Tag: Bookstore at Holiday Bay

Cozy Mystery, Fiction

Once upon a Mystery by Kathi Daley

CozyRomBooksandCoffee
  • Title: Once upon a Mystery
  • Author: Kathi Daley
  • Series: The Bookstore at Holiday Bay #1
  • Genre: Cozy Mystery
  • Takes Place:  Holiday Bay, Maine
  • Main Character: Lou, Velma
  • Other Characters: Eden, Alex, Hazel
  • Pets: Lou’s Cat Toby
  • Stars: 2

I was really looking forward to this series since I am a fan of her other series, The Inn at Holiday Bay & Bistro at Holiday Bay. Bistro as well as this series is a spinoff of The Inn at Holiday Bay.

I was disappointed in the first book of this series. If you have read The Inn at Holiday Bay then you know that Lou came to Holiday Bay to help out her niece, Vanessa, who owned the local bookstore. Lou is a widow who has been at a loss since her husband passed away. She feels like she no longer has a purpose so when her niece Vanessa offers to sell her bookstore, Lou jumps at the chance. She leaves her life in Minnesota and moves to Maine.

This book had a lot of potential but somehow dropped the ball. There is a death and a mystery surrounding that death but there wasn’t enough suspense surrounding it. The climax was a big letdown.

There also wasn’t enough Character development. The story spent more time on Lou remodeling the bookstore, reflecting on her husband’s passing and the changes in her life that I found myself being a bit bored with the story. There were too many characters, and I really couldn’t connect with any of them. The mystery wasn’t even much of a mystery and it was barely mentioned, except in the beginning and then again at the end. I like a mystery with twists and turns and this one just didn’t have that. I like to finish a book either feeling good and uplifted or have that wow feeling because I never saw it coming, and this one did not deliver.

This is not a series that I am looking forward to seeing where the characters go next. I will probably give book number two a chance, but if it isn’t any better than this one, then I won’t finish this series.

I feel like there have been enough books in Holiday Bay and maybe she should move on.

Happy Reading!