It’s a busy leaf-peeping season in Stoneham, New Hampshire, and Tricia’s mystery bookstore is thriving. When a famous children’s author visits and signs books at a library event, not everyone is a fan of the author’s attitude or actions. When Tricia and her new boyfriend, David, find the author dead in her car after the event, Tricia knows she’ll have to put on her sleuthing cap again in A CONTROVERSIAL COVER, the eighteenth book in the long-running Booktown Mysteries by Lorna Barrett.

The author, Lauren Barker, was originally from Stoneham and had both fans and enemies. Her former high school teacher, Stella Kraft, hoped to reconnect with the famous author, but that meeting did not go so well. Diner owner Dan Reed also voiced his displeasure with Lauren’s books, and Children’s Bookstore owner Betty Barnes hoped to profit financially by having Lauren sign several books to sell. Tricia’s new boyfriend, David Price, was in charge of the disastrous library event, while the new library director, Amelia Doyle, was missing in action. And who is the mystery man who met with Lauren before her death? Can Tricia sift through all the clues, victim’s history, and suspects to learn who really had it out for Lauren and who was delivering her peanut butter sandwiches before her demise?

A CONTROVERSIAL COVER is an entertaining addition to this long-running series that continues to enchant fans. It is always a pleasure to return to Stoneham, New Hampshire, and visit with Tricia and her sister Angelica as they embark on new business ventures and exhibit their entrepreneurial spirit. All the warm and endearing secondary characters are present, including Pixie, Ginny, Mr. Everett, and the shopkeepers in the village. The mystery is intriguing, and Tricia has a nice method of bouncing ideas off others and following the clues wherever they take her. She has a new love interest, twenty years younger, which is a little different; however, her former flame, Ian McDonald, is still on the scene. There are a few loose ends, including the true crime book angle, that I would have liked further explored, and some scene repetition and curt remarks from Tricia, but nothing detracts from the overall charm and entertainment value of A CONTROVERSIAL COVER.