Booktown Mysteries in Order (Lorna Barrett)

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Imagine a whole New Hampshire village where nearly every shop on Main Street sells books. That is Stoneham, the setting of Lorna Barrett’s Booktown Mysteries, and it is about as cozy as a premise gets. Tricia Miles runs Haven’t Got a Clue, a mystery bookstore with a cat named Miss Marple, and her bossy, big-hearted older sister Angelica runs a cookbook store and a café just down the street. Somehow, Stoneham’s murder rate keeps up with its book sales.

The series began in 2008 and is still going strong, with the twentieth book released this fall. Here is every Booktown Mystery in order, with a short, spoiler-free note on each, plus where to start, the cast you will meet and what to read next.

Booktown Mysteries in Order

1. Murder Is Binding (2008). Tricia Miles has just opened her mystery bookstore in Stoneham when she finds the owner of the cookbook shop next door stabbed, and she lands on the suspect list herself. A quick, breezy start that sets up the town, the shops and the sisters.
2. Bookmarked for Death (2009). A bestselling author is found dead in the washroom of Tricia’s own shop, and the police are not sure it was natural. A fun look at the author-tour circus from the bookseller’s side of the table.
3. Bookplate Special (2009). Tricia finally sends a freeloading former college roommate packing, and soon afterward the woman is found dead. This one earned an Agatha Award nomination for Best Novel.
4. Chapter & Hearse (2010). An explosion at a local history bookshop leaves one person dead and Angelica’s boyfriend injured, and his evasive answers make Tricia start asking questions. Good for readers who enjoy small-town business rivalries.
5. Sentenced to Death (2011). A friend of Tricia’s dies in what everyone calls a freak accident, and Tricia cannot let it go. A more personal, emotional entry.
6. Murder on the Half Shelf (2012). A woman is found dead near Stoneham’s new bed-and-breakfast, and her husband turns out to be someone from Tricia’s past she thought she would never see again. A twisty one with plenty of history behind it.
7. Not the Killing Type (2013). Chamber of Commerce elections bring out the worst in Stoneham, and when Angelica’s rival is murdered, Tricia has to protect her sister. Small-town politics at its pettiest and most entertaining.
8. Book Clubbed (2014). The Chamber’s prickly receptionist is crushed by a falling bookcase, and her will holds surprises for more than one Stoneham resident. Expect some family secrets for the Miles sisters too.
9. A Fatal Chapter (2015). Out walking Angelica’s dog, Tricia finds the local historical society’s president collapsed in the town gazebo. A classic village-mystery setup with a historical-society twist.
10. Title Wave (2016). With her store closed for repairs, Tricia joins Angelica on a mystery-themed cruise, and naturally a passenger is murdered. A change of scenery that works well as a vacation read.
11. A Just Clause (2017). Tricia’s long-absent father, a charming con man, turns up in Stoneham just as trouble follows him into a murder case. Big for the family storyline, so read it in order if you can.
12. Poisoned Pages (2018). Tricia cooks every dish for her own housewarming party, so when a guest is poisoned, suspicion lands close to home. A good pick for readers who like a kitchen in their cozy.
13. A Killer Edition (2019). Tricia overhears a romance bookseller arguing with a neighbor, and a few hours later the neighbor is found dead in the bookseller’s garden. Plenty of suspects and good-natured gossip.
14. Handbook for Homicide (2020). Tricia’s assistant manager, Pixie, finds a body behind the store, and Pixie’s colorful past makes her the obvious suspect. A treat for fans of this scene-stealing secondary character.
15. A Deadly Deletion (2021). A happy moment for Tricia turns into a tragedy close to home, and she becomes a target herself. One of the darker, more emotional books, best read after the earlier ones.
16. Clause of Death (2022). The sisters are running the Chamber of Commerce together while Stoneham’s merchants feud, and then a local bookseller is murdered. Booktown politics at full boil.
17. A Questionable Character (2023). A worker is found dead inside the old mansion Angelica has just bought as a company headquarters. A good one for fans of creaky old houses and renovation drama.
18. A Controversial Cover (2024). A children’s author returns to her hometown for a library event, her signing is disrupted, and soon she is dead. Library lovers will enjoy the setting.
19. A Perilous Plot (2025). The sisters’ mother arrives in Stoneham with an urn that is not quite what it seems, pulling the family into another mystery. Funny, awkward and full of family drama.
20. A Critical Conjunction (2026). Tricia and Angelica buy a struggling stoneware shop together, only to find the store ransacked and its former owner dead. The newest Booktown mystery, out September 29, 2026.

Years are first US publication, checked against the publisher’s (Penguin Random House / Berkley) book pages and FantasticFiction. Some later books came out in hardcover first, with the paperback about a year later, so you may see a later year on some editions. The reading order is the same everywhere.

Meet Tricia, Angelica and the Booktown Crowd

Tricia Miles leaves her old city life behind to open the mystery bookstore she always wanted in Stoneham. She is thoughtful, a little reserved and very good at noticing what other people miss, which is a problem when bodies keep turning up near her. Her cat, Miss Marple, rules the shop.

Her older sister Angelica soon becomes the heart of the series. She runs the Cookery, a cookbook store, and the Booked for Lunch café, and she quietly grows a much bigger business empire around town. The push and pull between the two sisters, who start out more prickly than close, is one of the most rewarding threads in the books. You will also get to know Tricia’s loyal employees, gentle Mr. Everett and the irrepressible Pixie, plus local lawman Grant Baker.

Is Stoneham a Real Book Town?

Not exactly. Stoneham is fictional, but the idea is real. Lorna Barrett has said the town is an American take on Hay-on-Wye, the little town in Wales famous for its dozens of secondhand bookshops. If you love the idea of a book-lined Main Street, you will also enjoy our list of cozy mysteries set in bookshops and libraries.

Do You Need to Read Them in Order?

Each mystery is wrapped up by the end of the book, so you can pick up any title and enjoy it. But the relationships change a lot over twenty books: Tricia and Angelica’s bond, Tricia’s romances, Angelica’s business plans and some big family arrivals all build from one book to the next. A Just Clause and A Deadly Deletion in particular hit much harder if you have read what came before. We recommend reading in order.

Where Should I Start?

Murder Is Binding (2008) is the natural first stop. It introduces Tricia, her shop, Miss Marple and Stoneham itself. If you want a taste of the series at its most fun first, Title Wave (the mystery cruise) works well as a stand-alone vacation read. Already caught up? A Critical Conjunction is the brand-new release.

If You Like the Booktown Mysteries

Bookish cozies are a whole shelf of their own. Try the Death on Demand mysteries for another mystery bookstore owner, the Library Lover’s Mysteries for a small-town library director, and the Cat in the Stacks mysteries for a librarian with a very large cat. Cat lovers should also browse our best cozy mysteries with cats.

FAQ

How many Booktown Mysteries are there?
There are 20 books, from Murder Is Binding (2008) to A Critical Conjunction (2026).

What is the newest Booktown Mystery?
A Critical Conjunction, book 20, published September 29, 2026. No book 21 has been announced as of October 2026. We will update this page when one is.

Where are the Booktown Mysteries set?
In Stoneham, a fictional New Hampshire village that reinvented itself as a “book town” full of specialty bookstores. The author has said it was inspired by Hay-on-Wye in Wales.

Is Lorna Barrett a pen name?
Yes. Lorna Barrett is a pen name of author Lorraine Bartlett, who also writes as L.L. Bartlett and under her own name.

Which Stoneham shop would you visit first? Follow The Teacup Sleuth on Facebook for new series guides, reading lists and cozy mystery chat, and tell us your favorite Booktown book!

Sources

For reading order and publication years on this page our source of record is Penguin Random House’s Booktown Mystery series page. We checked the newest entries on this page against it on 27 October 2026. Books that are announced but have no confirmed release date are marked as such rather than given a year. If anything here is out of date, tell us in the comments and we will fix it.

Keep reading: Library Lover’s Mysteries in order · cozy mysteries set in bookshops and libraries · Cat in the Stacks in order · every cozy series in order (full index)