ARC Review: All My Bones by P. J. Tracy

All My Bones
Author: P. J. Tracy
Series: On Old Juniper Bookshop Mystery (Book 2)
Publication: Minotaur Books (December 2, 2025)

Description: Madeline Brimley, new owner of a bookstore in a small Georgia town, finds herself playing sleuth when a friend is charged with the murder of a much-disliked woman.

Madeline Brimley recently inherited a bookstore in Enigma, Georgia, is embarking on her second career, after her first one (acting) founders upon the metaphorical rocks. Settling in, Madeline recruits her friend Gloria Coleman, the local Episcopal priest, to help her plant azaleas in the front yard of the old Victorian that houses the bookstore. Turning the soil, however, uncovers the body of one Beatrice Glassie, a troublesome woman who has been missing for the past six months.

When her friend Gloria is arrested for the murder, Madeline is determined to prove her innocence and, as she quickly finds out, there aren't many people in town who hadn't wanted to kill Bea Glassie at one point or another. And the very expensive and rare first edition of a particular volume of Grimm's Fairy Tales―ordered by the victim and her sister is somehow tied to the grim death. With the help of her not-quite-boyfriend, a local lawman, and her deceased aunt's best friend, Madeline plans to set a trap to catch the real murderer―before she becomes the next victim.

My Thoughts: Madeline Brimley wants to plant roses developed by her recently deceased Aunt Rose in front of the bookshop she inherited from her. She has enlisted the help of her friend Gloria Coleman who is the local Episcopal priest and her neighbor. 

While digging through the heavy Georgia clay the come upon a layer of Quikcrete and some bones. The front of the bookstore has become a crime scene. The bones are discovered to belong to Bea Glassie. She's been missing for the past six months and no one including her sister had noticed or cared. But now her sister Idell is making up for her earlier silence. She has accused Gloria of killing Bea because she heard the two arguing at the church one day. 

Bea and Idell are rich, elderly women who haven't made many friends in town. They argued over a man and haven't spoken for many, many years. But Idell calls on a cousin in charge of a branch office of the Georgia Bureau of Investigations and harasses him enough to convince him to arrest Gloria.

Madeline needs to find the killer in order to set her friend free. Bea's abrasive personality doesn't narrow the pool of suspects. Everyone in Enigma, Georgia, has wanted her dead a time or two. From an old boyfriend to her estranged sister to tradesmen she's stiffed of fees, there are lots of suspects. 

This was an engaging small-town cozy set in rural Georgia. Madeline who grew up in Enigma but left for an acting career as soon as she graduated from high school has only recently returned to take care of the bookshop she inherited from her aunt. She has both and insider and outsider's point of view and a rather dramatic nature. 

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.