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Darla
Pettistone owns Pettistone’s Fine Books in Brooklyn,
NY, where she relocated following a divorce. She inherited
the bookstore and the store cat, Hamlet, who is no ordinary
cat and helps her in her new environment.
Next door to the book store is Bygone Days,
an antique shop run by brother and sister Mary Ann and Bernard
Plinski. While helping her ex-almost-boyfriend’s fiancée,
Connie Capello, with shopping for something old for her wedding,
they discover Mr. Plinski, who is elderly, dead as a doornail
in a chair in the antique shop. He must have died of old age,
right? Nope. He was murdered! Smothered with an embroidered
pillow which reads, “Gather Ye Rosebuds While Ye May.”
Who in the world would have murdered such an old gent and
why?
Darla has a nose for sniffing out clues and
finding killers, having dealt with these situations several
times since she moved to New York from Texas. It’s not
something she seeks out, but luckily Hamlet helps with cases
by knocking relevant books off the shelves in the bookstore.
This time, the books are about wills and estates and feuds
between brothers. Working together, along with human friend
PI Jake, and employees Robert and James, the killer will be
unmasked. Will it be in time to stop him from striking again?
I’ve loved every book in this series,
and can’t recommend it highly enough to cozy lovers.
You’ve got a strong independent protagonist, a bookstore,
a cat, friendships, conflict, an antique shop, a bridezilla
and a clever killer. The plot is tight and well-written, and
it is as much a whydunnit as a whodunnit. The characters are
multi-layered and the characters engaging. Of course, Hamlet
the cat is my favorite, and the addition of a mystery stray
look-alike added to the intrigue.
I am
so disappointed that this is the last book in the series.
I will count my blessings that we’ve had six wonderful
books to savor. Please get a copy of every book in the Black
Cat Bookshop Mystery Series. You won’t be sorry. Read
them all, and enjoy every page! Thank you, Ali Brandon, for
sharing your characters and stories. I will miss Darla and
Hamlet and the gang.
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