Book Review: A Bitter Pill (The Bookshop Mysteries)

Reviewed by Andrea Marks-Joseph

A charming, bookish modern mystery

Gemma’s bookshop, Bookworm, isn’t in a dire situation exactly, but they could be doing better. She’s going to need some fresh ideas to bring in more income for the shop, so she turns to her team. 

Together, the Bookworm staff decides to host a reading for Dominic Westley, a local author whose buzzy book has been flying off the shelves. The author’s name on the event’s invite does indeed bring in a crowd of people, but he shows up late, flustered and looking unwell. 

Even in the brief encounters the Bookworm staff has with Dominic when he arrives, it’s clear this man is arrogant to the point of annoyance, refusing their offer of coffee to help liven him up, because he’s brought his own flask filled with “a specific Columbian bean, farmed exclusively on a special, organic farm.” 

He rather rudely goes on to explain that “this run-of-the-mill stuff” he assumes the Bookworm’s café brews “just doesn’t work to get [his] creative juices flowing.” Moments later, he rushes to the bathroom where he collapses and has a suspected heart attack. Unfortunately, the Bookworm’s first step toward success becomes the scene of Dominic’s sudden death. 

It’s a solemn shock to the local community, and Gemma and her staff attend the funeral out of respect. Out of nowhere, Donna, Dominic’s widow/ex (they were separated) approaches Gemma to confess that she believes Ellie, the other woman who was hiding in the back at Dominic’s funeral, killed him. The police established that he died by overdose of his heart medication, she says. They ruled it a suicide, but it’s something he never would have done. Donna also claims she and Dominic were about to get back together. This confession, coupled with one of her bookseller’s   instincts that something curious was going on, prompts the team to begin an amateur investigation into Donna’s claims. 

When Mavis, Gemma’s elderly bookseller, meets with Ellie, she is crushed by the weight of losing Dominic, who broke up with her when he reunited with Donna, under really distressing circumstances. ”She was clearly devastated by the entire ordeal.” Mavis tells Gemma of her conversation with Ellie. “Devastated enough to fabricate a story?” Gemma pointed out.” Ellie’s desperation inspires an even more powerful curiosity in the booksellers, who can’t resist the adventure into something that mirrors the books they read.

We spend the next few weeks with the two Bookworm employees as they chase leads and question potential suspects—while still trying to brim up sales for the bookshop. I really appreciated that these two amateur investigators never trusted someone without investigating themselves—and, gloriously, they never let their suspects see how strongly they may not trust them. 

These are bookish detectives with a sharp instinct, and an impressively clever clarity of context. Bitter Pill is a captivating and compassionate story, welcoming the despicable depths the murdered man stooped to and the truths of the women who loved him despite this: “He loved, hurt and discarded women as he saw fit, yet both of those women still mourned him, and bore the consequences of his actions.” That said, Bitter Pill never loses focus from its charming setting and instantly adorable leading ladies, who are investigating from a place of equal concern and curiosity.

While Bitter Pill is very much steeped in the Bookworm’s cozy, bookish energy, this is very much a murder mystery and its authors and protagonists know the importance of the mystery’s pull. Each surprising reveal is exciting, each twist thrilling. I appreciated that Gemma has a near-reckless desire to chase the mystery, but she and Mavis do not lose their level-headed approach. Gemma contacts her ex-fiancee and possible future-boyfriend, a detective with the local police, to share their findings. That doesn’t mean they abandon her personal sleuthing, though! Mavis admits when she was “rattled” by their close-call with the killer, but she tells Gemma it’s “nothing a spot of Earl Grey and a few chapters of a comfy book couldn’t mend.”

S. A. Reeves drops breadcrumbs (or pastry crumbs) of possibility along the way. The person I suspected most was overlooked for a long while, and then it felt like everyone was onto their trail along with me. Later, when they weren’t caught in the moment I thought they would be, it felt like their name had been cleared, opening the list of potential suspects wide again. But then I suddenly started to suspect them again! This kind of playful pacing is mirrored in the very meta discussions of the local Murder Mystery Club, who argue over relatable things like “Why, her presence at the garden party in Chapter 5 is clearly significant!” 

I love that Bitter Pill serves up some wonderful book-inside-a-book conversations with local book clubs passionately declaring their favorite tropes about mystery novels. Reeves somehow wrote them to feel universal and dazzlingly relevant to the mystery of Dominic’s death.

One particularly important scene depends on a random, convenient coincidence, but most of the twists make me glad to recommend this book to those who like sweet and smart cozy mysteries. Occasionally, too, Mavis or Gemma recount what just happened on the page to another character, despite us just learning and reading about it, so some pages can feel repetitive. 

Readers should note that the story includes extensive descriptions of a woman being pressured to terminate a pregnancy, discussion about poisoning by overdose, discussions relating to depression and anxiety as a result of devastating debt, and discussion about suicidal behavior, as Dominic’s death is assumed to be a suicide by overdosing on his prescription medicine.

I’d highly recommend you’re armed with a sweet baked treat and your favorite hot beverage, because the only thing that will tempt you to put down this book is the descriptions of the Bookworm café’s offerings, which may just drive you to visit your nearest bakery.

“A murder had been committed, and the method was as easy as shopping online!” The quality that shines brightest in Bitter Pill is the way we get a delightful mix of modern technology with timeless mystery traits. Fans of Hulu’s Only Murders in the Building are a PERFECT match for this novel, brewed with an intergenerational detective duo and a balanced blend of time-honored wisdom and considered insight from its older characters. I love that the story entangles everyday things like the shop’s point of sale system getting an upgrade to the ladies of the Bookworm learning about bitcoin and how one might purchase illegal items on the dark web.

Bitter Pill is difficult to put down, and its cozy spirit will linger with you long after you’re finished reading it. I feel as though I’ve found my new favorite bookshop. Only caveat is that I’ll have to open Bitter Pill to visit it again and again.

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