50) Chapter & Hearse by Lorna Barrett

The Blurb :

According to the gossip around Stoneham, New Hampshire, Tricia Miles cannot put down a real murder mystery. After all, the owner of the mystery bookstore, Haven’t Got a Clue, has been spending more time solving whodunits than reading them…

Tricia’s sister, Angelica, considers herself to be the next celebrity chef. To celebrate her first cookbook, Angelica hosts a launch party, but sadly the only guest is an oversized cutout of herself. Worse than the lack of fans is a nearby gas explosion that injures her boyfriend, Bob Kelly, the head of the Chamber of Commerce.

Tricia’s never been a fan of Bob, but when she reads that Bob is being tight-lipped about the “accident” and how it killed the owner of the town’s history bookstore, it’s time to take action. As the incriminating details emerge, Tricia gets wrapped up in a murder that proves to be as spine-tingling as the books that line her shelves…

My Thoughts :

I am finding it hard to stay away from Booktown and found myself picking up this fourth installment instead of something else from my to be read pile. I like the concept and the characters and despite the little pet peeves I had while reading the previous book, I just couldn't resist visiting the quaint little town again.

This fourth part in the series started off eight months after the previous installment and it seems the author felt the need to make a few interesting changes to the on-going plot and surprise me by doing so.  At first it just confused me because the last book left me thinking that Tricia was going to be in a nice new relationship this time around and it took me some time to realise the author had nixed this idea.

Booktown is definitely not a boring place.  The mystery this time around was a little more complicated than I expected and it took me just as long as Tricia to figure out who had done what and why.  The plot was good and it was interesting to see how things unfolded especially the continuing storyline of Ginny, Mr Everett and Angelica.   It seems Tricia is doomed to just keep getting mixed up with and solving mysteries while be the most helpful person in the town.

The award for the most annoying person in the series is Russ.  He wasn't that much of a problem in the previous three books but this story made him out to be a right pain in the neck and hopefully he will be the victim in the next book.  At least then Tricia can use a certain detective's shoulder to cry on.  Second prize in the annoying category is Bob.  I wouldn't mind him becoming a less prominent character in the series and hope that Angelica gives him the boot.

In the last book there was a rich investor who was pumping money into the town and this time around he was nowhere to be seen.  However another investor, a secret one, has made an appearance and I can't help but wonder where the author is going with this line of writing.  It is of course only natural that the town would need some new blood and money but I hope it won't lose the cute book angle.  Also I have a suspicion that the secret investor is going to either be someone they all know or just a trouble maker.

All in all this series has really grabbed my attention.  I have a lot of books waiting to be read but I really just want to pick up the next installment.  I will hold out for a while but I fear that I will be picking up the next part within the next week or two.  The Booktown Mysteries are slowly turning out to be like a really good TV series and it is hard to wait for the next episode.

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