Board to Death

June 15, 2023
The mood at a board game shop darkens when the owner's son is implicated in the death of a regular. Though he's not feeling great about his divorce from his husband, Ben Rosencrantz doesn't think leaving his career as an English professor marks him as failure. His quiet, humble demeanor wasn't the best fit for academia. So while he misses his students, he's OK with being back in Salt Lake City to help his ailing father run Of Dice and Decks, the family board game shop. And the shop isn't exactly a failure either, though it's having growing pains as the Sugar House neighborhood gets more expensive while board games don't. Ben enjoys the weekly Nertz crew, the familiarity of the regulars, and a budding friendship with the boy-next-store Ezra McCaslin, who owns McCaslin's Flowers & Events--though he's sure their friendship will probably grow to nothing more. Ben doesn't love all the shop regulars--there's a wide range of gamers--and people like the abrasive Clive Newton, who shows up and tries to offload a vintage game at a too-good-to-be-true price, make him want to crawl back into his shell. Ben's nervous acquiescence in life ends when Clive is stabbed at the store's front door. He worries how this might look to detectives investigating the case, particularly when a backpack full of cash appears on the doorstep soon after Clive's demise. In a departure from the norm, Det. Louise Shelley is far from convinced that Ben's involved in Clive's death. But when Ben learns that the case could grow cold without leads, he's determined to find at least one potential suspect. Assisted by Ezra, who may not be content being just Ben's friend, he examines the culture surrounding the shop for clues. Like its protagonist, this debut's quiet charm offers something different and special.

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June 19, 2023
Connor’s sweet yet slight debut combines a tender romance with an underwhelming mystery. Nearing 30 and recovering from a divorce, Ben Rosencrantz leaves his position as an English professor to accept a job at his father’s board game emporium in Salt Lake City. Seedy local Clive Newton enters the shop one afternoon and offers to sell Ben a rare and valuable edition of The Landlord’s Game, a prototype for Monopoly. Suspicious of Clive’s low asking price, Ben turns the offer down. A few hours later, after the shop has closed, Ben hears someone knocking, and upon opening the door finds Clive with a knife sticking out of his chest. Fearing he might wind up a suspect in Clive’s murder, Ben sets out to find the real perpetrator, with the help of handsome flower shop owner Ezra McCaslin. The two fall for each other as they descend into the cutthroat subculture of board game collecting. Clive and Ezra’s chemistry is palpable, but the stakes of their investigation are low, and there’s very little sleuthing. This is for cozy fanciers who prefer a charming romance to a crafty whodunit. Agent: Jessica Faust, BookEnds Literary.