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In a trendy Salt Lake City, Utah, neighborhood, Ben Rosencrantz’s board game shop has become a community hotspot for players of all ages—and for killer collectors.
Back in his hometown of Sugar House, running his family’s board game shop and café, Ben Rosencrantz just can’t seem to get his life to pass go, much less collect $200. Once he was a happily married English professor in Seattle. Now he’s a divorced caregiver, looking after his ill father and a Chihuahua named Beans while still figuring out the rules of retail management. At least the town has become more LGBTQ+ friendly than when Ben was a teenager—and that flower shop owner, Ezra McCaslin, enjoys flirting with him.
But despite his usual clientele of gamers, Ben is barely earning enough to keep the store running and stay on top of his father’s medical bills. Then a local toy and game collector named Clive offers him a winning strategy—to purchase a turn-of-the-twentieth-century edition of The Landlord’s Game, the realty and taxation game that inspired Monopoly, at a tenth of the rare edition’s true value. Suspicious of Clive’s shady, low-priced deal, Ben turns the offer down.
Then Clive turns up dead at the front door of Ben’s shop and a backpack full of $100 bills appears on his doorstep. Now Ben is the #1 suspect in Clive’s death, and unless he and Ezra can prove his innocence and find the real killer, he’ll go to jail for murder—and no amount of double dice rolls will set him free . . .
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Back in his hometown of Sugar House, running his family’s board game shop and café, Ben Rosencrantz just can’t seem to get his life to pass go, much less collect $200. Once he was a happily married English professor in Seattle. Now he’s a divorced caregiver, looking after his ill father and a Chihuahua named Beans while still figuring out the rules of retail management. At least the town has become more LGBTQ+ friendly than when Ben was a teenager—and that flower shop owner, Ezra McCaslin, enjoys flirting with him.
But despite his usual clientele of gamers, Ben is barely earning enough to keep the store running and stay on top of his father’s medical bills. Then a local toy and game collector named Clive offers him a winning strategy—to purchase a turn-of-the-twentieth-century edition of The Landlord’s Game, the realty and taxation game that inspired Monopoly, at a tenth of the rare edition’s true value. Suspicious of Clive’s shady, low-priced deal, Ben turns the offer down.
Then Clive turns up dead at the front door of Ben’s shop and a backpack full of $100 bills appears on his doorstep. Now Ben is the #1 suspect in Clive’s death, and unless he and Ezra can prove his innocence and find the real killer, he’ll go to jail for murder—and no amount of double dice rolls will set him free . . .
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Praise for this book
"Witty dialogue, tight plotting, and a charming lead make CJ Connor's Board to Death the best debut cozy I've ever read. Connor makes the high stakes, obsession-fueled world of rare board games come to life--and English professor-turned-games dealer Ben Rosencrantz is a hero you'll want to follow for many years to come. A great mystery but so much more than that. This is a sensational novel." - Zac Bissonnette
"The game is most certainly afoot in this delightfully queer cozy (quozy?) mystery. [...] Board to Death had me dusting off my board game collection and reinstituting family game night. I can't wait to read more from C.J. Connor!" - Olivia Blacke
"Peppered with fun facts about board game history, this quozy is filled with witty banter and a community of wonderfully diverse characters. This book sets the stage for a great series." - Vivien Chien
"With a winsome reluctant hero at the heart of the story, Board to Death is an entertaining mystery imbued with delightful geek and game culture, set in a dicey, nuanced Salt Lake City." - Jennifer J Chow
"Featuring an effortlessly diverse cast, authentic anxiety rep, and a chihuahua who will steal your heart, CJ Connor's debut is a delightfully gay and geeky game of murder." - Misha Popp
"The game is most certainly afoot in this delightfully queer cozy (quozy?) mystery. [...] Board to Death had me dusting off my board game collection and reinstituting family game night. I can't wait to read more from C.J. Connor!" - Olivia Blacke
"Peppered with fun facts about board game history, this quozy is filled with witty banter and a community of wonderfully diverse characters. This book sets the stage for a great series." - Vivien Chien
"With a winsome reluctant hero at the heart of the story, Board to Death is an entertaining mystery imbued with delightful geek and game culture, set in a dicey, nuanced Salt Lake City." - Jennifer J Chow
"Featuring an effortlessly diverse cast, authentic anxiety rep, and a chihuahua who will steal your heart, CJ Connor's debut is a delightfully gay and geeky game of murder." - Misha Popp
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