Flashback Friday – A Likely Story by Jenn McKinlay – #Review / #Giveaway

A Likely Story (A Library Lover’s Mystery)
6th in Series
Cozy Mystery
Setting – Connecticut
A Berkley Prime Crime Mystery (November 3, 2015)
An Imprint of Penguin Random House
Hardcover: 304 pages
ISBN-13: 978-0425260746
Mass Market Paperback: 320 pages – (November 1, 2016)
ISBN-13: 978-1101986837
E-Book ASIN: B00SI026IS

Dollycas’s Thoughts

An excellent story.

This time Jenn McKinlay takes us to a little island off the coast to meet 2 elderly brothers, one like me spends his days in a wheelchair. Sully takes Lindsey there in his water taxi to deliver books. Stewart, the older brother, always meets them on the dock. She has never ventured beyond there to the house until now. She and Sully approach the old house carefully because they have been warned the place is booby-trapped to keep away unwanted visitors. They immediately know something is wrong when they reach the porch and Stewart has still not appeared. What they find into addition to the traps deterring their entrance is a house full of everything you can think of, the brothers are major hoarders. They make their way through the small open paths to find Peter, the younger brother dead. Stewart is nowhere to be found. They call the police but Lindsey knows she needs to find Stewart and find the killer.

This was a bendy twisty mystery that could have gone several ways and included more suspects than I at first imagined. It was very well plotted and written and kept this reader very engaged.

In addition to the mystery we have the love triangle of Lindsey, Sully and Robbie. I was feeling this was going the way I wanted and would be wrapping up, but then, on the last page of the story, just one word through a monkey wrench into the saga which will now continue on.

I did enjoy children’s librarian Beth stepping beyond her comfort zone and meeting someone new. I also enjoyed Ms. Cole’s relationship with town historian Milton Duffy as well. It had a few tense moments. Stewart Rosen is also a very interesting character. His family, one of the first in the area, gave some history to the story. Of course, the crafternooners were back sticking their noses into everything.

Jenn McKinlay is an expert of blending a suspenseful mystery with the proper amounts of humor and romance. She always leaves us wanting more, ready to jump into the next Library Lover’s Mystery. She didn’t make us wait long this time as there is a short story, A Unlikely Meeting, at the end of this book. No, the romantic cliffhanger was not addressed but she does introduce us to a new Briar Creek resident and the lovable Heathcliff plays a major role.

Because I was late reading this installment, my wait to read the next is quite short.  Better Late Than Never comes out November 1!