BOARD TO DEATH

The mood at a board game shop darkens when the owner’s son is implicated in the death of a regular.

Though he’s not feeling great about his divorce from his husband, Ben Rosencrantz doesn’t think leaving his career as an English professor marks him as failure. His quiet, humble demeanor wasn’t the best fit for academia. So while he misses his students, he’s OK with being back in Salt Lake City to help his ailing father run Of Dice and Decks, the family board game shop. And the shop isn’t exactly a failure either, though it’s having growing pains as the Sugar House neighborhood gets more expensive while board games don’t. Ben enjoys the weekly Nertz crew, the familiarity of the regulars, and a budding friendship with the boy-next-store Ezra McCaslin, who owns McCaslin’s Flowers & Events—though he’s sure their friendship will probably grow to nothing more. Ben doesn’t love all the shop regulars—there’s a wide range of gamers—and people like the abrasive Clive Newton, who shows up and tries to offload a vintage game at a too-good-to-be-true price, make him want to crawl back into his shell. Ben’s nervous acquiescence in life ends when Clive is stabbed at the store’s front door. He worries how this might look to detectives investigating the case, particularly when a backpack full of cash appears on the doorstep soon after Clive’s demise. In a departure from the norm, Det. Louise Shelley is far from convinced that Ben’s involved in Clive’s death. But when Ben learns that the case could grow cold without leads, he’s determined to find at least one potential suspect. Assisted by Ezra, who may not be content being just Ben’s friend, he examines the culture surrounding the shop for clues.

Like its protagonist, this debut’s quiet charm offers something different and special.