A
Murder for the Books is
the debut novel in the Blue Ridge Library Series. Amy Webber
moves in with her aunt who lives in Taylorsford, a small,
quaint town in the mountains of Virginia. Amy leaves her job
as a university librarian after a very public and embarrassing
breakup with her boyfriend. She now manages the town’s
public library, which is underfunded, needs updating but has
no lack of personality thanks to its patrons.
Long
buried town secrets are unearthed after Richard Muir moves
into to the farmhouse he inherited from his great-uncle. According
to town folklore, Eleanora Cooper poisoned her husband who
was the original owner of the farmhouse. Eleanora was a known
herbalist and considered a witch by some of the townspeople.
There was a highly public murder trial and Eleanora disappeared
after she was acquitted. Richard believes that Eleanora was
innocent and is determined to clear her name. Amy has been
investigating her own family history and offers to help Richard
with his research. As they pour through the archival information,
it becomes clear that there are many unanswered questions
that still surround Eleanora’s trial. Amy and Richard
learn that many of the town’s leading families were
entangled in the mystery. Many of those buried secrets are
entangled in Amy’s family tree.
Taylorsford
is not about to give up these long-buried secrets easily.
As Amy and Richard learn more about Eleanora and the trial,
someone is silencing those who may have answers. All of a
sudden Taylorsford becomes a very dangerous place to live
as the body count goes up. Can Richard and Amy find out the
truth about what happened in the past in time enough to find
out who wants to put an end to their investigation?
Victoria Gilbert has crafted an intricate cozy mystery. She
has woven together whodunits from the past and the present.
She sprinkles in a bit of romance with the relationship between
Richard and Amy. The author uses a large number of characters
to tell the story, and this adds to the complexity of the
plotline. What makes this book an interesting read is that
it is not your basic cozy mystery. A Murder for the Books
is a great start to a new series that has great promise.
Reviews
of other titles in this series
A
Murder for the Books [review
1] [review
2]
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