Murder Is Binding

A pretty good book, kept me on my toes and she doesn't give away any clues as to what happens or who killed who until the end! super suspenseful an overall good read i have added her other books to my wishlist!

This was a new author for me and I was not disappointed. It was well written and fun to read. I look forward to other books from her.

This book has everything. Great setting, great characters, well engineered plot...you name it, this book has it all. This is the first book in the series which often times isn't anything more than laying the ground work for a potentially good series. Well if the debut book is THIS good, what do we have in store with future books in the series? If you've been waiting for a fresh new cozy mystery series you can sink your teeth into then your wait it over. I highly recommend this book in case you couldn't tell.

Just finished Murder is Binding. Absolutely loved it. It was a fun read and felt like a mini-vacation to this little hamlet. It was full of characters that I cannot wait to visit again. Mysteries are my favorite topic to read and I read alot. I am a fan of Grafton, Dunning, some Nora Roberts, Kathy Reichs, Baldacci, Robb, Wittig Albert, and Sue Henry just to name a few. I like to follow an author from the beginning when it applies to a series. I find that many times authors evolve and I find I do not like the new path they take me down. I feel assured that Ms. Barrett will stay true to her genre and look forward to the next trip she invites me to take.

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

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!