Chaos at the Lazy Bones Bookshop

Raised by her grandparents, Bailey Briggs runs their family-owned bookshop, Lazy Bones Books, in Halloween-themed, small-town Elyan Hollow, Oregon. As part of this year's Halloween celebration, Bailey invites three authors, including well-known horror writer and hometown hero Rex Abbot, to take part in the town's first literary festival. In the lead-up to the festival, she allows Gone Ghouls, a ghost-hunting show, to film in her shop. Unfortunately, they trash the store, leading Bailey to shout at the host, Lance Gregory, throwing him and the rest of the production out. When Bailey and her friend Colby find Gregory dead in the pumpkin maze, Bailey quickly becomes a suspect. Determined to clear herself, Bailey investigates, interviewing suspects and conducting research, uncovering long hidden secrets. Details of running a bookstore and literary festival and the whimsical, small-town, Halloween-themed setting frame this satisfying series starter, narrated by Bailey and peopled by a well-delineated cast including Bailey's Great Pyrenees dog, Jack Skeleton.

Could high school rivalries be a motive for murder? Elyan Hollow was a quiet town on Oregon's Columbia River until a famous Halloween movie was filmed there. Now it's a Halloween-themed tourist destination supporting many small businesses, including Lazy Bones Books, which Bailey Briggs' grandfather is passing on to her. After Bailey's mother, now a doctor with a second family, got pregnant in high school, Bailey was raised by her grandparents. For the Halloween festival she's planning, Bailey has extended invitations to three well-known authors, including bestselling Rex Abbot, who graduated from high school in Elyan Hollow. Also in town is a crew from the TV show Gone Ghouls, including Taylor Edison, a snooty research assistant who's talked Bailey into letting them shoot in the bookstore, and one-time local Lance Gregory, star of the show. The shoot, supervised by Bailey's assistant, trashes the shop, leaving Bailey furious. When Bailey finds Lance dead in the maze created for the festival, she becomes a prime suspect. Learning that Lance and Rex were both in school with her mother, Bailey wonders who her father was and does some sleuthing to try to find out. Once the obnoxious Taylor becomes the next to die, she steps up her efforts to save herself from a murder charge and solve the riddle of her paternity. An exciting mystery whose answers lie deep in the past of the complex characters. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.