Bookplate special

Tricia Miles runs Haven't Got a Clue, a mystery bookstore in Stoneham, New Hampshire. She is still getting used to the town, a place where neighbours know one another by name and step in to help when trouble comes.

For weeks Tricia has put up with an unwelcome houseguest, her old college roommate Pammy Fredericks. Some in Stoneham would call Pammy a free spirit. Others would call her a freeloader and a thief, and Tricia has reason to agree: among other things, Pammy has taken one hundred dollars from her.

The day Tricia finally throws her out, Pammy is found dead in a trash cart. Her death leaves plenty unexplained. She seems to have been searching through the rubbish for something, and it is unclear whether her killer was after the same thing.

Tricia sets out to put the case together herself, which means getting deep into the investigation. This is a cozy mystery with an amateur sleuth, a small-town setting and a bookshop at its centre, and the puzzle of Pammy's last hours drives the story.