Murder at the Bookstore
by Sue Minix
(London: Avon, 2023)
People watching is a necessary activity for a writer.
Page 1.
Aletha had named her bookstore Ravenous Readers with the hope Riddleton actually had some. She’d lined the walls with hand-hewn cherry bookcases, giving the place the feel of some rich guy’s private library. Carved wooden plaques identified genres in alphabetical order form Art to Writing.
Page 4.
People in small towns can be weird. It takes them a while to warm up to new things, but once they do, you can’t get rid of ‘em.
Page 5.
Just once, I’d love to meet a man who didn’t assume he knew what I needed.
Page 8.
The one-horse -town mentality also included the belief that someone in need was everyone’s responsibility.
Page 11.
They had to stay that close so they could hear all the gossip.
Page 12.
My experience writing mysteries had taught me people had the capacity to do just about anything.
Page 17.
My instincts encouraged me to quit while behind.
Page 33.
Deep breath in, slow breath out.
Page 49.
Murder presented a momentous opportunity for this tiny town’s scandalmongers.
Page 51.
Deep breath in, slow breath out.
Page 58.
Grief emanated from him like heat waves off a radiator.
Page 67.
Deep breath in, slow breath out.
Page 97.
It seemed I might have been wrong about him after all. That still didn’t mean he killed his wife, though.
Page 110.
Coincidences didn’t work for me when it came to murder.
Page 115.
Deep breath in, slow breath out.
Page 129.
A picture might be worth a thousand words, but it never told the whole story.
Page 145.
Dishonesty had become quite natural to me. I’d have to watch that.
Page 150.
‘It’s all circumstantial. It doesn’t mean he killed her.’
Page 152.
Back in high school, I didn’t get me either.
Page 155.
Aletha had transformed everyone she met.
Page 158.
He mussed my hair, a gesture I despised but forgave with reluctance as I smoothed it back down again. I suspected that would turn into a new normal for me when it came to Russell.
Page 165.
He brushed a hair off my forehead. The spot his finger touched tingled.
Page 166.
Russell pulled me up to him. His amused gaze brought fire to my face. His dark eyes sizzled. I held my breath. He leaned toward me until my lips trembled under his gentle kiss.
Page 167.
“I followed Olinski out and ran into the Three Stooges.”
She raised her eyebrows.
“Tim, Marcus, and Russell.”
Page 169.
To Tim, Aletha had left their house with all its furnishings. To Ronald and her other living siblings, she bequeathed various family heirlooms left to her by their parents. After a deep breath, Fiero continued, “And, to my good friend, Jennifer Dawson, I bequeath my bookstore, Ravenous Readers, with all inventories, because I know she loves it the way I do and will carry on the mission I set out to accomplish in Riddleton.”
Page 173.
Deep breath in, slow breath out.
Page 181.
He moved with a cat’s grace quick and sure-footed, and even brought his own corkscrew.
Page 183.
He kissed my knuckles one at a time, and the ensuing shock wave made my toes curl.
Page 187.
Electricity sizzled between us as he covered my mouth with his hand and brushed my lips, scattering promises of more to come. A fireball grew in the region south of my navel.
Page 188.
I avoided his gaze to keep my hormones at bay.
Page 200.
He dropped his arm around my shoulder, which tingled in response.
Page 202.
“If I want to learn anything, I have to go by myself.”
Page 205.
Deep breath in, slow breath out.
Page 206.
Russell pulled the last of his ice cream off the stick with his lips.
Page 207.
I flipped through the regulation bible and guidebook in the nightstand, while Russell flipped through all two-thousand channels on the television.
Page 207.
“Are you crazy?”
I must be, since everyone kept asking me that.
Page 209.
“Everyone thinks they’re invincible until they’re a statistic.”
Page 209.
“The evidence points to you and Tim working together to get rid of his wife.”
Page 211.
Paranoia. My favorite neurosis.
Page 214.
His hair stuck out and little lines from the bedspread crisscrossed his face. My heart tap-danced. I inhaled to slow my breathing. No time for that now.
Page 215.
Deep breath in, slow breath out.
Page 262.
Whoever did this either found what they were looking for, or knew it wasn’t here. That made this place safer than her apartment.
Page 273.
“Somebody thought I had something they wanted. Now they either have it back or know it’s not here.”
Page 278.
Deep breath in, slow breath out.
Page 279.
I didn’t condone rudeness, but some people left me no choice.
Page 285.
Deep breath in, slow breath out.
Page 289.
Deep breath in, slow breath out.
Page 296.
This was my first time staring at a loaded weapon. TV bore no resemblance to reality.
Page 298.
“Tim was right. I was trying to kill him on the boat that day, not Aletha. To force her to pick a new beneficiary. Me. That’s the reason I went to work in the bookstore to begin with. To seduce her, but she wasn’t interested. She loved that idiot husband of hers, God only knows why. But we needed that money to keep Albert out of jail. The loser would probably take me with him.”
Pages 298-299.
Sikazian’s Russell’s father? This was about more than money. Russell wanted his due.
Page 302.
I tucked the gun into my pocket and teetered under the unfamiliar weight. Parenting. The world’s oldest fitness program.
Pages 308-309.
“Russell, everyone’s going to learn how you killed Aletha to get money to cover your embezzlement scheme.”
Page 310.
Smoke curled around his head like devil’s horns.
Page 314.
I flipped off the safety and fired. My hand jerked up. Pain shot through my ears, and the scene morphed into a slow-motion silent movie. My nostrils stank of burned powder, bile coated the back of my throat.
Page 314.
Russell lay sprawled o the floor, head twisted. His empty eyes stared up at me. My stomach spewed bile on the landing.
I’d killed Russell.
Page 315.