Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop

Halloween Bookshop Mystery #1

by Emmeline Duncan

Normally, spooky season is Bailey Briggs's favorite time of year, and her Halloween-themed small town's time to shine. But between managing Lazy Bones Books, working on her graphic novel-in-progress, and running the Spooky Season Literary Festival, Bailey hardly has a moment to enjoy Elyan Hollow's spot-on seasonal vibes. Not to mention, at every turn she seems to be tripping over the contentious crew of Gone Ghouls, a ghost-hunting reality TV show currently filming around town. Bailey tries to stay focused on the Lit Festival, which is supposed to kick off Elyan Hollow's annual Halloween Fair; instead, this year's festival begins with a murder . . .

It's bad enough Bailey discovered the victim, but now, as a lead suspect with some (admittedly) damning evidence pointing her way, she's got to clear her name! With the help of her librarian friend, Colby, and Jack Skeleton, her world-class bookshop dog (and the absolute bestest boy ever), Bailey sets out to solve a murder . . .

As her investigation weaves through family secrets, professional rivalries, and town feuds, the list of suspects is growing fast . . . and unfortunately, so is the list of victims. If Bailey doesn't find the killer soon, Elyan Hollow's haunted reputation will get a little too real . . .

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Halloween, Cozy, Fiction, Audiobook, Holiday

Audible Audio

First published July 23, 2024

About the author

Emmeline Duncan is a mystery writer based out of Portland, Oregon. Her novels include the Ground Rules series, including Fresh Brewed Murder, Double Shot Death, Flat White Fatality, and Death Unfiltered, which comes out in the spring of 2024. She's also the author of Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop, a Halloween-themed mystery that will come out in August 2024.

Reviews

[megs_bookrack · Rating 4 out of 5]

**3.5-stars rounded up**

Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop is a Cozy Mystery set in a Halloween-themed town, Elyan Hollow, Oregon.

Yes, you read that right, Halloween-themed town. We're talking 365-Halloween. Sounds like my life, actually.

.

In this story we are following Bailey, the owner of Lazy Bones Bookshop, who has recently organized Elyan Hollow's first ever Literary Festival. She's anxious for it to be a hit and has a good line-up of authors at the ready, including a hometown boy, Rex, who is now a popular Horror author.

Coinciding with the Festival, the crew of a ghost-hunting television show, Gone Ghouls, has come to Elyan Hollow and they want to use her shop as one of their filming locations.

After which, chaos ensues...



Just as she thinks things couldn't get more out of hand, Bailey and her best friend, Colby, discover a dead body in the local hay bale maze. They're quiet moment of relaxation exploring the maze is over before it ever truly began.

It's clear the individual died by nefarious means, and unfortunately, Bailey then finds herself as the main suspect.

Bailey, along with her friends, must then try to find out the truth if they want to clear Bailey's name. She knows she had nothing to do with the murder, but that means the killer is still out there, on the streets of Elyan Hollow and no one will be safe until they're caught.



I thought this was really cute. I loved the small town setting and how everything felt Halloween-inspired. The names of the businesses, the foods and drinks served, as well as the way the whole town leaned into that vibe, it was fantastic.

The mystery was a little slow to kick off, but I did enjoy getting to know Bailey and what her life was like in Elyan Hollow. Her fabulous canine companion, a Great Pyrenees named Jack, was the icing on the cake of this one for me.

We love a doggo playing a large role in a Cozy story!



Once the dead body appeared, I was hooked. I wanted to know what had happened. I could see some motives, but who would have had the will to do it? Everyone seemed so nice!

I did enjoy following along as Bailey tried to figure it all out. I could have used a bit more substance in that area, but overall, I do feel like it had a fun mystery and that this is a great start to a series.

I feel like this was such a comforting read as well. It def pandered to my tastes and I've already recommended it to a few friends. It's like a love letter to those of us who carry Halloween in our hearts all year round.



In addition to the aspects mentioned above, there's also a bit involving Bailey's family and her position within it. That part of the story def tugged at my heartstrings.

Bailey's relationship with her mother is basically non-existent, for which there are many different reasons. I did really feel for Bailey in the moments that explored that and I appreciated the author including that in the story.

I am hoping as the series continues that we do get to see that whole aspect expanded on some more. I guess this would be a good time to say, if there are more books, I will absolutely be picking them up. I truly hope there are.



Thank you so much to the publisher, Kensington Cozies, for providing me with a copy to read and review. Duncan delivered exactly what I anticipated with this one.

I would recommend this for any Reader who loves Cozy Mysteries, bookshop-based stories, knitting, adorable dogs, and/or Halloween!

[Brooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

⭐️ 2 stars ⭐️

« Tonight’s murder mystery party was supposed to be a fun way for attendees to mingle with the authors while solving a fictional murder.
I hadn’t planned on stumbling across a real body. »

I have once again been fooled by a pretty cover.
The vibes I was expecting → cozy murder mystery, cute small town, Halloween & October energy.
The only vibe I got → absolute boredom.
This was the most boring murder mystery I have ever read.
Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop at least stayed true to its title, because the writing was chaotic and juvenile, pages and pages of useless dialogue, all an I did this, I did that.
The ‘mystery’ was predictable, the characters all so bland they meshed together.

If the author has to continuously remind us who is who, ‘oh there is Taylor, you know the one from the ghost show that has been mentioned at least 10 times already? Remember her?’, either they also believe all their characters are that forgettable or this read is meant for a younger audience and I didn’t realize.

So yeah, this author doesn’t work for me, this book didn’t work for me.

[Me, My Shelf, & I · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the name and the idea behind the town, but it was about halfway in and I thought we were still in the first 15% or so because it was honestly a big nothingburger. I wanted to persist to the end in case something changed but it simply didn't.

Have you ever wished you ran a bookstore that you could inherit instead of having to fund yourself? Wanted a quirky west coast town that decided to become a Halloween-all-year themed tourist trap? Daydreamed about perfectly curated subscription boxes with candles for the romantasy girlies and puzzles for those who love mysteries? Then do I have the wish fulfillment book for you!

Unfortunately the atmosphere is lacking, the characters are forgettable, the plot is unfocused, and the murder mystery seems to take a lot of screentime talking to townspeople about their high school days 30 years ago.

It's got a Ready Player One vibe where it'll reference "TBR" and "ARC" and "Portland author Fonda Lee" and the reader can go oo! I recognize that!

But it's not super well-written (exhibit A: "The feeling of dread in my stomach blossomed in my stomach like a corpse flower.") and the main thing it reminded me of is all the author-insert fanfiction I read online when I was 12, likely written by other 12 year olds. (This is better written than that, but the wish fulfillment vibes are too similar). Nothing is done wrong, but also I don't think it gets anything right beyond the idea phase.

It's aggressively fine.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop by Emmeline Duncan is the first book in the new cozy Halloween Bookshop Mystery series. The Halloween Bookshop Mystery series is like most cozy mystery series in which each book of the series is going to contain it’s own mystery to be fully solved by the end of the book so they will be able to be read as a standalone or in any order if choosing to do so.

Bailey Briggs is from the Halloween-themed town of Elyan Hollow, Oregon and has just taken over running Lazy Bones Books, her grandfather’s beloved bookstore. With the spooky season upon the town that celebrates the season year round things are certainly ramping up around town with Bailey also running the town’s first ever Spooky Season Literary Festival.

Bailey has lined up plenty of authors for her festival but seems to be spending a ton of time avoiding the crew of a ghost-hunting television show, Gone Ghouls, who want to film from her bookstore. Just as Bailey gets a moment to explore the local hay bale maze with her good friend Colby things go even more awry when the two stumble upon a dead body and when it’s found that a murder has occurred Bailey herself ends up a suspect.

I have to say that Halloween has always been my favorite holiday, Christmas is great and all but I love all things kooky and spooky so of course the Halloween Bookshop Mystery series stood out to me. This one had all the elements that I enjoy in a cozy with an even more appealing small town charm aspect being all Halloween all the time. With likable characters, a cute furry companion and a fun mystery to solve I’ll definitely be returning to this series with this first book falling in at three and a half stars as I began to know the characters and town.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/

[Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good start to a new series. Cute concept of a Halloween-themed town and the main character owns the bookshop, is best friends with the librarian, and is desperate to figure out who her father is. The story was OK. There was a lot of repetition and a whole lot of nothing that happened in the present as Bailey was obsessed with the past (which made sense); all they did was knit and sign books. A lot of telling and not showing. I wanted to love this one but it fell flat for me. Hoping the next one is better.

I received a copy from @netgalley for an honest review.

[Chandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 stars rounded up. I really really wanted to like this book because of its local ties, but it was not for me. It had way too many characters, detailed unimportant things while still managing to leave out vital information, and really really needed another round of editing for grammar. It’s a fun concept but just didn’t seem to come together. 🙁 I feel bad about giving a low rating, but it feels dishonest to rate higher.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

I literally have no idea (as per usual these days) how I stumbled across Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop by Emmeline Duncan, but I'm real glad I did! I love cozy mysteries, and this one was perfect for some light spooky season reading. I loved that the storyline featured a bookstore called Lazy Bones, and Bailey along with her four-legged friend Jack Skeleton were the best. I didn't realize that Duncan is the author of the Ground Rules series which I have had on my TBR ever since before the first book came out, and I am now inspired to move them up on the list!

I listened to the audiobook which is narrated by Emily Durante, and I thought she did a wonderful job. I loved listening to her and everything from her pacing to tone to the flow was top-notch. The mystery surprised me as well as the addition of a certain aspect of Bailey's life 👀 that I wasn't expecting. Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop wasn't as emotional as say a Secret, Book & Scone Society installment (by Ellery Adams), and I do wish we had gotten to our FMC a bit better, but since this is the start of a series I will hope for more on that in future books! I am definitely going to be buying a copy for my shelf as well.

[(Katie) Paperbacks · Rating 3 out of 5]

I decided to pick up a cozy mystery audiobook today, Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop by Emmeline Duncan. It was a cute mystery but I didn't really connect with the whodunnit. And thankfully it wasn't super halloweenie, if you know what I mean. There was one small fake seance scene which I skipped over, it was short. And as far as the rest of the book went it was clean of language and romance.

[Maggie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe a 2.5. The concept was cute but the writing was not good.

[Deborah Almada · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was introduced to Emmeline Duncan earlier this year when I received a book in her Ground Rules series from Netgalley and really enjoyed it. So I was very happy to see that she had started a new series, when I was awarded, Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookstore I couldn't wait to dig in. This is a wonderful start to a new series! It will be satisfying to many people for many reasons. First if you like Halloween or anything Halloween themed, it will grab you, the town of Elyan Hallow was made famous by a movie filmed there with that theme and the town as a whole has decided to run with it. It is fun and not overdone or too cutesy. Second, Bailey had taken over the family bookstore, Lazy Bones Books, from her grandfather, and the store is a delight despite Bailey's very complicated family history. She has worked hard to infuse new ideas, including the addition of the literary festival, as part of the town's focused Halloween celebrations to keep the shop vital. Finally and most importantly to me, Bailey leads a cast of wonderful characters, friends, fellow business owners, and townspeople who give us a nice small town feel. Bailey is also a very smart main character who doesn't do really dumb things to move our mystery along, and she also has a very charming furry buddy named Jack. All these things will keep you reading to a very satisfying end to our mystery. I really can't wait to visit Bailey and Lazy Bones Books again. Thanks to #NetGalley, #Kensingtonbooks, and the author for an opportunity to read. #ChaosattheLazyBonesBookstore, #EmmelineDuncan, #bookideas, #retiredreader

[Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a tough one, bc I loved the vibe of the town, the description of autumnal events and the cozy overall. But this book was so over explained, it felt like the author did not trust the readers to understand what was said the first time so then explained exactly what they wanted us to know. If you’re going to spell out an acronym anyways don’t waste time first putting the letters then having a character be like huh???? as a medium to explain it. “ARC” “oh the advanced copies bookstores get of newly released books?” Like we get it. I had Maggie’s voice in my head the whole time saying “stop telling me and just show me”. The murder reveal also felt lackluster.

5/5 ghoulies but only 2.5 stars for this one

[Becca]

DNF @ 67%

I couldn’t do it anymore, there are dozens of unimportant characters, it’s all telling instead of showing, constant puns and descriptions of the same food or another local business, life is simply too short to finish this one.

[sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

really dull, somehow has both too many different plots and not enough happening at the same time.

[Kasandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bad…. Soooo bad

I’ll start with the few pros - the dog Jack is cute and written in an endearing way. The town itself has some quaint and cuteness with the pun-fused shop names and small town charm, including some of the friendships (although very lacking where most of it is implied). The bookshop has some cute ideas i liked that Bailey had found a way to make the shop hers, but it ends up being way too much unnecessary detail.

The book barely has 250 pages and it’s pretty dreadful. This is the wish.com version of a hallmark movie; a sophomoric attempt at a book. Imagine a middle grade book written by a 12year old. How Duncan has dozens of names in her acknowledgment with this book is beyond me. Does she not have any friends who gave her honest feedback? This book is a grammatical nightmare. Terrible run-ons and frequent sentence fragments plague the entire book. It’s extremely hard to read for that reason - it’s so bad it is distracting. I kept having to set the book down to give me a moment to sigh. There is one paragraph alone that Duncan somehow starts FOUR sentences with “Plus, “ Theres’ a section where she describes if social media taught Bailey anything… with a quip, FIVE times in a page in a half.

I read a lot of cozy mysteries and the point is to have a mystery. This book has a series of bad situations and the worst detective (both the literal detective and Bailey). There’s so few clues and any discernible plot line about murder. The mystery about Bailey’s past is way more of a plot device. I found most characters bland, unlikeable, or both. It was hard to feel like anyone cared or I should care. Bailey sometimes says this will be traumatic and then say something really callous about the murders. It was also very, very disappointing to have Bailey purposely divert her ‘sleuthing” efforts because she’s absolute shit at it and because of this we get 0 suspects and 200+ pages of Bailey thinking a million wrong assumptions.

The books feel self-published with just how poorly written it is. The dialogue is clunky. Characters will share something emotional and the next character won’t even acknowledge it. Duncan poorly ends conversations that I have never read in a book. She insists repeatedly to share entire dialogues instead of focusing on the key part and moving on. This is one of the dumbest lines I have ever read in any book -

“The parents were proud of Lance.”
“They thought the sun rose and shone out of his -“
“No swearing in public,” another voice said.

This is just one of many eavesdropped conversations Bailey listens in on. And provides literally nothing to the plot. And hilariously enough Bailey has a meltdown of a rant about being creeped out someone listens in on her conversation in a bar but that’s pretty much ALL SHE DOES.

There are one or two chapters that were manageable to read and pretty well executed, which makes the rest of the book feel like it was accidentally the rough draft printed instead of the final copy. Kensington should be embarrassed this book was published under their company. And, they should also check they didn’t publish the rough draft….

This book makes you think, wow anyone can be an author if this is the content that gets published. Another pro of the book I suppose?

[Courtney Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cute cozy mystery with a fun Halloween town thing instead of the usual Christmas theme. Wished for a touch of romance but maybe the next will have some. First time with this author though, so maybe that’s not her thing. I also really hope there is a Halloween town somewhere.

[Leandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you, Kensington, for a free ARC copy of this book in exchange for this honest review.

This book was the chosen read for Only Murders in the Book Club this month, and I was admittedly a bit nervous about entering this cozy mystery. I am a mystery lover who has a love-hate relationship with the Cozy subgenre. There are some modern cozy series that I continue to enjoy, but the very narrow, strict rules and structure within this subgenre tend to grate on me. With that said, this first book in a new cozy series caught my eye because the strong hobby/theme infused throughout was all things Halloween and autumnal. The Lazy Bones Bookshop is located in the year-round Halloween-themed town of Elyan Hollow, Oregon. That's a setting description that I can get behind!

I had a great time reading this book, to be honest. I immersion-read it, meaning I listened to the audiobook while reading along with my physical ARC copy. It's important to note that there was a 50/50 split among the audiobook listeners I spoke to regarding the quality. Some found the choice of narrator to be flat and grating in her delivery, so keep that in mind if you tend to me more sensitive about that format!

Back to the book's content: (1) I loved the Halloween puns, the way the entire town leaned into the theme. (2) I really liked Bailey Briggs, our amateur sleuth, and it was so fun hearing her reference New Release Tuesday and other literary/bookshop-focused knowledge. (3) There is a lot of positive, supportive community feels.

Would I continue the series? Yes!

[Kate Backur · Rating 2 out of 5]

When I saw this story was about two murders in a Halloween - themed town, I was so excited! Then... I read the book. The only mysterious part of this story is how it went through however many editors, proofreaders, and even friends and family, and still ended up written so poorly that it was difficult to finish. The writing reminded me of the children's book Spot. "See Spot run. Run Spot, run. Spot ran up the stairs.”

The characters were underdeveloped and, to be honest, beyond boring. I never felt attached to any of them. There were times when there was an excruciating amount of unnecessary detail (i.e. having to read about Bailey scanning the QR code to place her taco truck food order a hundred times, or being reintroduced to every character every single time they were mentioned), and other times there was barely any information (i.e. Bailey declaring she figured it out, but forgetting to tell the reader any of the clues throughout the story). Stating the main character was.
the "main suspect in two murders" is a gargantuan stretch (a detective asking a character questions does not equate to them being "the main suspect”).

To say this book was bad does not even scratch the surface. Do yourself a favor, don't fall for the fun concept and skip it.

[Aleksandra Kozlova · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried, I sincerely tried liking it. It sounds like a cute and cozy idea, but I simply couldn’t get through the amount of unnecessary details and poor choices of words.
“Touching the body made me feel queasy. The wrist was cold. Too cold. And the smell around him made me queasy”… guys, I don’t know why, but I think she is feeling queasy.

Some guy: “You should sue them”
Conveniently, a local lawyer enters the shop.
“I will help” she says.
Then she left.
Huh? Okay.

If you like a slow pace, not very high stakes, cozy mystery then maybe you’ll like it. Maybe it’s just not for me.

[Jennifer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too superficial and convenient of a mystery. I didn’t connect with any characters. Nothing about this book is fall vibes or Halloween themes except the names of businesses around the town. The dog named Jack skeleton was the most interesting thing.

[Emma Jonas · Rating 1 out of 5]

BORINGGGGGGGGGGGGGG
not much murder or case solving for that to be the whole premise of the book????

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bailey Briggs loves her hometown of Elyan Hollow, Oregan, and her bookstore, Lazy Bones Books. Elyan Hollow celebrates Halloween year-round, and they especially celebrate in October. Baily wants to go all out for spooky season as she has only recently taken over her grandfather's bookstores. She is busy with her book festival when a dead body lands her in a murder mystery of her own. She is working hard to clear her name while she uncovers secrets she's not sure she wants to know.

This was such a fun Halloween cozy mystery. If you are a fan of bookstores, festivals, Halloweentown, and Halloween then this is a book for you. Baily is a likable character, and I look forward to seeing how her character develops over the series. The mystery was entertaining and full of surprises that kept you guessing who the murderer was and what secrets everyone was trying to keep hidden.

All thoughts and opinions are my own and have not been influenced by anyone.

[｡°✩ Rasha ｡°✩ {Free Palestine} · Rating 2 out of 5]

{2.5}

It was such a bland mystery book. I did love the cozy setting, but other than that there was nothing else that I liked.

[Katelyn Steen · Rating 2 out of 5]

As a big fan of cozies, I was super excited to read about one set in a bookstore in a Halloween themed town. All of my favorites. Unfortunately, this one fell flat for me. The writing was very choppy and disjointed, we would get chapters abruptly ending and then starting with “Monday morning this happened” etc. and it felt like we were jumping pages sometimes. I felt like the town, characters, and literary festival could all have been expanded upon but were very flat and one dimensional instead. Also, there was a lot of telling and not showing that made getting through this hard at some points. This had a lot of promise but unfortunately fell short for me. If you’re a cozy fan who loves Halloween and all things bookish then give this a try, it’s a quick read, it was just not for me!

Publishing 7/23/24

Thank you so much to Kensington and NetGalley for providing me with this eARC in exchange for my honest review!

[BooksAsDreams (Tiffany) · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute, cozy mystery. The setting is very well done, and the author does a great job of taking the reader right into the town and its events. The plot trudges along in a straightforward way with no real twists or turns. This is an easy read that moves right along. Thank you to Net Galley for the ARC!

[Hayden Rawlings · Rating 1 out of 5]

I wanted to love this book so badly. The premise of a murder mystery happening in a bookstore in a town that goes all out for Halloween could have been so cute. The characters were so flat though that I didn’t care about anything that was happening to them. It was impossible to immerse myself in this book. Such a bummer.

[Sue Em · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a Halloween themed town, Bailey has taken over the reins of her family-owned bookstore and is eager to prove her worthiness by organizing a weekend literary festival. The tv ghost hunter filming overnight in her store caused significant damage and when he is found dead, Bailey becomes a suspect. There's plenty of twists and a lot of secrets buried from the past which makes for an entertaining story. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Lauren K · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was everything I would want in a Halloween Hallmark movie, but book form! It was cute, cozy and had a great murder mystery. Fun cast of characters and the atmospheric PNW setting topped it all off.

[Patty (IheartYA311) · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story was fun and atmospheric. It was easy to follow, and on the lighter side of the usual murder-mystery type book. I enjoyed it more than I expected. The cover really catch my interest though, and it doesn't match the story very well. A cover revamp might attract more readers, but I'm glad it's not in a cliche cozy style.

I read this book for a prompt in The Playbookers, a Facebook group that hosts monthly team challenges.

If you love active book communities, check out LiterALLy BOOKiSh Book Club (on Facebook)! Games, giveaways, discussions, reviews, bingo, swaps, pen pals, traveling books, and a lot more!

[Valerie · Rating 1 out of 5]

This story was less about a murder mystery and more about Bailey trying to figure out who her father is. The story dragged, the characters were at best, boring. Bailey is insufferable. She is rather whiny and just a bit entitled. She loves being the victim of a rather uninvolved mother and unknown father rather than being grateful for the living support of her loving grandparents. She’s given a business to run and a place to live rent free but that still isn’t enough. Her self centered attitude came up a few times in the book like when she was told the moderator of her event would not be coming because she fell and broke her ankle. Her response was a whiny who can I get to do it as opposed to the more natural show of sympathy and asking if she is ok .A friend brought her lunch, no thank you came out of her mouth. Even her dog seemed to be under her scrutiny since he was not eager to please her at every moment. The story was long and boring and of course I knew who her father was from the beginning. Despite the town’s theme, it didn’t feel like a Halloween theme book! So poorly written. I would round this up to 1.5 only because it is set near one of my favorite towns.

[Bailey · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a cutesy murder mystery, so it’s not to be taken too seriously. And it was a nice quick read. That said, I wanted to throttle Bailey for her “investigating”. I rolled my eyes so much in the last half of the book, I thought they’d get stuck that way.

The introduction of her love interest is lazy. They come out of nowhere very briefly, disappear, and then show-up again even more briefly. It would have been better to leave them out completely. The story didn’t need it.

The frequent descriptions of food and activities was more like reading through a humble-bragger’s Instagram profile than a novel.

And finally, the end. It felt like a murder mystery performance where the murderer could have been anybody and the author just picked someone out of line-up and then plucked a justification out of thin air.

The best part was the puns.