The Spook in the Stacks by Eva Gates

The Spook in the Stacks (Lighthouse Library Mystery, #4)

by Eva Gates

Halloween in North Carolina’s Outer Banks becomes seriously tricky when librarian Lucy Richardson stumbles across something extra unusual in the rare books section: a dead body.

Wealthy businessman Jay Ruddle is considering donating his extensive collection of North Carolina historical documents to the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, but the competition for the collection is fierce. Unfortunately, while the library is hosting a lecture on ghostly legends, Jay becomes one of the dearly departed in the rare books section. Now, it’s up to Lucy Richardson and her fellow librarians to bone up on their detective skills and discover who is responsible for this wicked Halloween homicide.

Meanwhile, very strange things are happening at the library—haunted horses are materializing in the marsh, the lights seem to have an eerie life of their own, and the tiny crew of a model ship appears to move around when no one is watching. Is Lucy at her wit’s end? Or can it be that the Bodie Island Lighthouse really is haunted?

With The Legend of Sleepy Hollow on everyone’s minds and ghoulish gossip on everyone’s lips, Lucy will need to separate the clues from the boos if she wants to crack this case without losing her head in The Spook in the Stacks, the delightful fourth in national bestseller Eva Gates’ Lighthouse Library mysteries.

Reviewed by Max Likes Mystery on

4 of 5 stars

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I started this book a few days after finishing the book right before it in the series. I love how the story line just picks up without a huge gap. I feel like i was very privy to the events of the book since i just read the book before it.

The characters, as usual, were great. They are very consistent from book to book and while there was mention of things from books i haven’t read yet, it still seemed familiar and within characterization. I didn’t really dislike any of the characters and thought they were all great. The only slightly annoying part was that the story was pretty predictable because they were only a few new characters….and i’ve already learned the M.O. of this author, which is to introduce a few new characters and then make them the killer and victim. I guess it makes sense with a cozy mystery. A big part of this genre is to have a bunch of recurring, lovable characters…. characters that we wouldn’t want to kill off or tarnish by making them murders. So predictable but still very good.

As for the story and mystery, I loved it. The idea of the ship and the nautical ghosts stories are right up my alley. I love the ocean and ocean stories (like Moby Dick) and this one was high on my approval list. The mix of halloween and nautical was very pleasing. I hope i can find another mystery with this combo! I also love that idea of old documents and nautical history.

I think the next book is wedding/winter themed…so i’m considering going back to book one since i skipped it and book 2. I’d love to read more on how the series started. I’ll def be reading all the books though. This has become one of my fave series. I need to look into the author too and see what else she has written.

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Reading updates

  • 23 August, 2019: Started reading
  • 31 August, 2019: Finished reading
  • 5 September, 2021: Reviewed