On FlashbackFridays I will share with you
the books I was not able to review
when they were first released that have been screaming at me
from my To-Be-Read bookshelf.
With this book, I will be caught up on this series and ready to review The Spook in the Stacks
Reading Up a Storm (A Lighthouse Library Mystery)
Cozy Mystery
3rd in Series
Setting – North Carolina
Berkley (April 5, 2016)
Mass Market Paperback: 336 pages
ISBN-10: 0451470958
ISBN-13: 978-0451470959
ASIN: B011IVP8Q0
Misfortune blows into North Carolina’s Outer Banks when a dead body in a boat on the shore leaves local librarian Lucy Richardson racing to solve a strange new mystery….
After a successful party at Bodie Island’s Lighthouse Library, librarian Lucy Richardson is ready to curl up with her cat, Charles, and a good book. But her R and R is cut short when she notices some mysterious lights leading a small boat to crash into the coast.
The two shipwrecked seafarers survive the ordeal—but one of them shows up dead ashore a few days later. Lucy finds herself again roped into a murder investigation and navigating a sea of suspects, all of whom had motives to deep-six the deceased. And this time, she has a sinking feeling that finding the real killer won’t be so easy…
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Lucy Richardson loves her view from her apartment on the 4th floor of the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library especially at night with the rhythm of the light flashing in intervals out to the sea even during a storm. Tonight though, with the rain pouring down and the waves crashing she notices lights that appear to be coming from the beach. She also notices a boat in trouble not far from shore. She calls 911 so the Coast Guard can be called to help the passengers of the boat. The passengers do survive and even show up at Lucy’s book group. Then one of them is found dead in a boat washed up on the shore. Lucy is on the scene and then finds herself caught up in another murder mystery. She would rather read mysteries than solve real ones, but she thinks those lights she saw on the beach are a key piece of evidence everyone else is ignoring.
Each story in this series tops the last. The author asks us at the beginning of each story to suspend reality because there is no way all the wonders of the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library could fit into a normal lighthouse. I have to say she makes suspending that reality very easy. Her descriptive writing pulls us in and there is never any thought that it all can’t be real.
This time Lucy gets so involved that it takes her away from her job at the library a lot. Her co-workers and boss completely understand and fill in for her when necessary. Even with the time off she is still able to take part in a fun surprise. She is also trying to make a decision about her love life. She can’t keep stringing two men along.
The supporting cast adds so much to the story. Louise Jane continues to try to insert herself into the library staff. She has been after Lucy’s job even before Lucy arrived. She has all her ghost stories about the library in the Nags Head area. She tries so hard to frighten Lucy away but it is not working. Research Librarian Charleen has a fantastic idea for promoting the upcoming election and the community really gets involved. And of course, Charles, the library cat always warms my heart.
This story has a really nice flow. It mixes mystery, romance and life at a library in perfect amounts. The characters are appealing and genuine. The setting is delightfully picturesque.
When this book was released back in 2016, the publisher had decided to discontinue the series. Thankfully the author didn’t take their decision to heart, because it has now found a new home at Crooked Lane Books. The Spook in the Stacks
Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than twenty-five books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing three cozy mystery series: the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series for Crooked Lane, the Year Round Christmas mysteries for Penguin Random House and, under the pen name of Eva Gates, the Lighthouse Library series, for Crooked Lane Books.
Vicki lives and writes in bucolic Prince Edward County, Ontario. She is the past president of the Crime Writers of Canada. Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the Arthur Ellis Awards.
Visit Vicki at www.vickidelany.com. On Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. Twitter @vickidelany@evagatesauthor
Written as Vicki Delany
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Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. Receiving a complimentary copy in no way reflected my review of this book. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”
Have read the first 2 books in this series and thoroughly enjoyed them. Thanks for reminding me that there are new additions.
Thank you for your review on “Reading Up a Storm” by Eva Gates. Love this author but for some reason I have missed this one.
2clowns at arkansas dot net
A library in a lighthouse means that you have to be careful how many books you take out at a time plus have enough energy to climb all those stairs on the circular staircase.