A Novel Way to Die

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Darla Pettistone may have inherited her great aunt Dee’s Brooklyn bookstore, but it’s the store’s mascot—an oversized black cat named Hamlet—who acts like he owns the place. And when someone turns up dead, Hamlet smells something rotten in Brooklyn…

As the owner of Pettistone’s Fine Books, Darla is settling nicely into her new life, even reaching an uneasy truce with Hamlet. Unfortunately, when she needs to hire a new clerk, the finicky feline decides to lend a paw to the hiring process. He chases away applicants who don’t meet his approval, finally settling on an unlikely candidate: Robert, a book-loving Goth kid who has a secret only Hamlet knows.

And Hamlet can’t seem to stay out of trouble. One of the bookstore’s regular customers, a man who is renovating a local brownstone, claims he’s seen Hamlet prowling the neighborhood. When the man’s business partner is found dead, Darla discovers that Hamlet may have been the only witness to what could be murder. With the crafty cat’s help, she wonders if they just might be able to pounce on a killer…

 “Make sure the new Black Cat Bookshop series is on your bookshelf.”—Elaine Viets, national bestselling author of the Josie Marcus Mystery Shopper Mysteries
"Brandon’s light, easy style welcomes readers into the cozy confines of Pettistone’s Fine Books. … A fun mystery that kept me guessing to the end!"—Rebecca Hale, New York Times bestselling author of the Cats and Curios MysteriesAli Brandon is the pen name for Diane A. S. Stuckart, author of the Leonardo da Vinci Mysteries, as well as several acclaimed historical romances and numerous works of short fiction under the names Alexa Smart and Anna Gerard. Born in the West Texas town of Lubbock, she earned her degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma. She now lives in South Florida with her husband, Gerry, and a menagerie that includes their two orange tabby boys, Butch and Sundance…neither of whom consented to be in her author photo! US

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