Chapter and Hearse - Bootown Mystery 4

Informationen zum Autor Lorna Barrett  is the New York Times bestselling author of the Booktown mysteries. She lives in Rochester, New York. Klappentext Mystery bookstore owner Tricia Miles has been spending more time solving whodunits than reading them. Now a nearby gas explosion has injured Tricia's sister's boyfriend, Bob Kelly, the head of the Chamber of Commerce, and killed the owner of the town's history bookstore. Tricia's never been a fan of Bob, but when she reads that he's being tight-lipped about the "accident", it's time to take action. one The poster on the Cookery’s display window had advertised the book signing for at least a month. Throngs of people were supposed to be in evidence. A temporary cook station had been assembled, and ramekins filled with diced vegetables, chopped chicken, and spices were lined up like props in a stage play. Tricia Miles forced a smile and tried not to glance at her watch. “Everything looks perfect,” she said with a cheerfulness in her voice she didn’t quite feel. The “guest” author, her sister Angelica, stood behind the cook station, head held high, although her eyes were watery and her mouth trembled ever so slightly. Next to her stood a larger-than-life-size photo cutout of . . . herself! The real Angelica was maybe five foot six in her stocking feet—the cutout was six feet tall, dressed in dark slacks and a white blouse covered by a buff-colored, full-front apron with her,name emblazoned across the front: ANGELICA MILES, and beneath that: author of EASY-DOES-IT COOKING. Tricia tried to concentrate on the living Angelica, but her gaze kept wandering to the cutout. It wasn’t a good likeness, but somehow Angelica had missed that when she’d purchased the thing as an aid for promotion. Her rather demented expression was one of perpetual surprise—either that, or one of a victim of bad plastic surgery. With her fingers splayed, the cutout reminded Tricia of a bird spreading its bony wings. Yes, that was it—Angelica looked like she’d been goosed. Either that, or the photographer had coached her into an uncanny imitation of a constipated blue heron. The real Angelica spoke, her voice sounding wobbly. “Nobody’s going to come. Not one person.” “I’m here,” said a smiling Ginny Wilson, Tricia’s twenty-something assistant at her mystery bookstore, Haven’t Got a Clue. “And I,” said elderly Mr. Everett, Tricia’s other part-time employee. “Don’t forget me,” Frannie May Armstrong said in her Texas twang. Angelica owned the Cookery, Stoneham’s cookbook store, and Frannie managed it for her. Angelica also owned Booked for Lunch, a retro café across the street. Writing cookbooks was just another entry on her colorful résumé. Unfortunately, the village of Stoneham, known locally as “Booktown,” was more a tourist destination not far from the New Hampshire/Massachusetts state line. Not many of the locals supported the booksellers, who’d been recruited to save what had been a dying village. And shops filled with used, rare, and antiquarian books had done it, too, as evidenced by new prosperity and a much-needed influx of tax revenue. “Wasn’t a busload of gourmands supposed to arrive for the signing?” Mr. Everett whispered to Frannie. “I got a call about an hour ago,” she whispered in reply. “They canceled, but asked for a rain check. They may come up sometime in the fall.” Tricia refrained from commenting. Thanks to the Internet, Angelica had cultivated a relationship with the “Gamboling Gourmets,” who traveled New England throughout the summer, tasting the local cuisines. Tonight’s signing was to be their first outing of the year, and Angelica’s launch party. She’d spent days preparing a table full of desserts—all from her newly published book, Easy-Does-It Cooking, which had been officially available all of two days. Angelica’s cutout notwithstanding, Tricia had expected at least a few mo...

About the author

Lorna Barrett

Product details

• Authors: Lorna Barrett
• Publisher: Berkley Publishing Group
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 03.08.2010
• EAN: 9780425236017
• ISBN: 978-0-425-23601-7
• No. of pages: 352
• Dimensions: 105 mm x 172 mm x 24 mm
• Series: Berkley Books; A Booktown Mystery; Booktown Mysteries; A Booktown Mystery; Booktown Mystery
• Subject: Fiction > Suspense