MURDER ON THE HALF SHELF

When a mystery bookstore owner and her ambitious cookbook-writer sister accept a free pre-opening night room at the Sheer Comfort Inn, they walk right into murder.

Cooking maven Angelica, who’s won the room for the night, not only invites Tricia to come along, but insists on sneaking in her dog, Sarge. As Tricia is walking Sarge, they discover the body of Pippa Comfort. Tricia recognizes Pippa’s husband, Jon, as Harrison Tyler, author of a famous mystery novel and her former boyfriend, who was supposed to have drowned in a boating accident 20 years before. The alibi that Harry Tyler claims now puts Tricia squarely in the sights of her current boyfriend, Police Chief Grant Baker. Because Tricia is divorced from her wealthy former husband and has seen another romance go sour, she feels hurt by Grant’s efforts to be objective and treat her as just another suspect. It doesn’t help that Tricia’s already known as the town jinx, since Pippa’s is not the first body she’s found (Sentenced to Death, 2011, etc.). Now she realizes that she’s going to have to investigate the latest murder, if only to clear her name. Stoneham, N.H., may seem like a quiet, quaint little town, but there’s a lot going on behind the scenes, and Tricia’s sleuthing may lose her more than some friends, since a desperate killer will do anything to stay free, including killing again.

Barrett’s sixth Booktown mystery features a quirky collection of characters, a mystery that keeps you guessing and some appealing appended recipes.