Bookshop owner Darla Pettistone
decides that a Fourth of July block party is just the ticket
to bringing in more customers to the shops in her store's
Brooklyn neighborhood. Sure, it will be a lot of work, but
she can delegate tasks to other shop owners. The only fly
in the ointment seems to be George King, proprietor of Perky's
coffee. George is notoriously foul-tempered, and Darla has
to visit his shop to get him to pony up his share of the costs
of the event. George is not too pleased to see Darla because
he believes her bookshop cafe is her attempt to lure away
his coffee shop customers.
When
George's wife, Livvy, dies mysteriously during the street
fair, and then a local ballet teacher seemingly confesses
in her own suicide note, Darla realizes something isn't quite
right. Livvy was into herbal treatments, and was also selling
coffee with special packages of herbs in the bags, tricking
the local teens into thinking the herbs were drugs. Could
that have caused someone to snap and take her out? Why would
Penelope, the ballerina, kill the coffee-king's wife, let
alone herself?
I enjoy
this series for several reasons. First, the protagonist is
not one of those silly women who puts herself in harms way
intentionally with the singular purpose of solving the crime
before the police can. Second, there's a special cat in the
series that helps provide clues by knocking down relevant
books in the bookstore. Third, the cast of characters is varied
in age, walks of life and interests, keeping the stories alive
and the action moving right along.
This
is a fun and fast-paced read, a true cozy mystery that kept
me reading into the wee hours. I highly recommend it to mystery
lovers who are also bookworms and cat lovers! With that combination
of offerings how can you go wrong? Five paws up for Hamlet
the cat who steals the show!
Reviews
of other titles in this series
Double
Booked for Death #1
A
Novel Way to Die #2
Plot
Boiler #5
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