Review: Murder is Binding

Title: Murder is Binding
Author: Lorna Barrett
Listening Time: 8 hours and 33 minutes
Challenges: Cozy Mystery
Rating: 3.5/5

Summary from Goodreads:

The streets of Stoneham, New Hampshire are lined with bookstores...and paved with murder.

Stoneham, New Hampshire, was a dying town until community leaders invited booksellers to open shop. Now, its streets are lined with bookstores - and paved with murder…

When she moved to Stoneham, city-slicker Tricia Miles was met with friendly faces. And when she opened her mystery bookstore, she met with friendly competition. But when she finds Doris Gleason dead in her own cookbook store, killed by a carving knife, the atmosphere seems more cutthroat than cordial. Someone wanted to get their hands on the rare cookbook that Doris had recently purchased - and the locals think that someone is Tricia. To clear her name, Tricia will have to take a page out of one of her own mysteries - and hunt down someone who isn’t killing by the book …

What a fun and cute cozy mystery!  This was a really good audio book, and I quite enjoyed it.  This is definitely one series that I will be continuing with!

Tricia Miles is newly divorced and starting over in the town of Stoneham, NH.  Things are going really well until her neighbor ends up dead, and she seems to be the one and only suspect according to the local police.  However, despite everyone being against her, Tricia is afraid to do some investigating herself.

One reason why I really enjoyed this book was because of the atmosphere.  I really loved the idea of the town of Stoneham.  The thought of little used book stores lining the city street, made me wish that the town was real.  I'd love to take a trip there and spend the day perusing the different stores and finding treasures on the various shelves.

Mystery wise, the story was slightly predictable.  I had an inkling of who the killer was about half way through the audio, but it didn't damper my enjoyment.  The writing was wonderful, and the audio was really good.  I loved the narrator and thought she did a good job with the various characters.  I can't wait to see what happens to Tricia in subsequent books, and I'm hoping the hold moves along quickly at the library for book 2!!