I have enjoyed the books I have read in the Booktown series by Lorna Barrett. The characters are well developed and the murder mystery always leaves you hanging until the end. Though the book can be read as a standalone, I think it is better to have read earlier books to have a background into the characters and the setting. A town made up of mostly bookstores and restaurants sounds like heaven to me! If Booktown really existed, I would be scheduling a trip to visit as soon as possible. There are some irritating characters, but I guess that’s to be expected in any town. But the ones who are delightful make up for those less pleasant. I am looking forward to seeing if sparks will be flying between Tricia and the new sheriff in town. Guess I’ll have to wait for the next book to see how things progress! I’ll be ready as soon as it’s released to get lost in the pages.

Thank you to NetGalley and Berkley for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

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Clause of Death is the sixteenth book in the Clause of Death series.
Having read several books in the series I was looking forward to this book.
What I thought was pretty neat is because this is Booktown, most of the bookstores and restaurants along with shops have a book related name. I want to visit this bookish town.
I am familiar with our main characters, Tricia Miles and her sister, Angelica, who are the co-presidents of the Stoneham Chamber of Commerce.
At the town meetings and around town some of the residents make it known they are very unhappy with non-bookish shops coming into town and taking prime spots on Main Street.
When a disgruntled bookshop employee is found dead Stoneham's new police chief has no problem trying to throw the book at one of the sisters.
There were some very surprising going On's and it had a sad ending that I was hoping would have had a different outcome.
I'm looking forward to many more books in this series.

Pub Date 07 Jun 2022
I was given a complimentary copy of this book.
All opinions expressed are my own.

Booktown seems like the perfect place to live. Who wouldn’t want to be surrounded by books in a quaint New England town? The only downside to Booktown: all the murders. Tricia has long been a resident of Stoneham, New Hampshire which is known for its love of all things books. Her and her sister, Angelica, have made a name for themselves in the small town with their successful businesses and being co-presidents of the local Chamber of Commerce. That being said, some of the other members of the Chamber have different ideas for what businesses should be allowed to open up in Booktown. The most vocal about his discontent at the Chamber meetings is Eli Meier. Eli owns a shop that is known for selling books that champion conspiracy theories and he is known to be a little off his rocker himself. Not one to promote good working relationships with other Chamber members, it is no surprise when Eli is found dead, by Tricia nonetheless.

Tricia is known in the town for being the village jinx as she has stumbled over many murder victims since she moved to Stoneham. When she comes across Eli’s body, she is determined to sit this one out, but with her curious nature and knack for solving murders, she can’t help but investigate. With a new police chief in town and the help of her family and friends, she is determined to find justice for Eli, despite not liking the man at all. This book is the 16th installment of the Booktown mysteries. I fell in love with this series many years ago and anytime a new book is released, you can guarantee that I will be reading it. The characters are so well-developed and feel like your own family. This book does not disappoint and the ending will leave you on the edge of your seat waiting anxiously for the next installment.

I ended up devouring this book in one day. I couldn’t put the book down as the plot was so suspenseful and engaging throughout each page. Another fantastic delivery from Lorna Barrett that doesn’t disappoint. I have found that readers of this series, continue to come back to this well written and spectacular series and simply cannot get enough. If you haven’t discovered this series yet, what are you waiting for?

Overall Rating: 5+ stars
Author: Lorna Barrett

Series: Booktown Mystery #16

Publisher: Berkley

Publication Date: June 7, 2022

Pages: 334

Genre: Cozy Mystery

Get It: Amazon

Disclaimer: This book was given to me by the publisher, through NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review. I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.

Well if the murders continue in this town there will be no one left in town. Watch for the coming rivalry between Angelica and Becca?

Lorna Barrett has Tricia Miles discover another dead body in Clause of Death in her latest Booktown mystery. Tricia and her sister Angelica did not like the latest victim who was also a pain in posterior at the Stoneham Chamber of Commerce. The new police chief is Tricia's acquaintance from a cruise ship line. Many backstories for the locals complicate solving the murder. Bookish cosy.

The latest Booktown mystery had lots of twists and turns that applied not only to the murder at its center, but also the characters personal lives!

Clause of Death, A Booktown Mystery by Lorna Barrett, is the quintessential “Who Done It” that keeps you guessing…often incorrectly…until the final pages. Rife with culprits and plenty of misdirections, this is a story that is sure to capture the imagination of, and keep riveted, the most diehard cozy mystery fan.

This ARC book was complimentary, provided by the Publisher and NetGalley. I am voluntarily providing my honest review.

Brought to you by OBS Reviewer Jeanie

Booktown is a place where I would love to shop regularly. I couldn’t imagine being a tourist or resident in a town primarily built around books, much less living there and running a store. Tricia is the owner of Haven’t Got a Clue. Her specialty is used and vintage mysteries plus children’s books. Pixie, her assistant manager, gets many of their books from the estate sales she enjoys. This time we get to learn a great deal about Pixie, and I genuinely like her.

One would think the only challenge of being an officer of the Chamber of Commerce would be a few hours of extra work. Tricia and Angelica, sisters and close friends, accepted being co-presidents when considering the potential benefits to fellow business owners in “Booktown”, Stoneham, New Hampshire. At the last meeting, Eli, one of the booksellers, demanded to know what Angelica and Tricia would do to get more booksellers to come here and how they would keep more non-booksellers from opening on Main Street. Eli had once been a more congenial bookseller, stocking mostly a variety of spiritual books and items. Now he is a paranoid, unpleasant man who has a large stock of conspiracy theory materials.

Eli was not well-liked. Since the last meeting, he texted Tricia many times a day when she stopped taking his phone calls. He found her at lunch with Tricia after she turned him down and disturbed everyone with his anger and accusations. The next morning, he was found dead behind the coffee shop. Among the suspects are Chamber co-president Angelica, since most of the town heard about his harassment of her at lunch within an hour of it occurring the day before due to the small town, high-speed rumor mill.

There is a new police chief in town, Ian, who began literally minutes before the coffee shop owner called out to Tricia for help with the body she just found. Tricia and Ian met a couple years earlier when she and several Chamber members were on a cruise where he had been the head of security. They spoke briefly a couple days ago when she learned he is in town to visit his cousin.

The people of Stoneham are three-dimensionally defined. I enjoy seeing how close Tricia and Angelica are. No matter what goes on in their lives, the sisters have each other’s backs. Challenges between Tricia and Angelica and their mother are discussed realistically. Pixie is the kind of woman I appreciate, one who has been through a lot and became a better person on the other side. Something about Ian doesn’t ring true. Is he a good cop? Probably. But some statements he made to Tricia conflicted with others.

The day-to-day situations people face are sometimes prettied up in the novels we read. The author showed some realistic situations, such as a problem Mr. Everett was dealing with but was too embarrassed about to ask for help. It demonstrated how communication, even when embarrassing, can solve many situations and bring people closer together.

The mystery was complex and very well written with twists and turns and no shortage of suspects. One complication that opened the possibility of more suspects is the secret life Eli was discovered to have in his younger days. Edward, a young homeless man, started hanging around Tricia’s shop, and it appeared he was stalking Pixie. Edward also came to them asking for suggestions as he thought he heard two men in a disagreement at the park the night Eli was killed. There were a couple excellent red herrings, one appearing almost too obvious. The real killer was somewhat of a surprise as I had considered the person on and off throughout despite having no solid motive. The resolution works well, and there are no outstanding loose ends. I highly recommend this novel and series, especially to those who love cozy mysteries with bookstore settings.

I've been reading this series from the beginning, and I'm always drawn back to it. There's something about the two sisters and a town that revolves around books that just resonates with me.

In this particular book, the theme of finding family, whether or not it's the family you're born into, really connects with me. I love the relationships between the found family that Tricia and Angelica have created.

The recent titles have been solid 4s, I think. But I did run into some things in this book that knocked it down to a 3.5 (maybe even a 3.25, but I'm giving it the benefit of the doubt). I'm not going to name the killer, but some spoilers follow.

* Why on earth did it take Tricia so long to apologize to Pixie?
* Seems odd that this is the second man to get killed taking a bullet meant for Tricia. Seriously?
* Becca Chandler seems to be replacing Tricia as the resident grouch/rude person. I was so happy when, over the last 5-10 books, Tricia shed this role a little bit. I wanted a more likeable/relatable main character, and I was glad when the author transformed Tricia over time to exactly that.
* Why does someone else die at the very end? This feels like a cheap shot.

I do love the subplot between Pixie and Edward. I even love the awkward subplot around Mr. Everett. The inclusion of real life problems and relationship issues makes a very unrealistic plot/world (as cozies always are) feel a bit more authentic. These touches make it easier for me to lose myself in the book.

Overall, worth reading, but not quite as strong as I wanted it to be.

Review copy provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I was really looking forward to this installment of the Booktown Mystery series because the last few books have been page turners. However, I was a bit let down. I enjoyed being back with Tricia and her family and friends. I also really enjoyed that the new police chief is a character that we have previously met. Some of the dialogue and plot felt disjointed and forced, including tangents about gun control that came across as more preachy and less productive, and the conversation surrounding it never went anywhere. It is just dropped. It felt like there was a lot of filler content with mundane details and talk about happy hour and lunch. The resolution of the murder felt very abrupt. There wasn't a lot of investigating in this one as there is in other books in this series. The best part of the book was learning about Pixie's backstory, and it made me appreciate her even more. Even though I was disappointed with this book, I still plan to continue with the series.

Eli was not well liked by his fellow merchants in Booktown but murder? He was one of the most vocal complainers about the recent influx of non-book related shops so when he's found in the alley, you'd think the top suspect would be one of them but no. it's Angelica, Tricia's sister. I've only read one of the books in this long running series but that wasn't a problem because this is very much a classic cozy., complete with a group of friends who support one another. What makes it more interesting is the new Chief of Police, who I expect will ne Tricia's new romantic interest. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

This has been a favorite series of mine for several,years. Imagine a town that is built around bookstores. A bibliophile night,are, due to the endless supply of books and the stress of reading and choosing? Or a sublime location that a true reader would never want to leave.
Trish is on the case again in her intrepid need to be involved in every little nuance that happens in Booktown.
Don’t miss this one.

series, friction, friendship, amateur-sleuth, law-enforcement, bookseller, cats, cozy-mystery, murder-investigation, murder, small-business, small-town, tourist-town, town-politics

What a suspect list! Great character development and interaction in a good whodunit complete with unexpected twists and imaginative red herrings. Only wish that I had read a few of the other books in series.
I requested and received a free e-book copy from Berkley Publishing Group via NetGalley. Thank you.

Clause of Death by Lorna Barrett is the 16th. book in her Booktown Mystery series.

Well at least this time amateur sleuth Tricia Miles didn't find the body. The owner of the Coffee Bean did. Tricia called 911 though. The deceased, Eli Meier was a very disliked man. Suspects were somewhat plentiful. I was surprised at the ending.

I haven't read all of the books in this series but of the ones I have read I have to say this is my favorite. I am looking forward to the next book in the series.

Clause of Death by Lorna Barrett is the sixteenth A Booktown Mystery. Tricia Miles finds herself once again embroiled in a mystery. She does not find the dead body (this time), but Tricia finds herself dragged into the case by the person who did. The town has a new chief of police, and it is the one person Tricia thought she would never see again. There is tension among the members of the chamber of commerce about the introduction of new businesses. Eli Meier is raising a stink over a new business that is not a bookstore. Eli has been causing trouble all over town. It is not a shock when Eli is found dead in an alley. There is a town full of suspects. Unfortunately, Tricia’s sister Angelica is at the top of the list thanks to a public bruhaha caused by Eli. Tricia casually asks some questions, stumbles upon clues, and is fortunate when some information comes her way. Tricia will need to be careful, or she could become the next victim. I enjoyed reading Clause of Death by Lorna Barrett. We get to catch up with Tricia, Angelica, Mr. Everett, Pixie, Grace, Miss Marple, and the rest of the gang. It is a pleasure to visit Stoneham with its town full of bookshops. There are enjoyable, developed characters in this engaging series. In addition to the whodunit, Mr. Everett suffers a fall, and an injury puts him at a disadvantage. A homeless man keeps coming around Tricia’s bookshop. He makes Tricia and Pixie nervous. Clause of Death can be read as a standalone if someone is new to the series. I like who has become the new chief of police. I was hoping this character would show up again. The mystery surrounding the death of Eli gives us a town full of suspects. He was not well-liked (one person liked him). I thought the killer was easy to identify. I had no idea why this person did the crime though. The reveal was eventful and entertaining. There was some sadness as well. I wish the mystery had been at the forefront of the story. It seemed to take a backseat to the other events in the book as well as Tricia and Angelica’s lunches and their happy hour each day. The storyline about the homeless man, Edward brings up some difficult subjects (stalking, intimidation). I was surprised by what was revealed about Edward. Becca Dickson-Chandler is still in town. Tricia knows that the woman has an agenda, but she needs to figure it out. Ginny’s due date is getting closer. Angelica cannot wait to meet her first grandchild. There is a small amount of foul language in the book (just a few words). Guns and people owning them is discussed a couple of times (just to let you know). I love the ending. It has me wondering what will happen in the next A Booktown Mystery. There are recipes at the end for Angelica and Tricia’s Happy Hour Repasts. Clause of Death is a charming whodunit with chamber meeting madness, a strange stalker, a killed conspiracy theorist, a storage shed search, an unanticipated appearance of an old acquaintance, a bothersome Becca, and a killer is caught.

3.5 stars, rounded up

Not all of the members of Stoneham's Chamber of Commerce are happy with the new, non book-related businesses, setting up shop on Main Street. When one of the most vocal of the disgruntled shopkeepers is killed, and the new police chief puts Angelica at the top of his list as possible murderers, Tricia is determined to clear her sister's name.

This series has been a bit up and down for me, with some books being more enjoyable than others, but after reading 15 books already, I can't help but read the next one that comes along. Luckily, this book was more up than down, although some characters' behavior were annoying.

I would love to spend time browsing the shops of Booktown, even those that are not specifically devoted to books. Most of the recurring characters seem like people I'd like to get to know, and it's been interesting watching the dynamics of the town change from one book to the next. The introduction of a new police chief raises a lot of possible interactions in future books in the series. I was not able to identify the killer until just before it was revealed in the book, even though the motive, when presented, made sense after I read it. I look forward to reading the next book in this series.

This was another great installment in this series! I never tire of returning to Booktown and revisiting the residents of Stoneham. This was another great mystery, but the charm really is in the characters and setting. I definitely this is one of the best long-running cozy series, and I'll definitely read any future books too!

I am a big fan of this series, and, at #16, each new entry seems like a visit with old friends. Haven't Got a Clue bookstore owner Tricia has grown as a character as have the members of her now extended family of relatives and friends. This series has always had darker undertones than many cozies, oftentimes with established characters emerging as either victims or perpetrators. This entry breaks that pattern, but there is still a tragic death related to Tricia's employee Pixie in addition, of course, to the murder that provides the basis for this mystery. There is an examination of the issue of guns in our society, and the fact that, for better or worse, everyone except Tricia, seems to own at least one.

I was happy to see that Tricia's beleaguered love life may get a boost in future books as the new police chief is an acquaintance from her past.

Those in search of a new cozy series with a bit more depth than most would do well to visit Stoneham, New Hampshire, "Booktown," and catch up with Tricia.

I love visiting Booktown and catching up with the residents who have become part of my fictional book family.
Tricia and Angelica are co presidents of the chamber of commerce and are met with resistance from a couple of members.
Tricia runs into an acquaintance from a cruise and is surprised to find out he's the new local chief of police.
I enjoyed this book and have found this series to take a dark turn sometimes which intrigues me.
The ending left me wondering and the secondary stories with the characters was well done.
#ClauseofDeath #NetGalley
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of this book.

Reading this series is like catching up with old friends. I love all of the characters and read to know what is happening in their lives more than the mystery (which is still good). This one showed some health issues for a character and I really hope the author isn't getting us ready for him to be gone. The mystery was good and I liked how Tricia wasn't the one who found the body. The double life aspect is getting a little much, but it was still a good read. I look forward to the next book in this series!