Jenna Quinn, the local bookseller, is thrilled that the Hokes Bluff Inn is now hosting weddings so that the wedding planner guide in her store window is garnishing some good sales. However, she isn't happy when Blake Emerson, her ex, waltzes in with his bride-to-be, Missy, the woman he was cheating on her with. She's even wearing the engagement ring that Blake had bought for her. Being a professional she sells the planner to Missy, but doesn't enthusiastically embrace the mean girls who are her bridal party. Missy is definitely a bridezilla and there is no surprise when she turns up dead just before the big day. But who killed her?

What fun to watch the mean girls get their due while seeing Jenna happily wave bye-bye to her ex. Good mystery, great characters. ( )

We return to Hokes Folly in Bound by Murder where Jenna Quinn rebooted her life after it imploded in Charlotte. She is surprised when her ex-fiancé, Blake Emerson with his new fiancée, Missy Plott enters her bookstore. They are planning to get married at the Hokes Bluff Inn in five days which offers period weddings. Missy and her posse of bridesmaids are a nasty bunch. When Missy turns up dead, Blake is suspected of the crime. Blake and his mother ask Jenna for her help. Jenna ends up helping and uncovers several suspects. The case takes a turn when the police uncover evidence on a cold case that they originally tried to pin on Jenna. Jenna is beginning to wonder if Blake is truly innocent. Bound by Murder by Laura Gail Black is the third An Antique Bookshop Mystery. It can be read as a standalone for those new to the series. I like the author’s writing style which makes the story easy to read. There is a great cast of characters that includes Jenna, Keith, Rita, Mason, and Jenna’s adorable canine. The characters are friendly, realistic, relatable, and developed. I love Jenna’s shop. It is a place where I could spend hours browsing through the shelves of books. I enjoyed the description of her wedding themed window display. Like Jenna, I am a fan of the Five Little Peppers and How They Grew by Margaret Sidney (I have a vintage copy of the book). The mystery gave us several suspects who could have done the deed. There is misdirection to lead armchair sleuths astray. I picked my guilty party out early and then joined Jenna on her investigation to see if I was right. There are various events that keep things lively as well as clues to help readers solve the crime. I enjoyed the tense reveal. There is mild foul language in the book (just a little bit). There is romance in the story. Jenna is dating Detective Keith Logan. Their relationship is progressing nicely, but the road to happily ever after does have a few potholes. Mason, Jenna’s shop manager, is smitten with Lily Monahan who works at The Weeping Willow. I enjoyed reading Bound by Murder, and I am looking forward to returning to Hokes Folly in the next An Antique Bookshop Mystery. Bound by Murder is an entertaining tale with a frustrating ex-fiancé, a cuddly canine, a bridezilla with her band of bridesmaids, a wasted witch, a furtive fire, a smitten store manager, and a distressing discovery. ( )

Another fun installment in the Antique Bookshop mystery series. I am so glad that Jenna finally got some closure on why Blake was such a colossal jerk after she was accused of theft and murder back in Charlotte. I love the group of friends that Jenna has built for herself in Hokes Folly is fantastic, I love how supportive they are of each other. I am hoping the twins get to come over and play with the dog on Saturday's in the future.

Looking forward to book #4! ( )

Bound By Murder is the third book in the Antique Bookshop Mystery by Laura Gail Black.

Jenna’s bookstore is doing well, has a dependable employee in Mason, and has a love interest, Detective Keith Logan. Blake, Jenna’s ex-fiance, comes into her shop with his new fiancee, Missy. Missy is quick to add that they will be married in five days. That evening as she was locking up for the night, Blake pleads with Jenna to let him explain. He begs Jenna to take him back as he realizes he made a terrible mistake. Jenna sends him on his way with a definite NO. The next day she watches a young man, Tom Jackson, profess his love for Missy and proposes. She rudely tells him no. The Friday before Missy and Blake’s wedding, Jenna and Mason witness Missy, highly intoxicated, having a very intense argument with Blake. The following day, Jenna’s dog, Eddy, breaks away, heads down the alley, and soon finds Missy’s body beside a dumpster.

Once the police start their investigation, they center on Blake, who is soon arrested. After Blake is arrested, Jenna and Keith discuss his arrest and Jenna expresses her feelings that the wrong person was arrested. This discussion caused a heated argument between them. Jenna decides to handle her own investigation, not to clear Blake’s name but to find the killer. Jenna soon finds many other suspects.

The book is well-written and plotted. Most of the well-developed and exciting characters are back again to Jenna's investigation. There were plenty of red herrings to keep me guessing about the killer until the end of the book.

I will be watching for the next book in the series. ( )

Things are going well for Jenna Quinn. Her bookstore is doing well, and she has a wonderful new boyfriend in police detective Keith Logan. But then her ex-fiancé Blake Emerson has come to town with his new fiancée Missy Plott, and all is not well with the couple.

Blake has something he wants to say to Jenna and is being quite stalkerish about it. Missy is a textbook example of a Bridezilla, and she repeatedly warns Jenna off her Blakey. Jenna has no interest in the man who didn't support her when she was accused of embezzlement and murder and who handed her the key to the storage locker where he had put all her things when she got out of jail.

Unfortunately, Keith is suffering from some jealousy since his and Jenna's relationship is only a few months old. No matter how often Jenna says Blake is out of her life, he doesn't seem to be convinced.

When Missy is found murdered behind the dumpster behind Jenna's bookstore, she's all for letting the police handle the investigation. But Blake's mother - a woman she never met during her three-year romance with Blake - wants Jenna to convince the police that he wasn't involved. Missy's bridesmaids are also convinced Jenna had something to do with causing trouble in Missy and Blake's relationship and are using vandalism to make their anger known.

Then there is Tom who is the guy Missy was involved with until she met Blake and who is in town to try to convince Missy that he's really the right guy for her. And Missy's younger sister wants Tom for herself.

Jenna can't help investigating; people just say things around her. What's a girl to do?

This was an entertaining cozy romance. I liked that the resolution to this story also gave Jenna resolution to the events in Charleston the ended up with her accused of embezzlement and murder. ( )