Book Review (and a Giveaway!): A Book Club to Die For by Dorothy St. James

A BOOK CLUB TO DIE FOR by Dorothy St. James
SERIES: Beloved Bookroom Mystery #3
GENRE: Cozy Mystery
PUBLISHER: Berkley
RELEASE DATE: November 1, 2022
PAGES: 300

When a member of an exclusive book club is checked out, spunky librarian Trudell Becket must sort fact from fiction to solve the murder.

The Cypress Arete Society is one of the town’s oldest and most exclusive clubs. When assistant librarian Trudell Becket is invited to speak to the group about the library, its modernization, and her efforts to bring printed books to the reading public, her friend Flossie invites herself along. Flossie has been on the book club’s waiting list for five years, and she’s determined to find out why she’s never received an invitation to join.

But not long after Tru and Flossie arrive for the meeting, they’re shocked to find the club’s president, Rebecca White, dead in the kitchen. Rebecca was a former TV actress and local celebrity, but was not known for being patient or pleasant. She’d been particularly unkind to the book club’s host for the evening, who also happens to be the mother of Detective Jace Bailey, Tru’s boyfriend. And Rebecca had made it clear that she didn’t think Flossie was book club material.

With her boyfriend and one of her best friends wrapped up in a murder, Tru has to work fast to figure out who cut Rebecca’s story short before the killer takes another victim out of circulation….

Other Books In This Series

Let me just start out by saying that if you haven’t started reading this Beloved Bookroom Mystery series, you need to correct that as soon as possible. It’s one of my current faves, and I’m delighted every time a new one releases.

In A Book Club to Die For, we have my favorite story yet.

“What we had on our hands was a murder that could rival the best locked-room mysteries of classic literature.”

Oh indeed, Tru. A highbrow book club meeting ends before it begins, thanks to the death of its much disliked (but also much revered) leader… in a room that supposedly no one else was in. With Tru’s boyfriend Jace’s mother Hazel the prime suspect, and Tru’s friend Flossie a close runner-up, the stakes are high for Tru to solve the case in A Book Club to Die For. All while trying to keep her secret bookworm a secret from the head librarian, dodge the new robot librarian that has a penchant for attacking unsuspecting patrons & librarians, and find her suddenly-missing father. Whew! There’s a lot going on in this book, and every last word is highly entertaining and engaging. The mystery is really cleverly woven, and I didn’t figure it out until it was being revealed in front of my eyes.

I’ve said it before, I think, but Tru is such a great series protagonist. She’s an avid reader and lover of books (so we readers instantly identify with her) as well as a librarian who started a secret bookroom in the basement of the library after the city turned it high-tech and tossed out all the physical copies (which she rescued, thank you very much). She also has a gaggle of smart, savvy, and lovable friends with entertaining quirks, a very intuitive cat with a big personality, and a swoony detective boyfriend who makes Tru – and me – smile. I really enjoyed watching their relationship develop further in this book without moving too fast, and I also enjoyed seeing Tori still so happy with Charlie too. We learn more about Flossie’s mysterious writing career in this book, as well, and I was delighted to get to know her better as a result. She’s another of my fave characters in this series so this new insight made me happy.

Bottom Line: I really loved the set-up of this particular mystery, and I once again loved my visit with Tru and her band of secret-bookroom-running/amateur-sleuthing friends. (And, of course, Dewey the cat.) A Book Club to Die For takes readers on a twisty journey with colorful characters, Southern wit, a rogue robot librarian, Jace’s arrested mother, Tru’s missing father, Dewey’s curious eccentricities, and a clever mystery. I enjoy this series so much, and I can’t wait for more visits to the secret bookroom.

(I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book which I received from the publisher. All views expressed are only my honest opinion.)

My Rating: 4.5 stars / loved it!

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Dorothy St. James is a former Folly Beach beach bum. She now lives in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, with her family, slightly (OK, terribly) needy dogs, and the friendliest cat you’ll ever meet. Author of a dozen novels, Dorothy enjoys writing both cozy mysteries and romance.

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