A Killer Edition
Balancing a bake-off that’s heating up with a frosty reception from the board, Tricia stops by Joyce Whitman’s romance bookstore looking for a book to get her fired up. She stumbles on something hot, but it’s an argument between Joyce and her neighbor Vera Olson instead of a steamy read. When Vera turns up dead in Joyce’s garden hours later, Tricia has to wonder—could Joyce be the killer? Or is the culprit still lurking in town?
One thing is for sure: someone in Stoneham is stirring up something more sinister than sweet. Tricia is determined to win the cutthroat cooking contest, but first, she will have to make sure no one else is in danger of getting burned
Series: A Booktown Mystery – Book #13
Author: Lorna Barrett
Genre: Cozy Mystery/Bookshop
Publisher: Berkley
Page Count: 318
Publishing Date: August 13, 2019
Rating: 
The newest addition in the “A Booktown Mystery” series written by Lorna Barrett is A Killer Edition. Published by Berkley. This is the thirtieth cozy book in this series.
Tricia is an unusual business owner. She has far too much time on her hands and has allowed her assistant manager to take over running everything. She fears she is losing control of her store. Tricia also fears that she no longer knows what is going on in her own business, but more than that, she fears she is no longer needed. A lack of work to do allows Tricia to get involved in things she should stay out of, like a murder investigation.
The characters in this cozy book series are well established. Their personalities are complementary, and each one has a way of making readers care about their lives. Tricia’s sister keeps things interesting and moving forward. Readers will enjoy reading about the many bookstores in Booktown, but I did not feel that Tricia spent enough time at her business, and she spent far too much time doing nothing.
The murderer in A Killer Edition is unexpected, yet not necessarily inappropriate. Tricia catches the killer but mainly due to chance. There does not appear to be any type of real investigation, and it looks as if the police do not feel the need to look beyond their original suspect. There is little to no evidence in the book to point to anyone, not even the suspect.
Overall this was an easy, cozy book to read, with developed characters and relationships. Although not as good as I had hoped, it wasn’t awful. If readers have read the other twelve books in the series, they will enjoy the slower pace of this addition. New readers will most likely need to go back to previous books to catch up on who the players are and their function. The recipes in the back will make your mouth water.
I recommend other cozy books such as Jenn McKinlay’s http://www.jennmckinlay.com/ “A Library Lover’s Mystery” series https://www.thecozyreview.com/hitting-the-books/ or the “An Allie Cobb Mystery” series https://www.thecozyreview.com/cozy-mystery-book-a-literal-mess/ by author J.C. Kenney https://www.jckenney.com/.
About the Author:
The immensely popular Booktown Mystery series is what put Lorna Barrett’s name on the New York Times Bestseller list, but it’s her talent — whether writing as Lorna, or L.L. Bartlett, or Lorraine Bartlett — that keeps her there. This multi-published, Agatha-nominated author pens the exciting Jeff Resnick Mysteries as well as the acclaimed Victoria Square Mystery series and has many short stories and novellas to her name(s).
Contact Lorna: lorna@lornabarrett.com
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