Review: Fatalities and Folios by A.C.F. Bookens

Posted August 23, 2022 by Lola in Mystery, Review / 4 Comments

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Fatalities and FoliosFatalities and Folios (Poe Baxter Books Series #1)
by ACF Bookens

My Rating: 4 stars

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Age Category: Adult
Type of romance: MF

Blurb:
Who knew that finding a rare book would also involve running for her life?

When Poe Baxter fled her job as an English professor, she was thrilled to be launching into her career as an antiquarian book dealer with a trip to Edinburgh. But she soon finds that her queries into a particular book’s provenance are drawing some less desirable attention to her and her best friend Beattie. Not everyone is interested in sharing this particular story.

Will the women be able to discover the book’s origins without bringing about their own ends?

My Review

I received a free copy from the author and voluntarily reviewed it.

I was excited to start this new series by ACF Bookens. This series follows Poe Baxter who just got a new job as an antiquarian book dealer. With her best friend Beattie she travels to Scotland to buy her first book after Sea Monsters. I enjoyed visiting Scotland in this book and it was fun to recognize the names of some places I’ve visited myself. The theme of books and travel seems like a fun one, but I am wondering how this will work out as the series progresses in terms of recurring side characters and love interests.

While this is a first book in the series I thought the book did a good job of getting into the meat of the story and the mystery relatively quickly. I do have to say I didn’t find the mystery as engaging as some of the other books by this author, it’s hard not to compare it with her other series. It did keep me guessing and wondering who the murderer was and what the book had to do with it.

I liked Poe, she seemed like a sensible character who shared her suspicions and theories with her friends and acquaintances instead of pursuing them on her own. I liked how the characters all worked together to figure out the mystery. I liked her friendship with Beatie and seeing how she approached this new job. It was also fun to see an older main character in a cozy series.

There’s also a pet hamster that plays a role in the series, but I am not yet sure what to think of him. There aren’t many scenes where he plays an important role and traveling with a hamster in a small cage just seemed kinda sad.

I thought it was nice there were some more touristy and fun scenes interspersed with the mystery. It made for a nice mix. I also liked how it made sense they become part of the mystery as it ties in with the book they’ve been buying. There was a bit of a romance set up, but with the way the book ends I am not sure what’s going to happen with that. I liked the romances, but it also felt like it progressed a bit quickly and wish there had been a bit more build up and getting to know each other.

To summarize: This was a solid start to this new series. I liked the theme of book buying and travel and how we get to visit Scotland with Poe in this first book. The mix between the mystery and the more fun and touristy scenes was well done. I liked how the mystery was tied in with the book they’re buying, but I wasn’t as engaged with the mystery as I would’ve liked. I liked Poe so far, she seemed sensible and likeable. I liked how Poe and her friends all work together to solve the mystery. I wasn’t sure about the pet hamster, he only made a few appearances and it just seemed kinda odd how they travel with him. The romance progresses kinda fast and I am not really sure how that’s going to play out with them traveling to another location next. All in all a good start to this new series and I look forward to the next one.

4 Stars

Links:
Goodreads
Bookbub
Amazon
B&N
Kobo

You can also read my review on Goodreads and Bookbub.

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4 responses to “Review: Fatalities and Folios by A.C.F. Bookens

  1. The book acquisitions and travel settings would be fun and she sounds like a smart amateur detective since she keeps everyone in on what she’s doing, but I can see your point about how and recurring cast and relationships would be problematic for all that traveling. Hopefully, the mystery will be better in book two.
    Sophia Rose recently posted…Ruby Fever by Ilona AndrewsMy Profile

    • It sure was a fun start to this new series and the travel aspect was interesting. I am really curious to see how the recurring cast and relationships are handled in book 2, which I just started reading.

  2. I don’t read many cozy mysteries but this one intrigues me because of the books. And the travel. I like the sound of Poe but it’s really the books that are the draw. 😉 LOL Perhaps I’d be better off starting with this series and then moving onto the author’s other series?
    Bookworm Brandee recently posted…Is it a Library?!? GiveawayMy Profile

    • The books and travel theme was a fun one. All her series can be read independently of the rest, so you can definitely start with this one. And it’s easier to keep up with it as it’s new, her other two series are both 9 books long at this point and I am still trying to catch up on her first series, which is hard as she releases new books so often.

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