Handbook for Homicide

Haven’t Got A Clue book store owner Tricia Miles’s relationship is on the rocks. After a not-so-fun vacation with her on-again-off-again lover, Marshall Cambridge, Tricia’s hoping for smooth sailing back in Stoneham. Unfortunately, Booktown greets her not with blue skies but with another body.

When Tricia’s assistant manager, Pixie, finds homeless vet Susan Morris’s body behind Haven’t Got A Clue, Pixie’s checkered past makes her the prime suspect. Tricia sets out to clear Pixie’s name armed with only an anchor insignia earring found at the scene of the crime.

As Tricia digs deeper, she discovers Susan was involved in a scandal right before retiring from the Navy—but since nobody in the village knows Susan, even Tricia’s one lead is in danger of drying up. With family drama brewing in the background and all of Stoneham convinced her manager is a murderer, Tricia knows she has to get to the bottom of the case soon before Pixie’s life is sunk.

Series: A Booktown Mystery – Book #14
Author: Lorna Barrett
Genre: Cozy Mystery/Bookshop
Publisher: Berkley Publishing
Page Count: 316

Rating:

Handbook for Homicide is the fourteenth book in the “A Booktown Mystery” series. The series revolves around the main character, Tricia’s book store, her employees, customers, family, and friends. The characters in this series have flaws, as does Tricia. Sometimes those flaws are a bit much for readers to handle. Tricia isn’t always likable; she can be selfish, petty, and somewhat single-minded. Other characters, such as her sister, are lovely.

I did not feel the book store played a significant enough role in this new addition, especially considering the body is found behind it in a dumpster. I also did not like the indecision on Tricia’s part about the men in her life. She needs to figure out how she feels for each one and stop hanging onto the past and let the men know where they stand. I do not like cliff hangers in a cozy, it isn’t necessary to get people to read the next book in the series, and it disappoints the reader who spent several hours reading only to leave questions unanswered.

The victim and the suspects are nicely written; however, the killer, although interesting, was not believable. Handbook for Homicide is an easy to read book but seemed to lack the author’s usual flare. Many fans will find the book enjoyable, while others will be upset that Tricia has not changed enough to be likable. The mystery is somewhat pushed aside due to the unending discussions of Tricia’s love life, and in this book, her sudden need to help the homeless. Her book store takes a back seat to everything else Tricia deems important and constantly leaves the running of the store to her employees. Overall, this was an okay book, not great, but not horrible. Too much got in the way for me to enjoy it, and not enough of what makes this series enjoyable was included.

More book store based cozies readers will enjoy Essie Lang’s original series “A Castle Bookshop Mystery” or Amy Lillard’s enjoyable “Main Street Book Club Mysteries”.

About the Author:

The immensely popular Booktown Mystery series is what put Lorna Barrett’s name on the New York Times Bestseller list, but it’s her talent — whether writing as Lorna, or L.L. Bartlett, or Lorraine Bartlett — that keeps her there. This multi-published, Agatha-nominated author pens the exciting Jeff Resnick Mysteries as well as the acclaimed Victoria Square Mystery series and has many short stories and novellas to her name(s).

L.L. Bartlett has done it all–from drilling holes for NASA to typing scripts in Hollywood. She has also been a copy editor, an MSDS coordinator, a data-entry clerk, a secretary, a used-book seller, an antique dealer, and an Administrative Assistant. In her writing life, she has been a man, a woman, a scientist, an investigator, a cop, a bookseller, a jilted bride, a widower, a doctor, a nurse, a car, an extraterrestrial, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg.

Contact Lorna/LL: lorna@lornabarrett.com or LLB@LLBartlett.com

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