BOOK REVIEW: A Killer Edition by Lorna Barrett @lornabarrett @berkleypub #akilleredition #booktownmystery

I loved visiting Stoneham  (aka Booktown) in the latest edition of the Booktown Mysteries, A Killer Edition! Lorna Barrett is a big name in cozy mysteries, and I always enjoy her books. This one was a bit heavier on the cute and cozy side than the mystery, though there are a few twists towards the end that brought the mystery back to the front of the story!

In this latest mystery, Tricia Miles—owner of mystery bookstore Haven’t Got a Clue—finds herself with extra time on her hands. Her newly promoted assistant manager Pixie and her store clerk Mr. Everett are running the shop even better than ever, so Tricia is finding other passions to pursue to keep herself from micromanaging at the store.

Determined to get a spot on the board at Pets-a-Plenty, the local animal shelter, as well as enter the amateur cupcake bake-off, Tricia finds herself with plenty of activities to occupy her days. But when her friends-with-benefits situation doesn’t totally fulfill her evenings, she takes the advice of her therapist and heads over to the romance bookstore owned by her friend Joyce Whitman to add some steam back into her life.

While browsing the shelves, Tricia witnesses Joyce’s neighbor Vera having some heated words with Joyce. A few hours later, Joyce and Tricia discover Vera’s body just outside Joyce’s garden gate with a pitchfork pushed through it. Tricia doesn’t believe Joyce had anything to do with it, but who did? The more she looks into it, the more she realizes that Vera was well known through Booktown, volunteering at the animal shelter, working on the school board. Tricia may be busy with the upcoming bake off, but she still has time to solve a mystery!

Booktown is like any small town—filled with kooky characters, feuds, and local gossip. I loved that we got a who’s-who list at the beginning of the book to reference, since I have missed many of the books in the middle of this series. It helped me to reference who owned what local spot and who was involved with who, without Barrett having to recap too much in the text.

Tricia and her sister Angelica have a fascinating dynamic. They are a mix of close and supportive with a bit of an ongoing feud. Angelica is highly successful, and for the first third of the book I actually couldn’t tell if Tricia even liked her sister. But by the end, their relationship was well-rounded, and I understood them better. The sisters really look out for one another, but also are a bit competitive.

I would have liked the mystery to be more central, but I felt that a lot of the investigating happened by chance because Tricia was already involved in many of the activities that Vera had also been involved with. Tricia was much more fixated on the bake-off, the animal shelter, and her sadness to not be so central at her book store than she was about the mystery.

That aside, I thought the whole ending was fascinating as clues began to come together. I certainly was surprised by the twist the mystery took! And I do love the small town cozy parts to this series. A fun and light mystery that Booktown fans will love!

Thank you to Berkley for my copy. Opinions are my own.