Allswell, Maggie – Murder Off the Page: Book 2 The Book Club Murders

Murder Off the Page – Book 2: The Book Club Murders

~Maggie Allswell

The Serial Killers Book Club is back and the bookmarks aren’t even settled between the pages of their latest read, The Hounds of the Baskervilles, before a crime scene is logged on the books of Matlock’s local PD.

When teenager, Megan Phillips, shows up on Judy Bennett’s doorstep late one night – distressed, bloody, and clutching Judy’s blood soaked copy of the very book they were meant to discuss at the next meeting – Judy is lured down to The Codfather, the local fish and chip shop. There Judy finds owner Colin Hiddleston dead on the floor in front of the fryers, cradled in the lap of his wife, Gwen. Megan had only left fifteen minutes before, forgetting to get her weeks pay to return to what appeared to be an empty shop until she stepped behind the counter to find Colin in a puddle of his own blood.

Judy finds herself summoned to the police station for questioning, once again a suspect in a murder case. But when it’s made known that Colin has had heated disputes with both John – his brother and owner of competitor The Salty Towers – and Mazza, a supposed plumber who does handy work for several businesses in the downtown area. But when Sarah encounters Mazza at Nailtopia, the local nail salon owned by Megan’s father, and he forgets his toolbox she grabs it to return it to him noticing how empty it feels before he grabs it and leaves. That adds to the suspicions going through the heads of the SKBC members.

Now it’s up to them to figure out who the killer is since the police are still focused on Judy. Gathered and planning in motion, undercover maneuvers, questioning, and managed chaos to find clues that can lead to an arrest, the SKBC are chapters ahead of the local PD. But with a killer once again on the loose in Matlock, will the members of the SKBC be able to pin down the killer before they strike again?

Murder Off the Page is definitely a cast worth coming back for. This sequel deepens every member rather than coasting on familiarity, and it pays off. Judy remains the unmistakable matriarch of the group. She’s steady, sharp, and the gravitational center the whole group orbits. She’s the one everyone runts to, sometimes literally in the dead of the night. Sarah, her daughter, continues to be the reluctant voice of reason, perpetually exasperated that her mother keeps wandering into murder investigations. Kerry gets room to shine as the group’s risk-taker this go-around, unafraid to push boundaries further to get the information they need. Jack is still chasing his catering ambitions while pining after Talisha, who’s grown restless behind the counter at the local chemist. Helen remains the level-headed solicitor, a standout presence for her unflappable logic and outlandish wardrobe.

One of my favorite things about Murder Off the Page is how Allswell doesn’t treat her supporting cast as just scenery. Even the they carry weight and keep the plot moving with purpose. And George – the occasionally-useful police officer who’s been semi-adopted into the group’s orbit without quite realizing it – is a genuinely fun addition that gives the club a foot, however unwitting, inside the official investigation.

Allswell excels when it comes to pacing. There’s no first-act lull, no point where you find yourself wondering when and if things will pick up – Murder Off the Page is strong and steady from the first page til the last. Each chapter flows smoothly into the next, immersing you in the case and giving you that just one more chapter pull that keeps the pages turning well past bedtime.

This isn’t an action-packed thriller and doesn’t pretend to be. While there are moments of genuine tension, and a second body that raises the stakes considerably, Murder Off the Page is character-driven at its heart. Allswell drops you inside the club rather than seating you in the audience, so you’re theorizing alongside Judy and the gang, second-guessing alibis, and chasing your own suspicions about toolboxes, fortune tellers, and pickled onions.

The cozy-village, tight-knit Matlock community is familiar where everyone knows everyone’s business, humor is gentle and pun-forward, and the warmth between characters gives the whole thing real heart. The mystery is cleverly plotted with twists and turns that keep you guessing but when that final twist lands, it lands.

Murder Off the Page is a delightfully cozy, warm-hearted whodunnit that leans fully into its charm without ever shortchanging the mystery. Balancing humor and intrigue with an ease that’s harder to pull off than it looks, Allswell has built a series with genuinely lovable characters, a vivid sense of place, and a narrative voice that makes readers feel like they belong at the table.

Murder Off the Books – Book 2: The Book Club Murders is available for pre-order on Amazon for release on July 1, 2026.

Thank you to NetGalley, Bookouture, and Maggie Allswell for asking me to read Murder Off the Page: Book 2 in The Book Club Murder Series as an Alpha/Beta/ARC reader. As always, all reviews are of my own volition – Karen Brooks aka The Tx Lit Chic. I have not been promised any compensation, current or future, by the author or publisher for a fair and honest review.

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