Bookplate Special

I like this series because it is well done without being too gross. And the characters seem real. It's like an American cozy mystery.(Vs.an English Cozy Mystery.) Sometimes I just like to sit and read without getting tied up in knots. This series does this.

I thoroughly enjoyed the third installment to Lorna Barrett's Booktown Mystery series. I enjoy reading the continuing saga of Stoneham and its residents. Each of the three books can stand alone, but the stories are entwined and sort of continuing. In this book, finding a body in a dumpster gave a whole new meaning to 'taking the trash out'. Tricia Miles, quiet shop keeper, seems to find a body everywhere she goes. Is she the town 'jinx' or not? I do like the characters and I was happy to see Tricia get a little more depth to her character this time around. Her sister Angelica is a hoot and always livens things up whenever she's around. The other re-occuring characters help build a nice comfortable setting. They have become like old friends and I like the way Lorna Barrett brings their stories to light while weaving the mystery around them all. I was quite surprised by the who in this whodunit! Barrett seems to have a knack for keeping me guessing until the very end and then I sit there and wonder what I missed that I didn't see it coming. Bravo Lorna, you did it again and I can't wait for the next installment to come out. Your 'preview' has already sucked me in and I'll be pre-ordering that book as soon as I can.

When college roommate Pammy Fredericks comes to visit Stoneham, New Hampshire, mystery bookstore owner Tricia Miles can't very well turn her down. Pammy is the kind of person who just gets on the nerves. After freeloading for weeks, Tricia has finally had enough. Tricia kicks her out. When Pammy is found dead in a trash bin, Tricia sets out to answer all the unanswered questions even when her investigation takes her into activities and secrets she never could have imagined. From groups of freegans, dumpster divers with ecological politics to individuals with secrets to hide, Tricia investigates the underside of the nice cozy small town Booktown and its model citizens to ferret out the motivations that could lead someone to murder. The third of the Booktown mysteries, Lorna Barrett's BOOKPLATE SPECIAL takes fans back to the wonderful town where books and book lovers populate the town. Tricia Miles owner of I Haven't Got a Clue mystery bookshop and her cat Miss Marple seem to attract mysteries, unusual situations, and less than cozy crime scenes. The visit of her college roommate is no exception, except that pursuit of the clues leads Tricia into previously unknown corners of the Stoneham community. Whereas the first two books in the series (MURDER IS BINDING and BOOKMARKED FOR DEATH) give readers a glimpse into the town and the two sisters, BOOKPLATE SPECIAL adds a new richness to the series. Although BOOKPLATE SPECIAL would work as a stand alone, series readers will particularly appreciate the author's ability to develop the series itself from book to book. Characters and setting are both familiar and yet also one can't help but feel one gets to know both more and more from book to book. In BOOKPLATE SPECIAL, readers get even more of an insider's glimpse into Booktown. Lorna Barrett adds new characters (such as Captain Grant Baker) and revisits other secondary characters fans of the series have grown to love through the first 2 books. Each secondary character is not just a stock character. Instead, relationships change. The mystery itself has several unexpected yet prepared twists and turns to keep readers guessing. With the third book, Lorna Barrett quite simply reaches new heights in characters, setting, mystery plotting and narrative voice. BOOKPLATE SPECIAL adds depth in the series as Lorna Barrett explores areas of the Stoneham society beneath the town's tourist charm. Stoneham New Hampshire was a dying town until it remade itself, adding specialized bookstores to bring in the tourists. Beneath that appearance, hard economic times hit other layers of the town's population. While this might seem a detour from the typical cozy mystery, under the pen of Lorna Barrett, this vision adds a freshness to the series. Lorna Barrett presents a balanced view, showing the plight of employees struggling to make ends meet, the pressures on the bookstore owners themselves, and a town attempting to help its citizens with the establi

said it all, I'll simply say "ditto for me".... My advice is that if you've been reading this series, DON'T STOP NOW!!! It's growing up in all good ways, with the characters forming a group of friends with the reader; the mystery plots have (to me) always been terrific (just love'em with twists); the main character and her sidekick, Miss Marple, are growing more endearing and personally, I greatly look forward to the next in the Booktown Mystery series. If you're new to the series, I say begin with the first book and catch up to the rest of us.... Thank you, again, Ms. Barrett, for giving us another terrific cozy!!!

All was quiet in Stoneham, New Hampshire. Well, almost. Tricia Miles hadn't been so uptight since Zoë Carter was found deader `n a doornail plopped on her toilet at her mystery bookstore, Haven't Got a Clue. Before that there was Doris Gleason who was done in by a little carving knife chop job. She seemed to be turning into a professional corpse finder and there was going to be a third one if Pammy Fredericks didn't get the heck out of her apartment. Normally soft-spoken she'd just about reached the end of her rope with Fredericks the freeloader and practically screamed, "Get out of my house." College was one thing, but there was a time to grow up and two weeks with her was more than enough. Out, out, OUT! Pammy was as welcome as a plantar's wart, but when she insisted she leave, Tricia began to feel pangs of guilt. Stoneham, New Hampshire was a well-known bookstore Mecca and the type of place if you had any business whatsoever, everyone else knew about it. Before the last "out" was shouted, it was heard at the other end of town and Pammy had found employment with Angelica, Tricia's sister at her café, Booked for Lunch. Tricia was even more annoyed when her sister insinuated she had thrown poor Pammy out. Next thing you know . . . Tricia stepped out into the alley and guess whose pink Crocs she saw sticking out of a trash cart. "I understand this is not your first encounter with the law here in Stoneham . . . " At least Captain Grant Baker was a hunk, unlike Sheriff Wendy Adams. This whole thing was enough to make anyone throw up. Why had Pammy been dumpster diving for food? Who were all these "freegans" she was associating with? Why was Pammy trying to blackmail Stuart Paige? Who was smashing all those pumpkins? Who, what, when, why? At least Ginny, her book clerk, thought she lived a charmed life. "I'm divorced, my sister lives next door, and I keep discovering dead bodies. How charmed is that?" Not very much. Lorna Barrett is really starting to find her voice in this series. The characters are becoming more fleshed out and I actually felt as if I was getting to know what to expect from some of them. The plot line, although still fitting into the "cozy" genre, was more complicated and there were many more questions to be answered and the whodunit was not as easy to peg. There is one little surprise that was a real stunner and an unexpected twist. Get ready to pop a lot of popcorn, cuddle up under a blanket and spend a little time with Tricia Miles and crew. Ms Barrett, queen of the cozys, has a winner here! The next one up in the Booktown Mysteries series is called Chapter and Hearse and I, for one, can't wait! Deb Fowler Feathered Quill Book Reviews