The Witching Place: A Fatal Folio (Curious Bookstore Cozy Mystery #1) by Sophie Love

The Witching Place: A Fatal Folio (Curious Bookstore Cozy Mystery #1) Reviews

• 
  Sunny

  A cute concept held back by poor writing, cardboard characters, and kind of a racist ending. (Why is it always the poor immigrant service worker with a mysterious need for money?? Why is that person the villain when the evil greedy white rich dude is right there and ends up being able to sell off the rare books???) The mystery wasn’t even that mysterious! No twists and turns, the overarching themes felt kind of corny, and just boring. I really liked the concept of the story but I wasn’t impressed by the delivery at all
• 
  Anubha (BooksFullOfLife, LifeFullOfBooks)

  It was actually surprisingly good, murder mystery related to a person who buys rare ancient books in a book store selling used books. The main character being a suspect of mysterious secrets in a new town amidst strangers.
• 
  Jennifer

  It's partially because I wasn't in the right headspace to read this book (trying to finish it before it was due to the library), but the pacing seemed off. There isn't a dead body until halfway through the book, and the first half was dedicated to describing Lex's situation, which I might've been okay with, except that I didn't particularly like (or dislike) Lex. One of the more appealing things to this book/series is the "curious bookstore," which is actually in the title of the series, but we didn't get to find out much about why the book is so "curious." More info is probably forthcoming from later novels in the series, but I feel slightly bait-and-switched.
• 
  Jordan

  …I’m very confused. Why is this series called “the witching place?” Does the witching come in a later novel? What was up with all the weirdness that revolves around the bookstore? Also something you find out in a later book? Why am I left with way more questions than when I started?
  
  Yeah, this book wasn’t for me. The writing wasn’t great- it came off almost juvenile. I felt like there was just so much unnecessary rambling- I found myself skipping literal paragraphs at a time without missing any important piece of the story. The characters were so dull. Lex was immature and all over the place. Monty was strange- but why? What the actual fuck was up with her mother? Like why was her disgustingness at all necessary?
  
  Idk, it didn’t work for me. The “mystery” was ridiculous. Too many holes, too many unanswered questions.. none of which make me wanna read any more books in the series. I’m just left annoyed. What a waste. I knew I should’ve just left it DNF.
• 
  Laura

  For a book with a book editor as the main character, it really could’ve used more editing for missing and misplaced words, etc. I was a little over halfway into the book and considering giving up on it when it finally started to get vaguely interesting. The main character was a little annoying and a little dumb with the choices she made. I won’t be continuing the series.
• 
  Romanticamente Fantasy

  Cassandra Gold - per RFS
  .
  Ben trovate, care Fenici. Quest’oggi ho il piacere di parlarvi del primo libro di una serie di gialli veramente originali.
  
  Lex ha da sempre una profonda passione per i libri. Sviluppata da piccola insieme al suo papà, proprietario di una libreria di libri usati, la porta in età adulta ad avere un ruolo di spicco in una celebre casa editrice di Boston, occupandosi di saggi. Purtroppo, però, le cose non si evolvono per il meglio e, per una serie di sfortunate coincidenze, la ragazza si troverà a dovervi rinunciare. Con l’incarico sfuma anche la sua relazione sentimentale, già da tempo stantia e priva di stimoli intellettuali. Sì, perché la nostra protagonista ha una visione razionale del mondo, che spesso la porta a chiudersi al diverso e al particolare. Ma la sua vita presto cambierà, proiettandola in un universo sconosciuto, alla ricerca del lavoro dei suoi sogni e del suo papà, da molto tempo scomparso; il tutto condito dalle molte rimostranze di sua madre, che la vorrebbe come una donna in carriera, razionale, metodica e realista.
  
  Un libro veramente piacevole, che racchiude alcune delle caratteristiche che preferisco in una storia: romance, suspense, meravigliose descrizioni di luoghi idilliaci e confortevoli, e una buona dose di magia. Lex è coraggiosa, pronta a fare di tutto per realizzare i propri obiettivi. Gli eventi iniziali sono l’agente scatenante, che la spingono finalmente a spezzare il senso d’immobilità nel quale era rimasta prigioniera. Lei vuole trovare suo padre e aprire una libreria di tomi usati, che rappresenta l’aspirazione di bambina coltivata con lui. Sentire l’odore dell’inchiostro, percepire sotto le dita la carta fragile e delicata di un libro antico, vedere la meraviglia negli occhi delle persone, trovando un insolito tesoro. Un dolcissimo desiderio di affetti ritrovati e di una dimora definitiva sono i pensieri che impegnano la sua mente, quando per ottenere dei risultati si ritrova a dover risolvere un incredibile caso di una sua cliente assassinata. Il fulcro di tutto è una piccola libreria situata in un paesino sperduto, apparentemente bloccato nel tempo. Un luogo incredibile, che sembra legato al suo passato. Tuttavia sua madre non fa dietrofront neanche nel momento in cui Lex le assicura di avere la situazione sotto controllo. In effetti, a pensarci bene, nel corso dell’opera parla dei propri sogni in funzione di quelli del genitore scomparso. A questo punto ci chiediamo: quali sono le vere speranze di Lex? Non ci resta altro che cominciare questo bellissimo percorso con lei, leggendo delle sue avventure, per capire quale strada il suo cuore sarà destinato a prendere.
  
  Per il momento, vi saluto e vi do appuntamento alla Curiosa Libreria nella città di Incanton.
  
  A presto!
• 
  Lucinda Race

  I enjoyed this book in audio format. The narration was well paced and kept me engaged in the story. I am looking forward to learning more about the magic of the town, as I'm sure there is something brewing. I did suspect the wrong person for the murderer which is always a good thing when you're playing sleuth while reading.
  A fun listen.
• 
  Nicole's Bücherwelt

  Ich bin hin und her gerissen, wie ich dieses Buch bewerten soll. Anhand der Inhaltsbeschreibung hatte ich eigentlich etwas ganz anderes erwartet und sowohl Cover als auch Titel sind vollkommen irreführend. Wo waren die Magie (bei welcher Teestunde?) und die "geliebte zugelaufene Katze"? Hecate ist weder geliebt noch zugelaufen und taucht leider nur selten ganz kurz auf. Ansonsten war es - bis auf diverse Satzzeichen- und Grammatikfehler - ganz okay, aber nicht wirklich überzeugend. Und ich bin nicht motiviert, die weiteren Bände der Reihe zu lesen. Schade...
• 
  Abigail Prater

  I’ve never read a cozy mystery book before, let alone a five book cozy mystery series! I’m glad I started with this series after hearing great things about the offer. It’s the perfect quick read that includes mystery, drama, romance, love, magic, all while remaining lighthearted and not too “heavy”. I love how descriptive the author is, the entire time I was reading I was watching the book unfold in my head! It was the perfect plane read and now I’m invested in the story. Here comes me speed reading the next 4 books in the series! 😹
• 
  Alexia

  I read this book as part of my 2021 52 Book Club Reading Challenge for prompt shoe on the cover. I was intrigued that this was the start of a series of what appeared to be a light-hearted read about a witch, her cat, her bookstore and a mystery for her to solve based partly on the book cover and partly on the book description. Cool.
  
  Unfortunately this is not what the book is about.
  
  Lex is a serious non-fiction book editor. She loves history and science and yet unfortunately it is these types of books that just don't sell. These are academic books; they don't appeal to the masses. After learning that her section was being eliminated and refusing to work in the more successful Celebrity biography genre, Lex quits. She is at a pivotal point in her life and she decides she ultimately wants to open a used bookstore like her father once owned when she was a child. She has never understood how he has disappeared from her life without a trace.
  
  Lex immediately finds a job advertisement for an assistant at A Curious Bookstore about an hour away and after a strange interview, she secures the job only when the black cat Hecate leaps on her lap and settles down for a purring nap. Lex quickly realizes she visited this town as a child with her father and her relocation there easily falls into place. The bookstore, the owner himself and some of its customers are all just odd and Lex has no idea what secrets it holds. When one of its most dedicated customers suddenly dies, Lex becomes the prime suspect and now she is without a job. Lex must find out who is the real killer to clear her name and hopefully get her job back to ultimately pursue her dream of opening her own bookstore.
  
  The best thing about the book is that it is a super easy read. I was snowed in and literally read it in one day. I immediately identified with Lex (see my name) and liked her. My problem was that I felt completely misled by the cover. Lex is not a witch. She doesn't own the bookstore; she barely works there. She doesn't own the cat. The meaning of the cat or background of the bookstore is not given. I understand this is a series, but I don't want to be in book 3 before I learn much more; I want to have an idea of where this is going in book 1. Even the mention of the occult is scoffed at by Lex. She is a science girl. She doesn't believe in the occult. I actually forgot about the mystery aspect of the book. It doesn't happen until the latter half of the book and frankly it just isn't that exciting.
  
  I really, really wanted to like this book more since it was such an easy read, but I felt completely let down. Series books can be great, but if there is not enough revealed to want you hang on, you lose your audience. The cute cover just didn't match the book.
  
  
• 
  Pamela

  Nice series beginning
  
  As the first book in a new series, time was spent introducing Lex, the main character. Some of the story setup then becomes the usual, fired from job, breaks up with boyfriend, overbearing mother, a lifelong mysterious disappearance of her father. I did like the father/daughter connection which led Lex to follow her dream to a quirky town with a quirkier used bookstore. There is a murder to solve and lost valuable books to recover. There are twists. The author drops hints in the narrative. Good start for a new series.
• 
  Desirae Brown

  If your looking for a short and cute murder mystery then this should do the job. There are a lot of quirky characters and small town vibes. I do have to say, the whole Hecate and bookstore thing is still confusing as hell though, so I will probably read the second book to find out more about both. I did get annoyed with the main character while she was grilling Bettina though, she was definitely an a****** to the poor older woman. I hope she has more finesse in the later books.
• 
  Sheila Burke

  This book was good. This was the first book from this author that I've read. I found it creative, and entertaining. It kept my attention and was hard to put down. I did feel kinda cheated, because the cover led me to believe the main character was a witch, and the cat wasn't actually hers. Worth the time to read.
• 
  Raluca Damian

  Cute book and nice story. The main ingredietts of the story: a murder, some whichcraft, investigations...
  I read it in German :)) (After many years of not using at all my German language knowledge)
  I was curious if I'm able to read and understand it using my intermmediate Germn language level :D
  In the end I did it ;)
  I was lucky with such an easy story without complicated language vocabulary...
  
• 
  D.L.

  Uh... where were the witches in this book exactly?
• 
  Jacquie

  Good fun with no mental effort
• 
  Roberta

  Cute, wacky, quirky cozy mystery series.
• 
  George Floyd

  Curious
  
  Great characters,very nice plot Very good descriptions of the town and the individual stores. I really liked Lex and her passion for books.
• 
  Lea

  This has an interesting premise. I enjoyed the set up where she lost her job and her boyfriend. Then things started to be a little off when the bookshop came into play. There's this over arching theme about her dad, and she starts to have flashbacks about the area, but it never really comes full circle, I assume it will in future books but it felt a little like it was left to hang out in this book.
  You could feel that the bookstore was going to be magical in someway. The title gives that away. But it seems to be a mystery for a bit and it felt like the sleuth, who is very smart, was an idiot and not seeing it. The transition from super smart science gal to bookshop gal didn't work for me. I don't plan to continue on with this series.
• 
  Tatiana

  An easy read and funny. But it was poorly written and barely stitched together. As a Latin American, I just found the reveal of the murder kind of stupid, not to mention badly connected.
• 
  Shayla Diana

  It wasn’t terrible, but it wasn’t good either. Or at least I was questioning more than I wanted to. I understand cozy mysteries are a little different and can be silly, and that’s what makes them enjoyable. I just didn’t happen to enjoy this one. Regardless of my feelings towards this book, I have a feeling the author had fun writing this story and at the end of the day if she’s happy with what she wrote, then I am happy for her. Don’t discredit this book based on my review or any other negative review. I wholeheartedly believe that if you wish to form your own opinion give this book a chance. Who knows, it might end up being a favorite of yours. Much love and happy reading! Xoxo
• 
  The Brown Bookloft

  I read this one free on my Kindle. I discovered it through a href="
  https://www.thefussylibrarian.com/&qu... Fussy Librarian a site that promotes free e-books daily in a variety of genres.
  
  I give this book 3.5 stars. There is a second in the series currently available with three more expected in 2021.
  
  I enjoyed the characters and LOVED the setting. I guess I was disappointed in the lack of actual witchcraft or magic in the book. All of the main characters are mundanes, although some of the ones that wandered through were rather odd and mysterious.
  
  Would I read another in the series? Maybe. I enjoyed it enough to do that, but I've been on a magic/witchcraft cozy kick lately and this one didn't fully fit that genre.
• 
  Julia Walker

  This is a fun book but I encourage you to not judge this book by its cover. I suspect that the cover has more to do with the idea of this being a set up novel for a series than it does with what the book is actually about. It certainly looks like a story about witches. It is not. It is a cozy mystery, it is a delightful read, I do want to read more but there is not a single witch in the book.
  
  Alexis Blair has a passion for books. She grew up around them helping out in the family used bookstore and has a career as an editor for a successful publishing company but when her division of the publishing company is shut down, she chooses to quit with a plan to eventually open up her store. Finding a job in a bookstore in a small town that pays really well seems like an affirmation of her goals and Alex jumps on it.
  
  The new town, the new apartment, the new job all take a little bit to get used to, but she begins to feel like she belongs. Her goals are moving forward and she is still dealing with books all day. When Alex goes to visit a client of the store, she is shocked to find her dead and even more shocked when the police accuse her of murder. Knowing that she has to find the facts behind the death or let go of her goals, Alex rises to the occasion and sets out to prove herself innocent.
  
  The “witchy” part comes into question because the books being sold in the back room of the store and the client’s purchasing are all very secretive and unique. Alex lets her curiosity get the best of her when she opens a package left for client pick-up and begins to read the strange words out loud. In the end, the reader is left wanting to find out more about the bookshop, the owner, and the kinds of books being sold.