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BOOK INFO

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BOOK BLURB

Tricia Miles must swim against the tide to catch a killer when Haven’t Got A Clue’s assistant manager is accused of murder in the latest entry to Lorna Barrett’s New York Times bestselling Booktown series.

Haven’t Got A Clue bookshop owner Tricia Miles’s relationship is on the rocks. After a not-so-fun vacation with her on-again-off-again lover, Marshall Cambridge, Tricia’s hoping for smooth sailing back in Stoneham. Unfortunately Booktown greets her not with blue skies but with another body.

When Tricia’s assistant manager, Pixie, finds homeless vet Susan Morris’s body behind Haven’t Got A Clue, Pixie’s checkered past makes her the prime suspect. Tricia sets out to clear Pixie’s name armed with only an anchor insignia earring found at the scene of the crime.

As Tricia digs deeper she discovers Susan was involved in a scandal right before retiring from the Navy—but since nobody in the village knows Susan, even Tricia’s one lead is in danger of drying up. With family drama brewing in the background and all of Stoneham convinced her manager is a murderer, Tricia knows she has to get to the bottom of the case soon before Pixie’s life is sunk.

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MY REVIEW

Tricia Miles and the residents of Stoneham are back! Handbook for Homicide is the 14th book in the Booktown Mystery series by Lorna Barrett. Tricia lives in the small town of Stoneham and runs a mystery bookstore. The town has several specialty book shops and book themed businesses that bring in visitors to the town. Tricia also has a habit of stumbling across dead bodies. She uses her love of mysteries to sleuth and find the real killers.

In this book, it’s not Tricia who finds the dead body, but her assistant manager, Pixie. The body is discovered behind the bookshop, and Tricia gets involved when it looks like one of the suspects is Pixie. The dead woman was a homeless vet, with few ties to the area. Tricia’s questions lead to wondering if the woman was killed from something in her military past or if a local was behind it.

An enjoyable cozy mystery. This book is part of a series, but it can be read as a standalone. That said, I recommend reading the earlier books to better understand the relationships between the characters. A good read for fans of cozies. Delightful and entertaining.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.

Books in the Booktown Mystery Series:

1. Murder is Binding
2. Bookmarked for Death
3. Bookplate Special
4. Chapter and Hearse
5. Sentenced to Death
6. Murder on the Half Shelf
7. Not the Killing Type
8. Book Clubbed
9. A Fatal Chapter
10. Title Wave
11. A Just Clause
12. Poisoned Pages
13. A Killer Edition
14. Handbook for Homicide