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Indya Please stop over at Texty Ladies today, where I've posted about using art as therapy for people with disabilities. You'll see some amazing art and hear about what it can do for all of us!
I'm thrilled to tell you that Dianna Love and Mary Buckham will be guest blogging at Texty Ladies tomorrow! They will be discussing PACING - DEAD AHEAD...OR JUST PLAIN DEAD and hope to see both writers and readers. They'll have tons of information as well as door prizes! All you have to do is post a comment to be entered into the drawing. It should be lots of fun so I hope to see you all there! :)
Murder is Binding by Lorna Barrett
Mass Market Paperback: 288 pages
Publisher: Berkley (April 1, 2008)
First in the new Booktown Mystery Series
(from back cover)
Stoneham, New Hampshire, was a dying town until community leaders invited booksellers to open up shop. Now, its streets are lined with bookstores - and paved with murder…
When she moved to Stoneham, City slicker Tricia Miles was met with friendly faces. And when she opened her mystery bookstore, she was met with friendly competition. But when she finds Doris Gleason dead in her own cookbook store, killed with a kitchen knife, the atmosphere seems more cutthroat than cordial. Someone wanted to get their hands on the rare cookbook that Doris recently purchased — and the locals think that someone is Tricia. To clear her name, Tricia will have to take a page out of one of her own mysteries — and hunt down someone who isn’t killing by the book…
Lorna Barrett has crafted a fun read with a great cast of characters and a very charming setting. For booklovers, what better place could there be than a town filled with bookstores? When a fellow bookstore owner is murdered, Tricia becomes the prime suspect. Since the town sheriff is convinced Tricia is the murderer, she must solve this whodunnit herself.
You might solve this mystery halfway through the book but you’ll want to read on for some unpredictable plot twists. Our heroine is likeable, although at times, a bit negative. Heck, wouldn’t you be if you were accused of murder! A surprise visit from Tricia’s sister, Angelica, explores their strained relationship and sibling rivalry. Tricia’s employee Ginny and daily customer Mr. Everett are enjoyable characters with a great deal of potential which I hope will be developed in future books.
Murder is Binding is a nice start to the Booktown Mystery Series. It's a fun, cozy read with an interesting plot, evolving heroine and promising supporting characters.
“Move over Cabot Cove. Lorna Barrett’s new cozy creation, Murder Is Binding, has it all: wonderful old books, quirky characters, a clever mystery, and a cat named Miss Marple!” –Roberta Isleib, author of Preaching to the Corpse and the Advice Column Mysteries
“A mystery bookstore in a sleepy New England town, a cat named Miss Marple, a nasty murder and a determined heroine make Barrett’s delightful debut mystery everything a cozy lover could want and more. Bravo!” –Leann Sweeney, author of the Yellow Rose Mystery Series
-Crossposted from Texty Ladies site.
It took me 2 1/2 hours to complete last night's post. I kept falling asleep and had to start over and remember what I was going to say. I wanted to include more information in that post but it will have to suffice. Maybe next time, I'll post in the morning. Sheesh!
Does this look like a setting in the next Harry Potter movie or what? Actually, it's the Suzzallo Library in Seattle, Washington. I look at this picture and think about sitting at one of the tables at night, the massive sconces glowing and an old tome sitting open before me. Perhaps it tells romantic tales of an ancient adventurer or contains spells and magic elixirs that I must memorize for later use. Whatever the case may be, I'm sure reading it in this library would be quite a treat!
The Suzzallo Library was named for Henry Suzzallo, who was president of the University of Washington until he stepped down in 1926, the same year the first phase of the library's construction was completed.
A glass and concrete addition of 125,000 square feet was added to the north and east sides of the Library in the years from 1961 to 1963. This addition completely enclosed an earlier addition of 1947 that was built to provide much-needed storage.
The Seattle Times reported, "it is pronounced by experts to be the most beautiful reading room on the continent, and is ranked among the most beautiful in the world."
For more on the Suzzallo Library, see the following:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suzzallo_Library
http://www.washington.edu/alumni/columns/sept02/suzzallo1.html
The photo of the Library was taken from: http://curiousexpeditions.org/
When you are growing up, there are two institutional places that affect you most powerfully-the church, which belongs to God, and the public library, which belongs to you. The public library is a great equalizer. ~ Musician Keith Richards
Why have I never stumbled upon that quote before?
I'll be posting more often here this week. We had family staying with us over the weekend and I didn't have time for posting.
My next post will feature a library I'm sure we all wish we could visit. You'll have to wait until tonight for that. ;)
Rudi Jr. will be adding to his YA & Children's Book Picks this week. I've had some trouble with the slideshow but I'm sure we can get it fixed.
Okay, I'm off. I hope you have a fantastic day and that you check back late tonight or tomorrow for my first library feature!
If you've scrolled down this Home Page, you might have noticed the heading "Cozy Corner" in the sidebar. There's not much going on there right now but eventually, I'll be featuring cozy mysteries in that section. I love a deep, mind-blowing read just like the next girl, but sometimes, a good, light mystery with loveable characters and a happy ending are what the doctor ordered.
Don't you love it when you discover a book that takes you to a place and a group of people you'd like to visit regularly? You'd like to drop in and catch up on the dirt; see what crazy shenanigans the heroine has gotten herself into lately? I do and that's why I created the Cozy Corner so I can share some "vacation" locations with you. ;)
If I post a review in the main posts, I hope you'll comment and let me know what you think of that particular book and also share titles of other great cozy reads.
I've added a new feature here that I hope you'll enjoy. If you look below the "BOOKSTORE" heading in the sidebar, you can click on the various categories to browse and purchase books from Amazon. It will appear as if you've gone away from my site but you'll still be here. I'll continue to add new categories as I have time. I know how much I love to browse for books and maybe you do, too, so, I hope this shopping option will be of use to you. Have fun!
