This one is hard to rate because it does not fit the cozy format of previous books in the series. Yes, the characters are all there behaving in accord with prior books—until Angelica and Antonio explode into a heavy-handed rejection of Tricia.

There was more violent death than usual, though only involving one regular character. The complete destruction of the character of two of the series' regulars is both shocking and confusing. How is Tricia supposed to go forward knowing that men she's been involved with in the last 10 years have died violent deaths and one is in jail charged with murder? She ought to be feeling self-destructive, rather than business as usual, agreeing to take on the leadership of the Chamber of Commerce as if it were just another day.

I will admit that the ending completely blindsided me. ( )

This Booktown installment follows immediately after the previous book and it is like night and day. Tricia has received two marriage proposals in an afternoon but before she can even consider the first (from Marshall Cambridge( Marshall is run down in the street and dies.

Trying to solve his murder, Tricia uncovers secrets from his past that Marshall kept from her. She is also trying to decide if she wants to be the next Chamber of Commerce president since the last one is no longer around.

So many tangles in the story so that the ending was a complete surprise. ( )

WOW I didn't see that ending coming! Lorna Barrett has done it again with #15 of the Booktown Mystery series! ( )

A Deadly Deletion picks up moments after book fourteen left off: Tricia's received two proposals within ten minutes and before she has time to process either she watches in horror as Marshall is run down in front of her eyes. Reeling from this turn of events and the guilt that she can’t shake when it sinks in she didn’t really love the man everything she thinks she knows is turned upside down when she finds out she never really knew who Marshall was at all. When her nephew’s house burns down Tricia begins to suspect that someone is targeting the Miles family but the question is why? As the pieces finally begin to fall into place our plucky heroine realizes Marshall wasn’t the only one she didn’t know when the killer is yet again someone very close to her!
I love the series but am concerned that pretty soon there won’t be anyone left in the village that isn’t a killer as the author has systematically turned Bob, Franny, Russ and now our latest villager into our villain. If I were Tricia I’d be afraid to leave my bed! ( )

Tricia Miles is already in shock from receiving two marriage proposals within fifteen minutes – one from Marshall Chambers and the other from police chief Grant Baker when Marshall is hit and killed by a pickup truck and it appears to be no accident. Tricia has barely recovered from that shock when she realizes two things: Marshall was not who he seemed to be and someone seems to be targeting her family. Tricia is determined not only to find out the truth about Marshall but who the killer is. What she finds out will be her biggest shock yet.

“A Deadly Deletion” is the excellent fifteenth book in Lorna Barrett’s Booktown Mystery cozy mystery series. A key part of this series has been the relationship Tricia has with her family, particularly her sister Angelica, and her extended family (Mr. Everett and his wife Grace). Tricia’s relationship, while make great strides throughout the series, has always been complicated and it is especially so in this book – Tricia can be a bit cold and prickly at times but I often felt sorry for her during the course of this book. As for the mystery – it is well plotted with plenty of surprises. Barrett has never been afraid to shake things up in her books and she certainly does so in this book – the ending of the book is a shocker that still sits with me even though it has been several days since I finished reading this book.

“A Deadly Deletion” is an excellent cozy mystery. ( )