Book 108, 2024
On Spine of Death by Tamara Berry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
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For the second Sunday in a row, I rewarded myself for cleaning the house by finishing a book. It was On Spine of Death by Tamara Berry, and it's the second book in the "By the Book" mystery series. The main character is bestselling author, Tess Harrow.
Now that Tess has decided to stay in the small town of Winthrop, in the cabin she inherited from her grandfather, she turns her attention to renovating her grandfather's old hardware store in hopes of turning it into a book store. During work, bones are discovered buried in the floor, reopening a 30-year old cold case. When a second set of bones are found in the hardware store, Tess realizes everyone in town thinks her grandfather was a serial killer. Desperate to clear his name, she calls upon a fellow author, horror writer Peter Oblonsky, to lend his expertise in forensics. In the meantime, FBI agent Nicki is assigned another agent to help with the case she's building against the Peabody brothers, and Tess' teenage daughter, Gertrude, begins job shadowing at the morgue. When the bones disappear from the morgue, and a book that seems to be based on the unsolved murders is found and lost, the race is on to solve the case before anyone else is murdered.
A good, fun read with lots of action and distraction. I kept thinking I had things all figured out only to discover how wrong I was. Characters were wonderful, the plot was smooth and engrossing, and I enjoyed the humor throughout.
Favorite lines:
♦ "This woman has more lawyers than a Harvard class reunion."
♦ Tess swore that no matter how many times she cleared out the teenager's room, the empty plates and cups multiplied by the dozens. It was like living with a feral-rat child.
♦ With the possible exception of psychopaths--or werewolves--very few crimes strayed from the norm.
♦ "If it looks like a cow pie and smells like a cow pie, there's no need to taste it and find out for sure."
♦ "We can't have a dinner party in the middle of a murder investigation."
♦ "I'd like it stated for the record that I in no way, shape, or form condone the use of a teddy bear to catch a murderer."
♦ Edna was the type who could milk the drama out of a butchered cow.
Good book, exciting and funny. Four stars.