A WHALE OF A MURDER – 5 stars
A Venus Bixby Mystery: Book One

A Whale of a Murder is the first book in the new series Venus Bixby Mystery.
Retro-music store owner Venus Bixby is ready to celebrate her fiftieth birthday, when a strange event happened. She broke her thumb because of the woman’s orange shoe whose body was lying on the ground. The victim is Maggie McGee, the manager of the museum’s gift shop. And just like that Venus becomes both a witness and suspect in a murder at the same time. From now one, she needs to figure out what happened to Maggie. Is she capable of it?
I really enjoyed #AWhaleofaMurder. The beginning was a bit slow to me, but overall it’s a nice cozy mystery story with likable characters. Thank you to Valerie Taylor for an excellent writing and describing place so good, that you really feel like you are part of this story.

I’m looking forward to more books in this cozy series.

PS. Don’t forget to check out the playlist from the author!

Autor: Valerie Taylor
Publisher: Aspetuck Publishing | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles
Pages:358

Thank you NetGalley for providing ARC in exchange for my honest review.

#AWhaleofaMurder #NetGalley

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest an voluntary review. I enjoyed this book very much. It grabs your attention from the start and doesn't stop. This is a mystery with humor scattered in between. Valerie describes some beautiful scenery in the book as well. This is the first in the series and can't wait to see what she will come up with in the next story.

A Whale of a Murder: A Venus Bixby Mystery is the first book in Award Winning Author Valerie Taylor’s new series. This is a well written cozy mystery that will keep the pages turning and put a smile on your face. A lighthearted story with well developed characters that come to life. Ms. Taylor’s wonderful descriptions make you feel like you are a part of this story. She adds a well thought out mixture of humor and mystery to keep your attention from start to finish. A great start to what looks like a great series, I so look forward to the second book!

Thank you NetGalley, Aspetuck Publishing and Valerie Taylor for this highly entertaining story to read and review. The added recipes and playlist are a definite plus. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
#netgalley #aspetuckpublishing #valerietaylor
#awhaleofamurder #avenusbixbymysteryseries

A Whale of a Murder is the first book in the Venus Bixby Mystery cozy mystery series by Valerie Taylor.

The main character Venus Bixby owns Chatham Crossing’s Oldies and Goodies music store in a small New England town where everyone knows everyone.

Venus is excited to celebrate her fiftieth birthday in the town’s whaling museum.
Unfortunately, when she trips on orange shoes and a body to go with it, the celebration is called off.

The victim is Maggie McGee who is the manager of the whaling museum’s gift shop.
There are so many suspects including Venus. She decides to become an amateur sleuth to find out who killed Maggie.

I really enjoyed this cozy mystery. I love that the main character is older.
The small-town description is excellent and lends itself well to an excellent written mystery.

Looking forward to more books in this fun series.

Valerie Taylor's 'A Whale of a Murder' immerses readers in the quaint yet perilous world of Chatham Crossing, where protagonist Venus Bixby unexpectedly becomes entangled in a murder mystery amidst Fourth of July celebrations. Despite its occasional predictability, the novel's charming setting and quirky characters make for an enjoyable read. (I received an advance reader copy of this book, and all opinions are my own.) With its cozy mystery vibes and small-town drama, it's a delightful escape for those craving a light-hearted adventure.

This is the first book by Valerie Taylor that I have read. I felt the story started off extremely slowly. I knew who the killer was before 25% of the book was completed. I just needed to figure out why. The pace picked up after the investigation started but I really had a hard time caring about any of the characters.

The story was ok but not my cup of tea. I will not be continuing with this series.

I was given an advanced copy by Netgalley and wished I liked it more.

'After years of living in the shadow of her late husband, Venus will finally be the center of attention this holiday weekend: starting with her fiftieth birthday celebration and ending as the parade’s Grand Marshal.
Faster than a cookie crumbles, her dream collapses on the morning of her party when she trips over orange platform shoes in the gardens of the Sofia Silva Whaling Museum and breaks her thumb. When it’s discovered the shoes are attached to the body of the manager of the museum’s gift shop, Venus becomes both a suspect and a sleuth in Chatham Crossing’s first murder in decades.'

This is an enjoyable, light hearted cozy murder, ideal for an afternoon read. The tourist town seaside setting and characters are well described (although to be honest I didn't really like any of them very much, including Venus herself). The whodunit was interesting but there is a lot of back story (about 30%) and a fair bit of that turned out to be irrelevant and just distracted. This may be because it is a first in series and so be less intrusive in future installments. Overall I have given 3 stars as it is well written and easy to read for cozy mystery fans. Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I liked the ploy of this story...but little else.

The first 13 chapter of the book were literally jumping from character to character. I had a difficult time figuring out out the point.

I also did not like a single character. Especially the main character. She felt spoiled and shallow. The rest of the characters fell flat too.

I finished the book so I could review it, but it was rough a d not that enjoyable.

I received a copy of this book in return for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an arc of this novel. What a fun read! . Venus, our super sleuth seems a little self-absorbed but becomes a little more likeable once her twin, Sherrie arrives. While it wasn't the most riveting novel, the light mystery had enough twists to keep the reader's interest.

I thought this was a strong start to the Venus Bixby Mystery series, it had everything that I wanted from this type of book. The characters were interesting and thought the plot worked with everything perfectly. It uses the mystery element perfectly and enjoyed the feel of the story. It left me wanting more in this series and glad I was able to read this.

Book Title: a Whale of a Murder
A Venus Bixby Mystery
Book 1

Author: Valerie Taylor (award winning author)

Genre: Fiction

Pub Date: Will be released on April 23, 2024/ preorder now.

Print Length: 319 pages


Book Reviewed By Sylvia J.

After finishing the last book in the author's romantic comedy trilogy, What’s Not Lost, the author decided to spin off one of the minor characters named Venus Bixby and make her the sloth in this new brand new cozy mystery series. As stated above A Whale of a Murder : A Venus Bixby Mystery.


The book starts off with a murder investigation. The manager of the museum’s gift shop was murdered. Her name was Margaret “Maggie McGee. I would say the police have a lot of investigating to do right now, with this murder. The story takes place in Chatham Crossing Massachusetts. This is an historic town situated between Providence and Cape Cod. Ms. Venus Bixby may have been the last to see Ms. McGee alive in the garden that morning. The police need to take a full statement from Venus. They have to wait though, because Venus fell over a pair of platform shoes and broke her thumb and is now on pain medication.
Will Venus be a suspect now? There hasn’t been a murder in Chatham crossings in decades. Venus Bixby is the owner of a retro-music store called Oldies and Goodies. Was she in the wrong place at the wrong time?


One will adore this quote in the book
“ Alone we can do so little, together we can do so much.” This is a quote from Helen Keller. I adore good quotes. Let me share one more from the book with you. “ Find a group of people who challenge and inspire you, spend a lot of time with them, and it will change your life.”

The museum wasn’t used to dealing with dead bodies at the museum. There was never a murder there before, what is going on? They had five whale skeletons displayed in the grand hall of the museum.

This book is a debut cozy mystery. I found it to be a very cute book and very cozy, especially hearing about the cats in the book. There was humor thrown into the book which I enjoyed, as I found myself laughing due to that.

Five stars is my rating of the book. All of the talk of food in the book will make one hungry. All of the music talk in the book will make one dance. There are so many recipes in the back of the book and a playlist of free songs that are on Spotify that depict the story of a Whale of a Murder which I just read and reviewed above.

A great setting for a fun little mystery. You can see easily forget your life for a while and lose yourself in the people and places this story introduces you to.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing this as a Read Now choice.

This is the first instalment of a new cozy murder mystery series about a middle-aged shop owner turning detective. Though for the first part she couldn't care less, instead obsessing about her broken thumb, the visit of her twin sister and whether murdered Maggie might have had a thing with her boyfriend.

She also asks everyone: "What’s your favorite song today?” all the time.

I found this very slow going. There was so much backstory to be imparted about so many characters, and in the end I still had a hard time figuring out who was who. There was a lot about a birthday party at a whale museum, competitive cookie bakers and everyone wanting to be on the Town Committee to decide about traffic lights or something.

I wanted to love this but it wasn't the most riveting story, and the pacing is all wrong, with a very slow start and a double speed ending and pages of explanations.

It was a quick read, even though it didn't really get going before 60%. Seeing as the book ends at 92%, with the rest taken up by pointless recipes and songlists, this is not a lot of sleuthing.

Maybe the next installment will be better if the author can get the pacing right but I'm afraid I can't give this more than 2.5 stars. The cover's lovely though.

So much to enjoy in this book which blends humour, mystery and a truly wonderful setting. The author has taken the modern reading experience a step further by including recipes and a song playlist to add to the sense of a truly immersive experience. - such a clever addition. I loved the main character and found myself very invested in her world. This is not just one for lovers of cozy mysteries as it will appeal to readers across genres.

The first book in a new cosy series and what a bit of fun it was. A great setting and love the music theme to the story, this book follows Venus Bixby when she finds a dead body on the morning of her 50th birthday party.

The perfect length for a book, well written and I read it with such ease. It is fun, entertaining and kept me guessing. It had it all, murder, mystery, twists and more. I enjoyed the characters once I became familiar with them and the story built as it went on. I look forward to seeing what comes next in this series. I would give this one a 3 1/2 stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Aspetuck Publishing for giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

A Whale of a Murder: A Venus Bixby Mystery is a debut cozy mystery. I wanted to like it and it had potential but it didn't keep my attention. The beginning was slow. The first chapter is a newspaper story. The next chapters were from the main character, Venus Bixby's point of view which was ok. Venus doesn't come across very likeable. She seems spoiled and self centered. She falls and breaks her thumb and it is her 50th birthday. She has a boyfriend Budd. Another chapter focuses on Venus's store, the employees including her good friend Carole who has a catering business. I didn't like Carole either and she.doesn't seem like a very good friend although she caters a nice birthday party at the end. Another chapter is about Maggie McGhee and the Whaling Museum. The beginning is all rather disjointed and an unusual introduction to the characters. Whatever. I kept reading. Often an author makes the characters unlikable to start and by the end they grow and are ok. That is kind of the case. Venus trips over a dead body. She suspects everyone including Budd. Once the story got going it was ok although too descriptive at times and the humor missed the mark. I liked Venus's twin Sherrie and the cozy mystery was ok but not too hard to guess the culprit. I read a lot of cozy mysteries and I could never write one so I try to give the benefit of the doubt to all authors but I had a tough time with this one. It did get better but the characters and relationships are what I enjoy and these weren't very well fleshed out. It just didn't hold my attention. #AWhaleOfAMurder #AVenusBixbyMystery #NetGalley #AspertuckPublishing

A Whale of a Murder is the debut of the A Venus Bixby Mystery series set in Chatham Crossing, Massachusetts and featuring music store owner, Venus Bixby. Venus is preparing to celebrate her fiftieth birthday with a party at the Sofia Silva Whaling Museum and also serve as the Grand Marshal for the town's Fourth of July parade.

As Venus walks through the museum grounds to check on the party preparations she stumbles over the platform shoes 0f the museum gift shop manager, Margaret McGee. The woman is dead and a valuable artifact is missing.

Detective Oscar Donovan has his hands full of suspects and he thinks Venus might be one of them. Venus and her sister Sherrie create a Sisters' List of Suspects and begin their own investigation that ultimately ends in a reconstruction of the morning Maggie was found dead.

An interesting debut, but the characters take a little getting used to. Complicated relationships exist between Venus and pretty much everyone in her life. Nobody seems to give off warm and cozy vibes except for Venus' cats: Sonny and Cher. I'll give the second installment in the series a try now that the majority of Chatham Crossings backstory has been told.

I received an advanced copy of A Whale of a Murder from NetGalley via Aspetuck Publishing. While not required to write a review I am happy to offer my honest opinion.

The story flowed well and the characters were well developed. I recommend this book and look forward to more from this author.


****Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for my honest review****

3 stars

Being from Massachusetts, I loved how the author used language that people native to Massachusetts would use when describing places. This story follows Venus, while she uses her sleuthing to catch a murderer.

I did really want to love this book, but the timing of events was slightly off for me. The beginning prior to the murders felt too slow, while the ending happened too fast.

Overall, it was a decent book and I likely will continue if there is another book featuring Venus' adventures.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest an voluntary review.

Record store owner Venus Bixby is ready to turn 50. But she’d like to do in her next decade they become part of Chatham Crossings town committee. But my past once, she stumbles upon a body and becomes a suspect in a murder.

Well, Venus be able to figure out who killed the museum shops manager? Or will she be spending the rest of her birthdays in prison?

The first in a new cozy mystery series, it’s a good start that lays the foundation for many more entries to come. Venus has the ability to engage the reader and keep them sleuthing along with her. I’ll be back for more in this series!