Bobby Glitter, the eighties pop rock prince, is back. Three shows and a live DVD-filming for the comeback tour, all at one Atlanta concert hall. Before the first show is over, Castle Rock’s owner takes a deadly tumble from atop the venue’s tower. Murder at Castle Rock by Anne Marie Stoddard first came out in 2013 from BookLogix, the prize for winning a writing contest. This debut novel is book 1 of the Amelia Grace Rock ‘n’ Roll Mysteries.
Is It Connected to Stephen King’s Castle Rock?
No. In this book Castle Rock is a concert venue in Georgia. It is not the fictional Maine town of Stephen King’s novels or the TV series named after it. A ranch mystery by Carolyn Hart is also called Castle Rock; that one is unrelated too.
What Is Murder at Castle Rock About?
Amelia “Ame” Grace is the manager and booking agent of Castle Rock, the famous venue everyone calls the Castle. Bobby Glitter’s stand was her coup: he is one of her own favorite stars. Then the owner’s fatal fall turns the busiest week of her year into a crime scene. The blurb asks whether it was suicide or murder. The police suspect foul play, and the signs point to two of Castle Rock’s own employees, both Ame’s friends.
So Ame starts a race against time to clear the names of her friends, asking questions backstage between sound checks. The closer she gets to the truth, the closer she gets to the killer, and the venue’s own future is on the line too.
Castle Rock: A Concert Hall Instead of a Tea Shop
The Castle is fictional, a castle-like building with towers. Stoddard calls it a tribute to The Masquerade, a real venue in the city where she worked radio events and concerts. That is the book’s selling point. There is no village green here, just loading docks, band crews, radio promotions and the long nights of live music. Some scenes come straight from her own work, such as one in a radio station’s cargo van.
Our Review: A Backstage Mystery With an Edge
The setting is the best thing about it. She knows how a show gets booked, staffed and saved at the last minute, and the venue feels like a character of its own. Ame is easy to like: busy, loyal and a little overwhelmed. She investigates because her coworkers are in trouble, not because she enjoys it.
Her own label for the books is cozy mysteries with an edge, and that is accurate. Sex, drugs and loud guitars hover in the background, and the language is rougher than in a tea-shop cozy. Readers who want a gentle village puzzle should know that before they start.
One reviewer at Cozy Mystery Book Reviews wrote that Ame is “one of those heroines you’d like to be friends with.” Mystery writer Rochelle Staab praised the pace and called the book a backstage pass to murder. We agree on the heroine and the pace. The cast is large, though, and you may need a few chapters to sort out the crew.
The Amelia Grace Mysteries in Order
It is a short series: two novels and one short story. Read them in this order:
- Murder at Castle Rock (2013)
- Deception at Castle Rock (2015)
- Caper at Castle Rock, a short story in the collection Killer Beach Reads
In book 2, Ame’s college friends in the band Royal Flush play at the Castle, and a band member is found dead. A holiday story, Sleighed at Castle Rock, was announced around 2015, but we found no published edition. As of October 2026 no new Castle Rock title has been announced.
Who Wrote It?
Aside from writing, she has a music-business résumé. She studied music business at the University of Georgia. She then spent years in the industry: venues, radio and large festivals. In 2011 she read a mystery set in the fashion world and wondered what a murder in the music business would look like. The manuscript won the 2012 AJC Decatur Book Festival Writing Contest, run with BookLogix. Her bio also lists a 2013 Book Junkie’s Choice Award for best debut fiction novel and a 2014 RONE Awards finalist place.
She later wrote for the Aloha Lagoon Mysteries, a shared series set at a Hawaii resort. Her titles there are Bikinis & Bloodshed, Handbags & Homicide and Tiaras & Terror. Her bio calls her a USA Today bestselling writer of supernatural suspense and humorous cozy mysteries; the suspense line starts with Death Perception.
Formats and Editions: Where to Buy It
The first edition was a BookLogix paperback in 2013. Gemma Halliday Publishing reissued the ebook in 2015, and an independent print edition followed in 2018. Today you can buy the paperback and the Kindle ebook on Amazon, and some libraries carry the ebook on Libby. We found no audiobook.
Quick Facts
| Title | Murder at Castle Rock |
|---|---|
| Author | Anne Marie Stoddard |
| Series | Amelia Grace mysteries, book 1 |
| First published | 2013, BookLogix |
| Setting | Castle Rock, a fictional concert venue in Atlanta |
| Sleuth | Amelia “Ame” Grace, the venue’s manager and booking agent |
| Audiobook | No audiobook edition found |
| Award | Winner, 2012 AJC Decatur Book Festival Writing Contest |
| Next book | Deception at Castle Rock (2015) |
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it a clean cozy?
Not strictly. There is some language, and rock-star vices are part of the scenery. Library listings file it under mystery, romance and humor, but it is rougher than a classic cozy.
What should I read next?
For another heroine from the music world, try Size 12 Is Not Fat by Meg Cabot, about a former teen pop star. Our funny cozy mysteries list has more.