Bookstore owner Tricia Miles has put up-and put up with-her uninvited college roommate for weeks. In return, Pammy has stolen $100. But the day she...
read full description
reviews
Apr 25, 2011
John
rated it: 
I'm going to try to describe the problems I had with the book without revealing any (major) spoilers, so please bear with me if things get a bit awkward in my phrasing. Thanks in advance!
In writing workshops we were always told to say something constructive up front, so ... the setting is well done, and I found the plot, though eventually quite convoluted, moved along well in terms of pacing. The characters on the other hand were rather a mess.
Mr. Everett and Grace's wedd More...
In writing workshops we were always told to say something constructive up front, so ... the setting is well done, and I found the plot, though eventually quite convoluted, moved along well in terms of pacing. The characters on the other hand were rather a mess.
Mr. Everett and Grace's wedd More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Oct 28, 2010
Chibineko
rated it: 
When I originally reviewed this book, I'd read it before the other two by mistake. I didn't really feel like I'd missed out on a lot & after reading the other two I can safely say that for the most part I was correct. Other than a bit of character setup, I didn't really need to read the other mysteries first.
This entry into the series has Tricia attempting to get rid of a troublesome friend from college who has been squatting at her apartment for a few weeks. No sooner does she manag More...
This entry into the series has Tricia attempting to get rid of a troublesome friend from college who has been squatting at her apartment for a few weeks. No sooner does she manag More...
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jun 01, 2010
Marlyn
rated it:
The third Booktown Mystery begins with protagonist Tricia Miles asking her houseguest Pammy Fredericks, to leave. Tricia hadn't seen her college roommate in many years, and was not expecting to have a freeloader descend upon her for two weeks.
At first, Tricia feels strong and assertive, but later she's wracked with guilt. This guilty feeling is exacerbated when, taking out the trash for her sister Angelica, Tricia finds Pammy dead, face down in the dumpster.
It's obvious More...
At first, Tricia feels strong and assertive, but later she's wracked with guilt. This guilty feeling is exacerbated when, taking out the trash for her sister Angelica, Tricia finds Pammy dead, face down in the dumpster.
It's obvious More...
Sep 19, 2011
Julie
rated it:
In this additon to the Booktown Mystery series by Lorna Barrett, Tricia Miles once again finds herself facing another corpse. However, in this installment the corpse it hitting close to home because it is her college roommate, Pammy Fredericks. Not only did Tricia get fed up with Pammy's way of living but Pammy stole from her which was the last straw. Tricia will have to get dirty to try to understand her "sort of" friend.
I really enjoy this series. However, I am not a hug More...
I really enjoy this series. However, I am not a hug More...
Nov 23, 2011
bellareads
rated it: 
I always look forward to picking up a Lorna Barrett mystery. Not only are her mysteries full of interesting murders and fascinating characters, but I usually learn a thing or two as well. Her third book in the Booktown Mysteries, BOOKPLATE SPECIAL, is no exception.
BOOKPLATE SPECIAL sees Tricia, owner of the Haven't Got a Clue? bookstore in Stoneham, right in the middle of things again, when she finds ex-friend, Pammy, dead in a dumpster. She gets thrown in the thick of things, when s More...
BOOKPLATE SPECIAL sees Tricia, owner of the Haven't Got a Clue? bookstore in Stoneham, right in the middle of things again, when she finds ex-friend, Pammy, dead in a dumpster. She gets thrown in the thick of things, when s More...
Mar 13, 2010
Soon after mystery bookstore owner Tricia Miles kicks her former college roommate, Pammy Fredericks, out of her apartment after a two-week visit, she finds Pammy dead in a garbage can outside her sister Angelica’s cafe. Tricia learns that Pammy, who was always working a get-rich-quick scheme, had found a diary and seemed to be trying to blackmail someone before her death. Tricia, who begins getting threatening phone calls herself, investigates to find Pammy’s killer. While searching for the
More...
Feb 21, 2011
Bird
rated it:
I like the premise of this series, and the first two books were enjoyable. The one, however, bothered me. My main complaint is that most of the characters are unlikable.
Tricia annoyed me throughout the book. I'm tired of hearing how she doesn't like sweets because she wants to stay skinny. I don't want to hear her complaints about Ginny arriving five minutes late to work, when Tricia spends most of her work days snooping around rather than helping her employees in the store. A More...
Tricia annoyed me throughout the book. I'm tired of hearing how she doesn't like sweets because she wants to stay skinny. I don't want to hear her complaints about Ginny arriving five minutes late to work, when Tricia spends most of her work days snooping around rather than helping her employees in the store. A More...
2 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Jun 01, 2010
Sara
rated it:
The third in the Booktown Series. This is a rare cozy series that keeps getting better. I think the author has really found her style and niche, as her books are getting more complex and interesting.
Tricia still owns Haven't Got a Clue mystery bookstore and is continuing to get settled into the town of Stoneham. Her sister has also settled in and now runs both the cookbook store and the new diner. Tricia has survived two weeks of an unwanted visitor, her former college r More...
May 08, 2010
Patty
rated it:
I've enjoyed this series all along but I think this is the best in of the batch.
Tricia owns a mystery bookstore in a town that has a variety of specialty bookstores including her sisters Cookbook store. In the earlier books the two sisters appeared to love each other but they sniped and snarled at each other more than conversed, in this book they finally seem to be talking more than before and working together much more smoothly.
Tricia's college roommate has been staying More...
Tricia owns a mystery bookstore in a town that has a variety of specialty bookstores including her sisters Cookbook store. In the earlier books the two sisters appeared to love each other but they sniped and snarled at each other more than conversed, in this book they finally seem to be talking more than before and working together much more smoothly.
Tricia's college roommate has been staying More...
Aug 16, 2011
Pam
rated it: 
I like the premise of the series and I was very glad that the Sheriff didn't make an appearance in this one. I did like the new police guy Captain Baker. He was a much nicer, easier to get along with and wasn't a cardboard cutout of a crazy small town, inept policeman. I at least understood why he got irritate with Tricia, he was trying to do his job and she was getting in the way.
Tricia I do like, but the author is giving her too many annoying habits. She has a tendency to harp at h More...
Tricia I do like, but the author is giving her too many annoying habits. She has a tendency to harp at h More...
May 30, 2011
Loraine, Family History Lady
rated it:
This is the first Lorna Barrett read for me but it won't be the last. Bookplate Special (A Booktown Mystery) finds Tricia the owner of Haven't a Clue Mystery Bookshop in the small village of Stoneham New Hampshire once again caught up in a murder. In the midst of trying to solve the murder of her college roommate, the identify of the mystery pumpkin smasher, the reasons for the dumpster diving of the village freegans, and help her sister with her two village stores, Tricia also tries to figur
More...
Jul 28, 2010
Michelle
rated it: 
The setting of this mystery series is great, a small New Hampshire town whose main street is lined with independent bookstores. But the characters are so unlikable I will not be reading another one of these mysteries. The main character, Tricia, who owns the mystery bookstore, is prissy, nosy and mean. She spends half the book complaining that her employee is 5 minutes late for work only to go off sleuthing around town leaving that same employee alone in a busy bookstore! That's just one exa
More...
0 comments
like
(2 people liked it)
Jul 29, 2011
Mirah
rated it:
Book three of the Booktown Mystery series. I call these kinds of book 'fun mysteries'...no hard core grossness like some crime or thriller mysteries and the characters are fun to get to know and understand. I found Tricia somewhat irritating in this book...she says things that make me think she's a snob with her Ivy League education. Interesting developments with Ginny and Mr. Everett and quirky antics by some of the other residents. But, overall the book is fun and, again, the mystery isn't
More...
Apr 11, 2010
Ali
rated it:
This the third in the booktown cosy mystery series is another charming slice of Stoneham life. A friend of Tricia's from college has outstayed her welcome at Tricia's place, and the day she leaves is the day she is later found murdered. There is also someone wandering around Stoneham smashing pumpkins. There is also the possibility of a new romantic interest for Tricia Miles. I have to say that this is another typical cosy mystery by numbers, small town, cat, a local social issue, a murder of so
More...
Jul 11, 2011
Kazza
rated it:
One thing I most enjoy about cozy mysteries is how easy they are to read yet still satisfies me. Tricia is an owner of a bookstore called Haven't Got A Clue - they sell mystery novels only. I reckon this is a fantastic idea though in this world, probably not realistic but it works - in Booktown.
In this third book of the series (which happened to be the first one I picked up), Tricia encountered her third dead body in a dumpster. Pam Fredericks was a "sort of friend" who ha More...
In this third book of the series (which happened to be the first one I picked up), Tricia encountered her third dead body in a dumpster. Pam Fredericks was a "sort of friend" who ha More...
Mar 06, 2011
Stacy
rated it:
Some days you just need a good quick fun read and Bookplate Special was just that book for me. The third book in the series of a small town that has several book stores as their main tourist attraction (sounds like heaven to me!). Once again, the owner of the mystery book store finds a dead body and tries to track down the killer. I have to give credit to the writer for her use of the side characters. She has manged to develop several of them over the course of the three books and you never know
More...
Jan 31, 2010
Susan
rated it:
Mystery bookstore owner Tricia tells her freeloading former college roommate that it's time for her visit to end--but then she finds Pammy's body in a dumpster. True, she was annoying, but who could have killed her? Tricia wonders if Pammy was trying to blackmail the local philanthropist. Fortunately, the hostile sheriff she's encountered before has assigned her deputy to the case, and he's much nicer than the sheriff ever was. But once again Tricia and her bossy older sister Angelica get
More...
Nov 08, 2010
Vickie
rated it:
I love the WTF endings in a good mystery. When it happens in a cozy mystery, it's even better. My eyebrows were up well past the hairline this morning when I finished this third entry in a fun series. I want to live in Stoneham, own a bookstore or work for Tricia. I could help her with her sister, Angelica, who means sort of well, just has an offbeat way of showing it.
I learned of a new-to-me lifestyle, freegan. Freegans salvage foods from Dumpsters for various reasons, either for to save More...
I learned of a new-to-me lifestyle, freegan. Freegans salvage foods from Dumpsters for various reasons, either for to save More...
Jul 01, 2010
Connie
rated it:
Tricia and Angelica are two middle-aged divorcees who open a restaurant and bookstore across the street from each other in Stoneham, New Hampshire. In this third book in the series (yes, I'll try to find the first two), Tricia finds her college roommate dead in a garbage can after tossing her out of her home earlier that day. Naturally guilt, and a shine to the sheriff assigned to investigate the death, drives Tricia to solving the murder.
Ecological mumbo jumbo and new ageism detrac More...
Ecological mumbo jumbo and new ageism detrac More...
Nov 16, 2009
Denise
rated it:
This is the third book in the Booktown Mystery series. I really enjoyed reading this book and the characters are building as the series goes on. What I particularly liked was that this book had a little more substance than most cozies have. The storyline brings in quite a lot of information about freegans (dumpster divers) and how it isn't just homeless people who eat salvaged food out of garbage cans. I had recently read a long article about this subculture (as it was called) and was pleased to
More...
Jul 01, 2011
Karendenice
rated it:
This is the third book in this series. It's called 'A Booktown Mystery'. I was really hoping to read the first one first but this is the only book in this series that my library carries. I really, really enjoyed it. Especially since it talked a lot about different books and authors. The main character owns a mystery bookstore in Stoneham, New Hampshire and of course she solves mysteries. I will definitely be on the lookout for the other books in this series.
Jun 06, 2011
Sherry
rated it:
I would have given this book a higher rating except for the fact that the protagonist irritated me so much. If someone says "You have to do this for me!" she does it, despite the fact that she doesn't want to do it, doesn't have time to do it, doesn't even particularly like the person who is asking her to do it, and inconveniences other people by doing it. This leads to some pretty unrealistic situations, and detracts from the story.
Mar 20, 2011
Natalie
rated it:
Penguin Sale 2010
There are lots of references to the first two books but nothing so bad that I got confused.
I wasn't expecting a lot but this was pretty fun. Not overly believable (at least I've never been to a town that has little book stores that all focus on ONE type of book, like cook books or mysteries). The mystery was not as predictable as lots of these kinds of books are. Worth the buck I spent :-)
There are lots of references to the first two books but nothing so bad that I got confused.
I wasn't expecting a lot but this was pretty fun. Not overly believable (at least I've never been to a town that has little book stores that all focus on ONE type of book, like cook books or mysteries). The mystery was not as predictable as lots of these kinds of books are. Worth the buck I spent :-)
Aug 03, 2010
Karin
rated it:
I really like the way the author writes and her supporting characters are great. Unfortunately, her main character is a hag from hell. Half way through I was disgusted with her and wanted to put the book down. I only finished it to see if the baby in the journal was who I thought it was..... She's poking in everyones business but then has the gall to be offended when somone askes about her. At least the main character's sister is improving. I don't know if I will uye the next book in the s
More...
Feb 12, 2012
Leslie
rated it:
Freegans probably get some good deals like the bottles of olive oil; Tricia is very finicky, maybe a little prissy on this issue. I wouldn't want to dumpster dive either, but wouldn't be as judgmental. The mystery was standard fare and the relationships are more interesting as they develop through the books. Having a wedding in the bookstore was a great idea.
Aug 01, 2011
Tori
rated it:
I love cozy mysteries and have generally enjoyed the 2 previous books in the series. However, this one is finally grating on my nerves. Number one, I am exhausted of Ginny and her money woes. Guess what? Most people who work retail aren't rich. It seems like she's always fishing for a bonus. I'm also over Tricia and her naive view of the world. She seems very sheltered and a sucker.. not to mention a little too goody two shoes for my taste.
Feb 18, 2010
Carrie
rated it:
I couldn't get past page 40 in this book. I will usually try to stick with a book longer than that before I give up. But I realized I didn't care about what happened to anyone in this book, nor did I care about the mystery. Life is too short to read a book that I don't enjoy (or learn from).
0 comments
like
(1 person liked it)
Feb 10, 2012
Maria (Ri)
rated it:
Just meh. While I did read to the end, there didn't seem to be anything particularly grabbing me to finish this. I wasn't concerned much for the murder victim nor for most of the characters. There was some interesting bits about freegans, but otherwise a pretty bland tale.
Nov 09, 2010
S.
rated it:
Not having read the first two books in this series, I feel like I'm missing something. Otherwise why would a mystery book store owner who presumably knows all about crime from reading so many books doesn't realize she's hindering a murder investigation. Quick example, donating the box of books? It makes no sense.
Jun 25, 2010
Mary
rated it:
The third in this entertaining series from NY Times best-selling author Lorna Barrett. It's easy to see why Ms. Barrett has made the New York Times--she combines multi-dimensional characters with a fast-paced plot and believable scenarios.
