Another Review at MyShelf.Com

The Bodies in the Library
First Edition Library #1
BY Mary Wingate

Berkley Prime Crime
October 8, 2019/ ISBN 978-1-984-80410-5
Mystery / Cozy

Reviewed by Laura Hinds

Hayley Burke is excited about her new job as Curator of Lady Georgiana Fowling’s First Edition in Bath, England. The library is at Middlebank House where Hayley lives in a small flat.

The library is home to first-edition mystery novels all written by women during the Golden Age of Mystery. Hayley faces two problems. The first is that she works with Glynis Woolgar who is the former personal assistant to the late Lady Fowling. Mrs. Woolgar is adamant in her opposition to Hayley’s efforts to renew and update the library. The second is that Hayley has never read any of the books.

Hayley launched an Agatha Christie fan-fiction writing group and they meet at Middlebank. Mrs. Woolgar is upset about the way they leave the furniture in disarray and Hayley is having second, third and fourth thoughts about the group. Hayley is working on a proposal to The First Edition Society. She wants the Society to offer a series of literary salons. Evening lectures on culture, and writing of the 1930s. Hayley is optimistic that her plans can work and is hopeful that the Society will flourish as it had before Lady Fowling’s death.

When a member of the fan-fiction writing group is murdered in the library, Hayley is quick to realize that she must act to save the library and keep her job. How? By becoming a sleuth and learning how mysteries work so that she can catch the killer.

What a pleasure to have read and to review this book. Any book featuring a library, quirky characters, and an atmospheric location is a book written for me. What a fantastic job Marty Wingate has done with this debut of a new series.

Cozy mystery lovers will delight in this book. I will be looking forward to the next in the series as the characters, relationships and the library itself continue to evolve.

I love the paper used for the book jacket. There is a tactile dimension to it which I found unique and made holding the hardcover book more comfortable.

Reviewer Notes: The author also writes the Potting Shed Mysteries and the Birds of a Feather Mysteries

Reviewed 2019
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