OVERDUE OR DIE

4 stars out of 5

Sometimes, I just need a break from heavy-duty, mind-bending thrillers and gory murders that make up the bulk of my reading matter - and that's when I turn to a trusted cozy mystery series like this one. In particular, I enjoy heroine Carrie Singleton, head of programs and events at the Clover Ridge library, just because she's not the typical cozy airhead who insists on nosing around where her nose (and the rest of her body) has been warned not to go by those in authority. Yes, she's a competent sleuth - aided by her almost-husband, investigator Dylan Avery - but she basically works with the cops, not behind their backs. Then too, she's got a cat; Smoky Joe not only lives with her and Dylan, but is the official library cat. What's not to love about that?

The only thing about this series I don't love is that the library is a haven for ghosts - yep, "real" ones that Carrie sees and talks to with regularity. It's sort of a cute touch, I suppose, but to me it's just a silly distraction. That said, as this begins, new programs are set to begin in the new addition to the library - an old adjacent building that's been renovated. Dylan has gone off to check out a painting that belonged to his recently deceased great-uncle; the plan is that sometime after he returns, he and Carrie will begin making plans to get married. As she and Dylan visit the home of a well-to-do local art collector to pick out some paintings for a library art show, Carrie is taken with the surroundings and wishes the wedding could be held at the opulent house and garden.

But at the library ceremony to show off the new facility, an elderly woman interrupts, claiming that she owns the building and the library has no claim on it - throwing a wrench in the deal. Not long thereafter, Carrie learns that Dylan is in the hospital; it seems that after he picked up his great-uncle's painting, he was mugged and the painting was stolen. Not long after that, the owner of a local art gallery - a woman who seems intent on poaching one of Carrie's best employees from the library - is found in her gallery, quite dead. But with few clues to go on, the suspect list is both highly speculative and almost endless. A couple more murders happen to complicate things, but of course Carrie carries on with help from Dylan and the local police. I had a suspect in mind for about the final third of the book and it turned out I was right, but I admit I'd never have guessed the motive in a million years.

All told, it's another fun adventure that stacks up well with the others I've read (this is the seventh book in the series). Many thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy.

Overdue or Die by Allison Brook (Crooked Lane Books, October 2023); 304 pp.