Author: Allison Brook
Genre: Mystery
Hardcover; Digital Book (Audio Book Available)
ISBN #: 9781643857800
Crooked Lane Books
320 Pages
$26.99; $13.99 Amazon
November 9, 2021
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Clover Ridge librarian Carrie Singleton is thrilled to attend her best friend Angela's wedding, but Angela's family can be a bit...much. Angela's wealthy cousin Donna hosts an extravagant bridal shower at her resplendent home, but the celebrations turn to gossip as the guests notice Donna's surgeon husband, Aiden, spending a bit too much time with Donna's cousin Roxy. At the wedding reception, the sweet occasion turns darkly bitter when Aiden topples into the chocolate fountain -- dead.
The suspect list is as long as the guest list, and as difficult to sort out as the seating chart. A few of the top contenders on Carrie's suspect list are the flirtatious Roxy, emotionally unstable since her recent divorce, Angela's grouchy brother, who feels Aiden betrayed him, and Roxy's scorned ex-husband. Even Donna may have had reason to want her husband dead. And Aiden's gossipy office manager has plenty to say about them all.
Then another member of Angela's family is murdered, making Carrie more determined than every to find the killer. Can library ghost Evelyn and library cat Smoky Joe help Carrie solve the murders before she becomes the next of Angela's wedding guests to head to the grave?
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Carrie Singleton, along with the rest of the staff at the Clover Ridge library, is planning a wedding shower for her best friend and coworker, Angela Vecchio. But when there's a fire at the restaurant, they need a new venue, and fast. So Angela's cousin Donna steps up and offers her home -- even though Angela is against it. It seems while growing up, they weren't on the best of terms. At the shower, Donna's surgeon husband Aiden enters, and is immediately approached by Angela's other cousin, Roxy, and led away, leaving Donna piqued. But things escalate at the wedding reception, when Aiden, who is standing next to Carrie and her beau Dylan, collapses straight into the chocolate fountain and dies.
Angela wants Carrie to investigate, and gives her plenty of suspects, including her own brother Tommy, whom she accuses of the murder. While Carrie doesn't know what to think, Angela's mother also asks Carrie to investigate. As if being stuck in the middle of another murder investigation isn't enough, there's other things on Carrie's mind: her resident library ghost, Evelyn, asks Carrie to find her brother Harold.
But that's easier said than done. She does manage to locate Evelyn's niece, Harold's daughter, who is having her own troubles -- her husband leaving, losing her job, and in danger of being kicked out of her apartment. Carrie does what she does best, trying to help everyone. Then something else occurs and Carrie suddenly feels overwhelmed, including being asked a special favor by the mayor.
With her head swirling, and suspects surrounding her, how is Carrie supposed to figure anything out? Then when another member of Angela's family is murdered, the stakes are suddenly raised, and Carrie is betting everything she has to find a killer before they commit another murder, which could be her own...
This is the fifth book in the series and I have read them all. While I wasn't enamored of the first, the series has progressed nicely and I really enjoy it now. The characters are all fleshed out, and you can get a sense of who they are, including why Carrie has her insecurities, which are mentioned in this book. The action is ongoing, and the mystery is done very well. We have several things going on, and Carrie is doing her best to take care of them, along with her job at the library, about which she is conscientious also. It makes for one being grateful our lives aren't as involved (or at least mine isn't).
I did like how everything progressed, and how Carrie began to put the pieces together, while examining her own life and needs. She uses this time to figure out what she really wants to do with her life, and if the roots she's set down are permanent or not. It makes for an interesting read, and we follow along watching to see what she's going to decide.
When it comes toward the end, we are just as surprised as Carrie, which is what it is supposed to be; and the murderer is revealed and the motives are just as old as time itself. Things will never change. But there is an added bonus, if you will, that makes reading this book all worthwhile, and I eagerly look forward to the next in the series. Highly recommended.
I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher but this in no way influenced my review.
More on Allison Brook's Books: https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/allison-brook/
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