Wednesday, November 26, 2025

All My Bones - Old Juniper Bookstore Mysteries #2

 

All My Bones is the second Old Juniper Bookstore cozy shopfront mystery by P.J. Nelson. Due out 2nd Dec 2025 by Macmillan on their Minotaur imprint, it's 352 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. Paperback due out from the same publisher in 4th quarter 2026. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. 

Another small town bookstore cozy, but engaging and well constructed, with the requisite eccentric secondary characters, and an indelible Southern USA (Georgia) flavor. It's a trifle longer than the average small town shopfront cozy, and consequently the pacing is a trifle uneven and slow in places. That being said, the author manages to put all the working parts in the right places, and the mystery, denouement, and resolution are fair play and satisfying. Some of the motivations for the crimes in the book are over the top and unrealistic, but not completely out of bounds for the genre. 

The unabridged audiobook has a run time of 9 hours 49 minutes and is capably read by series narrator Hallie Bee Bard. She has a well modulated, slightly breathy alto, and for this read, a syrupy deep south Georgian American accent. There are some points where the more rapid dialogue exchanges get a bit confused as far as character delineation goes, but it's not egregious, and it is easy enough to tell them apart that it never becomes confusing. 

Three and a half stars. It would make a good choice for public library acquisition, home use, or a buddy read. 

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

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