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.
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.
Reading updates
-
Started reading
-
Finished reading
-
24 December, 2020:
Reviewed