Tricia Miles and her sister Angelica are successful
bookstore owners in Booktown, a small tourist village made
up of mostly bookstores, each with a theme. Tricia's
bookstore, Haven't Got a Clue, is geared toward mystery
lovers, while Angelica's bookstore, the Cookery, is aimed at
those who loved food. Although Tricia has been a bookstore
owner for much longer, Angelica has leveraged her business
acumen to cover more than the bookstore. Angelica also owns
Booked for Lunch, a retro café, as well as having a
half-share stake in the local bed and breakfast. Angelica
was also recently elected president of the Chamber of
Commerce over her ex-boyfriend.
The Chamber's receptionist is suddenly and tragically
killed in Angelica's bookstore. At first, it looks like an
accident, but then the police discover that Betsy was killed
when someone shoved a full bookshelf over on top of her.
While Betsy wasn't a pleasant person, it's hard to image who
would do such a thing, until her will is read and it's
discovered that she was an extremely wealthy person, despite
the fact that she didn't live like it.
When the investigation starts, the police find out that
Betsy didn't have many friends and she had even become
estranged from her only living relative -- her sister in
recent months. Tricia, who has a reputation for sleuthing
around gets involved in the investigation, in a strictly
informal way, and she discovers that plenty of people had
motives for wanting Betsy dead. But who would have actually
gone through with the deed? And who was in the Cookery at
the time?
While the police narrow in suspects, Angelica is trying to
find a permanent home for the Chamber, as well as find a new
receptionist. Meanwhile, there's the matter of trying to
take over the Chamber from the outgoing president when no
one can even find him. Tricia keeps spotting Bob here and
there, but when it's discovered that he's wanted for a
crime, things really get interesting! Although Angelica is
no longer romantically involved with Bob, she gets defensive
when Tricia tries to explain that Bob may not be the good
person Angelica thinks he is, so Tricia has no choice but to
try to deal with that matter herself. Can Angelica handle
that and solve Betsy's murder all at once?
BOOK CLUBBED is fun to read; it is fast-paced and there's
always another surprise popping up. The surprises kept me
guessing as to the culprit and the motive. The multiple
subplots were nice, but didn't drag down the pace of the
main story. I also like that Tricia and Angelica have
settled into a nice relationship, and they aren't as
antagonistic as they were when Angelica first moved to
Booktown. This made the end of the story much more
difficult, and I'm definitely looking forward to the next
book in the series.
New York Times bestselling author Lorna Barrett is back in
town—Booktown, that is—with another page-turning mystery.
This time bookstore owner Tricia Miles and her sister,
Angelica, put their own problems on the shelf to catch a
killer who turns a bookcase into a murder weapon.
Cranky Chamber of Commerce receptionist Betsy Dittmeyer is
done reading people the riot act. After she’s crushed by a
fallen bookcase, the next item to be read is her last will
and testament—which is packed with surprises. It soon comes
to light that Betsy was hiding volumes of dark secrets
behind that perpetual frown of hers—and one of them just
might have been a motive for murder.
While Tricia tries to help Angelica—the newly elected
Chamber of Commerce president and Betsy’s boss—solve the
mystery, she discovers a hidden chapter in her own family
history that rocks her to her very core. And with her
ex-husband and the chief of police vying for her affections,
it’s doubly hard to focus on who might have buried Betsy in
a tomb of tomes.
But as Tricia and Angelica try to read between the lines,
they need to watch their step-and make sure the killer
doesn’t catch them between the stacks.
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