Welcome to Cozy Wednesday!
I am delighted to share my thoughts today about Whose Body in the Library: A Lighthouse Library Mystery by Eva Gates!
Whose Body in the Library: A Lighthouse Library Mystery
Cozy Mystery
13th in Series
Setting – North Carolina
Publisher : Crooked Lane Books
Publication date : June 9, 2026
Print length : 304 pages
ISBN-13 : 979-8892424370
ASIN : B0FQHPX56M
Kindle
ISBN-13 : 979-8892424387
ASIN : B0FQHC3T7T
A new librarian’s first day goes terribly wrong when she finds a dead body on the front steps of the library.
In the thirteenth installment of the beloved Lighthouse Library mysteries, a new character takes the reins.
While Lucy McNeil is enjoying her new job as the mother of twin boys and library director, new librarian Nichelle Gilchrest has just arrived at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, reporting for duty. But life throws a wrench on Nichelle’s first day when she finds a body on the steps—a body that bears a startling resemblance to her father, who disappeared on a fishing trip to the Outer Banks thirty-eight years ago.
Fingerprints confirm the dead body is indeed Nichelle’s father, now living in Nags Head under the name Brian Saunders. Brian had been befriending older lonely women in exchange for money, but was he working alone?
Detective Rhonda Thomas is on the case, and the suspect list is only getting longer. Sorting through the wronged women and their relatives, Detective Thomas discovers Nichelle’s own brother, Brad, had been in Nags Head a few days before the murder happened and has been lying about his whereabouts.
Hoping to clear her brother’s name, Nichelle decides to investigate what happened. With seasoned sleuth Lucy’s gentle encouragement for the amateur, Nichelle is in for an exciting and dangerous first week at the library.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
With Bertie’s retirement, Lucy McNeil returns from maternity leave after the birth of her twin boys as the new library director. That leaves an opening in her former position, bringing Nichelle Gilchrest from New York to the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library. Lucy meets her at the library so she can move into the Aerie apartment and be ready to start the next day. Unfortunately, things do not go as planned. The next day, when Nichelle goes to unlock the front door of the library, she finds a dead body on the steps. The man looks familiar, but that cannot be possible. Her father went missing 38 years ago on a fishing trip to the Outer Banks with his buddies and was presumed dead.
The man is identified as Brian Saunders, and his fingerprints confirm that he is Nichelle’s father, living under a different name. He has been preying on elderly women who have no close companions and taking their money.
With Detective Sam Watson retired, the case is now in Detective Rhonda Thomas’s hands, and the suspect list keeps growing. It includes Nichelle’s brother, Brad, who has secretly been making trips to Nags Head and was there just before the murder. With some prompting from Lucy, Nichelle decides she needs not only to clear her brother of the crime but also to find out why her father was at the library at all. Was he there to see her, or was it just an odd coincidence?
I mentioned in my review of Shot Through the Book that changes were coming to the library and to Nags Head, but I was still surprised that this story centers on Nichelle Gilchrest rather than Lucy, even though Lucy’s perspective is still woven in through the alternating chapters. That choice gives the novel a slightly different energy and allows the series to open itself up in an interesting way. Nichelle comes into the story with enough life experience to feel fully formed from the start. After years of working as a bookkeeper and hating it, she is recently divorced, her 20-year-old twin daughters are out on their own, and she has finally chosen to pursue the dream she set aside by returning to school to become a librarian. When she is hired at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, she is not just changing jobs; she is building an entirely new life. That makes her an easy character to invest in. She settles in quickly, and her connection with the library, the town, and even Charles the cat makes her feel like a natural fit rather than an outsider being forced into the series. Denise, Roland, and Louise Jane welcome her warmly, and once the murder happens, the library once again becomes the center of the community, which reinforces how important that setting is to the charm of these books.
Lucy and Connor have also entered a new phase of life with their identical twin boys, Isaac and Lucas, now three months old. The novel handles that transition well because it acknowledges both the joy and the strain that come with it. Even with a trusted caregiver in Sophia, going back to work is never simple, and that tension adds a layer of realism to Lucy’s role in the story. She is adjusting not only to motherhood but also to taking over Bertie’s position, which could have easily made her feel sidelined or overwhelmed. Instead, the book shows that Lucy is growing into this next chapter of her life in a believable way. I also liked that Nichelle’s arrival does not diminish Lucy’s importance. Instead, the two characters complement each other, with Nichelle bringing fresh energy and Lucy offering perspective and steadiness. That balance keeps the transition from feeling abrupt and helps the series evolve without losing what made it appealing in the first place.
Another notable shift is Detective Sam Watson’s retirement. He is still present enough to offer guidance, but Detective Rhonda Thomas is now leading the murder investigation, and she makes it very clear that Lucy and Nichelle need to stay out of her case. That tension works well because, by now, readers know the library is never just a workplace in this series; it is the town’s unofficial hub, the place where people gather, talk, and reveal more than they probably intend to. That makes Nichelle especially effective as the newest amateur sleuth. She listens well, asks smart questions, and does not come across as reckless just for the sake of moving the plot along. I appreciated that she tried to pass along what she learned to Detective Thomas, particularly after ending up in a dangerous situation.
I hate change, so I went into Whose Body in the Library a little cautiously, but Ms. Gates handled it better than I expected. Introducing a new protagonist this deep into a series is not easy, especially when readers already have strong attachments to the existing cast, yet Nichelle never feels like a replacement. Instead, she feels like an expansion of the world. She is mature, intelligent, and grounded, which gives her a presence that works immediately. What I especially admired is that the novel manages to broaden its focus without sacrificing the familiar characters and setting that make this series such a comfort read for me. The Bodie Island Lighthouse Library still feels like the heart of the story, and the people around it still provide the warmth and personality I look forward to in every installment. To me, that is what makes this book successful. It embraces change without abandoning the series’ identity, and that leaves me genuinely curious to see where the author takes these characters next.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
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About the Author
Vicki Delany (Eva Gates) is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than thirty books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction, and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing four cozy mystery series: the Tea By The Sea mysteries for Kensington, the Year Round Christmas mysteries for Penguin Random House, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series, and, as Eva Gates, the Lighthouse Library books for Crooked Lane.
Vicki is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada and co-founder and organizer of the Women Killing It crime writing festival. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.
Author Links –
Visit Vicki at www.vickidelany.com.
On Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor.
Twitter @vickidelany@evagatesauthor
Instagram: vickidelany
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