A Primrose Murder Society Novel: Book 1
Publication Date: March 3, 2026
Witty, endearing, and wildly entertaining, this Southern cozy mystery is a little bit Gilmore Girls, a little bit Finlay Donovan, with a big helping of Only Murders in the Building.
Lila Shaw stopped trusting anyone the minute her husband went to jail for white-collar crime, taking their country club lifestyle with him. Now Lila is broke, friendless, and losing her house—and to make things worse, her true-crime-obsessed daughter, Bea, was just expelled from fourth grade. Desperate for a fresh start, Lila agrees to temporarily move in and clean out an abandoned junk-filled apartment in Richmond’s palatial Primrose building. The luxurious Virginia landmark is filled with retirees who start their days early drinking bourbon and gossiping, in that order.
Soon after Lila’s arrival, the Primrose is thrown into chaos. The owner of the building’s splendid penthouse has died and in his final days he set up a two-million-dollar reward for any resident who helps to solve the 21-year-old murder of his granddaughter at the Primrose. A fan of all detective stories and true-crime podcasts, Bea is inspired to investigate. They really could use the reward money, so Lila reluctantly agrees, in a questionable attempt at family bonding. She’s certain the killer is long-gone after all these years anyway. That is, until another resident is murdered… and Lila becomes the prime suspect.
Now Lila needs to solve both murders to avoid jail, and even worse, losing her daughter to her snobby in-laws. To catch a killer and clear Lila’s name, she and Bea must rely on their elderly neighbors—Jasper, a shy former detective, and Evelyn, an opinionated socialite—along with Nate, a good-looking reporter who keeps appearing at the most inconvenient moments. As the amateur sleuths expose the truth about the Primrose, Lila hopes she can also unravel the trickiest parts of her own life and start fresh.
Set in Richmond, Virginia, The Primrose Murder Society is a cozy debut adult novel by Stacy Hackney, and I hope to return to the Primrose to see what everyone is up to next!
This story was a fun read, even with its dark overtones, and there were some laugh-out-loud moments due to Bea’s antics. She’s Lila’s ten-year-old daughter, who is interested in solving murders and loves watching the television show  Murder, She Wrote. She feels she’s learned a lot from Jessica Fletcher, the star of the show, and uses that knowledge to help investigate a cold case from twenty years ago that happened in the Primrose, a 55+ community where she and her mom just moved.
Lila and Bea don’t meet the age requirement, but they were allowed to move in to clean out a cluttered apartment, which plays a big part in the story. Their previous life was fraught with issues when Lila’s ex-husband fled the country after being accused of theft through his company, and those investigating don’t believe Lila can be totally innocent.
The other amateur sleuths include her mom, to keep her safe, and two elderly neighbors on her floor: Evelyn, an aging, wealthy socialite, and Jasper, a retired police detective who is very shy but loves to bake. The foursome finds themselves in a few scary situations. Bea will definitely be a good detective when she grows up!
The story has a good flow for the most part, but it seemed disjointed. There’s not only the cold case to solve, but other crimes too, and a new murder that points at Lila as being the only suspect, according to one lazy police detective.
As they race against time to gather clues and sort through them, the police figure the case is solved, even if they haven’t arrested Lila yet, since Lila is the number one suspect for the latest murder. Bea is often a handful since her dad has disappeared and has had no contact with her, and she had major issues at her previous school before they upped and moved.
The residents of the Primrose are elderly, but the staff is younger, and there’s a good cross-section of drama and interesting interactions. There’s also some romance. There is some closure with the solving of the crimes, but the story ended abruptly, leaving a few loose ends that could have been tied up in an epilogue, especially if this isn’t the start of a series or connected stories.
The Primrose Murder Society is a cozy mystery that had me sifting through the clues with Lila, Bea, and the others to figure out whodunnit.
Stacy Hackney lives in Richmond, Virginia, with her husband and four sons. She graduated from Wake Forest University and University of Virginia School of Law. After her legal briefs started bordering on a little too dramatic, she started writing fiction and never stopped. The Primrose Murder Society is her first book for adults.
