{"id":25937,"date":"2020-07-22T09:15:25","date_gmt":"2020-07-22T13:15:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/?p=25937"},"modified":"2022-10-11T16:58:55","modified_gmt":"2022-10-11T16:58:55","slug":"review-handbook-for-homicide-by-lorna-barrett","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2020\/07\/22\/review-handbook-for-homicide-by-lorna-barrett\/","title":{"rendered":"Review \u2764\ufe0f Handbook for Homicide by Lorna Barrett"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Haven’t Got A Clue bookshop owner Tricia Miles’s relationship is on the rocks. After a not-so-fun vacation with her on-again-off-again lover, Marshall Cambridge, Tricia’s hoping for smooth sailing back in Stoneham. Unfortunately Booktown greets her not with blue skies but with another body.<\/span><\/p>

When Tricia’s assistant manager, Pixie, finds homeless vet Susan Morris’s body behind Haven’t Got A Clue, Pixie’s checkered past makes her the prime suspect. Tricia sets out to clear Pixie’s name armed with only an anchor insignia earring found at the scene of the crime.<\/span><\/p>

As Tricia digs deeper she discovers Susan was involved in a scandal right before retiring from the Navy\u2014but since nobody in the village knows Susan, even Tricia’s one lead is in danger of drying up. With family drama brewing in the background and all of Stoneham convinced her manager is a murderer, Tricia knows she has to get to the bottom of the case soon before Pixie’s life is sunk.<\/span><\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n

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Release Date:<\/strong> Jul 21, 2020
Series:<\/strong>\u00a0A Booktown Mystery
<\/em>Book: <\/strong>14
Publisher:<\/strong> Penguin Group
Imprint:<\/strong> Berkley
Price:<\/strong> $13.99<\/p>

\u00a0<\/p>

Tricia Miles<\/strong> is back home in Stoneham, New Hampshire after a disappointing trip to Ireland with her boyfriend, Marshall. She barely makes it inside the door of the bookstore she owns when her assistant discovers a body in a dumpster behind the shop. Pixie recognizes the victim as Susan Moore, a woman who has been living in her car. Tricia\u2019s ex-boyfriend, Police Chief Grant Baker, puts Pixie at the top of her suspect list. Tricia knows Pixie doesn\u2019t have a motive and would never have hurt Susan, so she is determined to clear Pixie\u2019s name and find the real killer.<\/p>

Handbook for Homicide <\/strong>is the fourteenth book in this long-running series. I\u2019ve only read a few of the prior books, so I was thankful for the cast of characters at the beginning. It helped me remember who\u2019s who and would help new readers enjoy this book without having read the prior books in the series. My favorite part of the book and the entire series is the close, loving relationship between Tricia and her sister Angelica. They tease each other, but they get together almost every day and are always there for each other. I\u2019m less enthusiastic about Tricia\u2019s relationship with her boyfriend, Marshall. It seems obvious that Trica cares about Marshall, but isn\u2019t in love with him but maybe I\u2019ve missed something in a prior book. There are a few unexpected developments in Tricia\u2019s love life at the end of the book that could get interesting in the next book. I don\u2019t care for huge cliffhangers like this in a series, but I will admit I am very intrigued by what Tricia will do next.<\/p>

The author does a good job of balancing the daily routines in Tricia\u2019s personal life with the murder investigation. I enjoy seeing Tricia with her sister, on the job, and on the case. The investigation brings Tricia to a local homeless camp looking for possible witnesses or suspects. The inclusion of social issues in the book has mixed results. The homelessness issue is woven fairly seamlessly into the story, especially since the victim is homeless. Other offhand comments included in the dialogue regarding other issues come across as stilted and out of place. This is a small complaint about an otherwise evenly paced and entertaining cozy mystery. Readers who enjoy this series or the author\u2019s books written under the name of Lorraine Bartlett<\/strong><\/em>, as well as fans of Sheila Connolly<\/strong><\/em> will enjoy the latest trip to Booktown.<\/p>

~ Christine<\/em><\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n

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Amazon<\/a><\/span>\u00a0|\u00a0iBooks<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0B&N<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Kobo<\/span><\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Google Play<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/div>\n \t <\/div>\n\t \n\t<\/div>\n\t\n\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Haven’t Got A Clue bookshop owner Tricia Miles’s relationship is on the rocks. After a not-so-fun vacation with her on-again-off-again lover, Marshall Cambridge, Tricia’s hoping […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25938,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"pagelayer_contact_templates":[],"_pagelayer_content":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[83,89,48],"tags":[152,223,367,404,405],"class_list":["post-25937","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-berkley","category-christine","category-reviews","tag-4-stars","tag-cozy-mystery","tag-mystery","tag-recommend","tag-recommended-reads"],"yoast_head":"\nReview \u2764\ufe0f Handbook for Homicide by Lorna Barrett - Smitten by Books<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/2020\/07\/22\/review-handbook-for-homicide-by-lorna-barrett\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Review \u2764\ufe0f Handbook for Homicide by Lorna Barrett - Smitten by Books\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Haven’t Got A Clue bookshop owner Tricia Miles’s relationship is on the rocks. 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After a not-so-fun vacation with her on-again-off-again lover, Marshall Cambridge, Tricia's hoping for smooth sailing back in Stoneham. Unfortunately Booktown greets her not with blue skies but with another body.<\/p><p>When Tricia's assistant manager, Pixie, finds homeless vet Susan Morris's body behind Haven't Got A Clue, Pixie's checkered past makes her the prime suspect. Tricia sets out to clear Pixie's name armed with only an anchor insignia earring found at the scene of the crime.<\/p><p>As Tricia digs deeper she discovers Susan was involved in a scandal right before retiring from the Navy\u2014but since nobody in the village knows Susan, even Tricia's one lead is in danger of drying up. With family drama brewing in the background and all of Stoneham convinced her manager is a murderer, Tricia knows she has to get to the bottom of the case soon before Pixie's life is sunk.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/07\/smitten-recommends-banner-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"296\" height=\"72\" \/><\/p><hr \/><p><strong>Release Date:<\/strong> Jul 21, 2020<br \/><strong>Series:<\/strong>\u00a0<em>A Booktown Mystery<br \/><\/em><strong>Book: <\/strong>14<br \/><strong>Publisher:<\/strong> Penguin Group<br \/><strong>Imprint:<\/strong> Berkley<br \/><strong>Price:<\/strong> $13.99<\/p><hr \/><p>\u00a0<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Tricia Miles<\/strong> is back home in Stoneham, New Hampshire after a disappointing trip to Ireland with her boyfriend, Marshall. She barely makes it inside the door of the bookstore she owns when her assistant discovers a body in a dumpster behind the shop. Pixie recognizes the victim as Susan Moore, a woman who has been living in her car. Tricia\u2019s ex-boyfriend, Police Chief Grant Baker, puts Pixie at the top of her suspect list. Tricia knows Pixie doesn\u2019t have a motive and would never have hurt Susan, so she is determined to clear Pixie\u2019s name and find the real killer.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><strong>Handbook for Homicide <\/strong>is the fourteenth book in this long-running series. I\u2019ve only read a few of the prior books, so I was thankful for the cast of characters at the beginning. It helped me remember who\u2019s who and would help new readers enjoy this book without having read the prior books in the series. My favorite part of the book and the entire series is the close, loving relationship between Tricia and her sister Angelica. They tease each other, but they get together almost every day and are always there for each other. I\u2019m less enthusiastic about Tricia\u2019s relationship with her boyfriend, Marshall. It seems obvious that Trica cares about Marshall, but isn\u2019t in love with him but maybe I\u2019ve missed something in a prior book. There are a few unexpected developments in Tricia\u2019s love life at the end of the book that could get interesting in the next book. I don\u2019t care for huge cliffhangers like this in a series, but I will admit I am very intrigued by what Tricia will do next.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\">The author does a good job of balancing the daily routines in Tricia\u2019s personal life with the murder investigation. I enjoy seeing Tricia with her sister, on the job, and on the case. The investigation brings Tricia to a local homeless camp looking for possible witnesses or suspects. The inclusion of social issues in the book has mixed results. The homelessness issue is woven fairly seamlessly into the story, especially since the victim is homeless. Other offhand comments included in the dialogue regarding other issues come across as stilted and out of place. This is a small complaint about an otherwise evenly paced and entertaining cozy mystery. Readers who enjoy this series or the author\u2019s books written under the name of <em><strong>Lorraine Bartlett<\/strong><\/em>, as well as fans of <em><strong>Sheila Connolly<\/strong><\/em> will enjoy the latest trip to Booktown.<\/p><p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><em>~ Christine<\/em><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/2CFLYRo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Amazon<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/books.apple.com\/us\/book\/handbook-for-homicide\/id1489092110?mt=11&app=itunes&at=11l88k\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">iBooks<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.barnesandnoble.com\/w\/handbook-for-homicide-lorna-barrett\/1134966878?ean=9781984802774\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">B&N<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.kobo.com\/us\/en\/ebook\/handbook-for-homicide\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Kobo<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/play.google.com\/store\/books\/details\/Lorna_Barrett_Handbook_for_Homicide?id=LK2-DwAAQBAJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Google Play<\/a><\/strong><\/p>","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25937","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25937"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25937\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25937"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25937"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/smittenbybooks.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25937"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}