MURDER CHECKS OUT

4 stars

Many times, I've gone on record as not being a wholehearted fan of cozy mysteries - mostly because the heroines therein tend to be airheads, stubbornly pushing their way into murder investigations even after they've been told by authorities to butt out. Still, cozies do play a role in my life by offering much-needed relief after reading a string of knock-down, drag-out, shoot-'em-up (and worse) thrillers. And I don't recall the last time I read an actual book instead of on one of my e-readers, I'm a huge supporter of libraries and all the wonderful things that happen in them. So when I saw that this book has a bookish focus - and I'd read and enjoyed an earlier book in a different series by the author - well, reading it was kind of a no-brainer. It's the eighth in this series and my first, so I hoped that late start wouldn't put me at a disadvantage; for the record, it did not.

The star of this show is Amy Muir, co-director of the Taylorsford Pubic Library with her friend Sunny. Job-sharing allows Amy to better care for twins Nicky and Ella, whom she shares with her professional dancer/choreographer husband Richard. As the story begins, Richard and his professional partner are in charge of the upcoming community theater production of "The Nutcracker," in which the 5-year-old twins have roles. The couple also awaits a visit from Richard's mother, who isn't, shall we say, the most lovable person on earth (but she adores the twins and they her).

The chairwoman of the overall holiday festival in town also is not much beloved, since she heads up a company that's running roughshod over property owners with the intent of building upscale development projects. But when she's found dead by the hand of someone else, one of the suspects turns out to be Amy's brother, Ethan, who lives with his husband Scott and oversees the town's volunteer fire department. When Ethan suddenly goes missing, he suddenly becomes law enforcement's primary target.

Amy, understandably, is certain her brother is innocent - and in between shuffling the twins to rehearsals and from babysitters to babysitter, working and prepping for what is expected to be a stressful MIL visit, she sets out to prove it. Accomplishing that, she says, will require her to put to put all her "research skills" to the test - though honestly, based on what I read, said skills seemed to be limited to Google searches that most seventh-graders could do. Overall, though, Amy is a likeable, competent person; and while there's very little dangerous action going on - the bulk of the story is about the daily comings and goings of her and her family interspersed with a few hints as to who the culprit might be - I really enjoyed the reading experience. No blood, no guts here - the most "rugged" parts were the times Amy got annoyed enough to swear (well, just in her head a couple of times till she finally let one actually get past her lips). There's a titch of danger near the finish line, when everything comes together to usher in an "all's right with the world" ending.  

All told, it's a perfect book to read, especially over the holiday season (a gift, perhaps, for someone one your list? I'm sure they'd love it too). As for me, I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to sample a series I'm now looking forward to reading more of. Well done!

Murder Checks Out by Victoria Gilbert (Crooked Lane Books, November 2023); 262 pp.

A FATAL BOOKING

4 stars out of 5

This is the third book in what is a new-to-me series, and I don't expect it to be my last. It's always refreshing to find a cozy heroine who keeps her wits about her, doesn't go off on tangents that put her life and those of others in jeopardy and (gasp!) actually works with and respects law enforcement.

Such is the happy case with Charlotte Reed, a former English teacher who now runs Chapters Bed and Breakfast in a North Carolina harbor town. Aided by her trusty housekeeper Alicia Simpson and chef Damian Carr, she's hosting a book club retreat that promises to be fun because it will focus on classic children's literature. But as the guests arrive, it becomes clear all is not well in fairy tale land; in fact, their primary form of interpersonal communication seems to be bickering. Even worse, a local boat captain warns Charlotte that one of the guests has, shall we say, a rather shady background.

Still, Charlotte is determined to make the best of it - and things manage to go well until they don't: that shady guest turns up dead during the Mad Hatter tea party in the garden - a victim, it appears, of cyanide poisoning. That's an aha moment, at least until it becomes clear that most of the book club guests have relatively easy access to the poison. Whoops!

Charlotte begins to investigate, with the help of her next-door friend Ellen, who has a secret background as a secret agent (as does the relative who left the house to Charlotte in her will). Mostly missing in action is Charlotte's main squeeze, Gavin Howard, also an agent who is away on assignment until close to the end of the book to lend his expertise to the case (and to Charlotte, but in a different way). 

All in all, it's a delight to watch the story unfold as Charlotte follows clues where they lead (always, as I mentioned previously, sharing her findings with the police). There's a little too much repetition as various characters mull over who could have done what and when to my liking, but it all works out in the end (which also brings the revelation of possible new directions for a couple of the main characters, making me even more eager to read the next installment. Till then, I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy of this one.

A Fatal Booking by Victoria Gilbert (Crooked Lane Books, June 2022); 304 pp.