Murder Goes to Market
-
- $9.99
-
- $9.99
Publisher Description
Claudia Simcoe has left the tech world of San Francisco to start a new, quiet life in the peaceful coastal town of San Elmo Bay. Now she owns a market specializing in artisanal, locally-made goods. But then Lori Roth, one of her market’s vendors, is strangled to death with a wire. And all of a sudden San Elmo stops seeming so peaceful. Especially when suspicion for the murder falls upon Claudia.
Things don’t get any simpler when a second victim turns up. The body count is rising, and Police Chief Lennox thinks Claudia’s the killer. There’s friction between her and her weirdo neighbor. Lori’s past yields some worrisome questions. A massive pickle jar seems to have played a role in the murder. And as if things weren’t complicated enough, Officer Derek Chambers, Chief Lennox’s new hire, is pretty cute.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in the seaside town of San Elmo, Calif., Bateman's entertaining debut and series launch introduces former software engineer Claudia Simcoe, who now runs a marketplace for independent businesses selling "local and/or artisanal" products. Claudia has the unsavory task of confronting Lori Roth, owner of Lori's Handmade Creations, when she discovers that Lori's merchandise is in fact made in factories and available online at significantly cheaper prices. The next morning, Claudia arrives to open the marketplace and finds Lori dead, hit on the head with a pickle jar and garroted with a cheese-slicing wire. Unfortunately for Claudia, police chief Bill Lennox, a "man with a face like a disappointed frog," wants to pin the death on her. Evidence starts stacking up, and Claudia has no choice but to investigate on her own. Another death raises the stakes. Claudia's lively and often highly amusing narration presents plausible potential suspects and motives galore all this plus intelligent furry and feathered friends. Cozy fans will eagerly await Claudia's next adventure.
