Monday, December 26, 2022

Secrets in the Stacks

Title: Secrets in the Stacks
Author: Lynn Cahoon
Published: November 1st 2022 by Kensington Publishing
Format: Kindle, Paperback, 212 pages
Genre: Amateur Sleuth
Source: My thanks to Netgalley and the Publisher for the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this book.
Series: Survivors' Book Club Mystery #2)

First Sentence: Rarity Cole stood beside the fireplace in her bookstore, surrounded by the chattering women of the Tuesday night Survivors’ Book Club.

Blurb: After an ominous Tarot reading, Sedona bookstore owner Rarity Cole must find a killer to keep her friend safe from harm—even if the cards are stacked against her.

Following her recovery from breast cancer, Rarity has embraced a life of healing and service in her Sedona, Arizona, community. She welcomes the opportunity to participate in the annual summer healing fair with her fittingly named new-age bookstore, The Next Chapter. The members of the Tuesday Night Survivors’ Book Club are also volunteering, maintaining a cooling station for overheated festivalgoers, and hosting a Tarot card reader for entertainment.

But one member, Darby, is anything but entertained when the Tarot reader pulls a Death card. With a mammogram coming up, she’s freaked out and goes home—only to walk into a crime scene where someone near and dear to her has been murdered. Despite the objections of Detective Drew Anderson, Rarity is determined to help her friend and protect her from being the killer’s next victim. (GoodReads)

My Opinion: Though it was nice to revisit the Survivor’s Book Club, the plot was slow-moving. Then again, when it comes to this book, I am confused. Is Secrets in the Stacks women’s fiction with a murder on the side, or is it a murder mystery that puts the women of the book club as a priority?

The first three-quarters of the book puts the women’s stories first, then in the last quarter, Lynn Cahoon must have realized that she had a mystery to solve and gave it a disappointing mad dash race to the finish.

Granted, I read an ARC, but there were a few continuity issues that need clearing up, which I hope were taken care of before publication.

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