In the latest Library Lover’s Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Better Late Than Never, the library’s big fund-raiser leaves director Lindsey Norris booked for trouble….Lindsey Norris and her staff are gearing up for the Briar Creek Library’s annual Dinner in the Stacks fund-raiser. The night of dinner and dancing is not only a booklover’s dream—it’s the library’s biggest … dream—it’s the library’s biggest moneymaker of the year. But instead of raising funds, the new library board president is busy raising a stink and making the staff miserable.
Although Olive Boyle acts like a storybook villain, Lindsey is determined to work with her and make the event a success. But when Olive publicly threatens the library’s newest hire, Paula, Lindsey cracks like an old book spine and throws Olive out of the library.
The night of the fund-raiser, Lindsey dreads another altercation with Olive—but instead finds Paula crouched over Olive’s dead body. Paula may have secrets, but Lindsey and the rest of the crafternooners know she’s not the one who took Olive out of circulation. As the plot thickens, Lindsey must catch the real killer before the book closes on Paula’s future….
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It’s time for the annual Dinner in the Stacks fundraiser at the Briar Creek Public Library, but this year, Lindsey Norris is facing an extra challenge in putting it on. Olive Boyle has just become president of the library’s board, and she is determined to make trouble, even threatening Lindsey’s job. Despite all of this, the fundraiser goes well, until Olive’s body is found in the fiction section just after the event ends. Even though Lindsey swore she’d stop investigating murders, she still finds herself drawn into this case. Olive made enemies everywhere she went. With so many suspects, can Lindsey figure out what happened?
While the mystery has some good twists in it, I did feel the pacing was off overall. Instead, the character’s antics take over at times. As a fan of the series, I can’t complain too much about that, especially since I was laughing at those scenes. Plus, we got some character development that fans of the series will love. Fans of Jenn’s other two mystery series will have fun with the cameos those characters make in this book, although you won’t miss much of you aren’t up to date on those series. The usual assortment of extras at the end will give you something to enjoy after you’ve turned the last page. While the plot pacing does bother me, I was smiling so much while I was reading, it is hard to complain. Other fans of the series will love every page as well.
Who wouldn’t love a book with an autumn theme set in a library? I truly enjoyed Death in the Stacks, the eighth book in the Library Lover’s mystery series written in 2017 by Jenn McKinlay. I’m a big fan of her other series too, but this one is my favorite. What made it even more exceptional was the character cross-over from her other series, the Hat Shop and The Cupcake Bakery. I haven’t yet read her About a Dog series, so there may have been a cross-over there, I’m just not certain. Nonetheless, wow, what a great caper.
Lindsey throws a giant benefit gala in the library to raise money for Briar Creek’s favorite literary hot spot. Unfortunately, the newest board president, Olive, is a huge thorn in everyone’s side. I’m talking mean-spirited, nasty, and rude… even the lemon can’t stand her! If you’re unfamiliar with the series, the lemon is one of Lindsey’s librarian’s who’s often unhappy with Lindsey over decisions at the library. Olive thankfully turns up dead, but it looks like the newest library employee is responsible. Lindsey promises she won’t investigate but the lemon asks her to do so. It’s an intense finish where three possible suspects face off with Lindsey, Robbie, and Sully stuck in the middle. Whose story do they believe? Emma must come to the rescue to save her boyfriend (what?)!
McKinlay has struck gold in this series for me. I love her characters, and that’s probably my favorite aspect of this book. When my other faves come for a visit from London and Arizona, we get a wonderful side story about how they all now know one another. McKinlay’s quips and banter move the pages along easily… I’m just so sorry it ended this quick. I thought I could stretch it out over the weekend, but I found myself with a few hours on Friday, and well, I couldn’t put it down!
Awesome series… newest one comes out this month. I can’t wait. Thanks for all this fun.
Jenn McKinley is one of my favorite authors. Imagine my surprise as I was reading Death in the Stacks and found a character picking up one of “Holly Jacobs'” books. I gave a little squee of glee and then fell back into her wonderful library mystery series. She’s a must-read!
Great series and great book. Enjoyed
Death In The Stacks is the eighth book in the A Library Lovers Mystery series.
Lindsey Norris is looking forward to having a successful Death in the Stacks fundraiser for the library. As she is putting the final touches on the event planning she is also being bullied by Olive Boyle, the library board president. She has threatened to have Lindsey replaced for various unfounded reasons, one of which was the recent hiring of Paula Turner. Boyle claimed she had a violent nature that should have prevented from working at the library.
After a record amount of money raised and the event is winding down, three of Boyle’s friends come looking for her. No one has seen her for a while and a search of the library is begun. Lindsey soon finds Boyle’s body between some bookshelf units and Paula is standing there holding the knife that killed her.
Lindsey believes Paula’s story that she was hiding from Boyle, hoping to avoid any interaction with her and happened to come upon her body.
Lindsey has sworn off doing any sleuthing, but soon Robbie Vine, who has helped her in the past with her sleuthing convinces her that they need to get involved. They soon learn that Lindsey isn’t the only one who has incurred bulling at the hands of Boyle so that there are several suspects to consider.
Most all of the regular characters are back with this well-plotted and told story. Once again Robby provides the reader with chuckles throughout the book. What I particularly enjoyed was that Ms. McKinlay brought the characters from the Mad Hatter shop in London and the Fairy Tale Cupcake Bakery crew from Arizona. Of course, the folks from the Mad Hatter had to one-up each other with their puns.
I’m looking forward to reading the next book in this enjoyable series.
Love the characters in this series!!
I love to read Jen McKinley books. Having all the characters from some of her series in one book is AWESOME!!