Buried in the Stacks

July 1, 2019
In Brook’s so-so third Haunted Library mystery (after 2018’s Read and Gone), Carrie Singleton, the head of programs at the Clover Ridge, Conn., library, is concerned about the welfare of the homeless people who spend nights in a local shelter and days in the library’s reading room. A group of civic-minded citizens set out to buy a house to be used as a day facility for the homeless. Heading up the group is Ernie Pfeiffer, a known sleaze who conned the late Evelyn Havers, whose ghost haunts the library, and her husband out of most of their savings, among other victims. The members of the community appear to be fully aware of Ernie’s track record, yet everyone buys into his plan. Widespread rumors that the day center will be used for illegal gambling and more after hours cause no concern. Meanwhile, Evelyn insists that Carrie investigate the suspicious death of her niece, Dorothy Hawkins, a reference librarian. What becomes a murder inquiry follows predictable lines. Too many implausible developments will strain even the patience of cozy fans. Agent: Dawn Dowdle, Blue Ridge Literary.

July 1, 2019
At a ghost's direction, a librarian solves a colleague's murder. No one much likes Dorothy Hawkins, reference librarian at the Clover Ridge public library. She's snappy with patrons and malicious toward co-workers, even kind and gentle Carrie Singleton (Read and Gone, 2018, etc.), director of programs and events. But when Dorothy slips on the ice, it's Carrie (recently elevated to the post of Sunshine Delegate for the library) who visits her in the hospital, where Dorothy confides that she thinks her husband is trying to kill her. So naturally, when Dorothy does die in a car crash, it's Carrie who investigates, to the dismay of both the local police chief and her boyfriend, Dylan, who's on assignment in Atlanta and can't actually look after Carrie. What seals the deal for Carrie is the insistence of Evelyn Havers, the library's resident ghost, that Dorothy's death really was murder and that the same person who killed Dorothy may have killed Evelyn years ago. Once she's on the case, Carrie risks it all, even the life of Smoky Joe, her pet cat who serves as the library's mascot, to solve the murder of a woman everyone insists is better off dead. Brook hits all the marks: cat, ghost, damsel in distress, and boyfriend edging ever closer to matrimony but still enticingly out of reach. A cavalcade of coziness.

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August 16, 2019

Carrie Singleton is now head of programs and events at the Clover Ridge Library and a member of the community. She agrees to be the Sunshine Delegate for the library staff but didn't realize her first hospital visit would be to see patient Dorothy Hawkins. Dorothy wanted Carrie's job, and she's an unpleasant coworker. She tells Carrie her husband wants to kill her, but once she's home denies what she said. Then she's killed in a car accident soon after returning to work. The library's resident ghost, Evelyn, is Dorothy's aunt, and pushes Carrie to investigate. When that case dovetails with Carrie's interest in a daycare center for the town's homeless, she endangers herself by asking questions of the wrong people. This issue-oriented cozy features a young amateur sleuth who is in over her head in a case involving gambling, hardened criminals, and murder. VERDICT Brook follows Read and Gone with another mystery focused on the library, the resident cat, and library issues, but emotionally insecure Carrie puts herself in jeopardy too often. Fans of library-set mysteries may prefer books by Jenn McKinlay or Dean James.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

Copyright 2019 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2019
Carrie Singleton, employed at the Clover Ridge Library in Connecticut, investigates when her disagreeable colleague, reference librarian Dorothy Hawkins, is murdered after sharing with Carrie that she feared her husband was trying to kill her. Carrie soon discovers Dorothy loved to learn secrets about people and use that information to blackmail them, contributing to a wide field of suspects. Carrie is assisted by Dorothy's aunt, Evelyn, who is a ghostly presence at the library, only able to be seen by Carrie and Carrie's young cousin Tacey. Carrie also becomes involved with helping to create a daytime shelter for Clover Ridge's homeless population, some of whom are causing problems at the library. Although her home is broken into and her cat, Smoky Joe, threatened, Carrie perseveres and uncovers a murderer. Framed by details of working at a library and issues of homelessness, this cozy includes an empathetic, principled main character involved in a deepening romantic relationship. Suggest to those who enjoy the ghostly assistance in Carolyn Haines' Sarah Booth Delaney and Nancy Atherton's Aunt Dimity series.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)