Page by Essie Lang

Hello my cozy friends,

Today I am reviewing “Death on the Page” the 2nd instalment in the “A Castle Bookshop Mystery” series by Essie Lang.

Thousand Islands bookstore owner Shelby Cox sleuths the slaying of a true-crime writer who may have learned too much about a murder case that should have stayed shut.

There are a thousand stories in New York's scenic Thousand Islands, and Bayside Books co-owner Shelby Cox stocks them all. But lately, the Blye Island bookseller's life is more about investigation than inventory. True-crime writer Savannah Page caps off two successful signings at Bayside Books with a night in Blye Castle. She's there to research Joe Cabana, a colorful Prohibition-era mobster who owned the castle--until he was found dead in the island Grotto.

But crime becomes all too true for Savannah. Her body turns up the next morning, in a secret passage at the bottom of the stairs. The last thing Shelby Cox wants is to sleuth another murder, but she's intrigued about how a killer could have reached the island after hours. She's not at a lack for suspects either. It could have been anyone from Savannah's fiancé, Liam Kennelly, who argued with her the evening before, to island caretaker Matthew Kessler, recently cleared of his wife's murder. Can Shelby keep regular store hours, elude the police chief, and assemble the clues into a hard-bound case without getting permanently shelved?

I love the setting of Alexandria Bay, nestled in upstate New York’s breathtaking Thousand Islands region. I liked the idea of two bookstores and having a book signing, then overnight stay in the castle. But there were several side plots that distracted me from the murder without adding a interest to the story. I am hoping the characters will be developed more as the series progresses.

I enjoyed this one more than the first book in the series, and I look forward to the next instalment to see where it goes.