*I was given an ARC of Spellbound by Murder in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and Stacie Ramey for my copy of the book*
Synopsis:
When her grandmother suffers a nasty fall and asks for help managing the family business, coffee-addicted single mother Veronica Blackthorne moves her sixteen-year-old romcom-obsessed daughter to Mystic Hollow, Connecticut. Veronica is ecstatic to return to New England but when she arrives, she quickly finds out that Mystic Hollow Books, her grandmother’s pride and joy, needs more than a little TLC.
Hoping to save the bookstore from a big box rival, Veronica enlists her sometimes-mentor and sometimes-crush Adam Whitford, a controversial but popular author, as the keynote speaker to kick off a literary festival that will hopefully bring in a new wave of customers. But when Adam turns up dead, all that romantic potential turns into a nightmare as Veronica becomes the prime suspect in his murder.
As the local sheriff investigates his murder, Veronica decides to take matters into her own hands to solve the case and clear her name. With the bookstore’s future on the line, the stakes couldn’t be higher. Until her gran reveals the biggest secret of all–the bookstore is magical and it was a botched love spell that led to this entire mess.
Review:
After reading the first few pages I could tell this book is yet another author attempting to recreate the Lorelai and Rory dynamic in a book. What is it with cosy fantasy mysteries trying to do this? The Myrtlewood Mystery series is the same and it honestly just makes the dialogue feel disjointed and cringeworthy.
Speaking of cringeworthy, Veronica is next level. She legitimately says “that’s clutch” at one point. This dialogue was also teeth clenching cringeworthy “the soft green landscape which sets the stage for the real star of the show—the leaves. “Talk about your fall foliage,” I gush. “Orange, and red, and brown and yellow—hey, those fall themed M&Ms really didn’t do this scene justice. Didn’t they only have brown and red and orange? Sad.” “Yes. It’s surprising that those all-natural candy-coated chocolates do not accurately reflect nature.”
There’s also this absolute whopper from her “Everything is black. My sight is gone. I am blind. Then I realize I’ve closed my eyes.” there’s trying to write a quirky character and then there’s whatever this is.
Here’s everything that I think is a Gilmore Girls reference (before I got bored of keeping track):
- We stop at the town’s only red light which Gran said they put in last year, despite the pushback from many of the Mystic Hollow residents. – who remembers this episode of Gilmore Girls?
- “Well, it was a preschool at one point. I think. Or a bike shop. Real estate office? I don’t remember, but it’s shaped like a barn and she throws the doors open sometimes so you can feel the air as you yoga.” – a clear reference to the barn in Gilmore Girls where Miss Patty does dance classes
- Waited on by the owner, Lynn, who is a woman in her seventies with a white bun on her head and a sweet smile. – did someone say Weston’s?
- glance at the fliers from the Candy Shoppe. “I hate when people spell words using Old English,” I say. “It’s pretentious.” – Taylor’s soda shoppe reference
They also live near Hartford and Veronica’s mother is harsh and controlling. Sound familiar?
Also, this book makes two references to a certain book series about a wizard boy, which feels extremely tone deaf in 2026. If this wasn’t a DNF anyway, I would have been deducting half stars every time it’s mentioned.
I think you can include references to other media in your book without making it the whole point of the book. The ones above are just the few I noticed while reading only six chapters.
I definitely read the synopsis before receiving this ARC but I don’t remember it giving away so much of the plot? It literally tells you the twist and the reason for it. No wonder Spellbound by Murder felt so underwhelming, you had nothing new to learn.
I tried to give Spellbound by Murder a fair chance as I love to champion indie authors but the Gilmore Girls and Charmed references were extremely on the nose. The characters reference “the power of three” and there’s even a description of a magical book that says “like the book from Charmed”. Come on. That’s ridiculous.
This review is a little all over the place but that matches the vibe of Spellbound by Murder perfectly. I think I need to stay away from cosy urban fantasies as they don’t seem to be my cup of tea.
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