Customer Reviews

Murder Is Binding

5 star:		(27)
4 star:		(38)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

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!

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.

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.

What a wonderful new addition to the cozy mystery genre. No need to do much in the way of recapping as it has been admirably done by others. I liked, by and large, Ms. Barrett's characters. They were not all wearing the usual black and white hats. Some actually wore gray in that you might feel one way about them at first but that could change. Tricia is the spunky heroine who owns the town's mystery bookstore and her loud and obnoxious sister, Angelica, has decided she is going to move to Stoneham--much to Tricia's dismay and chagrin. Looking down the road, I can see this "Snoop Sister" act--with their sparring and dichotomous ways--entertaining us throughout. I don't necessarily agree, as has been indicated, that this tale takes us through the mystery book genre and author world as might have been the case. Such a shame. I was rather hoping for a cozy rendition of John Dunning/Cliff Janeway... Even though I don't usually enjoy books with cooking and recipe sharing, it was fairly subtly done. Mr. Everett is a very likeable Stoneham resident and comes across as the town's moral compass. I even like the cat--except for the name. The sobriquet, Miss Marple, is a bit heavy handed.

The only thing I found ridiculously out of touch with reality was the sheriff's character. There is no way that a sheriff facing an election is going to treat a seemingly upstanding business owner they way Wendy (the sheriff) treated Tricia.

That aside, the book was well crafted and a pleasure to read.

Every once in awhile, a nice cozy-ish mystery is exactly what is needed to fill a cold, rainy Saturday and MURDER IS BINDING fits the order nicely. What better way to spend an afternoon than with a freshly single bookseller, a store cat, a interfering sister, and a sheriff who seems to be wearing blinkers? Lorna Barrett's MURDER IS BINDING, a cozy that isn't quite a cozy, is a treat in every way.

Eh. Another mediocre cozy mystery that relies on gimmick rather than story to attract a following. It starts out well enough, with bookstore owner Tricia Miles finding her next door business neighbor Doris Gleason stabbed. Unfortunately Tricia becomes the prime suspect and the sheriff, facing re-election, does not seem to be trying hard to find any others. At first the characters seemed sensible enough, but soon they just became irritating as the author put them through contrived situations to further the slow-moving story. The mystery itself was pretty good, nothing great, but not enough to make up for the characters that left me alternately sympathetic and annoyed. The drama in the final showdown made me roll my eyes. Even if this is just the first in a new series I don't think I'll be giving this author a second chance.

Well, I already knew that L.B. could write a mean paranormal thriller, but the question was whether or not she could pull off a cozy - something much more lighthearted and fun than her usual hard-boiled fare. No worries - it's as if she's been writing about Stoneham, the Safest Town in New Hampshire, and its interesting inhabitants all her life. Cozy lovers should definitely add the new Booktown Mysteries to their not-to-be-missed lists!

Tricia Miles is a successful businesswoman who moved to the safe little village of Stoneham, New Hampshire following a painful divorce. As part of a downtown renovation project to revitalize the village, Tricia and several other booksellers were wooed to open up shop along Main Street. The new businesses helped give the town a new lease on life - but too bad for Doris Gleason, owner of the The Cookery, it didn't work both ways! While Tricia is giving her sister, Angelica, the 50-cent tour of her new digs, they discover the body of the recently deceased Doris - with a knife sticking out her back.

As it turns out, Doris hasn't exactly endeared herself to the other booksellers, or anyone else for that matter, so there is an abundance of people who disliked her, although circumstantial evidence starts to point toward Tricia as a possible suspect. Tricia continues to be in the wrong place at the wrong time as Stoneham's nickname, the Safest Town in New Hampshire, becomes more and more of a misnomer.

The entire book is wonderfully descriptive, the characters fascinating and 3-dimensional, the plot exquisitely complex, and L.B.'s painstaking attention to detail doesn't go unnoticed (check out the facade of Haven't Got a Clue on the cover)! In addition, there is the added bonus of Tricia and Angelica's interesting and complicated sibling relationship. The way they were able to put aside past history to work together when push came to shove was touching. It made me ache for the company of my own sisters!

There are an awful lot of new series to choose from in the cozy mystery subgenre these days, but if you're debating about which one to add to your TBR list, I'd recommend putting Murder is Binding at the top!

Carol Ann Hopkins 4/7/2008

From time to time when I need some fluff, I enjoy a good cozy mystery. Loving books, bookstores and life in a sleepy New England town, Murder is Binding, by Lorna Barrett, seemed like the perfect book for me. It is the first book in Booktown Mystery Series. I was not disappointed.

Set in fictional Stoneham, N.H., the streets in this town are lined with bookstores (my dream town). Tricia Miles is a mystery bookshop owner, who soon becomes a suspect when a fellow bookstore owner, Doris Gleason is murdered---stabbed to death and a rare cookbook is missing. Determined to clear her name, Tricia, and some other locals help her to try and clear her name.

This was a really fun cozy mystery. The book had quirky characters, was plot driven, and had me anxious to turn the pages. I can't wait for the second installment: Bookmarked for Death, scheduled to be released in February of 2009.

This is a new series and I will be looking for more in the Booktown Mystery series. Tricia Miles opens a mystery bookstore in Stoneham, New Hampshire. Her cookbook store neighbor Doris is found dead, killed by a kitchen knife. (of all things) Tricia gets caught in the middle and to some people looks like the prime suspect - so of course she has to go about proving her innocense. To make matters worse (at least it seems that way at first), her astranged sister appears on the scene. This is a fun read for a cozy afternoon. Interesting characters. Quirky, but entertaining.

MURDER IS BINDING---Lorna Barrett (Berkley ISBN 978-0-21958-4) This is the first in the Booktown Mystery series and includes recipes. I will read the next one. For you cat lovers there is Miss Marple, Tricia's cat.
The small town of Stoneham, New Hampshire, is somewhat like the Welsh town of Hay-on-Wye. There are a number of bookstores there hoping to attract tourists and near-by senior citizen places and help the local economy. Protagonist Tricia Miles, the owner of Haven't Got A Clue is a newcomer, she's been there six months, and was welcomed by most people. She paid realtor Bob Kelly top dollar for her rent. Doris Gleason who owns the Cookery, the cookbook store next door to Tricia's, tells her she isn't happy that Trisha did that. Her lease is up, and she is afraid her rent will go up. She also shows her the rare cookbook that she has in a case. She bought it from Winnie Wentworth the town's bag lady. She isn't exactly a bag lady but does live out of her '93 Cadillac Seville. She buys items, including books, from different types of sales and turns around and tries to sell them to the bookstores and other places.
Tricia's sister Angelica Prescott is getting divorced and is trying to figure out what to do with her life. She surprises Trish by coming to town to visit. Trish is anything but thrilled. They meet up for dinner and come back to Tricia's apartment which is about her store, to show Angelica what it is like. As they get out of the car, Angelica smells smoke. Tricia realizes that it is the Cookery that is burning. She has Angelica call 911, and she rushes into the store. She stops the carpet from smoking and notices that the case with the rare cookbook is empty. She finds Doris with a knife in her back. Stoneham has been voted the safest town around and was scheduled to get an award for it. They haven't had a murder in ten years. There goes the town's reputation.
For some reason Sheriff Wendy Adams doesn't like Tricia and won't give up the idea that Tricia killed Doris. The sheriff is up for reelection. Is that the reason she is out to solve this murder so fast, or are there others? When someone dies in a car accident, the sheriff makes sure the brakes weren't cut by Tricia. When other things happen, Tricia knows she has to solve Doris' murder to save herself from going to prison. Tricia has her own idea of who may be the killer. Even the town's newspaper doesn't go lightly on Tricia as well as some residents.
One other problem Tricia is having along with the other booksellers, is that someone is placing leaflets into the books advertising a nudist camp. No one can seem to catch the person.
I really enjoyed retired Mr. Everett He would be at Haven't Got A Clue's door when the store opened and would be the last to leave. He would only have one cup of their complimentary coffee and a few cookies. He would place a bookmark in the book he was reading and then put it back on a shelf. Sometimes he would do so little odds and ends there like make the coffee.