Bookmarked for Death: A Booktown Mystery by Lorna Barrett

                 When your business is your life, I cannot imagine what it would be like to have that taken away from you.  This would be a difficult situation all on its own.  But when the reason for the loss is murder, I suspect that would make it even harder. 

                Tricia decides to hold an event in her mystery bookstore for author Zoe Carter.  While this is a normal thing for bookstores to do, what happens during the event is not.  Ms. Carter is found murdered in the bookstore’s customer bathroom.  As the store is now a crime scene, Tricia is forbidden from entering the building, including her upstairs apartment.  Desperate to get her life back in order, Tricia must figure out who Ms. Carter’s murderer is and solve the case.

                While trying to get her shop back, Tricia runs into several other things she has to deal with.  Kimberly, Ms. Carter’s very angry niece, is found brutally attacked and beaten.  Ginny and her boyfriend keep getting food poisoning.  What makes this particular situation worse is they are becoming sick from baked goods that are intended for Tricia.  Then there is Tricia’s sister Angelica.  Something is always going on with her.  This time it is the fact that she cannot keep her employees.  After observing, Tricia sees that the reason Angelica cannot keep her workers is because she is too hard on them.  Explaining this to Angelica is futile, no matter how hard Tricia tries.  This is not the only thing with Angelica that Tricia has to deal with.  Angelica is in the midst of writing a cookbook.  She is determined to present her manuscript to Ms. Carter’s agent, forcing it upon him despite Tricia’s warnings.  To top everything off, there is the problem goose population.  They are leaving their droppings all over town, creating a very unpleasant environment and deterrent for customers.  With everything going on, Tricia will be very happy when things go back to normal.