I wasn't completely sure how I felt about the first book in the series but felt it was worth pressing on when the second came out. But I think I can better express why I probably won't continue on after this. To start with, the main character, Molly, is just so weak. Personally, I prefer my mystery detectives to be less papery-thin and more willing to push through disturbing situations. She all but falls apart every time she has a sudden flash of inspiration about the case. Her friends and family are always noticing the unhappy expression on her face and coddling her as she tells them the sudden realization.

And speaking of those realizations, half the time they are pretty obvious things for her to suddenly realize. Like Molly herself, the mystery was also weak, especially to me as the reader, because the narrator practically spoon-fed me every bit of information, even making detailed connections for me (some of them more than once), so I certainly couldn't help but follow along (or, in some cases, get ahead of her). And including the entire text of the fictional book involved in the story was a good idea in theory, but in the end, I didn't see how it really added to the story. I kept expecting it to provide some kind of major insight for both Molly and me. I also kept expecting some kind of surprise twist about what was REALLY going on, because it was pretty bland and simple overall. This makes it all the more unrealistic that the police can't figure out who really did it and need Molly to lead them to the bad guys. Even the brilliant ex-MI-5 agent needs Molly to tell him that they should keep a discovery a secret, so as not to alert the bad guys to the discovery (after which Molly proceeds to tell everyone she knows about it).

In the end, what I did like about the first book didn't give me as much enjoyment this time. Everyone that Molly likes is almost too perfect (especially her boyfriend), and the few people she doesn't like are mostly alike in their flaws and are thrown under the bus. The descriptions of every meal or snack eaten and every outfit worn dragged the story down for me. I am confident in saying that there are a lot of people who will enjoy the setting, characters, and mystery in this book/series more than I do, but for me, it's over.

Thank you to Netgalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me a copy of this book to review. ( )

Molly Kimble is settling in well at Thomas Marlowe--Manuscripts and Folios in Cambridge. She's making friends and helping revitalize the bookstore. Her latest plan is to host another author event. Iona York is coming out with a new edition of The Strawberry Girls which was a childhood favorite of Molly's.

When she and her Aunt Violet go to confirm the details at Iona's lovely country cottage, they weren't expecting to find a body in the garden. Robin Jones, an old friend of Iona's, wasn't supposed to be there and certainly shouldn't have fallen from the roof which is being re-thatched by Molly's Uncle Chris.

To find out who wanted Robin dead and to clear the names of both her uncle and Iona, Molly decides to look into things. She discovers a web of interrelationships that might have started with the death of Iona's husband perhaps coincidentally similar to the death of Robin.

Her search leads to an archaeological dig on nearby land which may lead to Saxon treasure. Iona's daughter, one of the original Strawberry girls, is working on the dig but disappears which adds another thread to the mystery Molly has to solve.

I enjoyed the setting. I also liked Molly's love of literature and especially her love for a favorite childhood book. I enjoyed the way the original story was woven into the mystery. I liked Molly and her family and friends. ( )

The Treacherous Tale by Elizabeth Penney is a 2022 St. Martin’s Press publication.

Molly is settling into her home in Cambridge, England, learning the lingo, running the family bookshop, and enjoying a romance with a member of royalty, who lives a low-key life running a bike shop.

She has also discovered a children’s classic called ‘The Strawberry Girls’. As it happens, the author of the book, Iona York, lives in Cambridge, and is an old acquaintance of Molly’s mother.

Iona agrees to do a reading at the bookshop in celebration of a new reissue of the book.

Unfortunately, while visiting Iona, Molly discovers a dead body. At first glance it looks like the man may have fallen from the roof, but it seems too big of a coincidence that Iona’s husband died the same way.

To complicate matters even more, Poppy, one of Iona’s daughters went missing at the same time, and it’s beginning to look as if she too could have been a victim of foul play.

Her sister, Rose, has asked Molly to help locate Poppy- which will give her another chance to practice her newly acquired sleuthing skills…

At first this second chapter in the series, seemed to stall. The charm of the bookstore setting wasn’t there, and was simply a backdrop. Molly occasionally entertained some pretty silly motives for the murder, which is a cozy mystery pet peeve of mine, sometimes.

But I’m going to put the blame on myself and my own impatience because it didn’t take long for the plot to start taking shape.

Once the story started to gel, I was completely engaged. I loved the excerpts of the children’s story and enjoyed looking for hidden clues in the passages- and it was sort of a 'story within a story', and had a fairy-tale quality to it, which was a fun and creative way for the mystery to unfold.

The mystery wasn’t exactly a total whodunit as we know there was a criminal enterprise underway involving valuable antiquities. The big reveal wasn't terribly surprising, though, and occasionally Molly's epiphanies were a bit too convenient, but it didn't really distract from the story.

I still got wrapped up in it, and appreciated the original approach, and think the author did a good job with the execution.

Overall, an enjoyable and rather engrossing cozy mystery. The series is still finding its rhythm a little bit, but shows long-term potential and I will definitely be looking out for book three!

4 stars ( )

In this second installment in the Cambridge Bookshop series, Molly and friends enter a real-life fairy tale to catch several villains! Molly loves working alongside her Mum and Auntie Violet to run the Cambridge bookshop that has been in her family for many years. When Molly and her Mum visit an author who will soon do a reading at the shop, they find more than they bargained for! The dead body they discover in the garden of Strawberry Cottage turns out to be that of a local antiques dealer, and is eerily reminiscent of a similar accidental death decades earlier. An archaeology student (and daughter of the author) goes missing, leading Molly and friends to investigate some shady events that strangely resemble the storyline of a children's book.

I liked the idea of a "story within a story" that parallels the mystery in the main plot. It was fun to reconnect with Molly and her family and friends after reading the first book in the series, although this book can be read as a standalone. The plot moves along quickly and leads the reader down many twisting and turning lanes before the mystery is solved. The Cambridge setting and the Strawberry Cottage descriptions add charm to the story as well. Readers who enjoy a unique and clean mystery novel, without overt violence, strong language, or intimacy will find this an intriguing choice.

I received this novel from the publisher and from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The opinions expressed here are entirely my own. ( )

Chapter and Curse, the first book in the Cambridge Bookshop Mysteries by Elizabeth Penney got a rave review from me. While I still really enjoyed one of the main elements in this cozy, the descriptions of the town and/or food, the other two, the characters and mystery just didn’t have the same wow factor the first book did. But even with this playing a part in my review, it was still so well written that I still give it a high rating and am curious to see if her third book in the series will bounce back.

Once again, the descriptions of the small English town’s beautiful countryside and wonderful shops really makes this book shine.

The characters though, while well developed, just didn’t stand out in any way. George, and his patient ways, was missing for most of the book. Daisy, Molly’s BFF, was mainly there to progress the shopping of a dress to meet Molly’s boyfriend’s rich parents. Sir Jon made a few appearances to help the mystery along.
We did get a lot of new characters though, and they too were well developed…. But the only ones that stood out were because they were so mean, which is fine, but in a cozy mystery I would like more of the characters to stand out because they are quirky or sweet.

As for the mystery, I think most people will have a feel for what’s going on pretty early. I don’t want to say too much about the mystery to keep some of the suspense. It is a bit different than most cozies, which I did enjoy. And while there’s lots of new characters to be suspects, I felt like it made the mystery that much easier to solve.

This is just my opinion. You may love this book. As stated above, it really is well written and this one miss (for me) won’t stop me from reading the next one in the series. ( )