Interview with Tricia Miles, Heroine of the Booktown Mystery Series (w/Giveaway)

Interview with Tricia Miles, heroine of the Booktown Mystery series. Tricia’s latest adventure is called BOOK CLUBBED now out in hardcover. (NOT THE KILLING TYPE is now available in paperback.)

Where did you grow up and where do you live now?
I grew up in Stamford, CT and now live in Stoneham, NH. After college, I lived in Manhattan for about 15 years. I like the slower pace of a small town.

What’s your occupation and how did you come to choose it?
I’m a bookseller who specializes in vintage mysteries, although that isn’t all I sell. I sell used books and some new, along with magazines, coffee mugs, etc. I wish I could just sell vintage mysteries, but they are harder and harder to come by and I have two employees, so need that income stream.

What drew you into the mystery?
My grandmother had two loves; reading mysteries and cooking. I inherited the love of reading mysteries, and my sister, Angelica, inherited her love of cooking. So far it’s worked out well for both of us.

Tell us about one of your most memorable “adventures.”
I never planned to become an “amateur sleuth.” Somehow, it just happened when my neighbor was killed and the local Sheriff decided I was the most likely suspect, and all because we had a disagreement and I found her body later that day. Honestly, I’ve read far too many mysteries to know that crime doesn’t pay, and why would I want to put myself on the suspect list? Unfortunately, I seem to have acquired the nickname “village jinx” because I’ve found several bodies.

In my latest adventure (BOOK CLUBBED), my sister, Angelica and I, try to figure out who killed the receptionist at the Chamber of Commerce. This woman led a very interesting life and piecing together all the threads led me to one very shocking conclusion. There were a lot of other shocks along the way, including one about my own family.

Are you married or involved in a serious relationship? Tell us about that.
I’m between relationships right now, not that my ex-husband and ex-lover seem to realize it. I’m happy where I am right now, but everyone around me seems to think I need romantic entanglement. When the time is right, I hope to find that special someone.

What are your plans for the future?
My sister thinks I need to diversify. She has several businesses and thrives on living a rather chaotic life. Me? Not so much. I intend to keep selling books—and trying to stay out of trouble.

The immensely popular Booktown Mystery series is what put Lorna Barrett’s name on the New York Times Bestseller list, but it’s her talent -- whether writing as Lorna, or L.L. Bartlett, or Lorraine Bartlett -- that keeps her there. This multi-published, Agatha-nominated author pens the exciting Jeff Resnick Mysteries as well as the acclaimed Victoria Square Mystery series and the Tales of Telenia saga, and has many short stories and novellas to her name(s). Check out the descriptions and links to all her works, and sign up for her emailed newsletter here: http://www.LornaBarrett.com/

Now out in Hardcover: BOOK CLUBBED, Booktown Mystery #9.

Now out in paperback: NOT THE KILLING TYPE, Booktown Mystery #8.

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Blurb: New York Times bestselling author Lorna Barrett is back in town—Booktown, that is—with another page-turning mystery. This time bookstore owner Tricia Miles and her sister, Angelica, put their own problems on the shelf to catch a killer who turns a bookcase into a murder weapon….

Cranky Chamber of Commerce receptionist Betsy Dittmeyer is done reading people the riot act. After she’s crushed by a fallen bookcase, the next item to be read is her last will and testament—which is packed with surprises. It soon comes to light that Betsy was hiding volumes of dark secrets behind that perpetual frown of hers—and one of them just might have been a motive for murder.

While Tricia tries to help Angelica—the newly elected Chamber of Commerce president and Betsy’s boss—solve the mystery, she discovers a hidden chapter in her own family history that rocks her to her very core. And with her ex-husband and the chief of police vying for her affections, it’s doubly hard to focus on who might have buried Betsy in a tomb of tomes.

But as Tricia and Angelica try to read between the lines, they need to watch their step…and make sure the killer doesn’t catch them between the stacks.

Giveaway: Leave a comment by noon eastern on Friday, July 11th for the chance to win a copy of Book Clubbed. (US entries only, please.)