Murder in the Reading Room (A Book Retreat Mystery, #5)

by Ellery Adams

Johanna Parker (Narrator)

Storyton Hall, Virginia, is a paradise for book lovers who come from all over for literary getaways. But manager Jane Steward is temporarily leaving for another renowned resort—in hopes of solving a twist-filled mystery . . .
 
Jane’s boyfriend is missing, and she thinks she may find him at North Carolina’s historic Biltmore Estate. Officially, she’s there to learn about luxury hotel management, but she’s also prowling around the breathtaking buildings and grounds looking for secret passageways and clues. One of the staff gardeners promises to be helpful . . . that is, until his body turns up in the reading room of his cottage, a book on his lap.
 
When she finally locates the kidnapped Edwin, his captor insists that she lead him back to Storyton Hall, convinced that it houses Ernest Hemingway’s lost suitcase, stolen from a Paris train station in 1922. But before they can turn up the treasure, the bell may toll for another victim . . .
 
“Readers will find themselves wanting to live in Storyton, no matter how many people end up dead there.” —Suspense  Magazine on Murder in the Locked Library

• ISBN10: 1541455223
• ISBN13: 9781541455221
• Publish Date: 30 April 2019
• Publish Status: Out of Print
• Out of Print: 14 March 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Tantor Media, Inc
• Edition: Unabridged edition
• Format: Audiobook (MP3)
• Duration: 8 hours and 35 minutes
• Language: English

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

I can't believe I finished this.  It got a star for the plot's premise, half a star for being relatively well edited and a half star as a bonus because I didn't DNF it.   Where to start...   I liked the series premise, about a secret library that holds the rarest, secret or unknown manuscripts from around the world, but as the series progresses, the author falls into the common trap of writing herself into corners from which she can't escape without abusing a reader's ability to suspend disbelief.  This book has the manager of the Storyton Inn haring off to the Biltmore Estate to rescue her lover from a dungeon.  Where he's being held by a renegade faction of the Templars.  Along side her:   long-thought dead (9 years) husband, (hide spoiler)   who's being held in the dungeon next door.  Give. me. a. break.  I hate this trope so much, I almost DNF'd it on the spot.    Then I had to endure constant philosophical musings about love, the power of love, the power of family, more crap about love.  And the villain was supposed to be super evil, but I just didn't feel it.  I mean, he was definitely without redeeming qualities, but evil?  Eh.   The ending ... was eye-rolling.  I'm sorry, but it involved blow darts, and the most insanely insincere scene where the MC confronts her ignorance about cultural insensitivity that I've ever read.  Honestly, it's so badly done I'm tempted to quote it, but to do that I'd have to read it again.   The author would have gotten a tiny bonus for not taking that spoiler above to the most nauseating conclusion possible, or stringing it painfully over several books, but by the time it was resolved I'd lost the will to give any bonus points.   What kept me reading this farce was the idea of Hemingway's lost suitcase being hidden in the Inn and the search through letters and correspondence for clues to find it.  And that 10% of the book was kind of good, though the eventual conclusion was a bit deflating as it was so predictable.

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Murder in the Reading Room is the 5th Book Retreat mystery by Ellery Adams. Released 30th April 2019, it's 320 pages and available in paperback, audio, and ebook formats.

The author is quite prolific, with many other cozy series, and while this one is also a cozy, it's odd. It has a multi-book plotline and as such does not work at all as a standalone. The plots are half Dan Brown, half Miranda James and for me, those halves make a whole which is jarring and off-kilter. Protagonist Jane Steward is the keeper of the worlds most secret library (containing unknown Shakespeare folios, items saved from the Library of Alexandria, and apparently, previously unknown items from Hemingway (?!). The Stewards (and secret tactical support team called the Fins) are in a DaVinci code style secret war with the Knights Templar (yes those Knights Templar), and the current dastardly leader of the KTs is a deeply disturbed English bibliophile with an unhealthy Hemingway fixation.

Two months after her boyfriend is kidnapped, she's on her way with a sidekick to the Biltmore estate (yes, that Biltmore) to find and rescue said boyfriend. The police aren't involved, the FBI isn't involved, just her and her assistant riding to the rescue with a cover story so lame it wouldn't fool a goldfish (she's there for a conference and plans to look for Edwin, the boyfriend, between conference meetings). The Templars have already killed people and kidnapped her twin 5 year old sons (who are named Fitzgerald and Hemingway) who were happily recovered unharmed in book 4.

Anyhow, in the book's defense, I will say that the author has a deft touch with dialogue and the plotting is taut and well paced. The plot itself was just too much for me, and I couldn't ever completely suspend my disbelief enough to really give the book a fair reading. I had almost precisely the same reaction to everything I've read of Dan Brown's (and spent most of those books wanting to punch Langdon right in his smug face), and they've sold umpty-bazillion copies, so I'm obviously in the minority.

Competent writing, weird plot. Three stars, your mileage may vary.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes