Cozy Bookshop Mystery

Thirty-year-old Charlotte James, better known to her mystery fans as C. J. Barrett, decides to take a break from writing her popular Steve Sheppard mystery series. Leaving New York City, she moves back to her hometown of Austin to wind down, recuperate, and maybe come up with some new ideas for her books. Settling into her new life, Charley reunites with her long-term friend and baker Zane who is about to open a charming double store front. But while Zane is ready to open her café, her business partner Sheila unexpectedly departs town, bailing on her bookshop and leaving nothing but a note behind. Charley is more than happy to take over, but when she finds Sheila's body in a chest in the store's basement, things take a dramatic turn. Now Charley has to juggle the opening of her bookshop, a stoic but attractive Philadelphia detective, and a stray cat, all while solving Sheila's murder Sheppard-style before the killer can strike again! Fans of Jenn McKinlay, Ellery Adams, Lucy Connelly, Lauren Elliott, and Ellie Alexander will love this cozy mystery "featuring a plucky, likable heroine, plenty of suspense [and] unexpected twists" (Booklist).

Bookshop owner Charley James is plunged into a mystery involving a rare book worth killing for in this new Cozy Bookshop Mystery by award-winning and national bestselling author T. C. LoTempio. No treats but lots of tricks and murder! Retired thriller author and current bookshop owner Charley James is preparing for Halloween in her small hometown of Austin, Pennsylvania-what she isn't prepared for is discovering the body of a woman at the local inn. Charley recognizes the stranger as a suspicious customer who popped in just to hide a rather peculiar book at her store-did she already know she was about to lose her life for it? Pursuing this mysterious case, Charley can't seem to stay out of trouble, and no one knows this better than Detective Hottie, Ian Grant. But Charley has a mind of her own and, together with cat Poe, sets off on another puzzle-riddled quest, unaware that the killer might be someone she knows . . . "If you've ever wondered what it would be like to read a Hallmark Mystery movie in book format, wonder no more" (Cozy Crime Mystery). For fans of Laura Childs's Tea Shop Mysteries, Jenn McKinlay's Library Lover's Mysteries, and Ellery Adams's Secret, Book & Scone Society Novels.