Fatal First Edition by Jenn McKinlay

 

First Line: How's the windy city?" Nancy Peyton asked.

 

Librarian Lindsey Norris and her husband, Sully, are in Chicago attending an archivists' conference. After a lecture, Lindsey gets up to go to the front to meet book restoration specialist Brooklyn Wainwright and finds a tote bag containing a first edition of Patricia Highsmith's Strangers on a Train inscribed to Alfred Hitchcock. Wainwright determines the novel is quite valuable, so Lindsey returns the book to the conference director.

Mere hours after boarding the train back to Connecticut, Lindsey and Sully find the conference director murdered in his private compartment. Even worse, the pair are prime suspects because the murderer planted the book in their room next door. Finding a killer just became even more important than usual.

~

If you're in the mood for a book that's just plain fun to read, pick up Jenn McKinlay's Fatal First Edition. Although this is one of my favorite series and I would love you to read all fourteen books in it, I think you could pick this one up and not feel confused about the characters and their lives if you don't have the time to invest in the entire series. (But don't blame me if you read it and find yourself looking up all the others.)

There are so many elements that make Fatal First Edition a winner. There's the cameo appearance by book restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright, the main character in Kate Carlisle's excellent Bibliophile series. There are ties to master mystery writer Patricia Highsmith and master filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock through Highsmith's Strangers on a Train. There's train travel for those of you who haven't had the pleasure (and those of us who have). Even the weather cooperates by providing a blizzard during the hunt for the killer.

With all these elements comes a first-rate cast that I consider part of my fictional family. When a character's life is in danger, I was reminded of how I think McKinlay could be an extremely talented thriller writer. She definitely had me turning the pages as fast as I could.

After this thrill ride of a mystery, I can't wait to see what is next in store for intrepid librarian Lindsey Norris. Hurry up with the next book, Jenn!

Fatal First Edition by Jenn McKinlay

eISBN: 9780593639351

Berkley Prime Crime © 2024

eBook, 280 pages

 

Cozy Mystery ,#14 Library Lovers mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Net Galley

One for the Books by Jenn McKinlay

 

First Line: "Why is everyone staring at us?"

Finding out you've made a big organizational mistake when your wedding is only a week away is not good, and library director Lindsey Norris doesn't know whether to pull her hair, hyperventilate, or run screaming into the night. Fortunately, her friends dissuade her from doing any of them. 

Unfortunately, when she and her Crafternoon buddies head out to Bell Island to check out the wedding venue, they find a body that has washed up on the beach... and they know who it is: the justice of the peace who was to officiate at her wedding ceremony.

Nothing like a little murder to take Lindsey's mind off everything that's going wrong with her wedding!

I've loved this Library Lovers series from its inception, and it just keeps getting stronger, probably because the entire cast feels like family now. Not only does One for the Books come with several excellent reading recommendations, but it also comes with an idea that I wish I'd thought of when I got married: instead of gifts, donate a book to the library. How great is that?

The mystery was a bit easy to solve, but that's because the short time span before Lindsey's wedding meant that there were a lot of other things going on. This book is for the characters, and this is where it really shines. It's probably due to the fact that we share the same last name, but I've always had a proprietary interest in the sour puss Ms. Lemon. I'm thrilled with the progress of her character, and I hope she succeeds in her latest quest.

Excellent reading recommendations, a mystery to solve, laugh-out-loud humor, a wedding, and characters I love. One for the Books has all the feels-- and if I may make my own suggestion, have a box of tissues handy when you get close to the end. You'll need them. 

One for the Books by Jenn McKinlay

eISBN: 9780593101766

Berkley Prime Crime © 2020

eBook, 320 pages

 

Cozy Mystery, #11 Library Lovers mystery

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

Word to the Wise by Jenn McKinlay

First Line: "Too meringue, too low-cut, holy bananas, too high-cut!"

Lindsey Norris is about to start hyperventilating. She's getting married to the man of her dreams, yet there are all these wedding details and plans to deal with... it's almost more than she can take.

Then along comes a straw named Aaron Grady, determined to break the camel's back named Lindsey. With no encouragement whatsoever, Grady begins stalking Lindsey, making her life miserable, until his body turns up outside the library.

It's obviously a frame job to have the groom-to-be take the fall for murder, so Lindsey has to work fast to dig into her stalker's past to find the real killer and clear Sully's name. The woman is on a mission, do NOT get in her way!

Word to the Wise is 300-plus pages that come oh-so-close to being perfection. The only thing that kept it from being perfect was a killer who was a bit too easy to pick out of a lineup, but you know what? I don't care because I loved every other molecule of this story.

The more Jenn McKinlay writes, the better she gets-- and she was good to begin with. There's something for everyone in Word to the Wise: a killer to catch, wedding plans to carry out, a stalker to make readers' blood run cold, and meeting up with all these characters who have become good friends.

Being an introvert like Lindsey, I think McKinlay nailed her character's reactions to things like wedding planning and constantly being in a group of people (even when they're people she cares about). Then there's the ongoing evolution of a lemon called Ms. Cole. The Lemon has gone from the early days of me wanting to lock her in an iron maiden to now when I find myself cheering her on. Don't worry, though, all her rough edges have not been worn down!

For those readers like me who don't care for a lot of gushy romance stuff in their mysteries, McKinlay has a light touch that never makes me growl or scowl. And for those who appreciate scenes that ratchet up the suspense, I'll tell you right now that McKinlay's stalking scenes are right on target and so vivid that they brought back memories of the stalker I had to deal with. (Don't like to be too scared when you read a book? Don't worry. Jenn takes care of you.)

One element after another in Word to the Wise made this a gripping read, but if I had to choose one word to describe it, I would choose "happy." It made me smile and feel all's right with the world. This isn't the only book of Jenn McKinlay's to show the all-encompassing power of friendship, but it's certainly one of her best.
  

Word to the Wise by Jenn McKinlay

eISBN: 9780451492722

Berkley Prime Crime © 2019

eBook, 304 pages

Cozy Mystery, #10 Library Lovers mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Net Galley

Hitting the Books by Jenn McKinlay

First Line: He was whistling.

A stack of library materials found at the scene of a hit and run draws Briar Creek library director Lindsey Norris into the heart of an investigation as police race to link the driver to the person who borrowed the items. And the police must move even faster when the victim of the hit and run suffers another "accident." This investigation has shifted from driver negligence to attempted murder, and those library materials may just give Lindsey the information she needs to crack the case right open.


When you want and need to read something light and fun, you can't go wrong with anything Jenn McKinlay has written, but I say she has a little thriller writer buried deep down inside who's begging to be turned loose. Hitting the Books opens with a hit and run scene that made my heart jump into my throat. (And that's not the only scene which had that effect on me.)

In this latest Library Lovers mystery, McKinlay has upped her game to a whole new level. From the pedal-to-the-metal pacing to an ingenious plot with a solution that blindsided me, I enjoyed every moment. What's even better-- McKinlay never once forgets her characters. Longtime fans are going to love the romantic doings between Lindsey and Sully, and since the author knows how to use a light touch, this I-don't-care-for-romance-in-my-mystery reader (me) loved it, too. Readers who haven't found that special person are going to read this and think, "That's what I want," and those of us who have been supremely lucky are just going to have big smiles on our faces.

It wouldn't be a McKinlay novel without the author's trademark humor, and there's plenty to be found here, as well as characters who change as they experience different things throughout this series of books. And may I just say that I'm thrilled to see that librarian fixture Ms. Cole (AKA "The Lemon") is changing as well. Watching her evolve from mean and nasty to almost-human is a joy. Speaking of librarians, the scenes in which Lindsey faces down the law over the subject of patrons' privacy highlight one of the many reasons why librarians are rock stars.

Hitting the Books hits all the right notes. Thrilling action scenes, the right touch of romance, laugh-out-loud moments, a compelling mystery, and characters you'd invite in your house for coffee. After watching McKinlay flex her writing chops in this book, I can't wait for the next Library Lovers mystery!

Hitting the Books by Jenn McKinlay

eISBN: 9780451492692

Berkley Prime Crime © 2018

eBook, 304 pages

Cozy Mystery, #9 Library Lovers mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Net Galley 

Death in the Stacks by Jenn McKinlay

First Line: September in New England was about as perfect a season as there was on earth.

It's time for the Briar Creek Library's annual Dinner in the Stacks fundraiser, the biggest moneymaker of the year, and library director Lindsey Norris and her staff have no time to put up with the new library board president. Olive Boyle is behaving like Attila the Hun. Every time she makes an appearance, she's threatening to expose secrets and take away people's jobs. But no matter how much the woman gets up her nose, Lindsey is determined to stand up for herself and her staff and to make the fundraiser a success.

She almost gets away with it... until she finds one of her staff members crouched over Olive's dead body in the fiction section of the library. Paula's proximity to the body may make her the prime suspect in Olive's murder, but everyone who knows her knows she's innocent. Everyone looks to Lindsey to catch the real killer.

There are some series I have a tendency to hold back and read when I need a pick-me-up because they're special. Jenn McKinlay's Library Lovers is one such series. I know the author and her publisher would rather I gobbled them up as soon as each new book came off the press, but sometimes a girl just has to have a go-to book when she needs a little extra sunshine in her life.

Death in the Stacks provided me with just what I needed. I was back in the midst of a cast that has become old and dear friends-- especially with cameo appearances from McKinlay's Cupcake Bakery and Hat Shop series characters. Another thing that makes me smile is the continuing evolution of the lemon, Ms. Cole. Ms. Cole proves that there's hope for us all.

Not only did the entire cast keep me smiling (well, not Olive Boyle-- she is a very worthy body in the library), the mystery kept me guessing. There's lots of good misdirection, and I loved how the cupcake and hat shop folks kept appearing and disappearing from Lindsey's suspect list.

All in all, it was another marvelous visit with the gang in Briar Creek, and if there's one quote that I'll take away with me from this book, it's this: "There was nothing she loved better than laughter in the library." Libraries are, indeed, repositories of knowledge, adventure, dreams, and laughter. They are one of the cornerstones of civilization. Thanks, Jenn, for reminding us of this in such an enjoyable way.

Death in the Stacks by Jenn McKinlay

ISBN: 9780399583759

Berkley Prime Crime © 2017

Hardcover, 304 pages

Cozy Mystery, #8 Library Lovers mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.


 

Better Late Than Never by Jenn McKinlay

First Line: "Let the wild rumpus start!" Beth Stanley cried as the cart of books she had stacked to bursting abruptly regurgitated its contents all over the Briar Creek Public Library's main floor with a loud rushing noise followed by slaps and thumps as the books landed on the ground.

Lindsey Norris and her staff at the Briar Creek Public Library are swamped with returns when they hold their very first overdue book amnesty day, but one book catches Lindsey's eye: a copy of Catcher in the Rye that's twenty years past due. Due to Ms. Cole's excellent recordkeeping, she's shocked to discover that the book was checked out by a teacher named Candice Whitley on the day she was murdered. Her killer was never found. 

Lindsey can't help wondering if the book can provide a clue to Candice's killer. Was the murderer the person who returned it? Lindsey is determined to find and bring this person to justice.

I've long been a fan of Jenn McKinlay's feel good writing, and she's delivered another winner with Better Late Than Never. In the midst of speculation over the state of Lindsey and Sully's relationship and the meddling of that British actor who insists on hanging around Briar Creek, we are served up a story about the power of friendship in a setting that showcases how libraries are changing with the times.

The characters are of utmost importance, as they should be in any cozy series worth its salt, and you can tell I've fallen under their spell after reading my remark about "that British actor." Fortunately there are some very interesting developments with that man in the book, and I certainly want to know where those are headed in the next installment. 

But it's not just the characters in Better Late Than Never that make it a winner. The solution to the mystery came out of left field and beaned me right upside the head. I love, love, love being surprised when I learn who done it! Jenn McKinlay's Library Lovers series is one of my favorites, and if you haven't given it a try, I just have to ask-- What are you waiting for?

Better Late Than Never by Jenn McKinlay

ISBN:  9780399583735

Berkley Prime Crime © 2016

Hardcover, 304 pages

Cozy Mystery, #7 Library Lovers mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.

A Likely Story by Jenn McKinlay

First Line: "I need a plunger and a mop stat!"

In the course of delivering books out to their home on one of the Thumb Islands off the coast of Connecticut, library director Lindsey Norris has befriended the elderly Stewart and Peter Rosen. But on her latest trip out to Star Island, Lindsey and Sully discover Peter's dead body in the old Victorian house... and they can't find Stewart anywhere. Positive that whoever killed Peter is out to kill his brother as well, Lindsey is determined to find a killer and save Stewart.

Author Jenn McKinlay's first book in hardcover is a real winner in her always-enjoyable Library Lovers series. More than once McKinlay has shown a true talent for the thriller side of crime fiction, and she does it again here. The Rosen brothers are hoarders, and this fact provides both thrills and comic relief to anyone who's seen even thirty seconds of an episode of Hoarders. (I watched fifteen minutes of one episode a few years back, and the images are still seared on my brain.) 

In A Likely Story, McKinlay adds a delicious creep factor when Lindsey attempts to track an intruder through the claustrophobic Rosen house. With narrow little paths through towering, leaning piles of booby-trapped junk, I wasn't sure if Lindsey was going to be buried alive or jumped on by a killer. This is a wonderfully written scene. In turn, the state of the brothers' home provides some great one-liners for Lindsey, such as "When she got home she was going to sort her linen closet just to make herself feel better."

This is a mystery with a short suspect list, so it's the all-important Why and How that matter, and along the way readers get to experience Lindsey's friend Beth meeting a potential Mr. Right, something that-- with Beth's track record-- is perilous at best. Speaking of romance, A Likely Story ends on a romantic cliffhanger, and since I am not a fan of that particular "triangular" plot device, I really hope it's resolved in the next installment.

As a celebratory bonus at the end of the book, McKinlay has included the short story, "An Unlikely Meeting." Please don't miss it! You not only get your Heathcliff Fix by reading it, you also get to meet a new series character. This short story really has me looking forward to the next book. Write faster, Jenn!

A Likely Story by Jenn McKinlay

ISBN: 9780425260746
Berkley Prime Crime © 2015
Hardcover, 304 pages

Cozy Mystery, #1 Library Lovers mystery
Rating: A
Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.


 

On Borrowed Time by Jenn McKinlay

First Line: Lindsey Norris, director of the Briar Creek Public Library, strode across the library with her keys in hand.

Christmas time is fast approaching in Briar Creek, and library director Lindsey Norris has her hands full getting the library ready for the holidays and juggling the two men fighting for her affections. When her beloved world-traveling brother goes missing, all the preparations and juggling get cast aside. There's no question that Jack comes first.

Since police involvement could spell trouble for her brother, Lindsey begins to investigate this very strange case concerning the South American coffee business, but she's going to need the help of her book club buddies and her two eager suitors to save Jack.

On Borrowed Time has more of what we've come to expect from author Jenn McKinlay: a fast pace, endearing characters, a book lover's dream setting, and plenty of humor. She's even pushing the envelope a bit-- and with some success, too.

Lindsey's brother Jack has been alluded to in previous books in this series, but readers haven't had the chance to meet him until now. I liked Jack, although I have to admit that I had misgivings about the plot revolving around him. Bringing international intrigue into a cozy traditional mystery is definitely pushing the envelope, and I would imagine that it's not going to set well with some of McKinlay's fans. I can go along with it because there's no law saying that characters in traditional mysteries all have to have small town jobs. It's more likely that someone like Jack-- who's an economist and travels the world-- would encounter murder and mayhem than a small town library director in Connecticut. Moreover, Jack's piece of the story brought me smack into the middle of the scene I liked the best: Lindsey and friends' plot to foil the villains, which takes place at sea. In fact, there's more than one scene taking place on open water, and I thought both of them were excellent. There's a bit of a thriller writer in McKinlay, methinks!

It may be wishful reading, but I also detected signs pointing to the end of Lindsey's romantic triangle. Ever since Janet Evanovich's neverending  Stephanie/Ranger/Morelli tease (that I got sick of and stopped reading many books ago), I find I have extremely little patience for that particular narrative device. In On Borrowed Time, Sully's and Vine's behavior was childish, and I just wanted to smack both of them and make them go stand in the corner.

I'm looking forward to the next Library Lover's mystery with a great deal of anticipation, but I also feel that McKinlay's wanting to try something new. Whatever she decides to do, I'll be one of the first in line to find out what it is!
  

On Borrowed Time by Jenn McKinlay

ISBN: 9780425260739

Berkley Prime Crime © 2014

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Cozy Mystery, #5 Library Lovers mystery

Rating: B+

Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.  

Read It and Weep by Jenn McKinlay

First Lines: "Of course you're all going to audition for the play," Violet La Rue said. "It's the kickoff to our community theater season."

Everyone in Briar Creek wants a part in their Community Theater's production of A Midsummer Night's Dream. Well, everyone except library director Lindsey Norris. She's more than content to work behind the scenes with costumes and scenery. It gives her time to try to figure out why Sully is jealous of gorgeous professional actor Robbie Vine's flirting with her when Sully's the one who ended their relationship. When someone in the cast is poisoned, all thoughts of possible romantic entanglements are cast aside. This librarian has a murder to solve before someone else has a final curtain call.

Of the four first-rate mystery series that Jenn McKinlay writes, this is my favorite. Perhaps it's the library setting that feels like home to me. Perhaps it's a varied cast of characters that grow and change with each book. There's a new police chief in town who's been warned of Lindsey's nosy ways. We finally learn a little more about Violet La Rue and her daughter Charlene. Lindsey's relationship with Sully may be at an end, but someone new in town is obviously attracted to her. Even grumpy by-the-book librarian Ms. Cole is seen in a different light. It's a wise writer who realizes that-- regardless how much fans may whine and complain-- the best characters to come back to time and again are the ones who experience ups and downs just like we readers do.

The plot is a good one with shades of the Bard throughout. Not everyone is as they appear to be. Romance is in the air for more people than just Lindsey, and there's a heart-stopping brush with death. But there's more to this Library Lovers series than well-told tales and interesting characters.

In Read It and Weep, we learn a bit about putting on a play, especially behind the scenes. Scenery, costume fittings, assigning understudies, run-throughs of the script-- all these things and more fit snugly into the story. What's more, anyone who's ever checked out a book will certainly enjoy this one (and the series) for the glimpses into life in the stacks that real-life librarian McKinlay shares. From using library skills to research information into a murder, to the "there's always one in the bunch" rulemeister, to the knockout scene where Lindsay helps a little girl find her book with the pumpkin on the cover, the author shows what magical places libraries are. 

This is a series that started well and just keeps getting better. If you love books, laughter, romance, and trying to figure out whodunit, may I suggest that you read all about Briar Creek's nosy library director, Lindsey Norris?

Read It and Weep by Jenn McKinlay

ISBN: 9780425260722 

Berkley Prime Crime © 2013

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Cozy Mystery, #4 Library Lovers mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen 

Book, Line, and Sinker by Jenn McKinlay

First Line: "Daisy Buchanan was an insipid, shallow, soulless woman," Violet La Rue declared.

Lindsey Norris couldn't be happier in Briar Creek, Connecticut. She's started her second year as library director; she enjoys the meetings of the crafternoon club she's a part of; and she's dating Mike Sully, one hunk of a tour boat captain.

Unfortunately a storm appears on the horizon when a salvage company sails into town to dig up a treasure that was supposedly buried on Pirate Island over three hundred years ago.

Factions begin to form in town, with those all for the salvage company doing its thing led by Trudi Hargrave, the local tourism director. Lindsey's downstairs neighbor Charlie gets a job with the salvage company, and when Trudi's body is found at the excavation site, Lindsey finds herself doing some investigating of her own in order to keep Charlie out of jail.

In the space of three books, Jenn McKinlay's Library Lovers series has become one of my favorites. I think it encapsulates some of the things cozy lovers wish for in the real world: a picture postcard town to live in, the perfect library to patronize, the best set of friends anyone could hope to have, and a solution to the crime by book's end.  Even the obnoxious people in Briar Creek are fun in their own ways. Take Trudi Hargrave, for instance. I probably shouldn't speak ill of the dead, but since she's fictional I might get away with it. One of Trudi's trademarks was her uber-high stilettos. Now, I knew she was going to bite the dust just from reading the back of the book, but that woman was so nasty and pushy that I kept hoping she'd trip on those silly shoes and come a cropper before she met her untimely demise.  Rotten of me, isn't it? But it's just that easy to get wrapped up in Jenn McKinlay's world.

The plot involving a pirate treasure is so much fun, and the way the characters interact with each other is a joy as always. If you're a fan of mysteries set in the book world and are hoping to find characters who seem like real librarians dealing with real library situations, you can't go wrong with this series. The author is a librarian herself, and you can tell how much she enjoys it by reading these books. In fact, my only quibble with the Briar Creek Public Library is that the librarian everyone loves to hate shares my surname. Oh well, can't win 'em all!

Do you have to read this series from the beginning, or can you begin with this latest book? You can start with Book, Line, and Sinker, but if you're  the fan of cozies and libraries that I think you are, why deny yourself the pleasure of reading them all?

Book, Line, and Sinker by Jenn McKinlay

ISBN: 9780425251768
Berkley Prime Crime © 2012
Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Cozy Mystery, #3 Library Lovers mystery
Rating: B+
Source: Purchased at The Poisoned Pen.

Due or Die by Jenn McKinlay

First Line: "I could not believe that Lucy agreed to marry Cecil when she was so obviously in love with George," Violet La Rue declared.

The same evening that Carrie Rushton is voted in as the new president of the Friends of the Library, her husband is murdered. The evidence is stacking up against the well-liked woman, but head librarian Lindsey Norris and the Briar Creek crafternoon club doesn't believe a bit of it. When a nor'easter buries the small coastal town in snow, wind and frigid temperatures, the police are too busy digging out the residents to focus on the murder. Lindsey and her friends take this as their cue to conduct their own investigation.

This is the perfect book to read during a typical summer in Phoenix. I sat in the pool and smiled as I read about frostbite, howling winds, and towering snowdrifts. Hey... some people are made for cold; I'm made for heat.

I enjoyed the first book in this series, Books Can Be Deceiving, because McKinlay created the perfect small town setting complete with the perfect library. She continues this in Due or Die. Lindsey is loving her new home, her new library, and her new friends more and more as time passes. Tall, dark and handsome Mike Sullivan makes her pulse race even more than Ms. Cole, the obstreperous librarian nicknamed "the lemon," does. From abandoned puppies to widows, Lindsey is always there to lend a hand, and when someone mentions that to her, she wonders  Was it true? Was she incapable of not helping a person in distress? Or was she just a big buttinsky? 

The camaraderie between Lindsey, her coworkers and her friends is a delight to read, and her decision to "foster" an abandoned puppy until a good home can be found for it will make any pet lover smile knowingly and sigh with pleasure. And while I'm speaking about emotional reactions... let me tell you-- when Lindsey tells Sully off at the end of the book, my fist pump went a little wild, I almost knocked over my umbrella, and my "YOU GO GIRL!" scared off a few of my feathered friends at the birdbath nearby.

For those of you who like the goodies at the backs of books, the author has included tips to set up your own crafternoons, a reading guide, a crochet pattern, and recipes.

There is so much fun in this fast-paced book; McKinlay had to be smiling as she wrote it. Due or Die has much more to do with the feeling of closeness and friendship between all the characters than it has to do with whodunit, and sometimes that's exactly what the doctor ordered. I can't wait for the next book in the series!

Due or Die by Jenn McKinlay

ISBN: 9780425246689

Berkley Prime Crime  ©2012

Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages

Cozy Mystery, Amateur Sleuth, #2 Library Lovers Mystery

Rating: A

Source: Purchased at the Poisoned Pen

Books Can Be Deceiving by Jenn McKinlay

Title: Books Can Be Deceiving
Author: Jenn McKinlay
ISBN: 9780425242186
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime, 2011
Mass Market Paperback, 304 pages
Genre: Cozy/Amateur Sleuth, #1 Library Lovers mystery
Rating: B-
Source: Paperback Swap

First Line: "Oh, I just love that Maxim de Winter," Violet La Rue said, her knitting needles clacking together as if to emphasize her words.

Lindsey Norris has found a job she loves-- being the director of the Briar Creek Public Library-- in a town she's come to love, and she has to admit that her apartment is great and she's making lots of friends. Everything is just peachy, even if her co-worker (AKA "The Lemon") is determined to put a sour note or three in Lindsey's cheery song.

That changes when a New York editor shows up in town for some R&R. Lindsey's friend Beth has been working for years on a children's book, and she's finally persuaded to show her work to the editor.  Beth's boyfriend, already a famous author, gets in the way, and when Beth goes to confront him, she finds his body and becomes the prime suspect in his murder. The local sheriff is convinced of Beth's guilt, so Lindsey has to work fast to prove her friend's innocence.

Sometimes I wish we could call a moratorium on big-bellied, stupid, belligerent sheriffs, but there must be enough of them in real life that I wouldn't be able to pull it off. Yes, there is one in this book, but-- thank heavens-- the state sends in a detective to keep the idiot in line.

The setting in a small town by the sea in Connecticut is very well done, and I definitely wouldn't mind going there for a visit. As befits all the best cozies, the cast is what reigns supreme in this book. Lindsey and her circle of friends drew me right in, and even the old sour puss, Ms. Cole, had me keeping my eye on her. There's also a handsome hunk of man that knows his way around a boat, and he's not about to repel all boarders when Lindsey's around.

About the only thing that bothered me in this book was the fact that I didn't really get to deduce whodunit because, by the time Lindsey and her friends started checking into the victim's background, it was close to the end and all the characters really weren't on the scorecard yet. Be that as it may, I still found this an enjoyable book filled with characters that I want to read about again. My favorite line? "Nobody threatens my library."

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