If Books Could Kill - Hardcover

by Karen Rose Smith (Author)

Daisy Swanson's daughter Jazzi has moved away to the lakeside town of Belltower Landing, but the apple doesn't fall from the tree. Much like Daisy, she's running a tea bar and bookshop--and has a knack for getting into hot water...

Town librarian Mathilda has a troublesome new emplROSEoyee, and after Jazzi spots the two of them arguing at the ice-sculpture festival, Mathilda asks Jazzi if she'd mind discussing her workplace woes over a cup of tea. During the visit, Jazzi also finds out about Mathilda's top-secret stash of valuable first editions.

Soon afterward, those rare books have vanished--and Mathilda is dead. As the police check out suspects and a lawyer searches for the next of kin, Jazzi learns that the librarian's life was as mysterious as any crime thriller. She'd left home and changed her name as a teenager, and always seemed a little lonely. Oddly, it's her new employee who seems the most distraught.

It's the off-season, so the upstate New York town is free of the usual swarm of tourists--but the quiet doesn't last long. The press is descending as the murder makes national news, and rumors start circulating. With Belltower Landing steeped in suspicion, Jazzi must figure out whether the first editions were the real motive for sending Mathilda to her final resting place...

Author Biography

Karen Rose Smith is the author of the new Jazzi Swanson Mysteries, the Daisy's Tea Garden Mysteries, the Caprice De Luca Home-Staging Mysteries, and the Tomes & Tea Mystery Series. Married to her college sweetheart, Karen has convinced her husband that felines can make purr-fect housemates. They share their home in the Susquehanna Valley of Pennsylvania with their three rescued cats. For more about Karen, please visit her online at KarenRoseSmithMysteries.com.