A Questionable Character by Lorna Barrett

 A Questionable Character

Book Summary

The murder of a local contractor may be the final nail in the coffin for Tricia Miles in the latest entry to Lorna Barrett's New York Times bestselling Booktown series.

It's a busy summer in Booktown. Contractor Jim Stark is in great demand: he’s overseeing a number of projects, including Angelica Miles's newly constructed building on Main Street, finishing up the new brew pub, and gutting a stone mansion off Main Street that Angelica bought to be the world headquarters for Nigela Ricita Asssociates. It’ll house office space where her marketing staff and the rest of the NR Associates clerical personnel will work.

Tricia Miles and Angelica arrive at the mansion before their workday to see how the construction is going. They find the place unlocked and Stark’s right-hand man, Sanjay Arya, dead—bludgeoned to death. The loss of the contractor’s top man threatens all the projects in the works, which would effectively ruin the expensive marketing plan that the Chamber of Commerce has been working. Is Jim a suspect? (He’d be stupid to kill the person he depends on to keep the projects going.) But Stark also thinks his wife, who was very chummy with Sanjay, might have been cheating on him with the second-in-command, making him a likely suspect.

Once again Tricia finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation, but can she find the killer before he or she has the chance to bring the hammer down?

My Thoughts

A Questionable Character by Lorna Barrett transports readers to Stoneham, New Hampshire where Angelica and Tricia find their contractor’s right-hand man, Sanjay Arya, dead, dead inside the building being renovated for the new the headquarters of Nigela Ricita Associates.  Tricia Miles, with help from the new Chamber of Commerce intern, David, investigates the crime.  I look forward to visiting Stoneham each year.  This visit, though, was a letdown.  The story seemed to focus on the Tricia’s day-to-day activities, especially her daily lunch and dinner with her sister.  The new Chamber of Commerce intern, David Price, is a quirky new addition.  He is a library sciences graduate student with a unique style of dress (personally, I liked his choice of brooches).  David is curious about the murder and wants to help Tricia solve the case.  The attraction between the two is apparent from the beginning. People’s reactions to this pairing will be entertaining.  I was not a fan of how Angelica treated Tricia over this new development.  She acted like it was scandalous for her sister to be interested in a younger man.  

The mystery was unexciting.  It lacked action, suspense, and suspects.  It felt like the author did not take the time to plan it out.  It seemed like the guilty party was plucked out of thin air.  There is a secondary mystery that has Angelica up in arms.  The guilty party to that whodunit was easy to identify.  The reveal neatly wraps up both mysteries.  I was envious of the Nancy Drew and Hardy Boy books that Pixie and David found at an estate sale (at such a good price too).  I wanted them for myself.  There is an incident in the book that will either make you laugh or cringe (or both).  You laugh because of the description and cringe for the same reason (it is something you never want to happen to you).  Tricia does have an enlightening conversation with Mr. Everett.  I wonder what Tricia will do with the information she learned.  While I like the characters and the setting, I was not a fan of the storyline.  A Questionable Character was not at the same level as earlier book in the series.  A Questionable Character is the seventeenth book in A Booktown Mysteries.  While it could be read as a standalone, I recommend reading the earlier books in the series as they are more engaging.  

A Questionable Character is available from Amazon*.  You can find the other A Booktown Mysteries here.  Thank you for stopping by today.  I will return on August 1 with Letters of Comfort by Wanda E. Brunstetter.  It is the second book in the Friendship Letters series.   I hope that you have an enjoyable weekend.  Take care and Happy Reading!

Kris

The Avid Reader 

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