Definetely, a Booklover's Book

books:


	• Murder Is Binding Lorna Barrett Berkley, 2008 - 288 pages average customer review:based on 23 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Definetely, a Booklover's Book

For her 1st book it was pretty good! A little wordy. She definetely developes the characters! By the end of the book you may know more than you need to! I did love it and can't wait for the next one. She does keep you reading!

I really like the relationship with the two sisters. Both my sister and I love "Sister mysteries".

Satisfactory cozy mystery

Summary

Tricia Miles, a 30-something recent divorcee, moves to New Hampshire to open a mystery bookstore and get a fresh start. Much to Tricia's chagrin, her beautiful, wealthy, charming sister, Angelica comes for a visit. As if dealing with her sister was not troublesome enough, Tricia stumbles onto the murder of a fellow bookstore owner, Doris Gleason, who was well-known for her disagreeable nature. Soon, Tricia finds herself as the #1 suspect for Doris' murder. Only her sleuthing skills will save the day!

Kudos

The murder happens right away. Although this is the first book in the series, Barrett sets up the background and conflict quickly. Barrett's writing is lean and the story moves along quickly.

Criticisms

The characters are extremely unoriginal. They're nearly direct knock-offs of Laura Childs' teashop series. The sibling rivalry thing has been a little done-to-death in cozy mysteries, too.

Finally, when Angelica turns out to be a gourmet cook, it's so contrived that it jarred me out of the story. It literally made me think, "The only reason this character is a cook is because the publisher wanted to print recipes at the back of the book."

This is an adequate book if you've read everything by your favorite authors. If there's no improvement in the next book, I'll give up on this series.

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A really good first book.

This is a particularly good first book in a series. A town where books rule is certainly inviting, and the characters and opportunities for future plots leave me wanting the next book to come. I liked the two apparent separate plot lines meeting at the end. A great read for a long holiday weekend!

Great series!

Lorna Barrett creates a wonderful cast of characters in a cozy place most readers would like to visit, a comfortable mystery bookstore. Murder Is Binding, Barrett's first book in the series, makes us care about Tricia Miles and her sister, who's her opposite, and the people who inhabit Tricia's store. The mystery keeps us guessing and caring. I can't wait for Barrett's next book in the series.

June Shaw, author of RELATIVE DANGER

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A New Book on Murder

Tricia Miles has found life in Stoneham to be a nice change from life in the big city. The historic down town area consists of nothing but bookstores, and running her own mystery bookstore has been a real joy.

But one fall day things change from good to bad. First, her sister Angelica shows up for an unannounced, extended visit. The two sisters have a strained relationship, and Tricia can't wait until she leaves.

Much worse, however, is finding the body of Doris Gleason. Doris owned the cookbook shop next door to Tricia's. She could be quarrelsome, but she didn't deserve to die. Tricia immediately notices that the antique cookbook Doris had just acquired is missing. Was theft the motive? Or was it something more sinister?

I'm of two minds about this debut. On the one hand, I loved it and the setting. What reader wouldn't love the idea of a town devoted to bookstores? And the little details of the book made me smile every time they showed up on the page. The plot twisted in a couple surprising directions. Angelica and Tricia have a complicated relationship, and I could identify with both of them at the same time. And Tricia's employee Ginny and regular customer Mr. Everett are both a delight as well.

On the other hand, this debut had some flaws. The rest of the characters are a little flat. In fact, the characters I already mentioned could be flat at times as well. The ending is too abrupt. While logical, it needed more time to be fully developed. Finally, the writing is okay, but it was often awkward, forcing me to backtrack and reread stuff to make sure I understood.

In the end, I did enjoy the book enough to give the sequel a chance. Hopefully, the problems will be ironed out as the series progresses.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5

The streets of Stoneham, New Hampsire are lined with bookstores...and paved with murder. When she moved to Stoneham, city slicker Tricia Miles met nothing but friendly faces. And when she opened her mystery bookstore, she met friendly competition. But when she finds Doris Gleason dead in her own cookbook store, killed by a carving knife, the atmosphere seems more cutthroat than cordial. Someone wanted to get their hands on the rare cookbook that Doris had recently purchased-and the locals think that someone is Tricia. To clear her name, Tricia will have to take a page out of one of her own mysteries-and hunt down someone who isn't killing by the book.

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