annieb123's Review of The Unkindness of Ravens

by M. E. Hilliard

Librarian Greer Hogan matches wits with a deviously clever killer in M.E. Hilliard's chilling series debut, ideal for fans of Louise Penny and Dorothy L. Sayers.

Greer Hogan is a librarian and an avid reader of murder mysteries. She also has a habit of stumbling upon murdered bodies. The first was her husband's, and the tragic loss led Greer to leave New York behind for a new start in the Village of Raven Hill. But her new home becomes less idyllic when she discovers her best friend sprawled dead on the floor of the library.

Was her friend's demise related to two other deaths that the police deemed accidental? Do the residents of this insular village hold dark secrets about another murder, decades ago? Does a serial killer haunt Raven Hill?

As the body count rises, Greer's anxious musings take a darker turn when she uncovers unexpected and distressing information about her own husband's death...and the man who went to prison for his murder . She is racked with guilt at the possibility that her testimony may have helped to convict an innocent man.

Though Greer admires the masters of deduction she reads about in books, she never expected to have to solve a mystery herself. Fortunately, she possesses a quick wit and a librarian's natural resourcefulness. But will that be enough to protect her from a brilliant, diabolical murderer?

And even if Greer manages to catch the Raven Hill killer, will living with her conscience prove a fate worse than death?

Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

The Unkindness of Ravens is the first book of a new cozy series featuring a librarian by M.E. Hilliard. Released 13th April 2021 by Crooked Lane, it's 336 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats.

This is a promising series opener from a debut author who has worked as a librarian and seems to have a similar background in high-end retail fashion as protagonist Greer. The librarian-dog-cozy-murder-smalltown-mystery sub-subgenre is always fun and this is a well written example. The murders are off-scene and mostly bloodless, there's no graphic content, the language is fairly clean, the characters are likeable and intelligent and there are a plethora of suspects and lots of red herrings. The narrative arc is well controlled and the plot moves along at a good pace. I never found my interest flagging at any point in the read. There's a sort of Agatha Raisin vibe going on with big city girl Greer taking up a position as a librarian in a small-town public library. She's smart and fashion conscious ("Is that Prada?") and sophisticated as well as vulnerable.

Since it's a librarian cozy, there are of course book tie-ins and title name-dropping. One of my favorite features of librarian cozies is the suggestions for titles, series, and authors with which I was previously unfamiliar. I found a couple of good ones to follow up on as a nice bonus. I suspect most of the titles and series mentioned will be familiar to most readers. The Patricia Wentworth mention was especially nice, and I've been revisiting Miss Silver all weekend because of it.

The climax and denouement are well done. It is a fun cozy and full of the things which we all love about small-town cozies (including an adorable French bulldog!).

Four stars. Highly recommended to fans of the genre.

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

The Unkindness of Ravens

by M. E. Hilliard

Reviewed by annieb123 on Apr 16, 2021

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