Murder on the Half Shelf

Murder on the Half Shelf by Lorna Barrett
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Book #6 in the series opens with Tricia lugging Angelica's suitcases up to the new B&B for a sneak-peek stay that Angelica won at a recent Chamber of Commerce meeting. The sisters are looking forward to seeing the new inn...until Tricia takes Angelica's smuggled-in dog for a walk and finds yet another dead body. The night goes downhill from there, including the discovery of a decidedly UN-dead boyfriend from Tricia's long-ago past. The latest murder puts Tricia's current relationship on hold...again...as her current boyfriend, Chief Baker, investigates the crime.

As with the earlier books in this series, the murder plot is interesting, but the meat of the story centers on the relationships between the characters and the developments in their lives. Mr. Everett, for example, is having difficulties communicating with his bride regarding the amount of time she is spending focused on their new charitable foundation. Tricia is struggling to find a new assistant manager to replace Ginny, who's now running a shop down the street. Angelica and Bob's romance is pretty much DOA. And Chief Baker's insistence on remaining neutral for the duration of his investigation is definitely not going over well with Tricia, who is fed up with being treated as a suspect just because she has the bad luck to keep stumbling over bodies.

For readers' advisors: character doorway is primary, story secondary. There are a few mild swear words every once in a great while, but definitely no sex scenes or graphic on-screen violence.

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