BOOKCLUBBED TO DEATH

A Michigan bookstore owner and budding mystery writer polishes off a novel while probing the death of a nuisance client.

When a tornado flattens the North Harbor public library, aspiring author Samantha Washington is happy to help librarian Charlotte Simmons by relocating the library’s book clubs to Samantha’s mystery bookstore. Unfortunately, Delia Marshall, the syndicated book critic in charge of the Mystery Mavens Book Club, wants more than just space. Imperious Delia lets Sam know that she doesn’t “need to go overboard to impress the group. A light lunch and cocktails will be fine with coffee and dessert.” She also expects Sam to lock up her ferocious 7-pound toy poodles, Snickers and Oreo, during the club’s meetings. Unfortunately, the dogs get loose, and one of them lunges at Delia, causing her to fall. Sam’s initial concern over a potential lawsuit is outweighed when Delia is found dead in the bookstore, bashed in the bean by a single-volume The Complete Works of Agatha Christie—which certainly must be heavy, since it includes 66 novels and dozens of short stories and plays—that Delia had special ordered from Sam several weeks earlier. Sam’s fears get an upgrade because the police regard her as their chief suspect. Fortunately, Delia’s enemies are legion, so it isn’t hard for Sam to come up with alternatives. Nor is it hard for her to complete her latest novel, a 1930s British thriller set in Windsor Castle and starring King George IV, large chunks of which appear in between the chapters recounting Sam’s investigations. Inserting palace intrigue into a shopkeeper cozy may sound like a bargain, but sometimes you get what you pay for.

The dark side of buy one, get one free.