Murder by the Seashore

Perfect for fans of Jenn McKinlay and Ellery Adams, Scarlett Gardner’s dream was to open a bookshop in Southern California, but it soon becomes a nightmare when she finds the dead body of a customer—and becomes the prime suspect.

Southern California is where dreams come true—or so Scarlett Gardner thought. When she moved there and opened the Palm Trees and Page Turners bookshop, she thought her boyfriend and business partner would be part of the story. When he leaves her for a better job, Scarlett finds herself struggling to keep her new business afloat. That’s not the only thing she has to worry about—she discovers something underneath the pier by her bookshop that she didn’t outline for her life’s story: the dead body of a book-buying customer.

After Scarlett gives a statement to the police, she thinks her life can go back to business as usual. But when a lawyer, representing someone named Lorelai Knight, tells Scarlett that she now stands to inherit a small fortune, she’s left with more questions than answers. Before she can make sense of any of it, the police bring her in for questioning; the body she found was Lorelai Knight. And the evidence they have against Scarlett doesn’t look good. Business is booming as Scarlett returns to Palm Trees and Page Turners, but for all the wrong reasons – curious tourists don’t want books, they want a glimpse of the Bookshop Killer.

Who could really be behind all of this? And why frame Scarlett? To clear her name, she’s going to have get creative—and hope she can remain one page ahead of the killer.

Genre: Cozy Mystery

"A delightful debut about a resourceful bookstore owner who investigates the death of a woman who might be her birth mother while dealing with a suspicious employee and a greedy ex-boyfriend. A perfect summer read!" - Allison Brook

"Samara Yew delivers a delightfully cozy series debut. You'll root for Scarlett Gardner as she fights to clear her name and save her beloved bookstore." - Elizabeth Spann Craig

"I was hooked on Murder by the Seashore from the first page. Samara Yew's debut features a likable protagonist, a sneaky mystery and a wonderful supporting cast of characters. I had a lot of fun reading about murder in Oceanside and I look forward to Scarlett's next adventure!" - Carrie Doyle

"Books, the beach, and murder. What more could you want? Murder by the Seashore is a fun new mystery series sure to keep you entertained no matter where you choose to read it." - Alex Erickson

"Bookstore lovers rejoice! Murder by the Seashore, by Samara Yew, features a spunky heroine, a charming bookshop, and a clever mystery that will keep readers guessing from the very first page." - Daryl Wood Gerber

"Sometimes it's not only shells found in the sand. Murder by the Seashore is a beach-read extraordinaire." - Mary Lou Kirwin

"Samara Yew's Murder by the Seashore is a page turner! A clever mystery to keep you engaged. A wonderful protagonist you can root for, and a fun cast of characters to guide you through the story." - Olivia Matthews

"The well-drawn setting, characters, and plot kept me turning the pages all the way to the big twist at the end." - Sue Minix

"A delightful read . . . mystery readers will want to keep coming back for more." - Linda Wiken