Book Review: Board To Death by C. J. Connor

Ben Rosencrantz left his life in Seattle behind in order to come home to Salt Lake City and help his ailing father run their beloved board game store, Of Dice And Decks. Despite the large market for games in the avowedly nerdy state of Utah, their small business is struggling to stay afloat. Expenses are high in the shop’s centrally located Sugar House neighborhood and, no thanks to competition from bigger and often online corporations, income is depressingly low.

Complicating matters is the way that Ben’s father has begun feeling the effects of his muscular dystrophy diagnosis. Dad is too proud to give up even the smallest shreds of his independence, leading to occasional tension between father and son despite Ben’s valid concerns for his comfort and care. As family friend Dr Britt Petras asks Ben, sympathetically:

“He’s around the usual retirement age, isn’t he? Maybe that would be good for him.”

 

He was. Not that it meant much. Convincing Dad to retire was an easier thing to say than do because in practice, it would be impossible.

 

“That would require convincing him to do that in the first place,” I said, rubbing the bridge of my nose. “Don’t think I haven’t tried. Sometimes I wonder who’s his actual favorite child: me or the shop.”

While working in the family store and taking care of his ailing dad wasn’t what Ben had in mind for the approach of his thirtieth birthday, it sure beats living in a city that reminds him all too acutely of his ex-husband. Plus Utah is far more accepting of queer people than it had been when Ben was growing up. Still, Ben is gun shy when it comes to romance, despite the encouragement of his dad and the attentions of Ezra McCaslin, the cute florist next door. Ben’s focus is entirely on helping his dad and saving their floundering store, not on ruining a perfectly good friendship by allowing romance to enter the picture.

As focused and anxious as he may be about Of Dice And Deck’s future, Ben isn’t so desperate as to fall for the high pressure sales technique brought to bear on him by a local collectibles trader promising a killer deal. Clive Newton claims that he has a valuable first edition copy of The Landlord’s Game, the precursor to the popular board game Monopoly. He’s willing to let Ben have it for the low, low price of only ten thousand dollars, a mere fraction of its resale value on the open market.

Ben might be a big old softie who’s scared of romance, but he’s hardly an idiot. When he asks Clive several probing questions about the game and Clive’s ownership of it, the other man sneers:

“You ask too many questions. It’s not like you can afford to pass on this. I know how expensive rent gets, how much more the price rises year after year. In Sugar House? Please. You’ll be out of business in…”

 

He sucked in through his teeth, like he really was considering. I could feel my face heating up, and it took all of my self-control not to bring out a variety of four-letter words on the tip of my tongue. Thankfully, being raised in Utah meant that I tended to break out a darnor, in dire circumstances, a heck at my most frustrated.

Ben is pretty proud of being able to decline this hard sell without resorting to rough words. He’s even happier to put the whole sordid business out of his head… until he finds Clive stabbed to death on his front doorstep. Soon enough, Ben is convinced that he’s being framed for Clive’s murder. With the cops skeptical of his story, Ben will have to partner up with the eager Ezra to figure out who really killed the shady dealer, before either he or one of his loved ones becomes the next victim.

I love the addition of fresh, diverse voices to the cozy mystery genre, and heartily welcome C. J. Connor to the world of publication! Ben is a complex, sympathetic protagonist who starts the book still reeling from perceived failure and feeling understandably scared of what comes next. He muddles through as best he can with his strong belief in friends and family, and in the unifying powers of getting together around a game. As a hardcore gamer myself, I love the setting and all the game information included. I’ll even have to take the Nertz game for a spin after reading the instructions included here: it sounds like a ton of fun, and like a great way to pass the time till the next book in the series arrives!