Sentenced to Death

A Booktown Mystery

By: Lorna Barrett

Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell

As the owner of Stoneham, New Hampshire's, mystery bookstore Haven't Got a Clue, Tricia Miles can figure out whodunit in the latest best seller long before she gets to the last page. But when her friend is killed in a freak accident, Tricia must use her sleuthing skills to solve a murder mystery that promises to be much more sinister than the books on her shelves.

Listen to another spine-tingling Booktown Mystery.©2011 Lorna Barrett (P)2011 Penguin

Excellent Read

I have read all of her books, this one is just as good as all the rest. Keeps you guessing until the end whodunit. Would recommend.

didnt seem as good as earlier books of the series.

it will not stop me from reading the next book. a few storey lines I want to find the ending too. not bad, just seems diffrent.

I'm really enjoying this series

I'm really enjoying this series, Lorna Barrett has a way of writing cozy mysteries with plenty of twists and turns. Cassandra Campbell brings the characters and story to life. This is a wonderful series, and if you like cozy mysteries, then I recommend this series to you.

Death by plane crash

In <strong>Sentenced to Death</strong> by Lorna Barrett, Tricia and Angelica Miles gather at the center of the town square with most of Stoneham for the Founders' Day celebration. Tricia notices a plane pulling a sign touting the town as it circles and comes in lower and lower. Then, as Tricia's best friend, Deborah Black, steps up to talk, the plane crashes, destroying the gazebo and killing Deborah and the pilot, Monty Capshaw. Monty is a friend of Chamber of Commerce president Bob Kelly, Angelica's boyfriend. Though the NTSB thinks the plane crashes due to no fuel, Tricia finds out that he has cancer that has just come back more strongly, and he has struggled financially. His significant life insurance policy will take care of his widow, Elaine.

Tricia has her suspicions about the crash and starts asking questions. Strangely, David Black, Deborah's husband, has her immediately cremated without telling the rest of her family and schedules the service for the next morning. When everyone shows up, they discover David has no program planned and sends everyone home after a few hors d'ouvres. He also refuses to take his 2-year-old son, Davey, leaving him with Deborah's mother, Elizabeth Crane. Even more disturbing is that David immediately sells the store that has been Deborah's pride and joy, The Happy Domestic, to Nigella Reseda Associates, who have been buying up a lot of Stoneham. Within a few days, their representative, Antonio Barbero, who is dating Ginny, the best store assistant Tricia has ever had, has closed on the purchase and installed Ginny as the manager of The Happy Domestic. But Ginny faces all sorts of problems, leading Tricia to question things further, putting herself in danger.

I have really enjoyed listening to the Booktown books, and <strong>Sentenced to Death</strong> is a strong addition to the series. I liked the way that the book began strong with a dramatic death yet moved slowly with the mystery until things sped up dramatically. I appreciate the setting of Stoneham, where Deborah was a regular but minor character until this book. We feel connected to the town and to its citizens, with all the daily happenings, both positive and negative.

Cassandra Campbell voices the audiobook of <strong>Sentenced to Death</strong> and does so with her usual flavor and energy. She uses clear voices for each character and makes the audio version of this book a real pleasure to listen to.

I appreciated getting to listen to <strong>Sentenced to Death</strong>, which is a clever and delightful book. It made me, as a listener, become highly invested in the characters and in the mystery plot. I'm eager to learn what will happen next in the lives of Tricia and her friends. I give this book five stars!

<strong>Disclaimer:</strong> I received this book for free for review purposes, but that in no way influenced the content of my review.

Great listen

These books are the nail biting or gruesome kind, but good reads.
Not her best, but still entertaining.

Good cozy mystery but...

If I had $1 for every time the book said "Tricia frowned," I could buy this book 3 times over. Otherwise this was my favorite in the series, the characters are much more like able than they have been in previous books. The writing is good & it's an enjoyable cozy mystery!

Whodunnit?

So the murderer is sprung on us in the 11th hour with little to no groundwork. Highly improbable.

But the main characters are great and much can be forgiven.

Get over yourself, Tricia!!!

Any additional comments?

Tricia Miles is perhaps one of the most irritatingly entitled characters I have ever run across. She seems to be bitter about everything, grateful about nothing in her truly charmed existence. 'Judgemental' should be her middle name. With all that said, I continue to listen to this series because it generally ticks all the boxes for me. Although every time Tricia frowns again, or is sad she's ordered the same salad again, or is disappointed in someone's behavior again, or mentions how SHE was the unloved, unwanted sister, again ... or feels like everyone owes her an explanation for something that's absolutely none of her business ... again ... I have to take a deep breath and just power through the story. Now I just count every time I want to slap her ... then move on to the next book hoping she's going to change her insufferable attitude.

Sorry, I couldn't listen to this one

Maybe I don't really like cozy mysteries....But I love Lousie Penny. And a few others. So I bought this one because it is about New England and I do business in a fairly small New England city (Manchester, N.H.). But I couldn't get more than about half an hour into it. Too many characters that I couldn't keep straight and couldn't really relate to. I kept waiting for there to be one that I would like so I could keep going. But no luck.