Fans of the series (Book Clubbed, 2014, etc.) will welcome this tenth installment, which fleshes out its weak mystery by...
A fire may have closed Tricia Miles' New Hampshire mystery bookstore, but it can’t stop Tricia from her amateur sleuthing.
While she awaits a check from her insurance company to start repairs, Tricia is volunteering at the Stoneham Chamber of Commerce. Her sister, Angelica, president of the chamber, is deeply involved with several businesses trying to make Stoneham into a popular tourist destination, a plan approved by most but not all of the residents. Some, like crabby Selectman Earl Winkler, do all they can to thwart her plans. Tricia’s unfortunate habit of finding murder victims has made her known as the town jinx. While walking Angelica’s dog, Sarge, she justifies the sobriquet by finding Pete Renquist, the flirtatious head of the Stoneham Historical Society, in extremis. After he dies at the hospital, Police Chief Grant Baker, Tricia’s friend, thinks that it may be murder. Tricia is less shocked and upset by the latest victim than by her discovery that Angelica is also Nigela Ricita, the unseen head of Nigela Ricita Associates, a company that’s been improving Stoneham by pumping money into local projects. When another member of the historical society is attacked, Tricia can’t resist investigating despite the obligatory warnings from Chief Baker. Meanwhile, she must also deal with ever increasing pressure from the owner of her building, who wants her to buy it at an outrageous price, and her ex-husband, who insists that she come back to him. She continues to snoop while she and Angelica try to repair the town flower baskets, which have been repeatedly vandalized, putting herself in danger from a desperate killer.
Fans of the series (Book Clubbed, 2014, etc.) will welcome this tenth installment, which fleshes out its weak mystery by continuing to develop the many returning characters.Pub Date: June 2, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-425-25266-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Review Posted Online: April 21, 2015
Eskens’ debut is a solid and thoughtful tale of a young man used to taking on burdens beyond his years—none more dangerous...
A struggling student’s English assignment turns into a mission to solve a 30-year-old murder.
Joe Talbert has had very few breaks in his 21 years. The son of a single and very alcoholic mother, he’s worked hard to save enough money to leave his home in Austin, Minnesota, for the University of Minnesota. Although he has to leave his autistic younger brother, Jeremy Naylor, to the dubious care of their mother, Joe is determined to beat the odds and get his degree. For an assignment in his English class, he decides to interview Carl Iverson, a man convicted of raping and killing a 14-year-old girl. Carl, who maintains his innocence, is dying of cancer and has been released to a nursing home to end his life in lonely but unrepentant pain. The more Joe learns about Carl—a Vietnam vet with two Purple Hearts and a Silver Cross—the more the young man questions the conviction. Joe’s plan to write a short biography and earn an easy A turns into something more. Even after his mother is arrested for drunk driving and guilt-trips Joe into ransacking his college fund to bail her out, he soldiers on with the project, though her irresponsibility forces him to take Jeremy into his care. But it’s his younger brother who cracks the code of the long-dead murder victim’s secret diary and an attractive neighbor, Lila Nash, who has her own agenda for helping Joe solve the mystery, whatever the risk.
Eskens’ debut is a solid and thoughtful tale of a young man used to taking on burdens beyond his years—none more dangerous than championing a bitter old man convicted of a horrific crime.Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-61614-998-7
Page Count: 300
Publisher: Seventh Street Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 8, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2014
An anodyne visit with Tricia and her friends and enemies hung on a thin mystery.
Too much free time leads a New Hampshire bookseller into yet another case of murder.
Now that Tricia Miles has Pixie Poe and Mr. Everett practically running her bookstore, Haven’t Got a Clue, she finds herself at loose ends. Her wealthy sister, Angelica, who in the guise of Nigela Ricita has invested heavily in making Stoneham a bookish tourist attraction, is entering the amateur competition for the Great Booktown Bake-Off. So Tricia, who’s recently taken up baking as a hobby, decides to join her and spends a lot of time looking for the perfect cupcake recipe. A visit to another bookstore leaves Tricia witnessing a nasty argument between owner Joyce Widman and next-door neighbor Vera Olson over the trimming of tree branches that hang over Joyce’s yard—also overheard by new town police officer Cindy Pearson. After Tricia accepts Joyce’s offer of some produce from her garden, they find Vera skewered by a pitchfork, and when Police Chief Grant Baker arrives, Joyce is his obvious suspect. Ever since Tricia moved to Stoneham, the homicide rate has skyrocketed (Poisoned Pages, 2018, etc.), and her history with Baker is fraught. She’s also become suspicious about the activities at Pets-A-Plenty, the animal shelter where Vera was a dedicated volunteer. Tricia’s offered her expertise to the board, but president Toby Kingston has been less than welcoming. With nothing but baking on her calendar, Tricia has plenty of time to investigate both the murder and her vague suspicions about the shelter. Plenty of small-town friendships and rivalries emerge in her quest for the truth.
An anodyne visit with Tricia and her friends and enemies hung on a thin mystery.Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-9848-0272-9
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Berkley
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
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