This is the last book in Ellie Alexander's Secret Bookcase Mystery series and unfortunately my least favourite.

We follow our main character Annie to Santa Clara as she attends a book fair convention where a guest speaker ends up being murdered. We also get the conclusion of her friend Scarlet's murder which has been an ongoing mystery throughout the previous books.

This was the only book in this series set outside the small town of Redwood Grove and I found myself missing this setting and it's lovable characters. I also felt that the mystery surrounding Scarlet's murder was rather unbelievable.

Although I was disappointed in this story, I am looking forward to the spinoff series with Annie and Fletcher that the author teased.

This book provided a delightful conclusion to the Secret Bookcase mysteries. I was very excited to learn that Annie and Fletcher's adventures will be continued in the new Novel Detectives series.

Annie and Fletcher are ready to take over owners of the Secret Bookcase as well as their new PI agency, Novel Detectives. Annie is newly licensed and the ink is dry on their business license as well. She and Fletcher head to the California Book Convention (or something like that) out of Redwood Grove. The convention is also taking place in the same city as the nefarious business Annie suspects killed her BFF right before their graduation. She has hatched a plot to infiltrate the company and find the evidence she needs to bring Scarlet's killer to justice. She just needs to pluck up the courage to do so. Meanwhile, at one of the book panels she attends, a sketchy Entrepeneur debuts The Headset, which supposedly will transform reading into a VR experience. He, unfortunately, ends up dead in front of the group, electrocuted by his headset. Is this a tragic accident or a murder? Annie starts learning he had plenty of enemies.

Ms. Alexander, while maintaining two different murder investigations, manages to construct an intricate plot where the investigations are seamless. Annie fits right in as a bookseller and PI and becomes colleagues with the local detective looking into the Headset incident. The major supporting cast is also present, her boyfriend Liam and her new BFF Pri, who are helping to close Scarlet's case. While some of it did seem a bit far-fetched, these are some of the best mysteries I have read in a long time. I really enjoy all the atmosphere she is able to create and I adore her characters.

I am so pleased these characters will continue.

My thanks to Storm Publishing and Netgalley for this ARC.

The conclusion to the secret bookcase mysteries continues to be just as well written and entertaining as the previous books. We finally get a conclusion to the mystery of Scarlett’s death alongside a mystery death at the book fair for Annie and our crew to solve. Look forward to more from the author and hopefully check back in with these characters

A Body at the Book Fair is the final book in Ellie Alexander's A Secret Bookcase Mystery and it ties everything up from the other books. Annie and Fletcher are.taking over The Secret Bookcase bookstore and are starting Novel Detectives, a private investigation firm. In this book, Annie and Fletcher are going to a book fair to learn and get ideas for the bookstore. Annie's boyfriend Liam and her best friend Pri are meeting them there. Unfortunately an unpopular speaker is murdered. Annie is also close to finding her college friend Scarlet's killer. This has been an ongoing part of the series and there is an exciting conclusion! Annie and Fletcher are helping Detective Greene, a local police detective, with figuring out the current murder. The suspects include several people at the book fair who were mad at the deceased. They have to sort through secrets and lies.to find the book fair killer. Annie and Liam are working together to plan how Annie is going to get into Silicon Summit Partners which is somehow involved in Scarlet's murder. Annie finds evidence about where some important documents are hidden at the company, assuming they are still there. Fletcher and Pri also help out Annie and Liam. It is an exciting conclusion to this series! It has been fun to get to know these characters and I am happy there will be a spinoff series about Novel Detectives. This is an enjoyable book and series and I look forward to the new series. #ABodyAtTheBookFair #ASecretBookcaseMystery #StormPublishing

ahhhhh i can't believe this is the last book in the series! i have adored this cozy mystery series with annie and her small town bookstore! i absolutely love the characters, the friendships, and the romance. we finally got closure on the overarching mystery regarding her best friend, as well as another mystery at a book convention. this brought all the fun that i've come to appreciate about the series. i'm sad it's the end but i'm happy that we'll get more content from annie and fletcher in their new series!

The final book in this series and at last we solve the mystery of Scarlet's death which has been a constant thread since the first book.

A Body at the Book Fair is an excellent wrap for a very enjoyable series. All of our favourite characters are in it and there is plenty going on. Luckily, although this is the end for the Secret Bookcase Mysteries, there is a promise for a spin off series called The Novel Detectives. I am looking forward to this.

This is the final book in the Secret Bookcase mysteries and I have to admit it was not my favorite one.

Annie and Fletcher head to Santa Clara to attend a bookseller’s convention, with Pri and Liam joining them later. There are two stories in this book – the murder of a speaker at the convention that Annie becomes involved with and the conclusion of Scarlet’s murder.

I enjoyed the story of Fox Andrews’ death and her searching for suspects. With him constantly using people, it is not a surprise that someone finally finishes him off. I found the killer to be unexpected and enjoyed the conclusion of this story.

However, the finale of the Natalie/Scarlet story was pretty unbelievable. I had a tough time believing that the evidence of corruption against Logan, the CEO of Silicon Summit Partners was left in the company. How did Scarlet or Natalie ever think they’d be able to return to the company to retrieve the evidence? Logan allowing Annie access to his building was unbelievable, although I will say Ms. Alexander did a good job building up the suspense at the conclusion of the story.

While I was disappointed in this story, I am looking forward to the spinoff series with Annie and Fletcher.

Thank you NetGalley and Storm Publishing for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A nice cozy mystery. This is really two stories in one. I enjoyed the series and character development. On to the new series.

This is the sixth, and final, book in the Secret Bookcase series. I have loved reading about Annie’s transition from just being a bookstore employee, to being co-owner of The Secret Bookcase and realizing her dream of becoming a private detective with Fletcher. There is a spinoff series, The Novel Detectives, coming next year and I can’t wait to read it. I hope we don’t lose the characters we’ve grown to love in Redwood Grove, and I hope we get to see the romance between Annie and Liam take the next step. 4 ⭐️

I received an early read of this book and while I didn't realize it was book #6 in a series, I didn't feel like I was lost in the storyline. This would be fine to read as a stand-alone, and a perfect summer read.

The storyline is kind of cutesy, but well-told and once the murderer was revealed, I found that I had considered and then discarded the idea that this person was the one. The motivation was also not what it seems it would be.

Thanks to NetGalley, Storm Publishing and Ellie Alexander for the ARC of this book!

Good news and bad news. First the bad news, this is the final book in the secret bookcase series. However, and the good news, we aren't losing the characters as a new series will start with Fletcher and Annie opening their new venture. And, Scarlet's murder, the story that has arced across all five books, has resolved. At the same time, most of our favorite characters attended a fabulous book fair with intriguing merch and murder of a presenter. A fascinating discussion of the economics of publishing highlights the story. Thanks to netgalley and Storm Publishing for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is the end of the series and a spinoff is planned. Best for those who have read the other books. Big leaps and a rushed ending to this cozy series. Yes, parts were clunky. But the characters are charming, so I forgave a lot.

A nice wrap up to the Secret Bookcase series. No big surprises if you’ve read the first four books. Do NOT start here or you miss the lead up of the mystery. Would like to see Detective Greene and Annie interact more in the future series.

Annie and Fletcher, along with Pri and Liam, are going to a book conference! Mysteries set at conferences are always kind of fun, a nice change of scenery and lots of new characters/suspects with delightfully suspicious backgrounds and attitudes. But they're not going only to check out new books and bookish technologies. They're also there to solve Scarlet's murder once and for all.

As much as I love conference settings, I really missed Redwood Grove and I missed the bookstore. The conference was interesting and though there were good characters, a lot of them were an awful lot alike and I had a VERY hard time keeping the male suspects straight in my mind. I also couldn't tell which mystery was supposed to be the focus of the book, the conference mystery and the Scarlet mystery were constantly at odds and I didn't really get enough of either one to satisfy me.

The Scarlet mystery was a huge let down for me. She needed like 10 minutes to solve this mystery that has been baffling private investigators and police for over a decade? Not buying it. How the final clue came out was just too convenient and Annie's willingness to risk her life to get into a <i>campus</i> (not just one building but an entire campus) to search for something (she doesn't know what) somewhere (she doesn't know where) in this complex of buildings... when she has only one day at the most... felt ridiculous. This supposedly ruthless criminal mastermind bought her silly story hook, line, and sinker, believed every word she told him and gave her full access to his <i>campus</i>? Nope. Oh and also, this evidence she's been searching for? It's in an envelope. And we never get to see what's inside the envelope, we end the story with no clue was to what the evidence was. Why? Because the criminal mastermind just says "aw shucks, you got me, I did it." So she didn't even need the evidence? All along she just needed to ask this person if they did it?

Then while all that is going down, oh by the way we solved this other murder. I finished this book before I went to sleep last night and I already can't remember who the killer was. I could look to refresh my memory, but it doesn't feel that important.

I do like a mystery that arcs across several cozies in a series. It's something interesting to have in the background, that thing that the main character just can't get past and that comes up again and again, sometimes with an extra clue here or there. But when that mystery gets solved it needs to be either the entire focus of the book where it gets solved, or the resolution of the main mystery in the book needs to also be the resolution to that mystery arc. Having the mystery arc battling with another mystery just (for me) weakens both stories and leaves me feeling pulled in too many directions. I think I would have enjoyed this book a whole lot more if it had focused entirely on Scarlet's death and leave out the other mystery. Maybe then it could have seemed like a legitimate investigation/undercover operation instead of a silly thing where they just accidentally stumble upon the answers.

I've read all of this series and all of Alexander's Bakeshop series and this is hands-down my least favorite of her books. I've been pretty critical of it, but don't take that as a reflection of her work because her books really are good and I highly recommend them (especially the Bakeshop series).

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

What a wonderful series. Having read all six books and enjoyed them all it is sad that the series is now complete but I can look forward to the spin off series next year. Thanks to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for the chance to ARC this book.

This was another good book in this series. It wrapped up Annie’s quest to get justice for her friend. I’m kinda sad it’s the last one in this series. However new adventures await Annie and Fletcher and I’m looking forward to those. This is a great series!

Loved the setting and the characters and the comments on the book industry -- but didn't care much about the cold case or its resolution (even though I've read all the previous books). The newer case was more interesting but seemed at times to be an afterthought, with a very abrupt resolution (which is also true of the other case). Shame that the first 60% or so of the book was so interesting but the rest was a let down. I'm curious to see how the spin-off new series goes.

A wonderful read!
This novel drew me in from the very first page and kept me hooked until the end. The characters were vibrant and relatable, the writing was engaging, and the story had just the right balance of heart and humor. Highly recommend!
Many thanks to NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for my ARC. All opinions are my own.

A Body at the Book Fair is the sixth and final novel in the Secret Bookcase mystery series. as always, Ellie Alexander leads readers down several paths in trying to solve a new case. Annie and Fletcher are attending a book fare, where a murder suddenly changes the tone of this book gathering, giving Annie and Fletcher a new case to solve. As if this new murder was not enough to keep them busy, Annie hopes to solve her friend Scarlett's murder from 10 years prior.

The murder at the book fare takes place during a demonstration for a VR headset. Of course, there are several suspects. As Annie and Fletcher try to help the police detective solves this murder, readers learn a great deal about publishers, editors, and the creation of a best seller. Annie's plan to solve Scarlett's murder also works out, with the help of friends Liam and Pri and a local police detective. Readers who were sad at the end of this series, will also get a surprise in the conclusion.

I do recommend, A Body at the Book Fair. Thank you to Storm Publishing and NetGalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest review, which is included here.

4 stars

This is the conclusion of the Secret Bookcase Mystery series. It can be read as a standalone but I recommended you read them in order to get the full character development and background of the major players.

There are two mysteries here: who killed app developer in front of an audience of book sellers and authors and who killed Scarlet, the arc between all the books in the series.

I found both mysteries compelling and entertaining. I like how Annie, Fletcher, and their cohorts solve both mysteries. The epilogue was also insightful.

I highly recommend the final book in the series. Netgalley gave me an advanced ecopy of the book and these are my opinions. I rate it 4.5 out of 5 stars.