Trisha is celebrating the anniversary of the opening of her bookstore in Stoneham, the so-called Booktown due to the Chamber of Commerce inviting bookstores to fill an area of town to bring in new tourism and brighten up the town a bit. She is hosting a booksigning for the one-and-only Stoneham celebrity in town, Zoe Carter, a hugely successful author. Toward the end of the event, Zoe is discovered by Tricia as a murder victim on her premises. Anyone who read book #1, "Murder is Binding", will recall that Sheriff Wendy Adams is definitely not friendly nor helpful toward Trisha and forces her out of her store for several days to do her "investigation". Trisha takes refuge in her sister Angelica's Cookbook store/living quarters.

With many people attending the event, there are of course many suspects to go through, and with Tricia anxious to get back into her home and store, and with lack of trust in the Sheriff, she begins her own investigation. During her investigation she finds out more than she wants to know about Zoe, her niece and assistant, friends, and acquaintances around town and soon draws special attention to herself in a near miss accident. The book has many twists and turns, as did Ms. Barrett's first book and is an entertaining cozy read. It seems that every time Tricia thinks she is getting somewhere, someone else gets hurt with no apparent reason and that includes herself. I love the camaraderie of the booksellers and book clubs, the feel of small town unspoken separation between the originals and the newcomers is comical in its truth. I also got a kick out of the references to the Canada Goose problem around the town; anyone who has ever lived in their migratory route will certainly find the descriptions true to life and laughable in a "you have to laugh or you will cry" type of way. For a light-weight humourous read, fun yet focused, this series fits the bill. 4 1/2 stars. ( )

This is a quirky mystery set in a typical NH town. Zoe Carter, a local author, is murdered in the restroom of Haven't Got A Clue. Tricia sets out to clear her name and solve the murder in the process.

The standout is Sheriff Wendy Adams who does not do much of the investigative work herself and keeps Haven't Got A Clue closed for business as long as she can.

There is also a subplot of Canadian Geese taking over the lane of businesses closest to the water and leaving their droppings for business owners to take care of.

All business gets taken care of and in the process we come to care about the people of this quirky town. I give it five stars because it never gets too complicated and moves quickly. The ending line is classic. Great little read of a book. ( )

This is the 2nd book in the Booktown mystery series. It is set in a fictional NH town, but it is based on a nearby town and uses a lot of local color.

I started the series because the first book was for a RL book group read. I enjoyed it enough to continue with the series. Let me say up front I don't like Cozies. They remind me of the pink, plastic, formulaic romances where everything is prefect and ends just so. In spite of that I enjoyed these.

The POV of the series is a young woman who owns the mystery bookstore in town. Of course she is always involved in the murder that is the main mystery. True to Cozy form, the sheriff in town hates her, and refuses to do 'real ' investigations. That aspect I find to be too strong and not realistic.

The real strengths of the book are the characters.

The POV and her sister have a rocky past, and still annoy each other. In the stories they work at their relationship, with some success and some failure, and it isn't always the sister who is to blame. I like how its handled and how it develops.

I also really like the supporting characters, especially a coupe of elderly folks, and a quirky Texas transplant.
It counteracts the young, well groomed, gap clad men and women who often people these things.

I will be on the look out for the next one. ( )