"Bookstore mayhem and murder"

Once again Helen is working a dead-end job that allows her to be paid in cash under the table. She is hiding out from the law and her ex-husband.

This time she's working at Page Turners Bookstore. With her love of books, she thought this would be the perfect job. Wrong. Not only is the caliber of customers low, but her boss, Page Turner III, is the pits. Plus the stores appear to be on a downward spiral.

Her apartment complex, The Coronado Tropic Apartments, become infested with termites. The residents are all forced to move out for the weekend while the complex is tented and bombed.

Her landlady treats Helen to an enjoyable weekend at the beach. Her new boyfriend, Dr. Rich, comes to spend it with her.

But, when they return to the Coronado, they find Page Turner III dead with a knife in his back, on a bed in one of the apartments. How could this happen? Did anyone at the Coronado even know him? Plus, the apartments had been locked down and tented.

Suspects are not is short supply. Helen's friend Peggy is arrested. Apparently she had been engaged to Page some time before and had threatened him. Helen investigates to help get Peggy released. She feels Peggy knows something but won't tell her. Could it have been his wife, one of the female authors he took advantage of, or one of Helen's co-workers?

I really enjoy this series. Helen is a lot of fun, and the characters she works and lives with always add to the story. Fort Lauderdale is a terrific setting, too. There are plenty of twists and turns before the killer is revealed so that it is not easy to figure out who the killer is.

This series is a great cozy series. I highly recommend it.

Reviewed by Dawn Dowdle
Posted June 28, 2005

Summary

Helen has a new job "off the books" at Page Turners bookstore in Fort Lauderdale...until the owner is murdered. But since the arrogant Page Turner III had so many enemies, Helen will have to read between the lines to uncover the truth about a clever killer.