loribonesscaswell

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Tricia Miles just has a way of finding dead bodies. Many in town call her a jinx, some straight to her face. Well, this time she doesn’t even need to leave her newly redone apartment to add another dead body to her list. While hosting a housewarming party one of her guests keels over dead. Tricia isn’t much of a cook but she never imagined someone dying after eating her food. The guy must have had an allergic reaction, she can’t be held responsible for that. She didn’t even know the guy, he was the date of one of her other guests. Chief Bakes soon finds out what the toxin was and it is not something commonly found in food, especially Tricia’s kitchen. Which means the man was murdered!

While all this is going on Tricia is running for Chamber of Commerce president. A position her sister has decided to give up to dedicate more time to her businesses. Unfortunately, she has two opponents and they are discrediting her all over town and using that whole jinx thing against her. Can she win an election and catch a killer? She sure is going to try.

There is never a dull moment in Booktown, something is always happening. Tricia’s party, the chamber election, Tricia’s sister Angelica is worried about something, Stoneham as a vandal causing damage and then, of course, there is the dead guy on Tricia’s floor. Ms. Barrett packs Poisoned Pages with a very captivating cozy mystery. In fact, there is more than one mystery to solve and they may or may not be connected.

The staff at Haven’t Got A Clue always has Tricia’s back. This allows her plenty of time to tool around town trying to get the answers she needs to book the person that used her party for their crime. She also spends plenty of time with her sister hoping to find answers there too. Mr. Everett and Pixie Poe are the perfect employees. Pixie has really come into her own. Her creativity shines this time as she pulls out all the stops to help Tricia become the next Chamber of Commerce President. Mr. Everett has other things on his mind. He and his wife are adopting an elderly cat. He is so excited and has plenty of pictures of the feline to share.

The plot of this story tangles all the mystery elements together. With only a week to campaign before the election, Tricia has the perfect opportunity to question many of the suspects. She also got her sister to reveal what was bothering her and that gave her another mystery to solve. She plans to leave the vandal to the police but she thinks she knows their identity too. It was so much fun to traipse around town each step of the way with Tricia. I was completely gobsmacked when all was revealed.

This truly is one of my favorite series. I love these characters. I am excited about where Tricia may be heading in her personal life. Angelica unleashes a surprise in this story that will change her life in a really good way. These sisters worked hard to get their relationship where it is today and I have enjoyed following along. So much has happened over the course of this series but the author keeps her characters and their stories fresh and relevant. You can read this book as a stand-alone but this is a series the really should be read from the start, in order, to fully appreciate how far these characters have come.

I am so excited for the next installment of this series