A Margin for Murder - A Review

 

A Margin for Murder

Lauren Elliott

A Review

What do you get when you mix a used bookstore owner, a dying library, and a crooked mayor? You get a dead body and a wrecked bookmobile inside a cozy mystery with a twist.

Add a biased cop and a romantic triangle and things get interesting really quick. Lauren Elliott has written an interest-holding story that takes the reader through the different communities of Cape Cod where we meet a world famous author as well as a number of eccentric characters that make the Cape home.

I could not put this five-star cozy down and recommend it to anyone looking for good clean fun and murder.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

Long Overdue at the Lakeside Library - A Review

 

Long Overdue
at the
Lakeside Library

by

Holly Danvers

A Review

This fun cozy mystery is set in upstate Wisconsin along the shores of Pine Lake. Though the lake, the community, and the people, are fictional, many of us can identify with the environment which Rain Wilmot (known as Rainy to her friends) has chosen to call home. The author presents us with the second book centered around the privately owned public library which is beginning to be a year-round draw for the larger community. Though fictional, I wish I could visit.

Rainy’s best friend’s husband has been locked up for murder. It now becomes Rainy’s, Rainy’s best friend Julia, and Julia’s brother Jace, task to “figure out how to fix that.” To do that would put Rain, Julia, and other members of the Pine Lake community in danger.

I had one disappointment with the book - one about which I will keep my mouth shut. Having spent four years in Wisconsin, it was easy to picture the cold, snowy, icey, winter weather, in which the story takes place. I can easily place myself in Rainy’s place as she finds herself in the ditch along a dark, snow cover road. I have been there! The plot, the setting, and the characters, easily make this a 4-½ star book.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

Murder at the Lakeside Library - A Review

 

Murder at the
Lakeside Library

by

Holly Danvers

A Review

Thirty-two year old Rain Danvers had the un-expected task of opening the Lakeside Library from Memorial Day to Labor Day that year - a task she did not need. She had come to her family’s retreat house to do just that after her husband had passed away. A task that was only made more difficult when the body had been discovered behind the outhouse the very day she arrived at Lofty Pines Lake.

This book appears to be the beginning of a cozy mystery series that is set in the colorful Northwoods of Wisconsin. As expected, along with the library, there is a nice three-season lake, eccentric characters, and a great many intelligent people who are more than willing to help the police solve crimes. The result is a great cozy that should lead to a great series.

My only concern is the constant need to serve beer (or other alcoholic beverages) at every event - social, work related, or otherwise. Yes, this is Wisconsin, one of the beer capitals of the world; but, having lived there, I know that even Wisconsinites have events that do not include beer. The author needs to find a better balance. I give the book four stars.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are mine alone.

A Deadly Chapter - A Review

 

A Deadly Chapter

by

Essie Lang

A Review

A Deadly Chapter should have been a great cozy mystery:

• Set in a well-known vacation spot in Upstate NY - the 1000 Islands
• A boathouse serves as the protagonist’s home
• She owns (or is part owner of) two book stores
• There is a castle
• There is a cat
• And there is a murder

Having said that, I found the book a less than enthusiastic read. It had a very slow start, though it picked up its pace toward the end. The setting was not as descriptive as one might hope for a beautiful area of the country - the same might be said for the abundance of characters to whom the reader is introduced. And rather than keeping me alert, wanting more, I found myself falling asleep while reading - not a good sign.

This is the third book in the “Castle Bookshop Mysteries” series with a promise of more to come. I was not so put off that I do not want to read more, but this book was not the finest cozy mystery I have read. I give it 3-½ stars.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions are mine alone.

Her Every Move - A Review

Her Every Move

by

Kelly Irwin

A Review

 Reading is a gift. I read when I can’t sleep
I read when I’m sad. I read when I’m happy.
Reading gives me joy,
takes me places I’ve never been,
and I learn things.
What person wouldn’t want that gift?”

(Her Every Move, p. 343)

Though it opens a bit slowly, Her Every Move becomes a heart stopper as Jackie Santora, San Antonio Public Library librarian, and SAPD Detective Avery Wick stumble among the various suspects who may be placing bombs around the city. They have identified three or four, but could it be somebody who has not yet been named.

The book builds believable characters within a real-life setting (downtown San Antonio and the Alamo) to create a thrilling story that this reader could not put down. I now want to add San Antonio to my bucket list of places to visit.

Kelly Irwin has given us a faith-based thriller that explores the doubt that many live with when life gets tough without being preachy. It does not resolve those questions, but in a well-written story she allows the reader to explore those themes along with the book’s characters. I give the book four-stars.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions are mine alone.

Bound For Murder - A Review

Bound For Murder

by

Victoria Gilbert

The small town of Taylorsford, VA, had its share of shady characters. Many arose from the small commune that had its origin and downfall during the ’60s on a farm located on the outskirts of town. This was of course escalated by the drug culture that was part of commune life. But now some of those shady characters were grown up and running for public office. Some were returning to visit friends. And there were those who were returning for murder.

Much of the story focuses on the town library and its librarian, Amy Webber, and a forty-year-old murder associated with the members of the commune. The more Amy discovered about the commune’s history, the more dangerous life became for her and her friends. Time was running out before there would be more murders.

The author has built an enjoyable cozy mystery that easily holds the reader’s attention from page 1 to the last sentence. Though there are two cats woven into the story, there is no library cat. But even without the cat, the book was an enjoyable read.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are my own.

Read and Buried - A Review

Read and Buried 

by

Eva Gates

A nice and friendly library mystery with a library cat to boot filled my days at the beginning of summer. The sixth book in the series, it is easy to read without the background material that may have been present in earlier books. The lighthouse housing the library actually exists in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, though the author has added a full-service library and a fourth story apartment to the contents of the actual building. The author compares the library to Dr. Who’s Tardis - larger on the inside than it is on the outside. The lighthouse/library is supposed to be haunted - but only one rather strange library board member really believes that story.

The mystery begins with the discovery of a strange tin box containing a diary, a hand-drawn map, and a cryptic note. Dating from the time of the Civil War, no one is sure whether the contents are significant or just the result of a young boy’s imagination - but, regardless, it leads to murder.

The story is a great cozy mystery with enough history woven in to allow the reader to follow his or her own research path if they choose to do so. Though understanding the history is not critical to following the story, it meant spending a few extra minutes in Google in order to better understand the history of the Outer Banks.

Whether the reader is a cozy mystery lover, a civil war buff, or library connoisseur, the book will be a fun read for a couple of days and nights.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are my own.

Buried in the Stacks - A Review

Buried in the Stacks

by

Allison Brook

Many have heard of the library cat, but this library has something more - it has a library ghost. Thankfully, both the cat and the ghost are friendly and take an active part in the story. Allison Brook, along with the cat and ghost, has written a readable and enjoyable book.

No one really liked Dorothy Hawkins, the Research Librarian, but nobody really wanted her to die either. In an unexpected conversation Dorothy would initially accuse her husband, but would later say her accusation was the result of a drug induced delirium. It would fall upon Carrie Singleton, her cat (which she shared with the library) and the library’s ghost (a former library employee who died some time ago in the library parking lot) to find the murderer.

The story was interesting and attention holding. The detective work seemed more accidental than purposeful - but it got the job done. The murder was solved.

The book will be enjoyed by most who read cozy mysteries. The book will find a home in many public libraries and on the shelves of many casual readers.
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This review is based on a free electronic copy provided by the publisher for the purpose of creating this review. The opinions expressed are my own.