Murder on the Page by Daryl Wood Gerber

Summary

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a genuinely top-notch party must be in want of a theme. Allie Catt, caterer and personal chef in the beautiful mountain community of Asheville, North Carolina, has devised a winning formula by using her clients’ favorite books as inspiration. Her first themed event is based on Pride and Prejudice (Allie’s cat, Darcy, approves), and it’s so popular that soon she has grand ideas for future parties based on Rebecca, The Great Gatsby, Babette’s Feast and more. Business is booming, and a rival catering company is fuming. But there’s a sting in the tale when the aunt of one of Allie’s clients and best friends, Tegan, is murdered. Tegan is the victim’s sole heir, and quickly becomes the main suspect. Allie has no doubts about her friend’s innocence, but how to prove it? Once again, her love of literature comes to the rescue, and with some guidance from her favorite fictional detectives, including Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes, Allie sifts through the clues. With a little luck—and the kind of pluck that would make Elizabeth Bennett proud—she may be able to stop a killer from serving up a second course of murder . . . (Goodreads)

Thoughts

Murder on the Page is the first book in Daryl Wood Gerber’s new cozy mystery series, featuring Allie, a caterer who excels in creating literary-themed dinner parties. When her best friend’s aunt is tragically murdered, she decides to take it upon herself in solving the mystery. After facing many side-steps and challenges throughout the book, Allie finally solves the mystery. Apart from the awfully slow pacing, many would enjoy this cozy, light-read.

This story contains a deep theme of friendship and community, showing how the fruitful and unwavering bonds between characters play a crucial role in the direction of the plot. When Allie’s friend, Tegan, is accused of murder, their loyal friendship never staggers. Despite all the evidence piling up against her, Allie never doubts her best friend for even a second. The same goes for the companionship between Marigold and the main character. Without the trust built between the two characters, many event points may have been lost completely.

In general, the pacing of Murder on the page was rather slow and dull. A good chunk of the pages were filled with excessive and boring details about the various daily tasks and gossip of characters, which did not contribute to the plot whatsoever. An uneventful picnic between the main character and her friend takes up a good fifteen pages of tiresome discussion that end up adding to any of the overall details. The climax could also have been improved as there was no excitement or buildup leading towards it, nor any sort of particular descent to the end of the book. When Allie finally realizes who the murder is, it was described in such a bland manner that it felt more like an insignificant fact than an extremely important plot development.

The characters in Murder on the Page could be further changed to provide a more realistic and balanced feel. Allie describes herself as smart, curious, determined, and a plethora of other positive traits that seem rather exaggerated. Her negative traits however, seem to barely be mentioned. Not only does this make her seem self-absorbed, it also sounds extremely cliché as many other amateur writers tend to describe their characters as “know-it-alls”. This occurs with many other people in the book, creating an unbalanced trait combination.

Murder on the Page would be most ideal for people who enjoy slow, light-hearted reads. However, the story could be improved by providing a more realistic world setting, well-rounded community of characters, and less unimportant dialogues. Though it had great potential with a creative story idea, the writing did not quite capture its full essence, hence my rating of 2/5 stars. The climax and important events could have been more exciting, and the lesser ones removed entirely. With changing something as simple as the general structure, the book would have seemed much more refined.

Reviewed by Angela Liu

March 12, 2025