A Questionable Character: A Booktown Mystery - Softcover

Buch 17 von 19: Booktown Mysteries

Barrett, Lorna

 
9780593549421: A Questionable Character: A Booktown Mystery
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0593549422 ISBN 13: 9780593549421
Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group, 2024

Inhaltsangabe

The murder of a local contractor may be the final nail in the coffin for Tricia Miles in the latest entry to Lorna Barrett's New York Times bestselling Booktown series.

It's a busy summer in Booktown. Contractor Jim Stark is in great demand: he’s overseeing a number of projects, including Angelica Miles's newly constructed building on Main Street, finishing up the new brew pub, and gutting a stone mansion off Main Street that Angelica bought to be the world headquarters for Nigela Ricita Asssociates. It’ll house office space where her marketing staff and the rest of the NR Associates clerical personnel will work.

Tricia Miles and Angelica arrive at the mansion before their workday to see how the construction is going. They find the place unlocked and Stark’s right-hand man, Sanjay Arya, dead—bludgeoned to death. The loss of the contractor’s top man threatens all the projects in the works, which would effectively ruin the expensive marketing plan that the Chamber of Commerce has been working. Is Jim a suspect? (He’d be stupid to kill the person he depends on to keep the projects going.) But Stark also thinks his wife, who was very chummy with Sanjay, might have been cheating on him with the second-in-command, making him a likely suspect.

Once again Tricia finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation, but can she find the killer before he or she has the chance to bring the hammer down?

Die Inhaltsangabe kann sich auf eine andere Ausgabe dieses Titels beziehen.

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Lorna Barrett is the New York Times bestselling author of the Booktown Mysteries, including Poisoned Pages and A Just Clause.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

ONE

•The sun had been up for a little over an hour when Tricia Miles arrived on her sister's doorstep on that early Monday in June. It was to be a busy day, what with welcoming the Chamber of Commerce's summer intern, getting him settled, and attending to her vintage mystery bookstore, Haven't Got a Clue.

Tricia and her sister were co-presidents of the Stoneham, New Hampshire, Chamber-a job they'd held for nearly six months. It had been a rocky experience trying to revive the operation their predecessor had so diligently tried to destroy. Thanks to Angelica's previous tenure at the organization's helm, and Tricia's involvement as her woman Friday, they'd slowly been rebuilding the trust of their members. But welcoming the new intern was only one part of the day's plan.

Angelica Miles was a woman of many talents-and two personas. She was a successful businesswoman in her own right, owning the Cookery book and kitchen gadget store; Booked for Lunch, a small retro café dedicated to the midday meal; the village's day spa, Booked for Beauty; and a half share of the village's most expensive bed-and-breakfast, the Sheer Comfort Inn. But it was her alter ego, the secretive Nigela Ricita, who commanded the utmost respect, and sometimes animosity, for transforming the somewhat sleepy village of used bookstores known as Booktown to a wildly successful tourist attraction. NR Associates owned the Brookview Inn, the local pub (the Dog-Eared Page), the Happy Domestic home/gift shop, a food truck, a real estate office, the other half interest in the Sheer Comfort Inn, and the most recent addition to the NR portfolio, the Stoneham Weekly News.

When Tricia thought about her sister's business acumen, she sometimes suffered from an inferiority complex-but not for long. Angelica actually spent little hands-on time with her companies since she'd built a team of top-notch and experienced individuals. She acted as the CEO of her empires, letting her son, Antonio Barbero, take on the day-to-day supervision. His wife, Ginny Wilson-Barbero, was the company's marketing director and mother to Angelica's grandbabies, little Sofia and baby Will.

On that morning, Tricia had agreed to accompany her sister to NR Associates' new world headquarters, a historic granite-clad building located off the village's main drag. The former mansion had been owned by Asa Morrison, another of the village's founders, who'd made his money producing whiskey, and his stately house had been built some 150 years before. During its life, it had been a home, a hospital, a school, and most recently office space. It was to be upgraded in the latter configuration with a new roof, HVAC, and plumbing before Angelica would personally choose the furniture and décor.

The workmen usually got started around seven, and Tricia and Angelica had decided to set out to check on the progress of the renovations an hour before the construction crew arrived for the day.

Tricia texted her sister. I'm here.

Be right down.

Tricia would have been pleased to use the occasion to get in part of her morning three-mile constitutional but she knew her sister would insist on taking her car. The five-block walk was probably too far for her to ever walk, even though she'd given up her stilettos earlier that year.

Sure enough, when Angelica appeared she clutched her car keys in her right hand. She looked smart dressed in a peach cotton sleeveless blouse, black slacks, and sandals, sporting a black fanny pack that she'd never be caught wearing in a business setting, so she obviously didn't expect to be seen at that time of the day and especially at the construction site. Tricia's attire wasn't much different. She'd chosen a pink tee and jeans but would change into her usual sweater set and black slacks once the workday commenced. The weatherman had predicted an unseasonably warm day. It was already in the seventies. She'd be glad of the sweater once she cranked up the AC in her shop upon her return.

"Let's go," Angelica said brightly. "I need to make a list of things I want to be completed by the end of the week."

"Isn't that up to Jim Stark?" Tricia asked. Stark was the contractor Angelica had hired to complete the mansion's renovations. Tricia had worked with him, too, but these days the firm was booked solid months in advance. So much so that lately Stark's clients had been dealing with his right-hand man, Sanjay Arya, a personable man in his thirties with a ready smile and a reassuring presence.

"I hardly ever talk to Jim anymore," Angelica lamented as she started up the road toward the village's municipal parking lot, where the street's residents kept their vehicles. Angelica might not exercise as much as Tricia, but if she cared to, she could have excelled in competitive walking.

"When I do get to speak to the boss man, I always feel like him consulting his phone is more important than anything I have to say."

"He's a busy man."

Angelica glanced at her sister with disdain. "And I'm a busy woman."

She was indeed.

They arrived at the lot and headed for Angelica's car. Neither of them spoke until Angelica pulled the car onto Main Street and headed for the mansion.

"We should have done this yesterday," Tricia said, "especially if you don't want to run into the workmen."

"Are you kidding? Sunday is my busiest day of the week."

That was when Angelica hosted their weekly family dinner, although since baby Will had made his appearance two months before, they'd been gathering with the Barberos in their newly built home. Dragging the kiddies out took a lot of effort, but Angelica had adapted. She'd either have the meal catered or bring the ingredients for a delicious meal to the fabulous kitchen she'd designed for the family. In addition to Tricia and the Barberos, their "family" consisted of Tricia's friend and employee Mr. Everett and his wife, Grace. They'd been accepted as the children's honorary great-grandparents.

Angelica pulled up in front of the mansion, which at this point bore a rather ramshackle appearance. Landscaping was one of the last items on the list of things to be completed.

The sisters exited the car and stood before the building. Tricia studied Angelica's face. She could tell her sister was looking at the mansion with an eye to its future appearance.

"I love this place," Angelica muttered. "If only it was feasible to return it to its original use." She shook her head, looking wistful.

"You've got big bucks," Tricia commented.

"I do, but what would I do, one person living in so large a home? Besides, the older I get, the less I want or need."

Tricia was beginning to think that way herself. She looked at her watch: 6:10. If they wanted to be out before the workers showed up, they'd better start their inspection. She said so.

Angelica approached the lockbox hanging from the dull brass handle on the big oak door, punched in the code, and removed the key to the former palace, unlocking the door and letting them in. Antonio must have given her the combination to the electronic lock. Tricia hadn't visited the building since Angelica's initial walk-through almost a year before. Everything took so long. Permits, zoning, architectural plans. She'd been told that the future NR offices had actually been put on an accelerated schedule. Even so, the timeline for finishing the job was almost a month away.

Dust caked every surface. Where it had come from was anyone's guess. Random lumber and metal framing materials were piled in what had once been the home's grand foyer. It would be a shame if the beautiful marble floors were covered instead of being restored.

"I thought we should start on the second floor and work our way down," Angelica said, and headed for the grand staircase.

"They're not going to...

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Verlag
Penguin Publishing Group
Erscheinungsdatum
2024
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0593549422
ISBN 13 
9780593549421
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
320
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
preigu
mail@preigu.de

Lengericher Landstr. 19
Osnabrück
49078
Deutschland

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