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Product Description The New York Times bestselling author of Plot Boiler takes us back to Pettistone’s Fine Books, where Hamlet the cat isn’t the only shadowy figure lurking around the Brooklyn brownstone… As Thanksgiving approaches, Darla Pettistone is preparing for the busiest shopping season of the year. They’ve recently launched their online store, where one anonymous bidder is offering a suspiciously high price for an antique book—and Darla doesn’t need Hamlet’s special senses to know that something isn’t quite right. However, there’s no time to think about that after Darla’s roped into helping bridezilla Connie Capello get ready for her big day. After looking at wedding dresses, Darla and Connie head to an antique store to find her “something old”—but they find someone dead instead. When Darla learns that the shop carried a copy of the book that her mysterious bidder is after, she suspects she’ll need Hamlet’s help to discover who penned the poor soul’s final chapter, before someone else is read their last rites… Review Praise for the Black Cat Bookshop Mysteries “A charming, cozy read, especially if cats are your cup of tea.”—Elaine Viets, national bestselling author of Checked Out “A fun mystery that kept me guessing to the end!”—Rebecca M. Hale, New York Times bestselling author of How to Catch a Cat “Ali Brandon has designed an amazing bookstore.”—Open Book Society “Catnip for whodunit aficionados.”— Richmond Times-Dispatch “I can’t get enough of Hamlet.”—Socrates’ Book Reviews About the Author Ali Brandon is the New York Times bestselling author of the Black Cat Bookshop Mysteries, and, writing under her real name, Diane A.S. Stuckart, penned the popular Leonardo da Vinci historical mystery series. She is a member of Mystery Writers of America and the Cat Writers' Association, as well as caretaker to three spoiled felines. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. one "Oh my Gawd, Darla, you gotta help me! My wedding gown I custom-ordered finally showed up. I did a fitting last night and, Darla, it was horrible!" The nasal Jersey tones emanating from Darla Pettistone's cell phone belonged to Connie Capello, the brash Snooki wannabe who had an irritating tendency to refer to herself as the future Mrs. Fiorello Reese. The self-bestowed title had been moderately amusing the first few times Darla had heard it. But in the four-plus months since Connie's engagement to Darla's ex-almost-boyfriend, NYPD Detective Reese, she had grown a bit weary of the joke. Suppressing a sigh, Darla stepped away from the counter where her bookstore manager, Professor James T. James, was busy ringing up an order. Conversations with Connie tended to drag on. Since Darla was the eponymous owner of Pettistone's Fine Books-a converted Brooklyn brownstone that featured the bookstore on two levels, and her own apartment on the third-she put particular stock in presenting a professional image in front of her customers. Personal phone calls were to be kept to a minimum during business hours. "Slow down, Connie," she urged, even as she wondered why the woman was unloading on her, and not on one of her twelve-or was it thirteen?-bridesmaids. She and Connie were really no more than acquaintances, not BFFs who paged through bridal magazines together. "It's probably just pre-wedding jitters that make you feel like that," she continued. "You showed me the sketch back in September, and it was a truly lovely dress." "Yeah, well, it ain't lovely on. I swear I looked like a freakin' cow in it!" Darla highly doubted that last. The woman was almost as tall as Darla's best friend, the six-foot-tall ex-cop-turned-private-investigator, Jacqueline "Jake" Martelli. And, in Darla's opinion, Connie was in perpetual need of a Big Mac or three to fatten her up. Still, she could hear the tears in Connie's voice, meaning that the bovine illusion was definitely real to her. "It's really awful," the woman rag