Murder on the Half Shelf
A Booktown Mystery #6
Berkley Prime Crime
Mystery, Mystery: Cozy
July 3, 2012
ISBN-10: 0425247759
ISBN-13: 9780425247754
Available in: Hardcover
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Murder on the Half Shelf
by Lorna Barrett
“If anyone has the formula for a frolicking fun mystery down pat, it’s Lorna Barrett” (Roundtable Reviews), the New York Times bestselling author whose latest Booktown Mystery finds amateur sleuth Tricia Miles unexpectedly reunited with a man from a chapter of her life she closed long ago...
Stoneham, New Hampshire, is a haven to bookstores, including Tricia’s own mystery shop, Haven’t Got a Clue, but is sadly lacking in bed and breakfasts. Pippa and Jon Comfort’s Sheer Comfort Inn opens its doors to the public in a week and the couple has offered some locals a free night as a trial run.
But what should have been a pleasant overnight stay for Tricia becomes a nightmare when she makes two startling discoveries: Pippa’s murdered body in the backyard, and the fact that her husband Jon is actually Harry Tyler, a man Tricia loved—and believed dead—for nearly twenty years.
Now Harry is the prime suspect, but Tricia doesn’t believe him capable of murder, regardless of her own feelings toward him. And even though Harry’s led a life of lies, Tricia’s learning that Pippa had her share of secrets that some people may have not wanted revealed...
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.