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73 of 76 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Small town cozy mystery with mystery bookseller sleuth, April 1, 2008
Lorna Barrett's MURDER IS BINDING introduces the new Booktown Mystery series. A cozy mystery with a mystery bookseller amateur sleuth and a book at the center of the puzzle, this mystery is a fun light read. For mystery enthusiasts, the tribute to the mystery genre itself with mentions of mystery classics from Cornell Woolrich and Ngaio Marsh to Dorothy Sayers and Agatha Christie makes MURDER IS BINDING a must read. Every good cooking mystery must include recipes, and true to form, Lorna Barrett delights readers with a recipe addendum in the back.
Stoneham, known as the safest town in New Hampshire, was a dying town until the downtown revitalization. Now, the center of town houses genre specialty bookstores and draws in tourists and book collectors. Tricia Miles and her cat Miss Marple run the mystery bookstore, Haven't Got a Clue. When she discovers Doris Gleason, owner of the Cookery, dead in the neighboring bookstore, Tricia sees a new side of Stoneham from the political race threatening to divide long term natives on the town's outskirts and the bookstore newcomers to other simmering jealousies. When another resident has a suspicious car accident, Tricia thinks she might have a lead into the motive behind the murder but who can she trust? Sheriff Adams seems determined to pin the murders on Tricia, the town jinx. Tricia's sister Angelica arrives into town unexpectedly, stirring up the past along with her appetizing dishes.
Lorna Barrett's MURDER IS BINDING is a must read for mystery buffs. Full of first edition classics and tributes to many of the great mystery classics, readers will not only feel the nostalgia of a small town mystery but of their personal reading histories. Lorna Barrett's research into the bookseller trade flows in the smallest details from the details of book sources and different types of booksellers to the antiquarian and rare book standards for packaging books.
Tricia Miles is a wonderful sleuth. With each new trail, the reader catches a glimpse of a woman who cares for others and justice beyond just clearing her name even to the point of endangering her own safety. Tricia's relationship with her sister Angelica adds depth to the characterization as Tricia battles a history of sibling rivalry at the same time as she gains a mystery sidekick who amuses and endears the reader to the sisters. To the reader's delight, the mystery details and resolution provide several twists until the very end. Lorna Barrett gives readers a delicious mix of small town family jealousies and undercurrents beneath the surface complemented by heart-warming scenes, all brought together by Doris Gleason's murder. After reading Lorna Barrett's MURDER IS BINDING, the first in the Booktown Mystery series, readers might just find themselves hoping that this small town will forever shed the distinction of safest town to make way for more Booktown mysteries!
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27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
If Only Stoneham Were a Real Place, April 27, 2008
My six-year-old grandson actually picked this book out for me and told me that it looked good. He was right! That child is a chip right off the block. I looked over his choice and saw that it was about a bookseller that specialized in mystery books and it was set in a small New England town that had based its whole economy on bibliotourism. Stoneham sounds like just the sort of town where I could spend many happy days not to mention many thousands of dollars. I knew right from the start that this would be a book that I was going to like.
As with the first book of any series this one spends a lot of time introducing the reader to the characters and although a few of them do seem to be a bit flat I imagine that they will flesh out some more as the series progresses. It is a delicate line that an author walks in a first in the series book in trying to give the characters enough space to develop without completely losing the plot in the process and this author has done this in quite an acceptable manner. In particular I enjoyed the interaction between the story's main character Tricia and her sister Angelica who shows up in town unannounced and really gets on Tricia's nerves, at least at first. As the story progresses Angelica grows on her sister and on the reader as well as bit-by-bit the reason for her visit becomes apparent.
It may well be this author's background at work but I found that this book actually held to the plot more so than a lot of cozies and that may be why some readers might find the characters a tad shallow. This book was less character driven and more plot driven than a lot of books in this genre but for me at least this method worked well and I found that I very much enjoyed this book. I must admit that I did find some annoying grammatical errors in this book especially when it came to comma usage. I suspect that in some new school of thought that has come into vogue since my school days that this type of comma usage is preferred but it doesn't read well and often took my mind away from the story at hand. Having found this same thing in another Berkley book that I have recently completed I also suspect that this is the work of an editor rather than the author but wherever it comes from it did take away from the overall very positive feeling that I have for this book.
Beyond the grammatical errors though I really did like this book and enjoyed my trip to "Booktown" a great deal. The mystery flowed well, the plot was solid and believable and the ending was quite exciting. I just wish that Miss Marple the cat had been given a more prominent role. She reminded me very much of my own cat with an attitude.
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39 of 42 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A New Book on Murder, May 27, 2008
Tricia Miles has found life in Stoneham to be a nice change from life in the big city. The historic down town area consists of nothing but bookstores, and running her own mystery bookstore has been a real joy.
But one fall day things change from good to bad. First, her sister Angelica shows up for an unannounced, extended visit. The two sisters have a strained relationship, and Tricia can't wait until she leaves.
Much worse, however, is finding the body of Doris Gleason. Doris owned the cookbook shop next door to Tricia's. She could be quarrelsome, but she didn't deserve to die. Tricia immediately notices that the antique cookbook Doris had just acquired is missing. Was theft the motive? Or was it something more sinister?
I'm of two minds about this debut. On the one hand, I loved it and the setting. What reader wouldn't love the idea of a town devoted to bookstores? And the little details of the book made me smile every time they showed up on the page. The plot twisted in a couple surprising directions. Angelica and Tricia have a complicated relationship, and I could identify with both of them at the same time. And Tricia's employee Ginny and regular customer Mr. Everett are both a delight as well.
On the other hand, this debut had some flaws. The rest of the characters are a little flat. In fact, the characters I already mentioned could be flat at times as well. The ending is too abrupt. While logical, it needed more time to be fully developed. Finally, the writing is okay, but it was often awkward, forcing me to backtrack and reread stuff to make sure I understood.
In the end, I did enjoy the book enough to give the sequel a chance. Hopefully, the problems will be ironed out as the series progresses.
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