Shifting and Shenanigans by Elizabeth Pantley Review and Giveaway

book source: free review copy via Partners In Crime Book Tours

About the book:
Paige and her adventurous Aunt Glo inherit a country inn from eccentric GeeGee. They pack up and hit the road, arriving at the charming place they both loved since childhood. Finally! They can get into the secret room in the basement that GeeGee kept locked! They discover it’s a wonderful library filled to the brim with mystery books. But more than the room was a secret – it’s a magical place that houses enchanted books. Paige and Glo find themselves smack-dab in the middle of a murder mystery, along with a motley group of book club friends. The club will need to work together to solve the case in order to get out of the book and back to their home.

Praise for Shifting and Shenanigans:
“A book club cozy mystery with a wonderful twist!” – Judi, Amazon Reviewer

“I’m ravenous for the next book!”- @mullanewayne

“The concept is nothing short of brilliant!”- Book Bites

“A must-read mystery!”- JACW, Amazon

“A unique twist to the cozy mystery genre! I was enchanted.”- Cozy Up with Kathy

Book Details:
Genre: Paranormal Cozy Mystery
Published by: Indie
Publication Date: July 15th 2022
Number of Pages: 210
ASIN: B0B3WLF7CW
Series: Magical Mystery Book Club #1
Book Links: Amazon | Goodreads

Excerpt:

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said the locksmith. He took a step back and scratched his head. He’d been at it for twenty minutes and still hadn’t opened the door. “It doesn’t make sense. This takes a skeleton key. It should be a simple task. People can do it with a couple of Allen wrenches. I’ve even done it with a pair of paperclips.”

“So, what do we do now?” Glo asked.
“Best thing is to contact a carpenter. Since the hinges are inside, he’ll have to drill the lock. It’ll destroy the lock and damage your door, though.”
“We don’t have much choice. We want to get into the room, so we’ll have to do it,” I said.

After the locksmith left, we looked up a couple of local contractors, but any openings were days away. We texted Theo but hadn’t heard back from him yet.
We decided to start the day by sorting out the kitchen. There were plenty of dishes and dry goods, but the organization was an absolute mess.
“How in the world did she work in this disaster?” Glo mumbled. “You’d spend half your time searching for things!” She was emptying out a cabinet. She pulled out an odd assortment of dishes, pots, cleaning supplies, and canned goods. She started to laugh and held up a hundred-piece puzzle in one hand and a shoeshine kit in the other.
“Now this makes perfect sense.” She was snorting. “Make dinner, clean up, shine your shoes and do a puzzle.” I held up a few treasures from the cabinet I was working on. “And here you go. In case you need a spare pair of socks, a stack of plastic containers – no lids – and printer ink.”
“It’s like a treasure hunt! It’s good for us to sort through all this anyhow.”
“True,” I agreed. “Then we’ll know what we’ve got. Let me find some paper and a pen and we’ll start a list of things we need.”
I began to sort through the typical drawers most people would use for things like pens and scratch paper, then groaned. “You know what’s in her junk drawers? Talcum powder, coffee creamer, clothespins, and aha! The soup bowls!”
“Where’s the very last place you’d look for a pen and paper? Try that first,” snickered Glo.
“Probably the bathroom,” I joked. “I’ll just make a list on my phone.”
I opened another cabinet and groaned at the stack of boxes and plastic containers jammed into every inch. They were filled with random stuff. I took them to the table and dumped them out.
“Holy Toledo! Glo, look at this!” I stood up and did a little dance around the kitchen. I shimmied over to her, then held up a very old-looking skeleton key.

~ ~ ~

“I feel like we should have a drum roll or a trumpet fanfare—”
“—or fireworks!” laughed Glo. “At least a countdown. Five … four … three … two … one! Blastoff!”
I turned the key and heard the click as it unlocked. “Houston, we have liftoff.”
I twisted the knob and pushed the door open. There was a set of stairs to the basement. At the bottom of the stairs was another door. We opened it. Impossibly, there was another set of stairs. At the bottom of those stairs was yet another door. It required a skeleton key to open. I stared at the key in my hand. “You better work,” I told the key.
The key worked smoothly, and I opened the door.
Our jaws dropped and neither of us spoke. You could have heard a cotton ball drop.
Finally, Glo broke the silence. “Holy macaroni! This is insane!”
“How could she have kept this secret our whole lives?” I wondered.
“WHY did she keep this secret?” Glo added.
“This room is the size of the entire house! It’s enormous. Ginormous!” I whistled.
“This secret space is underneath the inn! How is it two stories high? Is that even structurally sound? This is bizarre.”

The room was indeed two levels high, connected by a brass spiral staircase. In the front area, where we were glued to the spot, was a large seating area with eight cozy floral patterned armchairs. A beautiful wooden coffee table sat in the middle. There was an antique globe on a brass stand, and a stone fireplace like the one upstairs. This one had an intricately carved wood mantle and a stone hearth. A large statue of a woman holding a book was centered on the mantle.

“Look at all these books!” exclaimed Glo, spinning in a circle.
“This is the library GeeGee referred to in her will! Remember? She said she’s putting us in charge. That it’s priceless!”
“I am beyond confused, Paige. How is this even possible? GeeGee was just a sweet little innkeeper. She was the lady who baked us cookies and homemade stew. And she was hiding all this right under our feet?!”

---

My Thoughts:

Shifting and Shenanigans is book 1 in Elizabeth Pantley’s cozy paranormal mystery series. As the story starts, newly divorced 30 year old Paige and her bff Aunt Gloria have inherited their grandmother’s lakeside Colorado inn called the Snapdragon. Grandma a.k.a. GeeGee said the ladies have to also take care of the library there. Soon enough the ladies discover the huge library in the basement and meet a talking Siamese cat named Frank. If this awesome start doesn’t draw a reader in, I don’t know what will.

Gloria and Paige are informed that the book club of 8 members is mandatory when owning this library. So the ladies pick the members and have their first club meeting when they realize this a magical mystery book club. The book club members get transported into their current mystery read and can come back home once they solve said mystery. When the group find themselves transported into a small-town murder mystery, they start meeting the locals to try and solve the whodunnit. The Snapdragon Inn remains in the bookish world providing the club members a place to stay.

The story took off from page one and I was entertained throughout. I enjoyed trying to figure out who the killer was as the book club members went around questioning the local townspeople. I do wish there was a little more character development with the central characters but hopefully that happens as the series progresses. The talking cat Frank was definitely my favorite character, he made me laugh out loud a few times with his antics. Frank had even had me worried about him at one point, I’ll leave it at that lol.

The author does a wonderful job at bringing the setting to life and I could easily envision the Snapdragon Inn with it’s lakefront views and the themed guest rooms as well as the mystery book setting. With a few twists to the storyline towards the end, this was a fun cozy and the perfect start to a new series, and I breezed through it in one sitting. I recommend Shifting and Shenanigans if you’re in the mood for a fun cozy paranormal mystery.

Tour stops:
10/12 Review @ Avonna Loves Genres
10/12 Review @ Scrapping&Playing
10/14 Review @ Waterside Kennels Mysteries
10/15 Review @ Review Thick And Thin
10/16 Review @ Guatemala Paula Loves to Read
10/19 Review @ The Bookworm
10/19 Review @ Totally Addicted to Reading
10/20 Review @ Fredas Voice
10/20 Review @ Pick a good book
10/21 Review @ nanasbookreviews
 

Giveaway:

This is a giveaway hosted by Partners in Crime Virtual Book Tours for Elizabeth Pantley. See the widget for entry terms and conditions. Void where prohibited.
The giveaway is for: One $10 Amazon.com Gift card PLUS a choice of one eBook from the Magical Mystery Book Club series OR the Destiny Falls Mystery & Magic series.

CLICK HERE TO ENTER TO WIN

Author Bio:

Elizabeth Pantley says that writing her Mystery and Magic book series is the most fun she’s ever had at work. Fans of the series say her joy is evident through the engaging stories she tells. Elizabeth is also the international bestselling author of The No-Cry Sleep Solution and twelve other books for parents. Her books have been published in over twenty languages. She lives in the Pacific Northwest, a beautiful inspiration for her enchanted worlds.

Catch Up With Elizabeth Pantley:
www.NoCrySolution.com
Goodreads
BookBub – @DestinyFalls
Instagram – @destinyfallsmystery
Facebook – @DestinyFallsMysteryandMagic

---

Disclaimer:This review is my honest opinion. I did not receive any kind of compensation for reading and reviewing this book. I am under no obligation to write a positive review. My copy of Shifting and Shenanigans by Elizabeth Pantley came via Partners In Crime Book Tours in exchange for my honest thoughts on it.