Charli Rae Warren doesn’t plan on striking it rich as the owner of an independent bookstore in Hazel Rock, Texas—especially one with a pink armadillo as its mascot. But when an ingenious advertising campaign puts her business on the map, it ropes in some deadly publicity . . .
Charli can’t believe writer Lucy Barton has agreed to promote her latest Midnight Poet Society novel at The Book Barn Princess—or that there’s only a week-and-a-half to prepare for the signing. It’s all because of The Book Seekers, a smartphone app created by her cousin Jamal exclusively for Charli’s bookstore, which sends fans on a virtual scavenger hunt around town for a chance to meet the bestselling author. But as soon as it goes live, people turn up dead . . .
Someone’s using The Book Seekers to track victims and copycat the fictional Midnight Poet Society homicides, and horrified locals suspect Jamal could be the mastermind behind the crimes. While Charli readies the Barn for a stampede of new customers, it’ll take true grit to shelve the culprit before her brainy cousin gets locked behind bars, Ms. Barton backs out of the visit, and she finds herself up a creek—with a serial killer holding the paddle!
Perilous Poetry is the third book in the Book Barn mystery series. It's also the first book which I've read in the series and all necessary back-story was written into the story. I didn't have any trouble following the characters or finding out how they related to one another.
The characters are well written and fleshed out. The story itself is appealing. There are some quirky characteristics which some readers might find annoying. Scarlet (the main character's best friend) constantly says O.M.W. which is apparently shorthand for Oh, My Word, even though OMW has more syllables and takes longer to say than oh, my word (or just my word, or heck, change it up and say my stars and garters occasionally). For a cozy, the murders are fairly graphic. Not extremely so, or offputting, but somewhat out there. One of the plot elements has to do with a phone app, and the language and characterizations of the coders/computer geeks bordered on 'too much'. The main character is also distractingly damsel-in-distress-ish.
It's a cozy mystery romance, so obviously there aren't long passages of difficult dialogue and depressing themes. It's cozy. It's lightly romantic. It's wholesome. I really loved the pet armadillo (and bonus points to the author for tossing an obligatory message in there about people not owning exotic animals, well done).
If I get to a lull in my TBR pile, I'll check out the previous books in the series.
Three stars
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher.
