Word to the Wise

July 1, 2019
A librarian and her friends must solve a murder to ensure that she'll live long enough to get married. Lindsey Norris and her fiance, Capt. Mike Sullivan, are planning a small wedding on one of the Thumb Islands near the town of Briar Creek, Connecticut, where Lindsey is the library director and Sully runs a charter boat business (Hitting the Books, 2018, etc.). All Lindsey's plans are jeopardized by an innocuous middle-aged man who turns up at the library seeking information on roses. New to the area, Aaron Grady fears that his rose garden won't survive the drought that's searing the area. In response to Lindsey's assistance, Grady sends her a thank-you note. Then he turns up with a bunch of roses, waiting two hours and quizzing the staff, who all agree that he seems unnaturally fixated on her. When Grady turns up at her house with more roses, she firmly tells him their relationship is limited to that of a librarian and a library patron. Apparently shocked, he leaves her, her friend Beth, and Beth's husband, Aidan, whom she called before opening the door, to explain to an annoyed Sully what's been going on. Grady continues to stalk Lindsey, even watching her try on wedding dresses. Sully and Robbie Vine, an actor who knows a thing or two about stalkers, teach the library staff some self-defense moves, and Robbie's girlfriend, police chief Emma Plewicki, adds a few tips, but nobody can stop Grady from making Lindsey's life hell. The stalking ends only when Grady turns up dead outside the library, leaving Lindsey and Sully prime suspects. Grady's wife, Sylvia, accuses Lindsey of trying to steal her husband and Sully of murdering him. It will take all the research skills of Lindsey and her staff to uncover the real motive for the murder. A fast-paced mystery that provides a chilling look at how difficult it is to get rid of a stalker.

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July 29, 2019
McKinlay’s gripping 10th Library Lover’s mystery (after 2018’s Hitting the Books) finds Briar Creek, Conn., librarian Lindsey Norris preparing for her upcoming wedding to her longtime love, Mike “Sully” Sullivan—and dealing with the unwelcome advances of a new library patron, Aaron Grady. Aaron’s stalking of Lindsey results in his obsessive wife, Sylvia, publicly accusing Lindsey of trying to steal her husband away. British actor Robbie Vine, police chief Emma Plewicki’s significant other, volunteers to help protect Lindsey from Aaron, but when Aaron’s body is found outside the library’s employee entrance, even Lindsey’s friendship with Emma doesn’t prevent Sully from becoming the chief suspect in the man’s murder. The couple are determined to do their own sleuthing to prove Sully’s innocence and keep their nuptials on track. The real killer, however, has other plans for Lindsey. McKinlay does a good job building the suspense. Rarely does a clean-as-a-whistle cozy qualify as riveting, but this one definitely does. Agent: Christina Hogrebe, Jane Rotrosen Agency.

August 1, 2019
Lindsey Norris, librarian at the Briar Creek Library on Connecticut's coast, is happily planning her wedding to Captain Mike "Sully" Sullivan, local tour-boat operator. On the reference desk before one of the library's weekly "crafternoon" gatherings, Lindsey helps Aaron Grady, newcomer to the small town, find books about roses, which he grows. A few days later, in an ominous turn of events, he begins stalking Lindsey, following her home, sending roses. Because Grady makes her so uncomfortable, Lindsey gets her friend, police chief Emma Plewicki, to ban him from the library, an order overruled by the town's mayor. Then Grady is found dead, outside the library, a gun like Sully's by his side. With Sully arrested, Lindsey uses her library skills to find key information to assist Chief Plewicki in finding the true killer?but not before putting herself at risk. For these #MeToo times, Lindsey's plight is a cautionary tale of not blaming the victim.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)