DEWEY DECIMATED

4 stars out of 5

I've read books in other series that are set in and around libraries, but this one has something the others don't: A resident ghost. And quite honestly, when near the end one of the characters agrees to not say a word to anyone else about the ghosts (actually, there are two of them), he adds, "Besides, who would believe me?" my response was something like "For sure not me." But credibility aside, it's a creative and entertaining way to add some spice to the usual cozy mystery formula.

This one, the sixth, begins as construction does likewise on an addition to the Clover Ridge, Connecticut, public library at which Carrie Singleton is in charge of programs and events. Rumor has it that the to-be-refurbished building that will house the addition is "cursed," and when a well-hidden dead body turns up that's deemed a murder, suspicions move closer to reality. Evelyn, the resident ghost, doesn't seem too surprised - at least not until another ghost, a man, turns up. Like Evelyn, Carrie can see and speak with him, but he has no memory of who he is or from whence he came.

Being the heroine of a series, Carrie has plenty of experience, albeit unofficial, solving local crimes; she makes a half-hearted effort to keep her nose out of this one (which no doubt readers of previous books know ain't gonna happen). Carrie's finance, private investigator Dylan, knows it as well and seems accepting, while her friend, police Lt. John Mathers, is a little less tolerant. 

Concurrently, Carrie is appointed to the town council  (a detail a bit hard for me to swallow given her age and lack of political experience), and one of her first orders of business involves collectively deciding on the fate of a nature preserve that's now legally available for repurposing. As might be expected, which future direction the project will take creates quite a furor among the council members, all of whom seem to have their own agendas.

Amid all this, the dead man is identified as Dylan's uncle Alec - and surprise (well, not really) - that's his ghost wandering around in the library. As the investigation starts to get serious, a local TV newscaster starts force-feeding her presence into the action (apparently, she's the requisite cozy "friend" who pesters the heroine and leads her into places she probably shouldn't go). Little by little, clues reveal why Uncle Alec was murdered - but it's also clear he won't leave this world until every piece of the puzzle is in place. Little by little, the chapters proceed to put them there.

All told, it's a clever and fun story that cozy lovers should love (for the record, it stands alone well; I've not read any of the others and had no problem following along). I thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy (and for learning a new word - "gawp." At first, I thought it was a typo that should have been "gawk"; looking it up proved that by golly, I can be wrong.

Dewey Decimated by Allison Brook (Crooked Lane Books, September 2022); 328 pp.