Death of a Tart: 5

By Kate Borden

Book Overview

First in a new series. Single mother Peggy Jean Turner succeeds her late husband as mayor of the New England town of Cobb's Landing. The town becomes a tourist attraction as a colonial village, but when the town tart is murdered, Mayor P.J. must find the killer. Original.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0425194892
• ISBN13: 9780425194898
• Release Date: March 2004
• Publisher: Berkley Books
• Length: 197 Pages
• Weight: 0.26 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.2" x 6.9"

Customer Reviews

Death of a Tart

Fun little murder mystery! The town of Cobbs Landing is a typical New England village with a history and a bunch of local characters from the chief of Police to the Peggy the town's mayor and hardware store owner. Peggy and Lovey (Peggy's neighbor and dearest friend) are amature sleuths and they love to find "trouble", from a Pumkin float, and the high schools missing skeleton. A great halloween read!

Cute and Fun Cozy Mystery

The atmosphere is cozy. Peggy Jean is the main character. She is the town's mayor. She lives with her ten-year-old son, Nicky. She is a good mother and spends as much time as she can with her son. I admire their relationship. They live next door to their best friends, Lavinia and Chuck, and son Charlie. The two families have a good relationship with each other; Peggy Jean and Lavinia are best friends; Nicky and Charlie are best friends. They live in a New England town that needs to be revived. Max shows up to reform it into a colonial, historical town and everybody has to wear costumes. The mystery/plot was very clever, fun, and interesting. "Death of a Tart" is the first book of the series. Next books are "Death of a Trickster" and "Death of a Turkey". This series is absolutley the coziest, and the most superb, series I have ever read in my life. Each book keeps getting better and cozier, even though you don't think a book can get any better. Kate Borden is the most wonderful, most awesome, and most magnificent author I have ever encountered.

Cute new series

I really was unsure of this book when I picked it up, but it was definitely worth the read. Its got great characters and a fun, fast-paced plot. And Ian is a simplpy a dream-boat - sure hope he and Peggy continue on in the next book! I will agree with one of the other reviewers that I thought the whole "Colonial village" thing went off too smoothly. I was also expecting it to crash on their heads - I was glad it didn't, but still. I actually can see why the town would go along though...Max is a smooth talker and added to that the town desperately needed something...people will believe anything if they want it to be true badly enough. And the Missy character...what was her point exactly? Will she be back to cause more trouble? She just kind of disappeared mid-story. Anyway, I recommend this book and look forward to more that I hope can live up and then surpass this one. But a good solid first mystery.

Real cute easy read

This is a cute and easy read. Has some gret characters in the series and they are fun to read about. Look forward to other instalments in this series.

A fine New England amateur sleuth cozy.

The town of Cobb's Landing New England is on the downhill slide thanks to a lack of money to keep the place running at peak capacity. Mayor Peggy Jean Turner (P.J.) has no money to give the teachers a much needed raise or to update the equipment in the police department. Max heroically rides into town, buys the bank and offers a brilliant idea to fill the town coffers.He wants to turn the town into a colonial village, a New England Williamsburg. Max is so enthusiastic and such a positive speaker that the residents unanimously adopt his ideas. Of course Max is a business man first so he makes the residents take out loans to cover their share of the renovations. When Selma runs into P.J. at the post office, she says she has something to tell her about Max and they should meet that night by the town cemetery. Selma doesn't show and the next day her body is found at the unused water mill. Believing she was murdered, P.J. starts her own investigation and finds herself at the mercy of an insane killer.DEATH OF A TART is an upbeat whimsical tale of small town living wrapped around a murder mystery. Just like an official police investigation, P.J. slowly connects the clues until she figures out who the perpetrator is. The townsfolk are a jolly lot as they see prosperity coming their way after years of trying to make ends meet. Though why P.J. and not the police investigated the crime is a myteery, fans will appreciate the talent of Kate Borden, who provides a fine New England amateur sleuth cozy.Harriet Klausner