A nice cozy mystery story for a cold and blustery day.

library book read 11/30/2023 ( )

Booktown is having its first ever Founder's Day celebration and it may end up being the last when a plane pulling a banner for the celebration crashes into the gazebo where Tricia Miles best friend is making a welcome speech. Horrified by what she has seen, Tricia has to come to terms with the death of her friend, but can't get past the circumstances and the results of how it and others are affecting the town.

I had to work to remember what was going on in the town dynamics because it had been a while since I read the last book but eventually it all fell into place and was a good mystery. ( )

I'll probably finish the series, but I'm getting so that there are things about Trish I don't like. She expects too much of men but pines for them for one... ( )

The Founder’s Day celebration ends with a bang and crash when a plane dragging around a banner hits the platform where Deb is giving a speech. It does not end well for either of them, and thus starts the story and Tricia’s quest to determine the why and how of this seemingly preventable accident. It will be easy for readers to become so engrossed in the actions of Tricia and her sister Ange as they methodically work their way through the townsfolk, trying to decide if the crash was more than pure happenstance. High on their list is Deb’s husband, but with more digging, they come up with other suspects, too. For me, the mystery takes a back seat to the characters - they really are more interesting. Still, the entire package is quite good, as is the series. ( )

This was by far the weakest book in the series, I particularly didn't care for the "murder weapon". I just found it too unbelievable. The writing is still good, but the main character's obvious unhappiness with her life, even after making one of her life's dreams opening the mystery bookshop successful even in a poor economy makes for a lees enjoyable read. Another thing missing from earlier books in the series is Trish doesn't seem to read anymore and talk about the bookshop and classic mystery authors is almost non existent.

I hope her next entry in the series is more of a return to the the early books which I liked much better. ( )