Books Can Be Deceiving

Books Can Be Deceiving
Jenn McKinlay
269 pages
Publisher: Berkley Prime Crime
Source: The library (fittingly enough)
★★★★☆

You can read the Goodreads summary here.

Lindsey is all settled in to her new job as librarian in the small town of Briar Creek when her best friend's ex-boyfriend is found murdered in his island home.  It's a little suspicious because he had plagiarized his latest book from his ex, Beth.  Their break-up wasn't pretty and very public, so now Beth is being accused of the murder!  Lindsey knows Beth is innocent, but who did it?

This was a fantastic cozy!  I absolutely loved it.  The two main characters, Lindsey and Beth, were very endearing.  I was so afraid for Beth when she was wrongly accused of murder.  I liked the hint of a relationship Lindsey had with Sully and I'm looking forward to seeing that fleshed out later in the series.  I also have to give a shout out to Ms. Cole, the crotchety old lady who works in the library and who never smiles.  She was a character I loved to hate.  Every library has one, even the one I go to!

I love the premise that this series takes place in and around the library - I love libraries!  The plot was great, very clever, and it all came together very cleanly in the end.  I didn't have any leftover "but what happened..." questions in my head when I finished reading, which is how I prefer it in a cozy.

This is now my second favorite cozy mystery series (second to The Haunted Guesthouse series by E.J. Copperman) and I'm really looking forward to reading the second book when it comes out March 6th.  I highly recommend.