Bookplate Special (Booktown Mystery 3)

Soon after Tricia Miles, who owns a mystery bookstore in quaint Stoneham, New Hampshire, 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 a café owned by Tricia’s sister, Angelica. Tricia learns that Pammy, who was always working a get-rich-quick scheme, had found a diary and was apparently trying to blackmail someone. After getting threatening phone calls seemingly linked to Pammy, Tricia decides to investigate the murder. Meanwhile, she struggles to run her bookstore, deal with Angelica (who owns a cookbook store as well as the café), and plan a wedding for one of her employees. Her own romantic life takes an interesting turn when a captain in the county sheriff’s department piques her interest. Small-town New Hampshire life, the sisters’ turbulent relationship, a budding romance, and plenty of cooking (including recipes) provide the ambience in this satisfying series. A good bet for readers of Joanne Fluke’s Hannah Swensen mysteries. --Judy Coon

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's kicked out, Pammy's found dead in a Dumpster, leaving loads of questions unanswered.