Buried in a Good Book By Tamara Berry Review

 Happy Wednesday Friends :)

I pray today finds you all doing well, and I want to thank you all for joining me for another book review here on The Preppy Book Princess.

I'm off to work shortly, but before I head out the door, I wanted to jump right in and share my review of an upcoming May 2022 book release with you all.

If you've read my blog before, then you probably already know that I'm a big fan of cozy mysteries.

Unfortunately, they are one genre that I haven't had as much time to read in as I've had with some other genres, and I've been trying to change that lately.

When I was offered the opportunity to read some of the spring and summer cozies from Poisoned Pen Press, I jumped at the opportunity, and today I'm excited to share one of those reviews with you all.

This particular title is from a new to me author, from her brand new series, and I'm looking forward to sharing all about it with you all. 

Keep reading below for my full review.

Buried in a Good Book by Tamara Berry:

Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press

Publication Date: May 24th, 2022

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Series: By the Book Mysteries

Synopsis:

Don't miss the first book in a brand-new gripping and hilarious bookish cozy mystery series by author Tamara Berry! Put your sleuthing hat on―Buried in a Good Book features:

A thriller writer who knows way more than anyone should about death and dismemberment

Her young daughter who's more intrigued by dead bodies than she probably should be

An isolated cabin in the woods that's probably―definitely―hiding something

The tiny mountain town that seems less than troubled by a sudden abundance of murders

Bestselling thriller writer Tess Harrow is almost at the end of her rope when she arrives with her teenage daughter at her grandfather's rustic cabin in the woods. She hopes this will be a time for them to heal and bond after Tess's recent divorce, but they've barely made it through the door when an explosion shakes the cabin. Suddenly it's raining fish guts and...is that a human arm?

Tess was hardly convincing Gertie that a summer without Wi-Fi and running water would be an adventure. Now she's thrust into a murder investigation, neighbors are saying they've spotted Bigfoot in the woods near her cabin, and the local sheriff is the spitting image of her character Detective Gabriel Gonzales―something he's less than thrilled about. With so much more than her daughter's summer plans at stake, it's up to Tess to solve this case before anyone else gets hurt.

(synopsis from goodreads)

My Review:

Buried in a Good Book is the first installment in an all new cozy mysteries series by Tamara Berry. Going into this one, she was a new to me author, and I loved the idea of a cozy mystery series being about an author who writes crime fiction who is suddenly thrown into the pathway of a real life murder.

I do have to say that this one did take me a little while to get into, just because I wasn't a fan of some of the grislier moments, and I didn't personally connect with the story for the first half of it.

However, I thought Tess' character was hilarious, and I loved how she always had a quick witted response to anything that comes her way. I also appreciated the fact that she was able to put all her literary research to good use in order to help figure out who is behind the horrendous crime committed on her deceased grandfather's property, and I really enjoyed the relationship that exists between Tess and her teenage daughter Gertie. Gertie was probably one of my favorite characters, as I thought she had a pretty level head on her shoulders despite what she'd recently been through, and she added another fun element to the developing plot points.

I wasn't sure how I was going to end up feeling about this one, but wow everything really changes in the last third or so of the book, and I definitely did not see it coming. I was personally blown away by just how well developed the mystery ended up being, and it kept me guessing right through to the last reveal.

All in all, the mystery and the characterization were spot on, but I didn't love how much more gruesome this one is than the cozies I'm used to reading, and I did find a couple of objectionable content pieces within the plot that I could have done without. 

I enjoyed it overall, and would probably continue on with the next book in the series, and hopefully I'll end up enjoying that one a little bit more.

Final Rating: 3/5.

Thanks so much to Poisoned Pen Press for allowing me to advance read and review this one!

I voluntarily read and reviewed a complimentary advance reader copy of this novel from the publisher (Poisoned Pen Press) via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I was not required to give a positive review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.  

Thanks so much for reading guys! I hope you have a great rest of your day, and I look forward to sharing another book review with you all on Friday.