Monday, May 30, 2022

The Fatal Chapter

Title: The Fatal Chapter
Author: Lorna Barrett
Published: June 2nd 2015 by Berkley
Format: Hardcover, 304 pages
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: Booktown Mystery #9)

First Sentence: “Say cheese,” Russ Smith called, and Tricia Miles watched as her sister, Angelica, and Pete Renquist dutifully smiled for the camera.

Blurb: While out walking Sarge, her sister’s bichon frise, Tricia is led by the agitated dog to a man lying in a gazebo. She’s startled when she recognizes Pete Renquist, the president of the Stoneham Historical Society, who appears to be suffering from cardiac arrest. When Pete later dies in the hospital, the discovery of a suspicious bruise and a puncture mark on his arm suggests he may have been murdered.

Haunted by Pete’s enigmatic last words to her, Tricia begins to consider who had a motive to kill her friend. Did Pete take his flirting too far, only to have a jealous husband teach him a lesson? Or did he discover something in the town’s historical records that his killer wanted kept secret? Tricia is determined to get to the bottom of things before someone else becomes history. (GoodReads)

My Opinion: Nine books in, and it didn’t occur to me who Nigela Ricita is, and my brain did not catch on to the anagram. Good Job, Lorna!

The storyline follows the usual fill-in-the-blank progression with Sarge and Trisha finding a body. The victim is barely hanging on and whispers a cryptic message. Now Trisha needs to find the killer, save the day, and be one step ahead of the police. What surprised me about this book was how the murder seemed to fall by the wayside. There are too many distractions, and it isn’t until the last few chapters Lorna Barrett decides to go back to fill in the blanks.

On the downside, I continue hearing whiny voices when I read this book. I don’t know what it is, but both Angelica and Tricia come across as having bothersome voices. This series is not my favorite, but I can’t walk away since I am a stickler when it comes to finishing, no matter how many years it takes me.

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