Book Review: Murder is Binding by Lorna Barrett (Booktown Mysteries #1)

Stars: 3 out of 5
Pros: Characters, plot, setting

Cons: Characters, plot, writing

The Bottom Line:

Equal good and bad

Start out popular series

I find average

Delightful but Flawed First Book

Die hard mystery fans aren't unique as protagonists in the cozy genre. For that matter, neither are mystery bookstore owners. But Lorna Barrett, author of the debut novel Murder Is Binding, has hit a new combination that will appeal to mystery readers. She has created the town of Stoneham, New Hampshire, which is famous for being made up of various bookstores. And her heroin is Tricia Miles, the owner of the mystery bookshop in town, called Haven't Got a Clue.

It's been about six months since Tricia opened her store. Business is decent, if not brisk, thanks to the buses that bring in shoppers to the tourist town.

But one fall day things change from good to bad. First, her sister Angelica shows up for an unannounced, extended visit. The two sisters have a strained relationship, and Tricia can't wait until she leaves.

Much worse, however, is finding the body of Doris Gleason. Doris owned the cookbook shop next door to Tricia's. She could be quarrelsome, but she didn't deserve to die. Tricia immediately notices that the antique cookbook Doris had just acquired is missing. Was theft the motive? Or was it something more sinister?

I enjoyed the book. Let's not make any mistakes about that fact. Come on, what reader wouldn't find a town devoted to bookstores a charming idea? And the names of the bookstores made me smile every time I read them. But it is a debut, and there are several bad things mixed in with the good.

Let's start with the characters. The main characters who are intended to become series regulars are quite interesting most of the time. Tricia and Angelica have a complicated relationship that will take some time to resolve, which was a refreshing change from the resolve everything at once tendency in most fiction today. Tricia's employee Ginny is fun, and her regular customer, Mr. Everett, is absolutely charming. Yet the rest of the cast seems a little flat. Even these characters can be flat at times. And there were times I was so frustrated with Tricia for not standing up at all to Angelica.

The plot had several decent twists to it, but the pacing was slightly off. Quite often, it seemed to take forever to get to the point with a few too many side stories. And the ending, while logical, could have used more time to be fully developed. Still, I was hooked on the book to find out what would happen next.

The writing was flawed as well. It had several cases of awkward phrasing or grammar that made me stop to reread. I was always able to figure out what the author meant to say. And the writing was never bad enough to turn me off to the book. But it wasn't the smooth writing I am used to enjoying.

The good news and bad news is that Murder Is Binding is a debut. It holds the promise of more books to enjoy but also has the flaws or a writer a little unsure of her craft. I enjoyed this one enough to give the next book in the series a chance.