The Codebook Murders

The Codebook Murders is the fourth novel in The Oakwood Mystery series. It can be read as a standalone if you have not read the previous books in this series. Charley loves a good mystery and is looking forward to the first book club meeting of the Oakwood Mystery Club that evening. Then a twister leaves devastation in its path and Charley finds herself with a real mystery on her hands. She found the journal of Reagan Fletcher who was murdered forty years ago after the high school homecoming game. The group is excited to solve the crime and are fortunate to get extensive records from reporter, Berkeley Dye. The mystery was multifaceted with plenty of suspects and good clues. New information keeps popping up during Charley’s investigation enhancing this complex conundrum. The police do not mind that Charley and the gang dig into the case as long as they pass along any pertinent information. I like the Nancy Drew references throughout the book including the mention of the old TV series (there was Hardy Boys show too). There is a large cast of characters that include Charley, her boyfriend, her father, the father’s caretaker and his girlfriend, the book club plus their significant others, teachers, a janitor, neighbors, shopkeepers, police, and a couple of eager teens (whew). I would have preferred a faster pace plus less duplication of case details and a smaller amount of speculation (these little tweaks would have elevated this cozy mystery). The Codebook Murders has a special ending that will please readers. My favorite phrase from the story is “. . . house isn’t a home unless there is love at its heart” (that is so sweet). Cozy mystery readers will rejoice at the perplexing puzzle in The Codebook Murders.

The Codebook Murders
Oakwood Mysteries, Book #4
Leslie Nagel
5 Stars

Synopsis:

Amateur sleuth Charley Carpenter discovers a coded journal that could crack her small town’s most infamous cold case wide open in this charming cozy mystery from the USA Todaybestselling author of The Book Club Murders.

As the owner of Old Hat Vintage Fashions, Charley Carpenter supplies retro apparel to the residents of Oakwood, Ohio, but she’s been known to set business aside to play detective when a mystery rears its head. And there’s no bigger mystery in Oakwood than the murder of Regan Fletcher—a case that’s haunted the town for decades.

Regan’s boyfriend, Carter, did time for the crime—until another man’s confession freed him. But did the “real killer” really do it? Or did Carter walk away with blood on his hands? When Charley stumbles on an old journal written in code, it only complicates the case by revealing a blackmail scheme that targeted dozens of Oakwood’s citizens, giving them all a motive for murder.

Now, with a spate of new suspects to pursue, plus a fresh murder and the abduction of her sleuthing partner, Charley must dig deeper still into the past—even as she risks being buried by her shadowy prey. Joining forces with Detective Marcus Trenault and the newly formed Oakwood Mystery Book Club, Charley turns to a classic whodunit for clues on catching a killer—before more lives are lost, and the truth dies with them.

Leslie Nagel’s delightful Oakwood Mystery novels can be enjoyed together or separately:
THE BOOK CLUB MURDERS • THE ANTIQUE HOUSE MURDERS • THE ADVICE COLUMN MURDERS • THE CODEBOOK MURDERS (Goodreads)

Review:

The characters are well rounded and well developed. Charley and her family and friends all have great relationships and you can tell how much they care about each other. Charley loves her dad, Bobby, so much and she worries about him a lot. And the feeling is mutual. They are each other’s biggest supporters. Charley and her best friend, Frankie, are so funny and you never know what kind of trouble they are going to get in.

The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and this description pulled me into the story right from the beginning. The first chapter was very realistic and very intense. I felt like I was right there with Charley in the tunnel, worrying about what was going on outside of it. The writing style flows smoothly and the book is a quick easy read.

The mystery was well developed and nicely paced, and there were enough clues to sift through and suspects to consider. I was very surprised to find out who the culprit was, and I like when that happens.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. I am already looking forward to reading the next book.

I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Random House Publishing Group-Alibi, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate

Unusual premise with a few twists and turns. Interesting mixture of characters.

I enjoyed the interesting characters and a strong plot.

Will the coded journal lead to who killed Regan Fletcher?
The Codebook Murders by Leslie Nagel is a spectacular cold case mystery filled with jealousy, secrets, and an old family feud. I adored the entire story from the Nancy Drew references to the individual suspects and the cunning sleuth and her mystery club participates. What a superb tale.

Charley Carpenter, our sleuth
Charley Carpenter is our sleuth, at least the main sleuth. She runs a vintage store and lives with her father and his caregivers. However, she is also part of a Mystery (book) Club. At least it started as a book club, but now it is a bit more. Anyway, Charley has this unique mind that sees the discrepancies in the different versions of the witness statements. She is also courageous and capable of taking care of herself.

Charley is a fabulous character that seems to handle everything that has been tossed at her quite well. I enjoyed getting to know her and everyone that help her solve the crime.

Mystery
This book starts with a forty-year-old cold case. Charley, while running for shelter from a tornado, takes refuge in a high school utility tunnel along with the school’s janitor and a student, Katie. There Charley trips and finds an old backpack with a journal inside. She isn’t able to get a good look at it as the janitor takes the bag away from her. Charley, however, holds onto the journal to examine when she is safe.

The journal seems to belong to Regan Fletcher, a high school student from the 1970s that was murdered. Charley, with the help of her friends, is able to decode the journal and solve the old murder. Ya, well kind of, but not that easy as there is a code within the code. In the meantime, there is another murder and kidnapping, which are probably all connected or are they?

5 Stars for The Codebook Murders by Leslie Nagel
My rating for The Codebook Murders by Leslie Nagel is five stars. The mystery is detailed, and the sleuths are wonderfully developed that I loved it all. This a series to keep an eye on that is for sure. There is just the right about of pop culture, literary culture, and real mystery, making it superb.

I recommend this book to all the cozy mystery readers out there.

I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy from the Great Escapes Book Tours. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Thank you for dropping by! I hope you enjoyed this review of The Codebook Murders by Leslie Nagel.

Anyways, until next time,
Karen the Baroness
Happy Reading

If you would like to see other reviews like this one, check out BaronessBookTrove.com.

The Codebook Murders, the latest entry into Leslie Nagel’s The Oakwood Mystery Series, is a solidly crafted mystery. The chronology and characters from the previous books remain mostly intact and the relationship between Charley Parker and Marc Trenault has deepened and stabilized, which I consider a positive.

The book opens with a tornado ripping through Oakwood forcing Charley and her passenger Katie O’Malley to seek safety in a high school tunnel with the aid of gruff Merritt Vance, a long time janitor with the school system. While in the tunnel, Charley comes across an old backpack which holds something unexpected: a journal written entirely in code. Who it belonged to and what is written in the journal is the first part of the mystery. The second part of the mystery is solving a forty year old cold case involving the murder of an 18 year old high school cheerleader. Charley, aided by Marc, her book club and her gang of high school investigators, the Irregulars.

There are components of this book that make it worth recommending. There are several viable suspects which means the murder isn’t too easy to solve. There is also an intriguing use of Agatha Christie’s Death on the Nile, which fits in perfectly with Charley’s murder club. What I didn’t care for as much is how openly Charley investigated, with no apparent resistance form the police nor Marc. Much worse, the teenagers played a much too active part in the investigation for my taste. Their level of involvement made me uncomfortable. Though Charley thinks she won’t put them in danger, there is a murderer on the loose and there is no way that can be deemed safe for anyone. I also felt the book dragged a bit.

This is an okay read for those who like cozy mysteries or are fans of the Oakwood Mystery series. Three stars.

I was given a free copy of this by NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. I was not compensated nor was I required to write a positive review. The opinions stated are solely my own.

The Codebook Murders is the fourth book in author Leslie Nagle’s Oakwood Book Club Mystery series. Caught in a treacherous thunderstorm, Charley Carpenter and Irregulars member Katie O’Malley take refuge under the high school arch, but as the storm amps up, custodian Merrill Vance whisks them into the building. When the tornado siren sounds, they quickly go into the cellar tunnel to escape the powerful storm. While in this basement they also run into Katie’s fellow student PJ Konduro.

Once the lights go out and the storm rages above, the group uses their phone flashlights to negotiate the tunnel. Charley trips on something in the dark and her phone goes skittering across the floor to land in a puddle, instantly losing power. The item that trips her appears to be a dark backpack which seems to hold a journal of some sort. When Mr. Vance gets irate and tells Charley to leave the backpack, it’s school property, she conceals the journal.

Once the storm passes, they leave the building through the main entrance, circling back to check on Charley’s van. They find it buried in bricks with quite a bit of damage. Without wheels, they walk back towards Charley’s house, with Katie parting ways when they get to her house and find her mother home.

Charley finds a bit of tree damage at her home, but her loved ones are fine, and that’s what really counts. In telling her dad, his assistant Lawrence, and her boyfriend Marc Trenault, she also tells them about the journal. From the entries on the first page, they suspect the journal had belonged to Regan Fletcher, a high school student who had been murdered 40 years ago. The main problem is that Regan had written the journal completely in code. No one was able to decipher it, but PJ had some ideas. He photographed the pages so he could work on the translation on his own time.

What ensues is a whirlwind of intrigue. With longtime hostilities between families and love triangles at the root of the mystery, theft, murder, kidnaping, and breaking and entering in the present, and a cadre of people working with Charley to solve the mystery of the codebook, the reader is in for a wonderful adventure! I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I do recommend it!