First Lines Fridays 1st August 2025 | Jo Linsdell

First Lines Fridays 1st August 2025

 

First Lines Fridays


Books: First Lines Fridays 1st August 2025

Welcome back to another edition of First Lines Fridays, where your literary senses are tempted with the opening lines of a mystery book—no title, no author, just a tantalising teaser to pique your curiosity. Whether you’re a lifelong bookworm or simply in the mood to discover something new, there’s nothing quite like that first sentence to spark intrigue and pull you straight into a story.

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I'm participating in First Lines Fridays as I think it's a great way to highlight more of the books that are on my bookshelves. 

What is First Lines Fridays?

First Lines Fridays is a weekly feature for book lovers hosted by Wandering Words. What if instead of judging a book by its cover, its author or its prestige, we judged it by its opening lines? 

  • Pick a book off your shelf (it could be your current read or on your TBR) and open to the first page 
  • Copy the first few lines, but don’t give anything else about the book away just yet – you need to hook the reader first 
  • Finally… reveal the book!

My Pick For This Week


The first lines of the book:


A seahorse was ogling me. Its marble eyes were peering straight into my soul. What kind of tourist trap was seahorse themed? “Holt,” Mom said from the other side of Dad. “We’re inside. Take off the sunglasses.” “Uh-oh,” my baby sister, Juniper, said. She was the only one at the booth who noticed (or cared) I was in trouble. Her husband, Jude, was too busy on his phone, while my other sister, Casey, and her husband, Nigel, were too busy with their kids.


Do you know which book this is from? Scroll down to find out!


First Lines Fridays


And the book is...

A Not So Shocking Murder by Lily Stirling


About the book


Book synopsis for A Not So Shocking Murder by Lily Stirling

First, no coffee. Then a dead guy. This is one killer vacation.

I thought being forced into a Mother’s Day trip with my entire family on the Oregon Coast was bad. Then came the dead bodies.

Turns out Mom’s cozy vacation spot kept its high murder count a secret.

So I’m stuck in a death trap.

Either I can play detective for a few days or follow Mom’s perfect schedule. Detective it is. But is my vacation long enough to solve a couple years’ worth of crimes?

Five days. Six murders.

No pressure.

Holt Jacobs isn’t for everyone. He’s a sarcastic introvert who can never get quite enough coffee. Becoming a sarcastic sleuth was unexpected, but as an engineer, Holt is used to solving puzzles.


Buy now



Where to find A Not So Shocking Murder by Lily Stirling online: 

 




First Lines Fridays


Have you read this book?





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