Hazel Rose and Carlene Arness founded a book group called Murder on Tour, and Carlene had recently published her first novel. On this particular occasion she was leading a meeting with a focus on how mystery writers could use cyanide in their stories, a technique she had found a use for in her own book.

A woman Carlene knew from Las Angeles, California showed up during the meeting, and members could see Carlene was not pleased to see Linda. In fact, she said she didn’t know who the woman was although it was clear the woman was familiar.

As Carlene was sharing information regarding cyanide she began to exhibit unexpected symptoms herself after drinking a little bit of tea. The next thing the group realized, she had collapsed and died.

Hazel Rose, her friend and co-mystery group leader, began a list of possible suspects who might have wanted Carlene out of the picture, and she quickly realized there were more than she would have anticipated. Nor had she realized how unpopular the victim was.

Even Hazel had a possible reason for wanting her out of the way because Carlene had married her ex-husband. When she found a suicide note, Hazel didn’t believe her co-leader would have done such a thing as she was looking forward to the future.

As Hazel continued to investigate Carlene’s death, she found herself in situations that threatened to end her own life all too soon.

Murder at the Book Group was written by Maggie King. This first book in the Book Group Mystery series is an introduction into the life of Hazel Rose and her friends in the Richmond, Virginia area, and she has many. The number of characters and length of story was impressive in a first novel. The main characters were well formed and interesting, and the in depth story line stayed strong to the end.

This impressive first novel will have cozy mystery fans clamoring for more tales featuring Hazel Rose and other members of the Murder on Tour book group and their unique slant of reviewing books that share a geographic setting.

If you are interested in purchasing a copy of Murder at the Book Group (A Book Group Mystery) , Maggie King’s book is available at Amazon.com.

A special thank you goes to Pocket Books (Simon & Schuster) for providing us with a complimentary copy of Murder at the Book Group.