The Stranger In The Library (A Lighthouse Library Mystery Book 11)

Author:    Eva Gates

Genre:     Mystery

Hardcover; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781639106608

Crooked Lane Books

304 Pages

$29.99; $17.99 Amazon

June 4, 2024

⭐⭐⭐⭐

When a traveling show of Impressionist art comes to Nags Head, North Carolina, librarian Lucy and the staff at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library are inspired to create an educational display about art history.  Their launch of the display is a huge success, but the morning after, they discover that a reproduction of a famous painting has gone missing.

No one knows why anyone would bother stealing it: the picture is of no value -- the real, priceless painting is under lock and key at the show itself.  Lucy gets an invite to the glitzy opening night for the real show, where she notices unusual tension among the show's organizers.  Then the man scheduled to give the welcoming speech fails to arrive, and a party-goer is discovered drowned in a fish pond.

Meanwhile, Louise Jane is totally captivated by Tom Reilly, a handsome, charming art dealer lurking at the edges of the receptions on both nights.  Tom slipped away from the party early, and he cannot be located by the police.  Who, Lucy asks, is Tom Reilly, the shadowy figure threatening to break Louise Jane's Heart?

Something is afoot in Nags Head, and it's up to Lucy and her friends to get to the bottom of it before it's not just paintings being framed.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Librarian Lucy McNeil is recently married and returned from her honeymoon in Europe, happy to be home.  She's involved in displaying Impressionist art in the library, a co-project of a traveling art show, and they are displaying reproductions of art, which are meant for library visitors to learn about the genre.  While the opening goes well, Lucy is amused once again by Louise Jane, who has a painting by one of her ancestors at the opening, a well-known Outer Banks artist.  But the next day they notice the painting is missing, and no one seems to know where it has gone.  Even though they report it to the police, it now has to take a back seat, because Lucy, her cousin Josie, and Louise Jane have discovered the body of one of the show's organizers.  

What Lucy wants to know is are the two crimes connected, and if so, how?  Even if Detective Sam Watson asks for Lucy's impression of some of the suspects, she's more concerned with the painting, as it wasn't valuable but sentimental.  Why would someone steal it at all?

But there's also the problem of Louise Jane being attracted to Tom Reilly, a man who claims to be an art dealer, but he disappears and can't be found.  While Louise Jane refuses to believe anything bad about him, Lucy isn't so sure.  And finding him might be just as difficult as finding out why the painting was taken, and why the organizer was killed.  Can she once again enter a murder investigation but without putting herself in danger?...

This is the eleventh book in the series and I have read them all.  While I will admit that it took me a few books to warm up to the series, I now love it.  I have fully immersed myself in the Outer Banks without actually visiting there, and the populace in this book makes you want to do so.  The characters are quite human, and actually have human interests.  By that, I mean that they don't spend their time sitting around drinking, but they also watch television, go shopping, etc.  It's the same type of lives that we, outside the books, live.  This is what makes them so endearing, and the author has done a wonderful job of it.

But back to the book -- when the painting is discovered missing, I, along with Lucy, am wondering why anyone would want it at all.  But then there's a surprise in store (and I won't mention it here) that helps in the investigation, and we only have to decipher the clue.  Hah!  Easier said than done.  Especially when Lucy is pretty much on her own this time, since Sam is concerned with finding out who killed the Person in the Pond.  Two very different mysteries, with possibly two different reasons.  Or is it?

When the ending comes, I have to say that I figured out the killer earlier than Lucy, but then again, as I've said many times before, I read a lot of mysteries, so this is how my brain works. However, finding the reason why was a bit more difficult, and worth the read altogether.  

There's a bit of a twist at the end, and it makes everything even more worthwhile.  Again, I love this series and would have no problem recommending it to anyone.  You can read this as a standalone, but it will make you want to go back to the beginning and see how it all began.  Recommended.

I was given an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Stranger-Library-Lighthouse-Mystery-Book-ebook/dp/B0CH9J39DV/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6115402759

More on Eva Gates's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/eva-gates/

Death Knells and Wedding Bells (A Lighthouse Library Mystery #10)

Author:    Eva Gates

Genre:     Mystery

Hardcover; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781639102723

Crooked Lane Books

272 Pages

$13.99; $26.99 Amazon

June 6, 2023

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Lucy and Connor planned for the perfect Outer Banks wedding  -- and that's exactly what they got.  Aside from typical rumblings of familial tensions, the late spring weather allowed for a beautiful day, the food the delicious, and everyone had a good time, until one of the guests goes missing.

Before Lucy can look forward to the rest of her life in Nags head and the work she does at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, she gets a phone call from her boss, Bertie James.  Eddie, Bertie's friend, never made it back home after the reception.  Initially, Lucy doesn't think anything of it -- sometimes wedding guests simply have a little too much fun.  But this quickly turns to something darker when she discovers the body of a wedding guest strangled in a locked closet, and the police immediately start asking questions about Eddie.  Lucy must figure out if the two are connected before it's too late -- both for Bertie's friend and the rest of her wedding guests.

With the Classic Novel Reading Club reading the Selected Works of Edgar Allan Poe -- Lucy wonders if the master of the macabre can assist her investigation or if the hunt for the killer's identity will remain as nothing more than an unsolved mystery.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Lucy and Connor have finally gotten married, and they couldn't be happier.  The wedding came off beautifully, and everyone seemed to enjoy it.  Everyone, it seems, except a small few who probably shouldn't have attended anyway.  But before Lucy can enjoy married life, she receives a call from her boss Bertie James -- and Bertie is worried about her friend Eddie, who never returned from the wedding after telling her he needed to find his tie.

This wouldn't be a big thing except another one of the wedding guests has been found murdered by Lucy and Connor, and even though this shouldn't affect them at all, Lucy can't help but wonder who killed the man.  Was it Eddie?  Or another disgruntled guest?  It's obvious that either another guest or staff at the wedding did the deed, but with so many people, it's going to take a lot of questioning by Detective Sam Watson and the new detective in town, Kyle North.

Lucy doesn't like Kyle or his way of asking questions, and tries to stay out of his line of fire.  He's got his sights on a certain person, and she's sure he's wrong.  Now Lucy might be in the fight of her life, finding the truth, and protecting those she cares for...

This is the tenth book in the series and I have read them all.  I love this one the best.  It has plenty of action, and we get to meet more of Lucy's family, albeit some more than others.  Gloria, Lucy's Aunt Ellen's mother-in-law, is back once again, and making everyone crazy around her.  I don't know why, but I find her hilarious (sorry, Ellen).  There are also a couple of minor subplots that are interesting, and I don't want to say any more so as not to spoil the book for others (you must read this one!)

But finding the killer this time out isn't going to be as easy as before.  Lucy has to use all her powers of observation and asking the right questions to put things together.  I did know who the murderer was before her (but then again, as I've stated before, I read a lot of mysteries, so there's that).  I still enjoyed Lucy sifting through clues, and watching her do so was the best part of the book.  I also loved that Connor tried to protect her as well, which sat right with me.

When the ending comes, the climax is almost pulsating, and definitely worth waiting for.  Lucy pulls all her wits about her, knowing that she needs to if the truth were to come out.  As I stated above, this, I think, is the best book in the series so far, but it can be read as a stand-alone.  Highly recommended.

I was given an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Knells-Wedding-Lighthouse-Library-Mystery-ebook/dp/B0BDF18V3Y/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/5086835761

More on Eva Gates's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/eva-gates/ 

Dewey Decimated (A Haunted Library Mystery Book 6)

Author:    Allison Brook

Genre:     Mystery/Paranormal

Hardcover; Digital Book

ISBN #:    9781639100903

Crooked Lane Books

336 Pages

$26.99; $13.99 Amazon

September 6, 2022

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Carrie Singleton is just off a hot string of murder cases centered around the spooky local library in Clover Ridge, Connecticut.  She could really use a break -- but no such luck, as she, Smoky Joe, the resident cat, and Evelyn, the library's ghost, are drawn into another tantalizing whodunit.

First, a dead body is found in the basement of the building attached to the library, and it turns out to be Carrie's fiancé's Uncle Alec, who Dylan hasn't seen in years.  But Alec has no intention of truly checking out and his ghost makes itself at home in the library, greatly upsetting the patrons.  Carrie and Evelyn work hard to keep Alec out of sight, but what was he doing in Clover Ridge to begin with?  And why was he killed?

Meanwhile, the town council of which Carrie is also a member, is embroiled in a hot-headed debate over the fate of the Seabrook Preserve, a lovely and valuable piece of property that runs along Long Island Sound.  Turn it into an upscale park?  Sell it to a condo developer?  Or keep it as protected land?

As the dispute rages, there's another murder, this time involving a council member.  Could the two murders be connected?  And could Carrie be next on the hit list?

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Carrie Singleton works for the Clover Ridge library and is settling into her new life as fiancée of Dylan, her investigator boyfriend.  She loves her cat, Smoky Joe, who comes to work with her every day, and is beginning a new chapter as the newest member of the town council.

The library has bought the vacant building next door and people are anxious for the renovations to be finished, no more than Carrie, who is looking forward to the new auditorium, which will seat more people and she will be able to hold more programs as the Events and Programs Director for the library.  But things take a nasty turn when a body is found in the basement.  With no identification the police are having a hard time discovering who it is.  But the ambitious news reporter uncovers the name of the deceased, who turns out to be Alec Dunmore -- and the uncle of Dylan.  Now Carrie has to find a way to tell Dylan about Alec, and figure out why Alec hasn't crossed to the other side.  With the help of her resident library ghost Evelyn, who knows more than she's telling, Carrie is determined to figure things out.  

While she doesn't want to step on her friend John Mather's toes, the police detective isn't having as much luck as the reporter is.  So Carrie reluctantly teams up with her to discover exactly what is going on.  As Alec remembers more, Carrie becomes suspicious of a lot of people she's come in contact with recently.  And with a big vote on the Seabrook Preserve coming up on the council, it seems everyone has an agenda.  And they want her to vote their way.  Could one of them be a killer?  Or is it someone closer to home?...

This is the sixth book in the series, and I must say that I've enjoyed it the most.  We get to see a lot more of Evelyn, and she plays a larger part in this book.  We also get to see how Carrie's new relationships with the town council are playing out.  Carrie still has a reluctance to get married, seeing as how her parents' marriage turned out; but we learn more (through Alec and Carrie's relatives and friends) what Dylan's parents were like.  It's an insight that's been a long time coming, and it makes the characters become more real to us.

Getting insight on someone's background brings them into the world of reality; you can empathize with them and decide whether you like them or not, whether you agree with their decisions.  It's an important part of this book, and it makes things a little more whole in the big picture.

All Alec wants to do is move on, but realizes he can't do so until his murder is solved, which makes it a major part of the book.  We learn about the type of person he was in life, and it explains his relationship with Dylan.  There's also a couple of surprises in store for Dylan and Carrie.

But when we learn about the murderer and the way the murder occurred it makes us saddened, and finding out the reasons why are callous.  However, the book brings us satisfaction and makes us look forward to the next in the series (I'm waiting...).  Highly recommended.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review.

https://www.amazon.com/Dewey-Decimated-Haunted-Library-Mystery-ebook/dp/B09N6M1SNP/ref

Goodreads:      https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4879365040

More on Allison Brook's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/allison-brook/

Death on the Shelf (A Haunted Library Mystery Book 5)

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

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

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?

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

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.

https://www.amazon.com/Death-Shelf-Haunted-Library-Mystery/dp/1643857800/ref

Goodreads:    https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4279974945

More on Allison Brook's Books:    https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/allison-brook/

And Then They Were Doomed (A Little Library Mystery)

Author:  Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli
Genre:   Mystery

Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781643850009
Crooked Lane Books
$26.99; $12.99 Amazon
August 13, 2019

⭐⭐

Little person author Zoe Zola believes that one of the unluckiest things in life is to receive an invitation - in the form of a letter edged in black - to an Agatha Christie symposium at an old Upper Peninsula hunting lodge.  Her reluctance dissipates when she learns that the organizer is named Emily Brent - the name of a character poisoned by cyanide in Christie's And Then There Were None.

As a dreary rain soaks the U.P., Zoe and nine other Christie scholars - each of whom bears a vague resemblance to one of the mystery novel's characters - arrive at the lodge.  At the opening night dinner, arguments flare over the experts' discordant theories about Christie.  Next morning, the guests find one particularly odious man has gone - whereabouts and reasons unknown.  Such a coincidental resemblance to a work of fiction is surely impossible; therefore, it appears to be possible.

As the guests disappear, one by one, Zoe resolves to beat a hasty retreat - but her car won't start.  She calls her friend, amateur sleuth/little librarian Jenny Weston, but Jenny will have to wait out a storm off Lake Superior before she can come to the rescue.  If Zoe's to stay alive to greet Jenny when she eventually arrives, she'll have to draw on everything she knows about Agatha Christie's devilish plots.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Zoe Zola is a writer who is writing a biography on the life of author Agatha Christie.  When she receives a black-edged envelope, it's not the first time she's ever seen one.  It always means death.  And it's an omen she thought ended with the death of her own mother.  Because it seemed her mother had sinned in the eyes of her family, and each time an envelope arrived, it meant the loss of one more family member she would never see again.

So Zoe doesn't open the letter, merely looks at it.  She thought she was done with her mother's family, they would never find her.  But now...when her neighbor Dora arrives, she sees the letter, and when Dora's daughter Jenny comes to Zoe's home, she finds both her mother and Zoe staring at it.  So Jenny opens it - and finds not a death notice, but an invitation to a webinar on Agatha Christie.

After much indecision, Zoe decides to attend, and Jenny will drive her there.  Jenny, for her part, has decided she can't marry the man who loves her but doesn't know why.  So she's going to visit her sister Lisa, a documentary filmmaker, while Zoe is at the webinar, and will return to drive her home.  But will either things turn out the way they want?  Or will Zoe find herself in a bizarre twist of Christie's famous And Then There Were None?...

This is the first time I've made a foray into this author's works, and more than likely it will be the last.  The book is...very dark, to say the least.  It's also full of revenge and hatred, much more than any cozy I've ever read, or should be labeled.  I'm not sure if the author was perhaps trying to "recreate" a combination of Christie's And Then There Were None and Murder On the Orient Express, but if so, it falls far short.  Christie's works are witty and highly entertaining, and this one is neither.

The characters are not people I would ever want to know or spend time with, which is essential in a book.  Even with Zoe's difficult past, she states how she is happy, but she's not.  She has walls that people will never get through - and you can't have that many walls around your soul and be truly happy.  She takes personal offense at things people say - the way people say things, because why should you walk on eggshells around them so as not to offend them? - even though no offense is made, and subtly attacks others.

Dora is just Dora - seemingly happy but refusing to confront her daughters about anything, for some odd reason.  I'm not saying she should be combative, far from it; but if you can't have discussions with your own children about life - and they think it's interfering instead - well, something is really wrong.   Both her daughters are dysfunctional and she won't confront them because they won't talk to her if she does.  So what was she doing why they were growing up?  Ignoring them?  Leaving them to their own devices instead of developing a healthy relationship with them?  Just figuring if she let them do whatever they wanted there would be no future problems?

The older daughter, Lisa, would rather live on twigs and berries than worry about having financial stability (she can make documentaries till the cows come home, but if no one is going to pay to see them, what good does it do?) while the younger, Jenny, has a man who's in love with her and wants to marry her, and just like her mother, she won't sit down and talk out the problems so the relationship can progress.  She'd rather just walk away.  Do these sound like people you want to spend time with?  And these women aren't just out of their teens - Lisa is 40, and Jenny is 38!  That one threw me a little bit.

Then there were the problems which popped up before I even got halfway into the book:  I had a difficult time believing that a guy Jenny had gone to high school with but hadn't seen since then would just proposition her after about twenty minutes of talking to each other.  Really?  He tells her he had a crush on her in high school and then wants to jump in the sack with her.  Right.

Then, when Zoe got to the lodge, Jenny went in with her.  Almost immediately the proprietor Emily Brent, started talking about Jenny leaving.  Zoe should have decided to go with her.  If Emily hemmed and hawed and decided she could find a room for Jenny after all, then Zoe would have known immediately why she was there.  It didn't make any sense - missed clues on her part, and she was writing the biography of Christie!  The very minute Emily grabbed Jenny's arm to shove her out the door should have alerted them both.  But it didn't.  And therefore, I couldn't take the book seriously after that.  When danger slaps you in the face, you don't turn the other cheek.  You run like hell.

Unfortunately, Zoe and Jenny didn't take the hint, but I did, and I refuse to read books that will wind up making me angry or irritated, which this book would have done if I'd read it without skipping bits and pieces.  Especially when I got to the end and realized I was right.

This was a story of using someone to get revenge on another person.  Using them to even a score.  Not even caring about their emotions, their physical being, the end result they would have to live with.  Regardless of that outcome, there was nothing that made it right, or made it seem like it would have been worth it.  Is it worth it to a human being to lose part of your soul to aid someone who destroyed that which you loved most?  I don't think so, at least not in my opinion.  To bury the anger you feel at realizing you were played like a violin and not be able to do anything about it?  Sorry, but perhaps if things had turned out differently; if there had been justice for Zoe; I might have liked the book better.  There wasn’t even justice for the reader.

https://www.amazon.com/Then-They-Were-Doomed-Library/dp/1643850008/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2916010409

More on Elizabeth Kane Buzzelli's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/elizabeth-kane-buzzelli/

Shelved Under Murder (A Blue Ridge Library Mystery #2)

Author:  Victoria Gilbert
Genre:   Mystery

Hardcover; Trade Paperback; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781683315957; 9781683319207
Crooked Lane Books
336 Pages
$18.35; $10.99; $7.80 Amazon
July 10, 2018

✮✮

October in Taylorsford, Virginia means it's leaf peeping season, with bright colorful foliage and a delightful fresh crew of tourists attending the annual Heritage Festival which celebrates local history and arts and crafts.  Library director Amy Webber, though, is slightly dreading having to spend two days running a yard sale fundraiser for her library.  But during these preparations, when she and her assistant Sunny stumble across a dead body, Amy finds a real reason to be worried.

The body belonged to a renowned artist who was murdered with her own palette knife.  A search of the artist's studio uncovers a cache of forged paintings, and when the sheriff's chief deputy Brad Tucker realizes Amy is skilled in art history research, she's recruited to aid the investigation.  It doesn't seem to be an easy task, but when the state's art expert uncovers a possible connection between Amy's deceased uncle and the murder case, Amy must champion her Aunt Lydia to clear her late husband's name.

That's when another killing shakes the quiet town, and danger sweeps in like an autumn wind.  Now, with her swoon-inducing neighbor Richard Muir, Amy must scour their resources to once again close the books on murder.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Amy Webber is director of the library in Taylorsfod, Virgina.  She's preparing for their annual Heritage Festival, along with her employee Sunny and help from Amy's boyfriend Richard Muir.  On this day, Sunny has asked them to help with transporting art pieces from a local artist, since her own VW Bug isn't large enough.  But when they arrive at the artist's farm, Richard finds her dead.

But while it seems the reason for the murder is unclear, some paintings are discovered, and it appears they might be forgeries.  But things go from bad to worse when it also appears that Amy's late uncle might have been involved in those forgeries, and now Amy has to help her aunt clear her uncle's name...

This is the second book in the Blue Ridge Library mysteries, and I was looking forward to reading it because I've read the first and the third but somehow missed this one.  After reading it, I wish I would have just skipped it altogether.

The story starts out that an artist was murdered with a palette knife.  Now anyone who's ever been near an artist or knows anything about art knows that palette knives are flexible and bend easily.  They need to be, because they're for handling paint and scraping canvases (which you don't want to damage).  So the only way a person would die from one is if someone repeatedly poked you with it and you had a heart attack from the annoyance of telling them to stop.  It would have been better if the killer had forced the linseed oil down the artist's throat.

Now this might seem like a minor thing to be brushed away, but if you're not writing in a genre such as sci-fi or fantasy, the rule of thumb is: if it doesn't happen in real life, it shouldn't happen in a book.  Unfortunately, with just a tad bit of research, the author could have discovered this, but it seems that she figured no one would know or notice.  Someone did.

The second thing is, the killer was discovered immediately.  As in right away.  As in the minute they stepped onto the page.  It wasn't even remotely hidden.  Which, of course, isn't always a big deal, because honestly, it's the journey to figure out the motive and who else might be suspected of the murder.  But to tell the truth, this journey was arduous.  And painful.

Amy is not a nice person.  It's from little things to big things, and she's just not likable.  There's how she mentions that Zelda has dyed blonde hair.  Who cares?  Does she go around checking people out for what she considers flaws?  I suppose her aunt's white hair (at 64) is more attractive?  No, it will make her look older.  So why shouldn't Zelda dye her hair?  Honestly, Amy is pretentious, snobbish, selfish, and judgmental - and we'll get more into that later.

As to Sunny, "free spirit" usually translates to 'I don't want to grow up and be an adult and become a responsible human being.'  She's stringing Brad along, knowing he loves her (but won't cut him loose) and even tells Amy she can't fall in love with Brad.  He's just a convenience for her.  Not an admirable trait in any woman, and everything she says sounds like an excuse.

Oh, and FYI Amy - no one wears pantyhose anymore; I'm not even sure if they still sell it.  Also, text messages can easily be traced to the phone that sent them, so being anonymous isn't going to work in that aspect.

Richard is just too sappy for me.  He's constantly gushing over Amy like she's the world's most beautiful, talented, smartest, etc., woman, and that she could deign to lower herself to love him completely amazes him.  Really?  He doesn't act like a man so much about Amy as a love-struck teen under his first crush.  He also talks like one, calling her 'girl'.  He'll also offer her the moon, but she won't offer him anything in return.  Why do I say that?  Here's the selfish part: Amy knows Richard's a dancer, and he wants to dance with her, but she refuses (unless she's drunk enough).  Did she ever hear of taking a dance class?  Learning a few steps?  He'll help her at the library, but she won't learn to dance to make him happy.  Hence, selfish; and it certainly doesn't show that she loves him.

But the worst thing is she hates Kurt, and I can't figure out what he's ever done to hurt her.  She spills a secret to Richard about Kurt that was never meant to be told to him.  All because she hates Kurt.  She's a nasty piece of work.  Who made Amy judge, jury, and executioner?  She hates Kurt because of his possible 'shady deals' in the past that she doesn't know what they are but knows somehow he must have done something.

So what does she do?  She tries to find him guilty of conspiracy of murder, wants him in jail because of his past that she really knows nothing about ("they should charge him with something").  In fact, she spends all of her time trying to find Kurt guilty of something, anything that will get him arrested.  She's like one of those spinsters of yore who walked around town wearing black up to their necks, rimless glasses, and looking down their noses at everyone.  First, it's none of her business what Kurt's prior life (or present life, for that matter) is.  Secondly, it actually takes the fact of something Kurt says that makes her bend a little.  What a priggish woman.  And, to tell the truth, I was disappointed in the conversation.  Kurt was interesting before; in fact, he was the most interesting character in the book.  Now, not so much.

Aunt Lydia isn't blameless, either.  She'll forgive Mel almost instantaneously for Andrew, but still holds a grudge against Kurt - never even realizing that her husband was as much to blame?  The women in this family have a lot to learn about life - like if you hold on to the past you can't go forward with the future.

At any rate, since I already knew the murderer (instantaneously) it only took getting to the end of the book (by plodding through) to find the reasons why.  I felt the writing was very good, but Amy is just not the kind of woman you want to spend time with.  She's pleasant to her friends, but very nasty to people she doesn't like - as I stated before, even trying to put them in jail when she has no basis to do so.  Her sense of justice does not trump other peoples' lives.  So, as I stated, I've read three of these books, but after reading this one, I'm not sure I'll progress to the next.

https://www.amazon.com/Shelved-Under-Murder-Library-Mystery/dp/1683315952/ref=

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2823385975

More on Victoria Gilbert's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/victoria-gilbert/

Past Due for Murder (A Blue Ridge Library Mystery #3)

Author:  Victoria Gilbert
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781683318743
Crooked Lane Books
304 Pages
$26.99; $12.99 Amazon
February 12, 2019

✮✮✮

Spring has sprung in quaint Taylorsford, Virginia, and the mayor has revived the town's long-defunct May Day celebration to boost tourism.  As part of the festivities, library director Amy Webber is helping to organize a research project and presentation by a local folklore expert.  All seems well at first - but spring takes on a sudden chill when a university student inexplicably vanishes during a bonfire.

The local police cast a wide net to find the missing woman, but in a shocking turn of events, Amy's swoon-worthy neighbor Richard Muir becomes a person of interest in the case.  Not only is Richard the woman's dance instructor, he also doesn't have an alibi for the night the student vanished - or at least not one he'll divulge, even to Amy.

When  the missing student is finally discovered lost in the mountains, with no memory of recent events - and a dead body lying nearby - an already disturbing mystery takes on a sinister new hue.  Blessed with her innate curiosity and a librarian's gift for research, Amy may be the only one who can learn the truth.

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Amy Webber lives in a small town in Virginia with her Aunt Lydia and works as director for their library.  She's got a romance going with her next-door neighbor Richard Muir who teaches dance at a nearby university.  But there's a problem - both her parents and Richard's are coming to visit the same weekend and now it seems the 'twain shall meet' and neither Amy nor Richard is looking to make it happen for their own various reasons.  There is also the fact that after a visit back home to his family not long ago, he's keeping secrets, and Amy wants to know why.

One night Amy is out with a group of people and sees a shadow in the nearby woods that looks a lot like her ex-boyfriend Charles, with whom she had a massive blowup that caused her to leave her previous job at the university.  When she gets closer she realizes it certainly is him, and asks him why he's there.  It turns out that he'd recently moved to the area to live with his girlfriend Marlis, who was killed not too long ago by a hit-and-run driver, and while Amy feels sorrow for his loss, she feels nothing else for him.

When asked her feelings regarding Charles by Professor Mona Raymond, she lets her know that all between her and Charles is in the past.  But later Mona confronts her about something she believes Charles may have stolen, and Amy has no idea what she's talking about and hopes to stay out of it.  At the same time, a student goes missing and it seems that Richard may have been one of the last people to see her; he naturally becomes a suspect in the disappearance.

There is also the fact that the elusive Kurt, one-time resident of Taylorsford who has now returned quite wealthy though perhaps achieving that wealth through not always proper means, has invited Amy to visit an elderly resident of the mountains who has tales of long ago along with a legend of the mountain fairies.  Jumping at the chance Amy goes along, but even this visit leads to more questions about the history of the area, including the disappearance of two young women in 1879.

Then the missing student appears along with Mona's body, but who committed the murder?  Fearing Richard might be poised to take the fall for the murder Amy decides to find out the identity of the real killer, not realizing that in doing so she could inadvertently lose her own life in the process...

While this book can be read as a stand alone, there are many references to the last book (which I have not read) and are not really explained.  I do think that if you're going to reference things from previous books that you should at least make a full explanation of why someone said or thought that.  It's like walking in on people in the middle of a conversation and then having them expect you to know what they're talking about.  This is not the way to get new readers, unless the author believes she's fine with the ones she already has.  However, it appears to all extents that one would be better served were one to read all three books in order to understand what is going on.

I liked the fact that once again as in the first book, there was a mystery-within-a-mystery, which is always fun to decipher, and I think Loie the kitten is adorable.  I enjoyed reading about the mountain fairies, and whether they'll real or not I think depends on whether people believe in magic within themselves; but that again is an individual thing.

However, as nuanced as it might have been, I did feel that the author was adding bits of her own personal opinions on how things should be in certain areas, and I don't think that this is the business of an author unless you're reading non-fiction.  I won't go into this as it wasn't directly thrown at the reader, but the clues are there for anyone who reads the book.

There was a nice suspenseful couple of chapters toward the end when Amy was getting closer to finding out the truth, and that was definitely worth reading; although I felt the book was slow in the beginning for various reasons and didn't pick up until over half the book was done.  At that point we finally get to the gist of the matter and everything started to come together nicely.  All in all, not a bad book and one that would be nice to read on a quiet evening.

https://smile.amazon.com/Past-Due-Murder-Library-Mystery/dp/1683318749/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2548482305

More on Victoria Gilbert's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/victoria-gilbert/

A Murder for the Books (A Blue Ridge Library Mystery #1)

Author:  Victoria Gilbert
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Trade Paperback; Digital Book; Audio Book
ISBN #:  9781683314394; 9781683316077
Crooked Lane Books
352 Pages
$18.35; $15.99; $7.99
December 12, 2017 (June 2018 Paperback)

✮✮

Fleeing a disastrous love affair, Amy Webber leaves her job as a university librarian to live with her aunt in a quiet, historic Virginia mountain town.  Soon enough, she lands a new gig managing the town's charming public library.  Busy trying to hold things together at work, the last thing Amy needs is a new, available neighbor whose charm is bound to lure her into trouble.

Richard Muir inherited the farmhouse next door from his great-uncle and with it, the house's scandalous story.  Town folklore claims the house's original owner was poisoned by his wife, who vanished after her sensational 1925 murder trial.  Richard implores Amy to help him clear the name of the woman his great-uncle loved.  Amy is skeptical until their research implicates the town's leading families...even hers.

And now it's up to Amy and Richard to turn the page on the town's turbulent past.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Amy Webber moves to a quiet Virginia town to live with her aunt and work as a librarian after an embarrassing episode at nearby Clarion University.  When she meets her new neighbor Richard Muir, she's attracted to him but determined to stay away after her recent fiasco.  But that's easier said than done when Richard asks her help in solving a mystery - the truth as to whether Daniel Cooper was poisoned by his wife Eleanora back in 1925.  Although she was acquitted and left the area soon after, there are those who believe otherwise.  But his late great-uncle Paul believed she was innocent, and now Richard wants to find out if he was right.

When Amy and Richard find a library patron dead in the archive building, they can't imagine who would want to kill the old woman.  But when someone comes forward with a theory and that person is also killed, they know they're going down a path someone doesn't want them to.  But will they stop investigating, or will Amy be the one to take the final journey?...

The premise sounded interesting (I do love mysteries within mysteries) but I was barely in a few pages when I read Amy's description of her 'frail' aunt - who wears pearls, has white hair and needs a can for a leg injury.  She even mentions that at least her hearing is okay.  So how old is this decrepit woman?  64.  That's right.  This author believes 64 is elderly.  Personally, many women in their 60's are physically active, do sports, dye their hair, wear makeup, and don't. wear. pearls.  (That's just too much of a cliché for me).  In fact, I don't know anyone around that age who does.  Necklaces, sure; but not pearls.  I also don't know any who have hearing aids (although I'm sure some do).  She writes of her as if she's in her eighties.  She also says she has a second cousin who is 59 and has 'steel gray hair'.  It makes you wonder if she thinks once you hit 55 you need a rocking chair.  (While I know there are women who just decide to go au naturel when they start to turn gray, at 59 most probably wouldn't).

I also didn't feel that Amy had a strong enough reason to leave Clarion.  If a woman finds her boyfriend cheating - at an event they're attending together - it's to be forgiven if she reacts in the heat of the moment.  Even the recipient of the drink should have understood that, and censured Charles, not her.  It doesn't say much about the dean that he didn't, so maybe it was good that she left Clarion.  Who'd want to work there knowing this?  (I get she embarrassed the man, but they both should have been taken to the dean's office and the dean should have been upset with him, not her).

There were also no descriptions of the Blue Ridge Mountains or the area.  This book could have taken place anywhere and we wouldn't have known the difference.  There were no descriptions of the town, either.  We knew there was a library, a diner, and the description of her aunt's home, but that's about it.  Unfortunately, these things made the book feel flat for me.  The most interesting character in the book was Karl/Kurt, and we didn't find out a whole lot about him.

I knew who the murderer of Eleanora was almost immediately and why; I didn't feel that this was hidden at all, but then again maybe it wasn't supposed to be; the killer of Doris took me a bit longer.  I thought the reasons why were alright, but not real satisfying, and I didn't like the fact that the book left out details of things that should have been explained, and they never were.  (This, however, isn't specific to this author; I'm finding more and more authors are telling you something and then never following through on it).  Also, why even tell us the name of the former librarian if he's not even in the book?  This just seems superfluous to me.

In the end, I realize that this was a first-in-the-series book, and this is a new author, so I'm giving a pass on this one and hope that these things improve in the next.
 
https://www.amazon.com/Murder-Books-Ridge-Library-Mystery/dp/1683314395/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2545324059

More on Victoria Gilbert's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/g/victoria-gilbert/

Read and Gone (A Haunted Library Mystery #2)

Author:  Allison Brook
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; MP3 CD; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781683317340; 9781982539719
Crooked Lane Books (Blackstone Audio)
320 Pages
$26.99; $29.95; $12.99 Amazon
September 11, 2018

✮✮✮

A devoted dad is as precious as diamonds, but Carrie Singleton wouldn't know since her dad Jim's been on the lam most of her life.  In an unusual family reunion, she finds Jim breaking into her cottage in the middle of the night.  The fun really starts when he begs her to help him recover his half of a twenty-million-dollar gem heist he pulled off with the local jeweler, Benton Parr.  When she refuses, Jim takes off again.

Carrie finds her father again behind bars for the recent murder of Benton Parr.  Who made the connection?  Unbeknownst to her, Carrie's boyfriend Dylan, an insurance investigator, has been searching for the gems.  Determined to find the jewels herself, she starts examining every facet of Parr's life.  She turns up a treasure trove of suspects, one of whom bashes her on the head as she's searching the victim's country cabin.

Retreating to the confines of the library where she works, Carrie watches as Smokey Joe, the resident cat, paws at a hole in the wall.  Is he after the library's ghost Evelyn, or something shinier?

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Carrie Singleton is settling nicely into her childhood home of Clover Ridge, Connecticut; she has a job she loves, a great place to live, a new boyfriend, and a new pet.  But suddenly her life is disrupted one night when she hears someone breaking into her home - who turns out to be her long-gone father, Jim Singleton.  Jim is a thief who's come back to get the jewels he lifted in a long-ago heist, but his ex-partner isn't giving them up.  He's asked Carrie for her help, but she refuses.

What makes it worse is she discovers the partner is a member of the library board, Benton Parr; and when Benton is murdered soon after and her father is a suspect, she decides to do a little sleuthing on her own to find the gems, wanting to give them to Dylan Avery, an insurance investigator who's been working on the case.

But Carrie believes that Dylan has only been dating her to get to her father and the jewels, and decides to break up with him.  Now with her life in a shambles she doesn't know how to put it back together, and it will take a lot of soul-searching on her part to decide what's really important; trusting people in her life or leaving Clover Ridge and moving on again...

Having recently read the first in this series, I was hoping that the author would have honed it a little bit more.  But I felt that Carrie still seemed immature in this one, repeatedly breaking up with Dylan because he "used her" to get to her dad, without actually talking to him about it.  So she has no idea whether he used her or not, does she?  She also mentions that one character has PTSD, but I don't think she understands what it is.  You can't get PTSD because your husband accuses you of having an affair (which she was) or that he wants you to find a better paying job.  A bit of research could have cleared this up.

There were also some things that seemed rather unbelievable.  The library is supposed to be in an old Victorian home, yet has a utility room, a break room, an events room, and even a coffee shop!  In what library would there be a coffee shop?  They don't want you eating or drinking around the books, not to mention the smells that would permeate the library from the food.  Then Sally told Carrie that she had to conduct the holiday chorus because the maestro took ill!  Really?  Singing in a chorus does not give you the skills to lead one.  (I'm still amazed that this library has so many programs and events that other, larger library systems across the country have never done, but hey...)  Anyway, because of all the things I've mentioned above, where do they keep the books?  It seems all of the space is taken up for other things.

I also think there weren't enough descriptions of people - aside from the fact of Carrie's hair color, I honestly don't know what she looks like (although she does wear makeup, and that's a plus because I hate books where the MC 'throws on a little lip gloss' and everyone tells her how beautiful she is); and there are no descriptions of the town at all, so one can get an idea of what it looks like.  More detail should have been paid to this.

I was also surprised that her father Jim, a known criminal, just waltzes into town after not being around while Carrie is growing up and expects her to help him retrieve stolen gems.  What kind of father would do that?  Why would she allow him to stay with her after that?  I'd kick his sorry behind to the street without a how-do-you-do after that opening.  Yet she does let him stay, and again unfortunately, it made the first part of the book so boring I almost gave up.  The conversations between any of the characters had no zip, no spark.  None of the people seemed to have any life in them; certainly not enough that if it hadn't picked up in the last half I may not have finished it.

I also don't understand why this is called Haunted Library Mysteries.  The library may be haunted with the ghost of Evelyn, but she adds nothing to the book.  She's only in it for about 10%, and when she did ask Carrie to do a favor for her - speak to Morgan - the entire episode seemed like filler and nothing more.  It could have been left out entirely and wouldn't have changed the book one whit.  She doesn't help solve the murders, she doesn't give any helpful information - she thinks listening to others' conversations is eavesdropping - so she doesn't even add to the story.  Sorry, but there it is.

The part that irritated me the most though is the fact that Carrie is under the impression that Smoky Joe is a dog.  That's right, a dog.  You don't put out food for a cat several times a day; unlike dogs, they don't eat everything in the bowl until they writhe in pain.  When they're finished, they walk away, so you can leave the kibble in the bowl all day.  You also need a carrier for a cat.  They don't lie down on the seat; they're curious and will walk all over the car - and you certainly don't consider leaving them alone in a car while you go about and run errands!  Plus, if you're going to take the cat to work with you every day, invest in a leash so the cat can't just escape your arms (which they can do very easily since they have very sharp little claws, you know; as I mentioned, they aren't dogs).

I wasn't really surprised as to the identity of the killer, as there wasn't a big suspect pool in the first place, but this wouldn't have made a difference if the things I mentioned above had been otherwise.  In the end, the book wasn't bad but it still needs work; we need to know what the town looks like, what the people look like, and better treatment of Smoky Joe.

https://smile.amazon.com/Read-Gone-Haunted-Library-Mystery/dp/1683317343/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2501052664

More on Allison Brook's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/allison-brook/

Death Overdue (A Haunted Library Mystery #1)

Author:  Allison Brook
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Trade Paperback; Audio CD; Digital Book
ISBN #:  9781683313861; 9781683317265; 9781538452226
Crooked Lane Books (Blackstone Audio)
336 Pages
11413.97; $15.99; $18.14; $1.20 Amazon
October 10, 2017

✮✮✮

Carrie Singleton is just about done with Clover Ridge, Connecticut until she's offered a job as the head of programs and events at the spooky local library, complete with its own librarian ghost.  Her first major event is a program presented by a retired homicide detective, Al Buckley, who claims he knows who murdered Laura Foster, a much-loved part-time library aide who was bludgeoned to death fifteen years earlier.  As he invites members of the audience to share stories about Laura, he suddenly keels over and dies.

The medical examiner reveals that poison is what did him in and Carrie feels responsible for having surged forward with the program despite pushback from her director.  Driven by guilt, Carrie's determined to discover who murdered the detective, convinced it's the same man who killed Laura all those years ago.  Luckily for Carrie, she has a friendly, knowledgeable ghost by her side.  But as she questions the shadows surrounding Laura's case, disturbing secrets come to light and with each step Carrie takes, she gets closer to ending up like Al.

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Carrie Singleton has returned home to Clover Ridge, Connecticut to live with her aunt and uncle while she's working as a temp in the local library.  When she's unexpectedly offered the position of Programs and Event Coordinator, she's about to turn down the position until she hears a voice tell her to think about it overnight.

She soon finds out the voice is attached to the body of a frail elderly woman named Evelyn Havers.  Evelyn has a slight problem, however; she's a ghost.  It seems she was accidentally killed on library grounds several years ago and the only other person who can see her is a four-year-old named Tacey.  But Carrie soon finds out that Evelyn will be a greater help than she can ever hope for...

Meanwhile, Carrie realizes she needs to put down roots somewhere, and regardless of her past - through no fault of her own but that of her parents - decides that she's much happier around her Uncle Bosco and Aunt Harriet, so endeavors to try and make the job work, but, as her aunt points out, if it doesn't she can always quit.

Her first program guest is one that has been recruited by her predecessor Barbara - Al Buckley, an ex-homicide detective who's been haunted by a case he didn't solve while on the force.  He's speaking to announce that he finally - after fifteen years - knows who killed Laura Foster.  But when the evening arrives that he's going to give his speech, it's apparent that there are people who don't want to know the truth.  Laura's son Ryan arrives and starts threatening Al, and brings along the family attorney just in case.

While speaking, Al seems to have trouble breathing and quickly drops dead.  When it's discovered that he was poisoned while at the library during his speech Carrie realizes that she needs to solve this murder in order to put things right for the library.  She has help from an unlikely source - Laura's younger son Jared, who also wants to find out his mother's murderer.

She also has an enemy at the library - Dorothy Hawkins, a reference librarian who believes the job would have come to her if Carrie's uncle (a library board member) hadn't insisted the director hire Carrie instead.  Carrie's positive that Dorothy's been sabotaging her at every turn, and what's worse, Evelyn is Dorothy's late aunt, who's aware of the most of the shenanigans she's been pulling.

But what's the most disconcerting to Carrie is she unexpectedly finds a cottage to live in that's almost a dream.  It has a view of the river, once weekly housekeeping, a free handyman, and is within her budget.  The owner of the mansion in front of it is the mysterious Dylan Avery, who's not around very often and no one seems to know anything about him.

But when Carrie starts to get too close to the truth, she might not be in her job very long at all if the killer of both Laura and Al has anything to say about it.  In fact, she might not live long enough to decide if she wants to stay in Clover Ridge forever...

This is the first in a series by a new author, and as such, is a decent beginning indeed.  There were, in fact, some things right with this book and some that bothered me, so I'll get that out of the way first:

Nearly every character drinks.  A lot.  All the time.  They drink when they get home from work; they drink with their meals; they have nightcaps.  They have several drinks at restaurants.  Some get ripping drunk...which probably wouldn't bother me so much except they have no trouble driving afterward.  I'm a big believer that if you plan on driving you shouldn't have alcoholic beverages - not even one.  It's dangerous, and puts others at risk just because you're behind the wheel.  (However, I have noticed a trend that it's more prevalent where people drink and drive in books that take place on the East Coast, while not so much anywhere else.  Curious, indeed).  Well, enough of the PSA.

She knows that the victim's son Jared thinks they're dating (and so does everyone else), but never seems to 'find the right time' to tell him they're not, thereby hurting him when he does find out.  It seems callous on her part.  She should have told him immediately that she only wanted to be friends, and not accepted so many family dinner invitations!  It bothered me that it appeared for all intents that she was going to start a relationship with him, but the minute she met Dylan she made excuses - and there also were excuses "discovered" why she shouldn't.  So, if another cute guy shows up when Dylan's out of town, will she dump him?  Plus, it's pretty much a non-romance.  At this point in her life you'd think she'd want a guy who would be around enough to actually do something with; not some 'mysterious' childhood playmate that she hadn't seen in years and rarely comes home.  Who would want that?

This library somehow has tons of funds to do all kinds of things our libraries don't do - and we have over 25 of them here!  Cooking demonstrations?  (And only charging $5 a person to boot).  It didn't seem realistic at all.  What library has the facilities or inclination for this?  Where are they going to put the cooking station?  You'd need proper ventilation or the entire library will smell like various cooking scents.  Very odd indeed.

There also weren't any descriptions of the town.  She described her cottage, but that's about it.  We learned what she ate and where she ate, but nothing else.  What types of businesses are in town?  How old is the town?  What does the library look like?  I also got tired of the fact that she was wearing tights and leggings everywhere, and dressing Goth at thirty but calling others juvenile and dim-witted.  Really?

Carrie also seemed a little spineless for my taste.  She didn't want to tell Jared she didn't like him 'that way.'  She didn't tell people 'no' that she wanted to; she didn't even  go to her director when Dorothy was bothering her, thinking she could take care of it herself.  Well, she couldn't, could she?  She needed the help of resident ghost Evelyn to do that.  She just didn't seem very mature for her age, but complained that Jared wasn't mature for his age.  Double standard?

Which brings to the fore that Evelyn wasn't in the book much at all.  It's touted as A Haunted Library Mystery but the ghost is rarely in the book.  She shows up to help Carrie a couple of times on library business, but doesn't help her when it's really needed to save time and effort.  How strange is that?  I would have liked to have seen more of her in the book.

However, I did like the idea that Carrie actually wears makeup instead of putting on 'a little lip gloss' and thinking she's ready for the day.  More women wear makeup than not, and it's finally nice to see an author who realizes this.  It might seem minor to some, but every female I know wears makeup so I find it disheartening that in most cozies they seem to think the aforementioned lip gloss makes them "hot".

I did like the idea it takes place at Halloween and the library cat, although if she takes him home at night he's pretty much her cat that she brings to work; still, it's nice that he's been added, albeit lately, to the book.  Which brings us to the fact that I knew who the killer was right away (it was pretty obvious from the get go) but it wasn't enough to keep me from reading the book.  I like to see how the MC comes to their conclusions as they find clues along the way.

Hopefully when the second in this series comes along the author will have honed the characters a bit more, given Carrie a backbone and have her less judgmental, give Evelyn a bigger part, and not make the killer so obvious.  If these things are attended to, this series can go on for quite awhile indeed.  As I said, I would have given it more stars but I really do not like the drinking and driving and hope that in future books someone will have sense enough to become a designated driver.

https://www.amazon.com/Death-Overdue-Haunted-Library-Mystery/dp/1683313860/ref

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2073903425

More on Allison Brook's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/b/allison-brook/

No Cats Allowed (A Cat in the Stacks Mystery #7)

Author:  Miranda James
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Mass Market Paperback; Audio CD; Paperback (LP); Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780425277744; 9780425277751; 9781515956488; 9781410494566
Berkley Publishing
304 Pages
Various; $7.19; $24.99; $25.64; $7.99 Amazon
February 7, 2017

✮✮✮✮

Mississippi librarian Charlie Harris and his Maine Coon cat Diesel are on their guard.  Oscar Reilly, the new director at the Athena College library, is on a mission to cut costs and has set his sights on the archive and rare book collection.  Reilly's also out to replace Charlie's fiery friend Melba with someone younger, but his biggest offense is declaring all four-legged creatures banned from the stacks.

With enemies aplenty, the suspect list is long when Reilly's body is discovered in the library, but incriminating evidence throws suspicion on Melba.  Charlie is convinced that his friend is no murderer, especially when he catches sight of a menacing stranger lurking around the library.  Now he and Diesel will have to read between the lines, before Melba is shelved under "G" for guilty...

✽✽✽✽✽✽✽✽

Charlie Harris doesn't like Oscar Reilly, the Athena College library's new director, and neither does anyone else.  He's managed to offend everyone he comes in contact with, and has just called Charlie's friend Melba a liar.  To make it worse, he's filed a complaint with HR that he's allergic to cats, and wants to ban Diesel from the library.

There have also been a series of pranks played on Reilly by someone, from writing 'Oscar the Grouch' on his car...with a lipstick that turns out to be Melba's, and several employees who were seemingly fired by him in a letter - a letter that had his forged signature.  There have been other pranks as well.

Before he'll allow that to happen, Charlie vows to quit his job.  But then he hears that Reilly wants to get rid of the rare book collection and the archives, which Charlie has worked on lovingly and carefully the entire time he's been there.  But before anyone can do anything else, Charlie gets the news that Reilly is dead, and Melba's lipstick has been found near the body.  He calls his son Sean to help her as he's convinced she's innocent, and realizes that whether he wants it or not, he has to get involved this time to save his friend.

But then Charlie is asked by the president of the college to take over as interim director.  When he agrees, he doesn't realize that he's about to become the next victim of the pranks.  Even the heightened security hasn't been able to stop it.  Now Charlie realizes that the killer may very well be someone who works at the library, and he needs to figure out who it is before he becomes the next victim...

I have to tell the truth and say that I haven't been terribly fond of this series up until now.  I actually enjoyed reading this book.  I don't know whether it's because I've gotten used to the characters, but the plot was very well thought out and there was less angst from Charlie about his kids, his girlfriend, etc.  It makes for a much better plot if we can concentrate on the murder, the reason behind it, the surrounding clues and such rather than what dishes he's going to wash next.

There were plenty of suspects to choose from, and even a few red herrings thrown in.  It made for a nice change in that there was lots to sift through and find the right suspect.  Although I didn't feel that it was difficult to do so - I am sure others, like myself, pretty much knew who the killer was for most of the book - it was still nice to see the interplay between characters.

When we come to the end and all is revealed, it is a reason that is age old but still quite believable, and that made it a nice read indeed.  Recommended.

https://www.amazon.com/Cats-Allowed-Cat-Stacks-Mystery/dp/0425277755/

Goodreads:  https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2304878931

More on Miranda James's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/j/miranda-james/

Arsenic and Old Books (A Cat in the Stacks Mystery #6)

Author:  Miranda James
Genre:  Mystery

Hardcover; Mass Market Paperback; Audio CD; Paperback (LP); Digital Book
ISBN #:  9780425257296; 9780425277539; 9781452618883; 9781410482273
Berkley Publishing
320 Pages
$18.78; $7.99; $30.52; $26.99; $7.99
February 2, 2016

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Lucinda Beckwith Long, the mayor of Athena, Mississippi, has donated a set of Civil War-era diaries to the archives of Athena College.  She would like librarian Charlie Harris to preserve and substantiate them as a part of the Long family legacy - something that could benefit her son, Beck, as he prepares to campaign for the state senate.

Beck's biggest rival would like to get a look at the diaries in an attempt to expose the Long family's past sins.  Meanwhile, a history professor is also determined to get her hands on the books in a last-ditch bid for tenure.  But their interest suddenly turns deadly, leaving Charlie with a catalog of questions to answer.  Together with his Maine Coon cat Diesel, Charlie must discover why the diaries were worth killing for before he too reaches his final chapter.

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Charlie Harris, librarian, is surprised when Lucinda Beckwith Long, mayor of Athena, Mississippi, appears in his office one day with a bag of Civil War-era diaries written by an ancestor of her husband's.  She wants to donate them and have Charlie preserve them for future reference, and she also thinks it will help her son Beck win an election, although Charlie has no idea how.

He's also surprised when a young reporter, Kelly Grimes, shows up shortly after requesting to see the diaries, and not happy when he tells her that they aren't ready for public viewing as yet.  But then he's stunned when Professor Marie Steverton, a professor in the history department, also shows up and demands access to the diaries.  Again, Charlie tells her she needs to wait but Marie refuses to accept that answer and tells him that she will speak with Mayor Long herself to get access.

Charlie is still nonetheless surprised even more when the mayor calls him and tells him that Marie should have access to the diaries - so they strike a bargain:  give him one week to verify the diaries and then he will allow Marie first access, which seems to work for Charlie.  But before anything can be done, someone breaks into Charlie's office and steals the diaries.

While Charlie is pretty sure the thief is either Marie or Kelly, he has no proof.  And any further questioning of Marie isn't going to happen:  she's killed in a hit-and-run accident the night Charlie questions her.  But stranger still: the diaries are returned to Charlie's office as quickly as they disappeared.

Then Mayor Long appears with another diary in tow, one she insisted was hidden in another compartment in the trunk where her son found the others.  But what this diary contains could change everything for Beck's opponent Jasper Singletary and perhaps change the stakes in the election...but change it enough to kill?

In the end, the story wasn't riveting and it didn't seem to be enough to completely hold my attention.  It was fine as far as mysteries go, but the ending fell slightly flat for me.  Still, I've bought others in the series so I will read them but I won't purchase any new ones that haven't yet been published.

As it is, I've read six books in the series so far and at the least, found them semi-enjoyable, but something has been niggling at me yet I couldn't quite place it - until now.  I've added a spoiler regarding this, and be aware that it concerns all the previous books in the series including this one.  If you haven't read them and don't want to know the outcome, I urge you not to read it.

I have recently noticed after reading the first five books in this series that the women portrayed (aside from those close to Charlie) are always gossips or just plain nasty, evil people (even the 'nice' women have a ruthless streak). Yet when the man is supposedly evil, we never see any of it. In the first one, we are told that Gerald was mean, but never hear any first hand conversations. Ditto with Connor, the director. Only one occasion where he snapped at actors, but then he was defended by Charlie’s daughter Laura as just being stressed and how he was actually a nice person. But yet the women? We are treated to conversations that are anything but nice, and if you look back at the series thus far, you will see this.

The killers? Almost always women when statistics show that most murderers are men; all you have to do is read a newspaper to know this. But not in his books. Then there was the one time that a man who killed someone was unexpectedly ‘thrown into’ the story - and I say thrown in because we didn’t see him at all nor have any conversations with anyone, and he was only involved because his mother was...the killer. HE didn’t even have any reason to kill anyone, and it didn't make sense.

Of the two 'nice' women: his daughter Laura is so sweet to be almost saccharine; and Helen is alright; she's a baker who spent time in France learning to bake. Soooo....at random moments she spouts French phrases. Really? She's not French. Who does this? It seems pretentious somehow, especially in a small town, to just throw out foreign phrases if you're not a foreigner. What is supposed to be cute is annoying and pompous. (as in: 'I spent time in France. Have you?')

But what bothers me the most is we never get to know the male victims - we are told they’ve done horrible things, but are never privvy to any real conversations, yet with the women we’re given conversations and actions that go on for pages. When male victim #1 was killed, we were told of his bad actions, I never saw anything evil that he did to deserve dying. For male victim #2, he seemed like a nice man (he was nice to Charlie) even though we were told how horrible he was to everyone, but again didn't see any of it. When male victim #3 was killed, he had a bad temper, which directors often do. Nothing he did warranted death. We're not privvy to any real conversations that show us how truly horrible they are. But when the women are victims, there are conversations containing threats (even against his cat), physical violence, women screaming at Charlie, etc., as if to show us how bad these females are and how they deserve their fate. It's almost as if the author doesn't like women and has to put it to page to show us how truly disgusting they are.

Since I have several more books in the series (which I wish I'd never bought) I will finish them; but just out of curiosity, I glanced at the next in the series to see who the murderer was - and I wasn't surprised at all when I read it. Draw your own conclusions.

If you've read the spoiler, then perhaps you'll understand why I'm not thrilled with these books.  As I stated above, I've already bought a few more in the series (which I often do ahead of time) so there may be more reviews to come.  Please be aware that these are my own personal observations and my own opinions.  I am also aware that there are others who will disagree, and that's perfectly fine; there's always hope in a series that it will get better, so we will see.

https://www.amazon.com/Arsenic-Old-Books-Stacks-Mystery/dp/0425277534/

Goodreads:https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2295975910 

More on Miranda James's Books:  https://www.fantasticfiction.com/j/miranda-james/