Read on Arrival

Read on Arrival is the second novel in A Bookmobile Mystery series. While it can be read alone, I believe it is best to indulge in Better Off Read first. Read on Arrival is nicely written with steady pacing and unique characters. Cleo Watkins is 75 ¾ and has no intention of retiring from her position as head librarian at Catalpa Springs Library. She has discovered she enjoys tootling about the countryside in her bookmobile-Words on Wheels. Cleo has Leanna, her assistant, to keep an eye on things at the library for her. There are a variety of quirky characters in the story ranging from Cleo’s gentleman friend, Henry to Deputy Gabby Honeywell to Rhett, the bookmobile’s Persian cat mascot. Catalpa Springs is a typical small Southern town where gossip spreads faster than maple syrup on a hot stack of pancakes and there are some unusual residents like Dixie. Humor is rampant throughout the story. It reminded me of the slapstick comedy reminiscent of I Love Lucy and The Three Stooges. There is plenty of activity in Read on Arrival with Dixie’s murder, death threats on coffin shapes items, Cleo investigating, and Belle trying to ruin the library. I did have to remind myself that this was a work of fiction (reality cannot be applied). Someone cannot get away with keeping a book checked out for 40 years today (twenty years ago, but not now). The situation with Belle is also unrealistic. Libraries do wish to attract readers, but they will not toss out their books to accomplish it (or rip off the covers because the colors do not match their color scheme). The mystery was straightforward, and I easily identified the killer (it was a piece of cake). There are pointed clues and a limited number of suspects. My favorite phrase from Read on Arrival is “don’t wake the slumbering human bed” from Rhett, the cat. Read on Arrival is a lighthearted, humorous cozy mystery with killer bees, death threats, a delinquent book, mimes, two dead bodies, a sleuthing librarian, an “innobrarian”, and a mascot named Rhett.

A book about books! What more could I ask for? I love the bookmobile series and Cleo’s wonderful mobile library. Cleo and Henry, her friend, are a perfect couple. They both love books and enjoy spending time together with their pets…who also happen to get along even if one is a cat and the other a dog. I love the way they play and interactive together! And, of course, Cleo has to be drawn into a murder mystery which has you flipping through the pages quickly to see if she will discover who is guilty of murdering the town’s diva.

There are great clues, wonderful characters…those you love and those you despise, twists and turns. It’s just a fun book to pick up and read as you are curled up in your recliner on a warm summer evening. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series!

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.

“Read on Arrival” is the 2nd installment in the Bookmobile mystery series by Nora Page.

Death, deadly omens, and a decades-overdue book put senior librarian Cleo Watkins on a collision course with a killer in the second Bookmobile mystery.

Septuagenarian librarian Cleo Watkins believes in gracious manners, sweet tea, and justice—library justice. For over forty years, Cleo has tried every trick in the book to get delinquent patron Dixie Huddleston to return the most overdue volume in Catalpa Springs, Georgia. When Dixie says she’ll finally relinquish the book, Cleo is shocked. She’s even more startled by the reason: superstitious Dixie says she’s seen the signs: she’s about to die and is setting her affairs in order.

Cleo dismisses Dixie’s ominous omens…until she and her gentleman friend, Henry Lafayette, arrive at Dixie’s home to find her dead. Cleo suspects murder. The police agree but promptly list Cleo among the likely culprits. To clear her good name and deliver justice, Cleo uses her librarian skills to investigate, with Henry and her trusty bookmobile cat, Rhett Butler, at her side.

However, the killer has opened a new chapter of terror. Death threats appear around town, and residents start seeing bad luck everywhere, including in Cleo and her beloved bookmobile Words on Wheels. With her bookmobile and legacy on the line, Cleo accelerates her sleuthing. Suspects and clues stack up, but so does the danger. Another death is coming due, and Cleo fears the killer may be about to turn the final page on someone she loves most.

Protagonist Cleo makes an interesting amateur sleuth, I like when characters are seniors but show that that are still up for anything. This can be read as a stand-alone, I was able to follow along without reading the first book but do recommend reading “Better Off Read”.

Cleo is a small town librarian in Catalpa Springs, I really liked the small town southern setting and would love to have a bookmobile in my neighbourhood. The character development is growing nicely and I love quirky characters. The plot (murder of Dixie) was good but I also liked plots involving the library board and the competition between BOOK IT! and Words on Wheels bookmobiles. All of this kept me entertained and interested in the story, I read in one sitting.

I am looking forward to the 3rd installment in the Bookmobile mystery series

I requested and received an Advanced Readers Copy from Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my OWN.

Southern, cozy-mystery, amateur-sleuth, women-sleuths, seniors, librarian

If you like Southern cozies with seniors, a librarian, a cat, and a diabolical murder you will do the happy dance over this one! I almost gave up early over all the squabbling that comprised the backstory at the beginning, but that would have been a *criminal* mistake. All that mess really was essential to a very interesting and twisty tale full of red herrings and characters who truly are. The publisher’s blurb is pretty good and there is no need for spoilers. Just don’t let the very beginning cloud your judgment as there are real clues hidden there!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!

I enjoyed this second novel in the Bookmobile Mystery series. The colorful and whimsical cover is inviting, and I appreciate having a variety of ages for the primary characters, especially being just past middle-aged. The characters are realistic and likable, and the mystery intriguing and challenging.

Cleo is head librarian at Catalpa Springs Library. At 75, her 50th anniversary of being the longest-serving “biblio-professional” in town is weeks away, sharing the library grand re-opening. It is undergoing renovations due to a downed tree earlier in the year. Cleo and her assistant Leanna oversee the renovations, and Cleo drives the repurposed school bus known as Words on Wheels, the library bookmobile, with her pal and library mascot, a gorgeous orange Persian, Rhett Butler. She loves delivering books to a halfway house, senior living communities, and places where folks simply get to the library during business hours.

Along comes Belle, with her bubble-headed ideas that are foreign to library lovers, but sound innovative to those without a clue. Mercer Whitty, president of the library board, is one who doesn’t have a clue. Belle drives the bookmobile from a neighboring town. Except for one little, tiny problem. The silver Airstream is towed by her red pickup truck and graced by her miniature pony, Lilliput. But There. Is. Only. One. Book. Propping a window open. Clean lines, sparkling counters, check. Books for children, non-fiction, community history, too messy. Mercer is enchanted by this fast-talking innovator who wants to consult at Cleo’s library to make it fun. Mercer will pay from his foundation to keep Belle in his library and life. Even when she wants to remove bookshelves and books. I have great empathy for Cleo!

If there is any other bane to her life, it is Dixie. Dixie checked out a book, “Come Home with Lady Luck” that she has refused to return or pay the overdue fines of 40-plus years. Dixie stopped by in a panic, convinced her luck had run out because of omens and signs, insisting that Cleo meet her to collect the book. Cleo took her gentleman friend Henry, but Dixie didn’t answer the door. Going around the porch, they smelled smoke, and dashed into her kitchen to find a fire on the stove. After putting that out, they try to find Dixie. She was locked into her pantry from the outside, with a threatening coffin note, Dixie dead on the floor with a room full of bees. Later it is discovered that her epi-pens had been tampered with. Dixie’s son and daughter in law were going to be kicked out of the cottage in back, so they were suspect. As is Cleo, whose determination to get the overdue book back was well-known. Dixie’s estranged daughter shows up, and her best friend, Pat, wants Cleo to help her find who killed Dixie.

The story was riveting, and I appreciate Cleo, best friend Mary-Rose, Leanna, and Henry. Seeing the ladies vie for attention, especially Belle with her ideas, led this reader to have sympathy for Cleo. The mystery was almost secondary! The author skillfully kept it at the forefront, and it was a true challenge. I followed a couple of the red herrings, but finally saw the light…only a couple beats ahead of Cleo. I highly recommend this surprising, funny, compelling read to those who appreciate well-written cozy mysteries, libraries, and … books!

From a thankful heart: I received an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley and this is my honest review.

Cleo Watkins is looking forward to the reopening of her beloved library. She loves her bookmobile but she wants the library to be back and better than before the damage. Everything seems to be on schedule and the only black mark on their reopening in Cleo’s eyes is the forty-year-old overdue book. Cleo hopes she can get Dixie to return the book before the opening. Dixie, however, is superstitious and believes the book has given her good luck all these years. Finally, Dixie agrees to return the book because she believes her luck has turned and want to make amends. When Cleo arrives to get the book they find Dixie dead. Cleo doesn’t believe Dixie’s death is an accident.

This is the 2nd book in Bookmobile Mystery Series but my first book. I had no trouble following the storyline or understanding the characters relationships. This book can definitely be enjoyed as a stand-alone mystery. Most of the characters were likable or you understand why you don’t like the ones you don’t. However, there were a couple of characters that I felt where a little too needy and there was a little too much bickering at the beginning of the story. Having said that the mystery was well written with quite a few well-placed red herrings. I didn’t really start to think for the culprit as even possibly a suspect until the reveal. I would recommend this book to cozy mystery fans.

I voluntarily agreed to read a copy of this book supplied by Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own and in no way have been influenced.