A Questionable Character - (Booktown Mystery) by Lorna Barrett

About the Book

"The murder of a local contractor may be the final nail in the coffin for Tricia Miles in the latest entry to Lorna Barrett's New York Times bestselling Booktown series. It's a busy summer in Booktown. Contractor Jim Stark is in great demand: he's overseeing a number of projects, including Angelica Miles's newly constructed building on Main Street, finishing up the new brew pub, and gutting a stone mansion off Main Street that Angelica bought to be the world headquarters for Nigela Ricita Asssociates. Located on one of the side streets, it'll house office space where her marketing staff and the rest of the NR Associates clerical personnel will work. Tricia Miles and Angelica arrive at the mansion before their workday to see how the construction is going. They find the place unlocked and Stark's right-hand man, Sanjay Arya, dead-bludgeoned to death. The loss of the contractor's top man threatens all the projects in the works, which would effectively ruin the expensive marketing plan that the Chamber of Commerce has been working. Is Jim a suspect? (He'd be stupid to kill the person he depends on to keep the projects going.) But Stark also thinks his wife, who was very chummy with Sanjay, might have been cheating on him with the second-in-command, making him a likely suspect. Once again Tricia finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation, but can she find the killer before he or she has the chance to bring the hammer down?"--

Book Synopsis

The murder of a local contractor may be the final nail in the coffin for Tricia Miles in the latest entry to Lorna Barrett's New York Times bestselling Booktown series.

It's a busy summer in Booktown. Contractor Jim Stark is in great demand: he's overseeing a number of projects, including Angelica Miles's newly constructed building on Main Street, finishing up the new brew pub, and gutting a stone mansion off Main Street that Angelica bought to be the world headquarters for Nigela Ricita Asssociates. It'll house office space where her marketing staff and the rest of the NR Associates clerical personnel will work.

Tricia Miles and Angelica arrive at the mansion before their workday to see how the construction is going. They find the place unlocked and Stark's right-hand man, Sanjay Arya, dead--bludgeoned to death. The loss of the contractor's top man threatens all the projects in the works, which would effectively ruin the expensive marketing plan that the Chamber of Commerce has been working. Is Jim a suspect? (He'd be stupid to kill the person he depends on to keep the projects going.) But Stark also thinks his wife, who was very chummy with Sanjay, might have been cheating on him with the second-in-command, making him a likely suspect.

Once again Tricia finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation, but can she find the killer before he or she has the chance to bring the hammer down?

Review Quotes

"A Qestionable Character is another hit for Lorna Barrett! The genius of her plot lines will always keep you on the edge of your seat, turning the pages faster than you want to. The interwoven subplots bring all of our favorite characters into the various storylines with ease and great entertainment. Wait until you read about a particular haircut - every woman's nightmare! What I love most about this series is it always feels like you're visiting friends in the cutest, albeit most murderous, town. As a book lover, who doesn't dream of a cozy town dedicated to bookstores of all genres?"
--Fresh Fiction

"As A Questionable Character progresses...our main characters' motives become not only clear but completely understandable as they deal with their relatable fears and neuroses. Tricia, especially, is large-hearted and empathetic despite her own self-doubts and occasional moments of being judgmental. No one is perfect, and her flaws only make her that much more believable and compelling as a heroine."
--Criminal Element

"If you like memorable murder mysteries being solved by female amateur sleuths and cozy animal mysteries, then put A Questionable Character by cozy mystery novelist Lorna Barrett at the top of your reading list."
--Midwest Book Review

"I was very surprised, ultimately, at who the killer was and at the motive behind it and relieved that it would finally be over. I love how this author can still surprise me!"
--Open Book Society

About the Author

Lorna Barrett is the New York Times bestselling author of the Booktown Mysteries, including Poisoned Pages and A Just Clause.