Murder at the Lakeside Library: A Lakeside Library Mystery (A Lakeside Library Mystery, #1)

by Holly Danvers

In this series debut perfect for fans of Jenn McKinlay and Miranda James, Rain Wilmot must discover the killer, before the book closes on her life.

Rain Wilmot has just returned to her family's waterfront log cabin in Lofty Pines, Wisconsin after the untimely death of her husband. The cabin is peaceful compared to Rain's corporate job and comes with an informal library that Rain's mother, Willow, used to run. But as Rain prepares for the re-opening of the library, all hopes for a peaceful life are shattered when she discovers the body of Thornton Hughes, a real estate buyer, on the premises.

The community of Lofty Pines starts pointing fingers at Willow, since she has been unusually absent from the library this summer. A fishy rumor surfaces when Rain learns that Willow had been spending a lot of time with Thornton. The town even thought they were having an affair.

While theories swirl about Thornton's death, Rain takes it upon herself to solve the case to exonerate her mother. As more clues surface, Rain will have to piece together the mystery. But if she isn't careful, she may be the next to end up dead in the water in Murder at the Lakeside Library, the first in Holly Danvers' new Lakeside Library mysteries.

• ISBN10: 1643856324
• ISBN13: 9781643856322
• Publish Date: 13 July 2021
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Crooked Lane Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 336
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781643856322

Reviews

[annieb123]

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Murder at the Lakeside Library is the first book in a new library cozy mystery series by Holly Danvers. Due out 13th July 2021 from Crooked Lane Books, it's 336 pages and will be available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

It's always fun to find a new library cozy, and this one is off to a promising start. Protagonist Rain has only been at the lakeside summer cabin community less than 24 hours before she stumbles (almost literally) across a body. The usual pool of small-town-oddball characters are present, there's skullduggery and hidden motives to be unearthed, there's even a handsome law enforcement officer, and Rain is motivated to establish her parents' innocence, as well as her own.

Some of the plot developments are admittedly a bit over the top and there are some twists which require a healthy suspension of disbelief, but all in all, it's a pretty good example of why the librarian cozy subgenre is so popular. I found the denouement and explanation out of sync with the majority of the rest of the novel and there were a few continuity problems, but nothing truly egregious. The language is squeaky clean and the violence is off-page and not graphic.

Three and a half stars. This would be a good light summer read for fans of cozies. It would be perfectly safe for work/commute reading. I'm interested to see what comes next for Rain and co.

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

[Mystereity Reviews]

Although the characters were likeable, the plot was intriguing with some good plot twists and I drooled over the beautiful lakeside location, it was a struggle to get through this one. I was put off right from the start when main character Rain was ambushed within seconds of getting to the cottage by her neighbor steamrolling her to open the library. As it went on, there was just too much filler; at times the story would lose momentum as it took a backseat to Rain's constant hashing and rehashing, the weird descriptions of what everyone's hands were doing and all of the internal dialogue. I found myself doing more skimming than reading, which is a shame because at the heart of it all was a great story. I think a bit more editing and polishing is needed to bring all the elements together into more of a cohesive story.