Little Bookshop of Murder by Maggie Blackburn

Author:Maggie Blackburn
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: CROOKED LANE BOOKS

* * *

It had been a day since Agatha announced it loudly at the bookstore that she’d inherited the first editions. So far, nobody had stalked her, made an offer, attacked her, or set her house on fire. Thank the Universe.

Yesterday’s outing had been too much for Summer, so she’d stayed home today. But that didn’t mean she couldn’t continue her investigating.

She scribbled down the motives.

1. Wanting the bookstore

2. Wanting the first editions

Those were the only two motives she could imagine. If there was another one, she had no clue.

Trouble was, those motives didn’t give Summer much. Henry was the only person who’d expressed an interest in both the bookstore and the first editions. He was annoying and a cad, evidently, but was he a killer?

Summer reached for her laptop and keyed in his name. A string of things came up, mostly related to his teaching. He had a website and a blog. She clicked on it and read it over. The man was a good writer. He wrote about his students and his life as a teacher and on St. Brigid. Nothing about first editions or the bookstore. Nothing leading Summer to believe that he harbored dark murderous tendencies.

But it wasn’t that simple. Most murder victims knew their killers. And if it was clear that they were killers, nobody would let them into their lives. People were complex.

She clicked on to another site where students rate their teachers. She knew it well, as she’d been rated there. Not one bad review on Henry. That in itself was suspicious.

She clicked on the Beach Reads Bookstore website—then to the Mermaid Pie Book Club page—and there they were, with his arm draped over her mother. Hildy was grinning but looking off to the side. What was she looking at? His gaze fell on her.

A tingle traveled up her spine. Was Henry sleeping with her mother? He was Summer’s age. Could it be? Her mom had never gone for younger men, but that didn’t mean she hadn’t changed her mind.

She texted Piper. “Was Mom sleeping with Henry?”

While she waited on the response, she checked out Henry’s Facebook page. Typical stuff. Yes, he was friends with her mom, but he was also friends with everybody else in the book club. So that didn’t mean a thing. She scanned his friend list and stopped on Cash. There he was in all his glory. She couldn’t help herself. She clicked on him.

He was married to Sonya. Summer didn’t recognize her. Had two kids. He still looked good. In fact, it looked as though he hadn’t aged at all. The children were healthy and beautiful. A wistful pang swept through her. This could have been her life. Staying on the island, being Cash’s wife, bearing his children.

Thank God she left when she did. Her life in Staunton was far from perfect, but she’d needed to leave this island when she did. And she didn’t regret it—except for the lack of time she’d gotten to spend with her mom.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.