It’s almost Fourth of July, and to boost customer traffic in their Brooklyn neighborhood, bookseller Darla Pettistone decides to throw a block party. All the local shop owners are thrilled—except the proprietor of Perky’s Coffee Shop, who thinks Darla is trying to poach his customers by selling her own caffeinated brew in her new bookshop café.
But when Hamlet comes upon the owner’s not-so-perky wife, it’s clear a killer has crashed the party. And when a second local business owner shuffles off this mortal coil—as Hamlet’s namesake would say—Darla and her curious cat must perform some fancy footwork to shine a spotlight on a secret worth killing for…[summary via Amazon]
Since the very first Black Cat Bookshop Mystery, I have been smitten with Hamlet, the black cat in this series. He is feisty, fun and he has a host of humans at his beck and call. Those humans sometimes get up to adventures too!!
In their fifth adventure, Darla, and the shops in her neighbourhood, are organizing a block party. They're hoping to bring new shoppers to the neighbourhood, and celebrate the 4th of July at the same time. The day looks to be a perfect day, that is until Hamlet discovers the dead body of one of the owners of the local coffee shop. Who would kill the quiet wife of the boisterous Coffee King? It's up to Darla and Hamlet to put their nose to the crime and find the clues!!
I love this series! Books within books? Check! Adorable cat? Check! Memorable characters? Check! A great whodunnit? Check! It honestly has it all, and I'll be very sad when I read the last book the series. Thankfully Plot Boiler isn't the last book!!
The mystery itself was really interesting. I didn't guess who the killer was before Darla, even though looking back the author did lay a few clues down. The killer's identity totally blew me away. I read 50+ mysteries a year, and so this is hard to do! I definitely was surprised, which made me enjoy the mystery even more!!
I'm very much a character-driven reader and I love the characters in this series. They've grown and changed since the first book. Barista Robert, with his "goth dude" love for Hamlet is so adorable!! And, our amateur sleuth, Darla? She has settled into her life, as a bookstore owner, and life with "Hammy", and I like that she is her own woman. Maybe if the right man came along, but being in a relationship isn't central for her. I like that the author hasn't tried to fit her into common tropes in other series, like making a romance between the sleuth and detective. It's very refreshing.
I simply adore this series so much!!! Plot Boiler was another great addition and I can't wait to read the next book in the series.
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