Book Clubbed
A Booktown Mystery #8
Berkley Prime Crime
Mystery: Cozy, Mystery
July 1, 2014
ISBN-10: 0425252574
ISBN-13: 9780425252574
Available in: Hardcover
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Book Clubbed
by Lorna Barrett
New York Times bestselling author Lorna Barrett is back in town—Booktown, that is—with another page-turning mystery. This time bookstore owner Tricia Miles and her sister, Angelica, put their own problems on the shelf to catch a killer who turns a bookcase into a murder weapon…
Cranky Chamber of Commerce receptionist Betsy Dittmeyer is done reading people the riot act. After she’s crushed by a fallen bookcase, the next item to be read is her last will and testament—which is packed with surprises. It soon comes to light that Betsy was hiding volumes of dark secrets behind that perpetual frown of hers—and one of them just might have been a motive for murder.
While Tricia tries to help Angelica—the newly elected Chamber of Commerce president and Betsy’s boss—solve the mystery, she discovers a hidden chapter in her own family history that rocks her to her very core. And with her ex-husband and the chief of police vying for her affections, it’s doubly hard to focus on who might have buried Betsy in a tomb of tomes.
But as Tricia and Angelica try to read between the lines, they need to watch their step…and make sure the killer doesn’t catch them between the stacks.
Other Books by Lorna Barrett
Lorna Barrett's Bio
Lorna Barrett is the nom de plume of author Lorraine Bartlett.
Lorraine's other alter ego, L.L. Bartlett, writes psychological suspense and the Jeff Resnick mystery series.
She's done it all, from drilling holes for NASA to typing scripts in Hollywood, and lives a life of crime in western New York.
Her first sales were to the confession magazine market. In all, she's sold nine short stories, including one on Amazon Shorts.
The Booktown Mystery series concerns a mystery bookseller who deals in rare, out-of-print, and used books. What does "L" know about bookselling? A little. She, too, has sold used books.
Authors are split on the whether "used" bookstores are good for building their careers. From a reader's perspective, they're a great way to find new authors or find out-of-print books by their favorite authors. Sadly, authors make no money from the sales of used books—and this is a business where unless you're Stephen King, Nora Roberts, or John Grisham, you aren't going to make enough money from your writing career to cover the mortgage and groceries. So it's a catch-22.
Tricia Miles, the owner of the Haven't Got a Clue bookstore that's the heart of the Booktown Mysteries, also sells new books, thus helping current "real" authors (who are mentioned in the Booktown Mysteries) stake out some kind of living, as well as keeping "alive" the works of long-dead authors.