Thursday, September 19, 2013

Review - Books Can Be Deceiving


Title: Books Can Be Deceiving
Author: Jenn McKinlay
Publisher: Berkley (July 2011)
Format: Paperback; Pgs 282
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Source: Paperbackswap.com
Series: A Library lover’s Mystery #1

As the season begins to change, I find myself going back to cozy mysteries - there is something about cooler weather that draws me to these books.

Lindsay Norris is the new Director of the Briar Creek Public Library and has a wonderful staff in place, except for Ms Lemon Face herself, but Ms Cole does come in handy in the most unexpected moment. Additional staff and community volunteers round out the group including Lindsay’s exuberant children’s librarian Beth who has been working for years on a children’s book of her own, so when a New York editor is in town, Lindsay finagles a bit and sets up a meeting.

Little did everyone know that not all players in this escapade are who and what they appear to be. When Beth has a very public break up with boyfriend Rick, an accomplished writer and illustrator himself, all fingers point in the apparent wrong direction when his body is found stabbed to death in his home on a small island.

Lindsay takes it upon herself to straighten out this whole mess before she has to take over Beth’s duties and lead yet another story time with the stinky twins.

When the book began, the reader is thrown right into the middle of the weekly crafternoon group, a mix of women that meet to discuss their current book while working on a craft project and eating whatever has been brought in for snacks. I had a bit of a problem keeping everyone straight but soon that took care of itself as each person settled into their place in the story.

Overall, I liked the beginning of the series, even though the characters were a bit commonplace, the story flowed with only a couple of hiccups. For instance, in a town where no one locks their front doors, why were Lindsay and Beth spending so much time locking up their bicycles? What did Nancy’s storyline of walking the widow’s peak of her home have to do with the movement of the storyline?

Maybe I am being overly fussy and this would not standout to others, but I found it to be strangely distracting.

Overall, this will be a keeper series for me. I liked the flow and feel of the town and its people and in a way, it reminded me of Macomber’s Cedar Cove series but with a murder in the middle.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Sometimes I find the first book in a new series is the weakest storyline, despite the job of introducing the setting and the characters. Maybe the next one will be even better for you.