Little Bookshop of Murders

by Nicki Thornton

One burnt-out lawyer. One shiny new bookshop. One dead customer.

Former lawyer Keera Munroe wants to put her past behind her with nothing more challenging than selling enough books to pay the bills. But when Keera opens a bookshop in idyllic Crossways, there’s a lot she cannot leave behind, like the fact she’s hard-wired to seek out truth and justice. Or her nose for trouble—which is telling her that village life is not quite as lovely as it appears.

Right about the time the first body turns up.

294 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 16, 2025

About the author

Nicki is a former bookseller, and still lives in Oxfordshire where she ran a bookshop for more than ten years. She remains passionate about books, bookshops and anything that celebrates reading for pleasure and writes a regular Mystery Journal celebrating all things crime fiction for young people.

Nicki Thornton’s ‘wickedly funny and wildly original haunted whodunit’ The Last Chance Hotel, was selected as Waterstones Book of the Month October 2018 and has gone on to be an international bestseller, being translated into fifteen languages. Nicki Thornton’s debut won the 2019 Ealing Junior Book Award, was nominated for the Carnegie Medal 2019, was shortlisted for the 2019 CrimeFest Best Crime Novel for Children, the 2019 Oxfordshire Book Award Best Junior Novel, Shortlisted for the Warwickshire 2019 Junior Book Award and longlisted for the Specsavers National Book Awards 2018.

Reviews

[Catherine Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book. Good storyline with twists and turns. I believed in the characters and want to see how their journeys continue in the next book due to be released in 2026. A few questions remain unanswered for me (eg was Helena killed - maybe that’s me missing something, maybe we’ll find out in the next book?!). A good read.

[Nicky Thornton-Greet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lovely characters and I won’t mention the twist at the end! Pretty well kept me guessing til then!