Unboxing Haul: Secrets of Castleton Manor (Annie’s Fiction)

May 3, 2021 /

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Today I am unboxing my recent haul of The Secrets of Castleton Manor series (cozy mystery) inspired by the subscription service from Annie’s Fiction. While I was shopping for another book subscription service (because I just can’t seem to have too many 😉 ), I came across the Annie’s Fiction monthly book subscription services. They have many different ones to choose from: cozy mystery, women’s fiction, Amish fiction, and more recently romantic suspense.

Each service starts with a hard cover (also available in audiobook and e-book), for $1.99 plus $4.95 shipping. Subsequent shipments are $12.99-14.99 per book plus the same shipping. This amounts to $20 per book and even though they are hard cover, I just wasn’t comfortable signing onto the service at that price. So I did some shopping around and found some bargains on used copies.

Incidentally, if you are interested in checking out other book box subscriptions, you can check out these posts. I also post my unboxings on my YouTube channel.

Unboxing

  • I ordered from two sellers on eBay (the third box will be in a different video).
  • The first shipment included the first and sixth books from The Secrets of Castleton Manor series, A Novel Murder and Second Edition Death by Elizabeth Penney.
  • The second shipment included the second through fifth, and seventh books from The Secrets of Castleton Manor series.

Bitter Words by Jan Fields

The Grim Reader by Margaret Welch

A Deadly Chapter by Jan Fields

An Autographed Mystery by DeAnna Julie Dodson

A Crime Well Versed by Marlene Chase

Here is everything I received in the two shipments.

Check out the unboxing video on YouTube!

Overall Opinion

When you purchase items from individual sellers on websites like eBay and Amazon, you take your chances with the actual condition that you receive. The majority of experiences that I have had with eBay sellers have been positive. That was evident in the second shipment where the books are all gently used, but in good condition. However, with the first shipment, both books have a light musty smell to them. I’m not sure if I will be able to get that smell out of them.

If I had purchased these seven books through Annie’s Fiction service, I would have paid a total of $126.58. With these two shipments from eBay, I paid a total of $38.49. A really good deal even with the two musty smelling books.

I’m not knocking anyone who subscribes to Annie’s fiction. It’s brand new, hard cover, clean fiction. But if you do a little shopping around, you can find better prices on gently used copies.

Unboxing of the my May 2021 book haul of The Secrets of Castleton Manor. Inspired by Annie's Fiction Club. #CleanFiction #CozyMysteries Share on X