Vows and Villainy: The Cambridge Bookshop Series

By Elizabeth Penney

Book Overview

Vows and Villainy is the fifth book in Elizabeth Penney's delightful Cambridge Bookshop series set in Cambridge, England, where celebrations are about to commence.

It's wedding season in Cambridge, and Molly Kimball is thrilled that it's almost time for her best friend's special day. With the help of her boyfriend Kieran Scott, she is determined to be the best maid of honor for Daisy and Tim. Daisy's heart is set upon a Shakespeare-themed wedding to be held at Hazelhurst House, Kieran's family's home. The Scotts are also hosting a Shakespeare troupe for the summer, and the actors have kindly agreed to be part of the festivities.

But all goes awry with the discovery of Sir Nigel Peck, a famous actor with a checkered past and present-day misdeeds, floating dead in the moat with flowers strewn around him, la Ophelia. When Kieran's brother Alan becomes a top suspect, Molly and company must investigate to uncover the ugly truth behind this picturesque scene . . . before more bodies pile up.

Can Molly solve the murder before Daisy and Tim say "I do"?

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1250388465
• ISBN13: 9781250388469
• Release Date: November 2025
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 4.1" x 6.7"

Customer Reviews

A very busy read

Transplanted from Vermont, Cambridge bookseller Molly Kimball is excited to be helping her best friend Daisy plan her wedding at Hazelhurst House manor, the ancestral home of Molly's boyfriend Kieran. Daisy wants a Shakespeare theme and Molly is having great fun pulling things together, including a troupe of players who'll perform a Shakespeare work. At nearly the same time and place, Molly's long widowed septuagenarian aunt will be marrying a man she's known for some time. Things seem to be going well when one of the cast members is found murdered in the moat, making things extremely complicated. Red herrings and plot twists abound and it's a great read. I requested and received a temporary uncorrected review e-proof from St. Martin's Press | Minotaur Books via NetGalley. Pub Date Nov 25, 2025 #vowsandvillainy by @elizabethpenneyauthor #TheCambridgeBookshopBk5 @stmartinspress @minotaur_books @Netgalley @goodreads @bookbub @librarythingofficial ***** Review #thestorygraph #bookshop_org #bookshop_org_uk #bookshop_org_ca #rivalry #secrets #lies #friendship #witty #contemporary #familydynamics #england #bookseller #amateursleuth #murderinvestigation #lawenforcement #cozycrime