By the Book Mysteries

Don't miss the first book in a brand-new gripping and hilarious bookish cozy mystery series by author Tamara Berry! Bestselling thriller writer Tess Harrow is almost at the end of her rope when she arrives with her teenage daughter at her grandfather's rustic cabin in the woods. She hopes this will be a time for them to heal and bond after Tess's recent divorce, but they've barely made it through the door when an explosion shakes the cabin. Suddenly it's raining fish guts and...is that a human arm? Tess was hardly convincing Gertie that a summer without Wi-Fi and running water would be an adventure. Now she's thrust into a murder investigation, neighbors are saying they've spotted Bigfoot in the woods near her cabin, and the local sheriff is the spitting image of her character Detective Gabriel Gonzales-something he's less than thrilled about. With so much more than her daughter's summer plans at stake, it's up to Tess to solve this case before anyone else gets hurt. Put your sleuthing hat on-Buried in a Good Book features: • A thriller writer who knows way more than anyone should about death and dismemberment • Her young daughter who's more intrigued by dead bodies than she probably should be • An isolated cabin in the woods that's probably-definitely-hiding something • The tiny mountain town that seems less than troubled by a sudden abundance of murders

2023 EDGAR AWARD NOMINEE, LILIAN JACKSON BRAUN PRIZE for Buried in a Good Book "In 'Keystone Kops'–style scenes set around the morgue, a muddy mountain, and the hardware store, bones and books disappear and reappear…[On Spine of Death] is a quirky story for those who enjoy funny cozies."-Library Journal Bestselling author Tess Harrow and her teenage daughter Gertrude have decided to make Winthrop their home. Their cabin is fixed up and now they're turning to the family hardware store that Tess inherited from her late grandfather into the town's first independent bookstore. But when renovations unearth bones from a cold case and send them toppling-literally-onto Tess's head, the work comes to a grinding halt. With the whole town convinced that her grandfather was a serial killer, Tess has to call in a fellow horror author for reinforcements. Together, they'll come up with a perfect story to make all the clues fit…and solve a mystery more than thirty years in the making.

2023 Edgar Award Nominee, Lilian Jackson Braun Prize for Buried in a Good Book Author Tess Harrow is looking to get back in the town of Winthrop's good graces after she uncovered not one, but two long-forgotten murders. With the perfect plan of combining her new book release with her bookstore's grand opening she'll have the chance to wine and dine the locals and some big press contacts. But the night before the party, Tess is greeted by a surprise: her mother has come for a visit, with her much-younger new boyfriend in tow…a boyfriend her daughter Gertrude recognizes as the notorious Levi Parker, a man recently connected to the deaths of three elderly widows. Tess immediately alerts Sheriff Boyd about Levi and his suspicious past, but it's already too late-Levi Parker is found dead and Tess's mother is starting to look like the prime suspect. Bernadette swears she didn't murder Levi, and Tess is doing her best to maintain her mother's innocence, but too many coincidences keep stacking up. With the whole town seemingly against her family, it's up to Tess to get to the bottom of the story before it's too late.