In this exciting series starter, four best friends are trapped in a book-themed inn during an ice storm and they must use each of their special skills, as well as a few tips from an armchair-detective grandma, to figure out who killed one of the regular customers. From #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Mystery of Locked Rooms comes a thrilling murder mystery. Merrick McGee has been having a tough time. When her Grandma Ida gets sick and moves in, the family can't afford to keep sending Merrick to her beloved private school. So, she spends most of her time in the small room at the back of the bookstore/inn her mother works at being homeschooled, bored out of her mind, and lonely for her best friends. But when an ice storm hits their town, and fate brings her friends together to ride out the storm at the inn with her, she's stoked to finally be able to spend time with the people she loves the most. Until… the unthinkable happens, and someone is found dead—facedown in a birthday cake sitting right at Merrick's own desk. With the storm picking up the police remove the body and suggest the victim died of old age. But to Merrick it seems more like a murder. Luckily, she and her friends love solving mysteries, and with the suspects all under the same roof, and her friends eager to crack the case—the Secret Bookstore Sleuth Society is born! As the club begins to investigate, more questions come to light, and Merrick soon realizes her own grandmother may be the key to solving the case...