A Controversial Cover
Booktown Mystery
By Lorna Barrett
ISBN: 9780593549469
Website: lornabarrett.com
Brought to you by OBS reviewer Andra
Summary:
When a famous children’s author is murdered at the library, Tricia Miles has to find the killer before it’s too late in the latest entry to Lorna Barrett’s New York Times bestselling Booktown series.
Tricia Miles is ready to close the book on all her amateur sleuthing—she’s tired of finding dead bodies and being accused of murder. But even the best laid plans often go awry.
Stoneham is all abuzz when Lauren Barker, a famous children’s book author, arrives for an event at the local library. Lauren is a Stoneham native, and her new book strikes some members of the town as controversial. But when Lauren is found strangled to death after an altercation at the event, the plot twist throws Tricia right back into the middle of things.
Who could possibly have wanted Lauren dead? Was it Dan Reed, who had to be thrown out of the signing for spouting conspiracy theories and causing a disturbance? Stella Kraft, Lauren’s high school teacher, who thought of the author as a protégé—something Lauren violently disputed? Or the mystery man who spoke to Lauren just before she was found dead? With the suspect count climbing higher and more information about Lauren’s past coming to light, will Tricia be able to give this story a happily ever after? (Goodreads)
Review:
A Controversial Cover is the eighteenth book of the Booktown Mystery series by Lorna Barrett and the second in the series that I have read. The amateur sleuth of the story, Tricia, is the owner of Haven’t Got a Clue bookstore. I get a chuckle out of these small-town catchy names for local stores/businesses J. Much to my dismay, previously I read book #8 in the series and indicated I wanted to start the series from the beginning. Well, I have not as of yet, and here I am jumping into the series again at book #18! Luckily, what little I knew of Tricia and her life in Stoneham came right back to me. Though I do actually encourage a newbie to the series to start at the beginning!
This edition of the series is centred around the murder of Lauren Barker, a famous children’s book author, who is also a former resident of Stoneham. Lauren was brought to Stoneham by the new head of the Children’s Department at the local public library, David Price (who also happens to be the new boyfriend of Tricia and is considerably younger than her). During Lauren’s reading, we get a glimpse of many local residents who do not have fond memories of Lauren… So we have many suspects to vet through. The main suspect is a former teacher of Lauren’s (Stella Kraft), who asks Tricia to help prove her innocence.
As always with cozy mysteries, the amateur sleuth slogs her way through the myriad of potential suspects. And as usual with this reader in particular – I usually must read right to the end to figure out ‘whodunit’, and A Controversial Cover is no exception.
There was some predictability, but that, in a way, is what I like about cozy mysteries. They feel like visiting old friends. I always enjoy book covers with cats and books on them, and this jacket cover is no exception.
I do wonder if this series is a bit long? Eighteen books (well, now 19), so I wonder, can an author keep it fresh for these many stories? I did find that from the first book in this series that I read (#8) to this title (#18), that I found the story not quite as exciting. However, I still reserve the right to actually go back and start this series from book #1.
If you enjoy cozy mystery books with cats and a homey small town feel (aren’t they all, though) and an interesting main character…settle down with your favourite libation in a comfy chair and get reading A Controversial Cover.
