Review

For fans of:  Joanne Fluke, Jenn McKinlay

When Tricia Miles' sister Angelica announces she’s decided to run for president of the Stoneham Chamber of Commerce, Tricia’s nothing but supportive. When one of Angelica’s opponents, Stan Berry, is found stabbed through the heart just moments after announcing his candidacy, however, Tricia starts to wonder if maybe Angelica should reconsider her ambitions; both women expected the race to be tough, but neither of them expected it to be murder. Who killed Stan, and why? Did it have anything to do with the upcoming election? And, if so, is Angelica a target, too? Tricia must don her sleuthing cap and solve the crime before the killer can acquire a body count.

Not the Killing Type is the seventh of Lorna Barrett’s Booktown Mysteries, and it’s her best to date. The book starts with a bang, launches straight into the central mystery, and maintains a quick pace and a strong narrative drive throughout. While the stakes of Barrett’s whodunit aren’t all that high and she doesn’t offer up many suspects, her puzzle is clever and her solution is satisfying. The plot is solid, and the book’s big finale is not only poignant, but will leave readers in eager anticipation of Barrett’s next release.

I’ve read a number of Lorna Barrett’s Booktown Mysteries, but this is the first one where Stoneham has felt like an actual town to me – a real place where real people live and work, as opposed to a two-dimensional Hollywood backlot. Each of the homes and businesses Tricia visits is vividly described and has its own unique personality and sense of place, and as a result, it’s much easier here than in previous installments to lose yourself in Barrett’s fictional world.

Barrett’s character work is stronger this time around, as well. In past books, I’ve found Tricia rather off-putting and unlikable, but in Not the Killing Type, Barrett’s protagonist starts to undergo a bit of a transformation. Barrett not only does a nice job of fleshing out Tricia’s backstory and explaining why she is the way she is, but of making Tricia acknowledge the source of her issues, as well. Yes, she’s still too stodgy and straight-laced, but at least she’s finally making an effort to become less work-oriented and judgmental, thereby making it much easier to root for her happiness and success.

Angelica’s made progress as a character, too. She’s always been an able sidekick and great comic relief, but Barrett gives her some nice depth here while also working to make her sisterly relationship with Tricia feel more authentic.  The two play off each other nicely, and the book’s strongest scenes are those in which the both of them both appear.

Reviewed by Kat