Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #: 9781643855882
Crooked Lane Books
$26.99; $12.99 Amazon
May 11, 2021
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Librarian Lucy's wedding is at stake when a murder interrupts her engagement celebrations. To make it down the aisle, she'll have to find the killer to save the date...
They're getting married! Lucy Richardson and Connor McNeil have announced their engagement. Their friends throw a party for the couple at Coquina Beach, close to Lucy's beloved Bodie Island Lighthouse Library.
As they're packing up the presents and the (few) leftovers from Josie's Cozy Bakery, who should arrive, but Richard Eric Lewiston III, Lucy's former almost-fiancé and his overbearing mother Evangeline. Push comes to shove when Evangeline makes no secret of why she's here: to get Lucy and Ricky back together.
Lucy isn't tempted in the least, and Ricky is nothing but embarrassed at his mother's desperate ploy. Before returning to Boston Evangeline throws a dinner party at Jake's Seafood Bar for a reluctant Lucy and her family. Lucy hopes to get the dinner over with and see Evangeline and Ricky returning to Boston. But when a body is found at the restaurant's kitchen door, Lucy is again forced to unwillingly put on her detective's hat and do what she can to save her family and engagement. Meanwhile, the classic novel reading club is reading The Hound of the Baskervilles, and open war breaks out in the Lighthouse Library when Lucy agrees to temporarily take care of a dog named Fluffy, but Charles the library cat has other ideas.
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Lucy's finally getting married to the love of her life, dentist and mayor Connor McNeil. She's happy and content...until during her engagement party there are party crashers - specifically, her ex-boyfriend Richard Lewiston III and his mother Evangeline. It's soon obvious to everyone that Evangeline is there for one purpose only: to get Lucy back together with her son, But Lucy has no intention of doing so, and even Ricky knows it will never happen. Evangeline isn't about to give up, and throws her own little dinner a couple of nights later.
But after the party a body is discovered behind the restaurant, and it changes the entire game. Now there's an investigation, and everyone who knew the man is on the suspect list. With ties to Lucy's father Millar, things get heated and it's Lucy who has to figure out why he was there and who hated him enough to want him dead. Unfortunately, things at Evangeline's hotel get hot, too. They've demanded she remove her barking dog, and Lucy is the lucky person who needs to take Fluffy. Now if she can get her to get along with her cat Charles, everything will be fine. Or will it?
This is the eighth book in the series, and I've read every one of them. I do believe that the series just keeps getting better, and this book proves that. We have Lucy trying to plan her wedding and it's interrupted by a murder. No surprise there, but the victim is one. (And, because this is an early ARC, I am not going to tell you who it is). Things are getting dicey because of it, and soon Lucy discovers that more than one person who's involved has a secret or two; and those could disrupt more than one life. Lucy, however, is good at keeping secrets and does so again.
Then there are a couple of visiting professors from England, and her friend and co-worker Charlene seems drawn to one, but Lucy is concerned, wondering if he has secrets of his own, and vows to warn her, but every time she tries to, something gets in the way. There's also little Fluffy, whom Lucy had thrust upon her, and Charles isn't happy about it; and Ricky - whom it appears isn't quite over Lucy at all.
There are plenty of secrets and lies, and everything is woven together in an intriguing tale that draws us in from the beginning and keeps us reading in one sitting. It's an enjoyable story that's a great addition to the series, and I really had a lot of fun reading it. Lucy has turned out to be a great character, and even though I have never warmed up to Louise Jane, she's toned down a bit in this story and I really liked that. I also liked the fact that Lucy and her mother are growing closer, which is also welcome.
All in all, when the murderer is discovered, everything comes together in a neat little package and the reason why is, of course, as old as time. The book was very good and I enjoyed it tremendously. I hope others will, too. Recommended.
More on Eva Gates's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/eva-gates/
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