Book Review - A Page Marked for Murder by Lauren Elliott

*Disclaimer: I have been provided this book free of charge by the publisher Kensington Publishing for the sole purpose of reading and reviewing this book for NetGallery.com, along with my YouTube Channel as well as this blog. All reviews are completely my own thoughts and opinions*

This is Book 5 in the Series, so if you have not read the other 4 Books, that is ok - it can stand alone and you can still understand and follow the story, you just might not be as familiar with the main characters in the story.

Addison Greyborn lives in Greyborne Harber, which is a quaint New England Town; (or Addie to her friends) is the owner of a bookstore and is getting ready for the Fire and Ice Event in her local town - its a fun after-Christmas event where they have an ice carving competition and burn the Christmas Trees in a community bondfire and have midnight fireworks!! (Just saying - this sounds like an amazing idea and I would love to see this event happen in my local community!)

Addie has been outside with her assistant Paige, when she literally stumbles over Pippi, her friend Gloria’s little dog! This is a PROBLEM because Gloria doens’t go ANYWHERE without Pippi. Soon, they find Gloria at the festival grounds injured, and before Addie knows it - she is now dog-sitting!!

You can’t have a holiday without some family drama, right?? Paige’s daughter’s father Brett Palmer has re-entered the picture wanting custody and rights to see Emma after walking out on them 4 years before. Umm.......no. On top of that - Martha (Paige’s Mom) ex-husband Ken has re-entered the picture as well, AND they are causing very public scenes which is making things hard on both Martha and Paige. 

Addie goes into work the morning of the Bonfire, and she sees who she thinks is Old Bill (a homeless man in town) huddled up against a heating vent. She goes over to talk to him, BUT.....ITS NOT BILL!! It is Brett Palmer and he is DEAD!!!! 

Let’s Complicate things more shall we?? The Chief of Police is ADDIE’S Ex!!! They have a.....strained relationship at best. Simon, Addie’s currently boyfriend whispers in her ear that she needs to tell Marc what Martha said to her the previous day. After relaying that information, Marc has Jerry pick up Martha, Paige, and Ken to question them about Brett. Poor Paige - things just keep getting worse.

After leaving the scene, Addie takes Pippi to visit Gloria in the hospital and they have a VERY touching reunion. (Insert Hearts and Rainbows Here - LOL)

Gloria tells Addie a little that she can remember about the accident and she tells her that she felt something shake the ladder and someone stand over her making sure she was ok before they ran off! (Insert scary music here...becuase why would someone run off instead of calling for help, and why woudn’t they stay unless they were guilty...)

So Gloria asks Addie to bring her the book on her nightstand - The Secret Garden - that they are reading for book club. Addie knows where it is since she and Martha had been in Gloria’s home right after she was admitted so that they could get things for Gloria and Pippi’s bed, toys, etc... but when she gets there, the book is nowhere to be found! She goes back to the hospital and they search through the whole suitcase that Martha packed and it wasn’t there......

Addie goes to the police station (where Martha and Paige are now being held) and asks to speak with Martha, which of course they cant’ do becuase they are under arrest. Addie BEGS a really...........temperamental former female FBI Agent named Ryley to ask Martha if she picked up the book. When she comes back and relays that it was left in Gloria’s house......Addie informs the police officer that there is now a problem....becuase that book is worth over Twenty Five Thousand Dollars. 

That is ALOT OF MONEY for a book!!!! Do we have a motive now of why Gloria ended up injured??

After basically pleading and begging with Ryley, the police officer makes the decision to check to see if anything is really wrong. She sends out a VERY PREGNANT police officer - with Addie as her “partner” to check on Gloria’s house.

After they do a walk-through of the house, Carolyn, the police officer there doing the investigation, asks Addie if there is ANYTHING that is dffferent than when she was in the house on Friday....and she thinks of something! There was a photo album that she had looked through on Friday and left open on the coffee table....but when she came in that day......it was closed! 

So that evening she makes a list of the information that she has before Simon comes by. He is SO TIRED from work (he is a DR.) that he ends up falling asleep on her couch. The next morning, he gets a phone call from Marc that they have found something in Martha’s Bakery......

Addie drives down but can’t find a parking spot, so she parks farther down from her shop, and she walks up and the sign is OPEN - she is SURE that she turned it to CLOSED before she left the day before....she walks in and Paige is working! Paige is worried that she no longer has a job, to which Addie dispels those nerves ASAP. Paige reveals some very personal information to Addie about her and Brett’s relationship which sends Addie for a spin. 

When Paige broaches the topic of redecorating the windows in a “The Secret Garden” theme, Addie is forced to tell her about the book and its value and right away, Paige says that she is positive that her father, Ken, has stolen it from Gloria’s home!

While Paige is in the back of the store getting things out for the new display, Addie takes a copy of The Secret Garden to Gloria in the hospital, where Gloria proceeds to inform her that the first person on the scene was none other than our murder victim Brett Palmer! Gloria is then informed by Addie everything that has been going on and why Martha hadnt’ been by to see her lately. Gloria is like, well, let’s solve a mystery!! She kinda reminds me of Fred from Schooby Do at this moment! LOL When Addie starts asking questions about who has a key to Gloria’s home and explains why she wants to know, Gloria actually comes up with the same answer as Paige did - that Ken took the first edition book that he had left with her when he left Paige and Martha all those years ago...

So do you want to know who the Murderer is and who took the book, and if the two cases are connected???

Well, make sure to check our A Page Marked for Murder by Lauren Elliott available from Kensington Publishing Available on October 27th!