Jane Steward is a widowed mother of twin boys and manager of Storyton Resort, a book-themed resort hotel. During Jane’s long-anticipated Murder and Mayhem Week there is a real murder (gasp!), which means Jane is forced to run interference with merchants, guests, staff, and the twins while doing some sleuthing of her own and keeping her eccentric Aunt Octavia and Uncle Aloysius Steward, who own the resort, calm and safe.

The story moves along cozily, as cozies will do – but soon enough there’s a completely unexpected twist that makes the prospect of reading all eight books in this series much more intriguing. Without the twist, Murder in the Mystery Suite would warrant 3, maybe 3.5 stars; the overriding theme definitely deserves a step up to 4 stars.

At 276 pages in the mass market edition, this is a book one can finish easily in a few days. One nice touch: the hotel staff and town merchants are listed at the front of the book for easy reference. There’s a well-placed little hook at the very end of the tale that sets the stage for an interesting Book Two. Would I read the next book in the series? Yes! You will too, and you might even start to think about opening your own book resort. I know am! ( )

Trying to save Storyton Hall, Jane Steward comes up with a Murder Mystery Retreat that gets a bit too real for her liking. Jane also learns the family secret when the guardianship of Storyton's library gets passed to her.

From the descriptions, Storyton Hall sounds like a place I'd like to visit (other than the ban on technology in the common areas (which seems to be disregarded by the Fins at times)). I enjoyed reading about Jane's ideas for the murder mystery week--the costume ball where people dressed as their favorite detective, the scavenger hunt using mystery quotes, etc. ( )

Ellery created a murder mystery around books and a secret library trope. While it was a great romp of a story, the author's writing was rather unsophisticated which detracted a bit from my enjoyment. Happily, she made the story feel original with the setting in a stately manor run as a luxurious hotel with its main draw being a tranquil escape for readers and things literary. While I found the writing style over the top with descriptions and some irrelevant details, the plot moved along merrily with an enjoyable set of characters and an unexpected twist. The backstory to the hotel and the family who owned it was a bit of a stretch but just go with the flow and enjoy the chase. It's fun, a bit silly and readable. Guess I liked it, 'cause I requested the second novel. We'll see how that goes as a 'continuing saga'. ( )

Jane Seward becomes the keeper of Storyton Hall when her Aunt Octavia and Uncle Aloysius pass the mantle to her. The building was torn down in the British Isles and reassembled brick by brick in Virginia. It now serves as a hotel. It holds a vast library and an even more secret library. To help raise funds, they host a mystery week. The scavenger hunt prize is a first edition, but somehow a copy from Storyton Hall's private collection gets swapped for the copy that is supposed to be the prize. The man who won the book turns up dead, and the book they are trying to recover is missing. While the plot is not very plausible, it's still a fun read--even in a somewhat fantastical setting. Even though I owned the paperback, I listened to the audio version read by Johanna Parker. I thought she did a good job. ( )

This series is a bit too squeaky clean for my taste. Found it hard to get through. ( )