Description (from cover):'New York Times bestselling author Lorna Barrett presents another page-turning chapter in her Booktown Mystery series. This time mystery bookshop owner Tricia Miles is about to find out murder is no walk in the park...
While out walking Sarge, her sister's bichon frise, Tricia is led by the agitated dog to a man lying in a gazebo. She's startled when she recognizes Pete Renquist, the president of the Stoneham Historical Society, who appears to be suffering from cardiac arrest. When Pete later dies in the hospital, the discovery of a suspicious bruise and a puncture mark on his arm suggests he may have been murdered.
Haunter by Pete's enigmatic last words to her, Tricia begins to consider who had a motive to kill her friend. Did Pete take his flirting too far, only to have a jealous husband teach him a lesson? Or did he discover something in the town's historical records that his killer wanted kept secret? Tricia is determined to get to the bottom of things before someone else becomes history...'
My thoughts:
This book series has long been one of my favorites in the cozy mystery genre. I was not disappointed in this book. I found it to be a stepping stone to the next part of the series and I am anxious to discover where the author has the characters headed. It was a sad book and the ending was different than what I had expected, but it does open a lot of doors for the characters and I have no idea where the series is headed. I guess that is a good thing for the reader as it creates a draw and makes them want to come back to the series time and time again. I love this author's writing, her characters and the general ambiance of her books. Stoneham seems like the perfect place to live and interact, except of course for the murders. The characters are what really makes this series work. If you have read this series for a while, the reader gets to see things happen to the characters in their lives that shapes them throughout the stories.
This book starts off innocently enough. Tricia is out walking her sister's dog one afternoon, when she comes across a man lying face-down in the middle of the town's gazebo. She immediately rushes to his side to help him. He has a pulse, but it is weak. She calls for emergency assistance and quickly emergency personnel has arrived and carted the man to the hospital. It is later than Tricia learns that the man died at the hospital under mysterious circumstances. Who wanted Pete Renquist dead? He seemed like a generally well liked man in his position as president of the Stoneham Historical Society. Did he discover something that led to his death or was it something in his personal life? Of course, Tricia has to discover what exactly happened.
This book was a treat to read and a real page turner. The murder mystery in this book takes a back seat to the issues of the characters and for once I really didn't mind. I felt that this book is going to be a pivotal book in the series and I cannot wait to see what happens next. This one was a little sad and shocking in the ending. I totally didn't see that coming and I wonder what the effect will have on the future of the characters. This was a great read in an already awesome series. I look forward to the next in the series and cannot wait to see what happens next.
Overall Rating: 4.5
Title: A Fatal Chapter
Author: Lorna Barrett
Series: Booktown Mystery #9
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: June 2, 2015
Pages: 304
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Get It: Amazon; Barnes & Noble
Disclaimer: This book was selected from the library by myself and I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.
