Tag: local politics

REVIEW: Death in the Stacks by Jenn McKinlay

REVIEW: Death in the Stacks by Jenn McKinlay

Posted on by Jaymie

[I recently discovered some unpublished reviews I wrote several years ago. I’m posting these now as they were originally written.]

Summary

Lindsey and the library crew are preparing for their biggest fundraiser of the year – the $50 per plate Dinner in the Stacks. But the new library board president is determined to cause trouble.

Olive Boyle is only chairing the board because she wants to run for mayor. She thinks a few local leadership positions will help secure her win. But her abrasive personality isn’t doing her any favors. She threatens to fire Lindsey and to expose another library employee for some past indiscretion. And then she tries to bully the event caterers into donating everything for Dinner in the Stacks.

Is it really any wonder that Olive ends up dead?

Unfortunately, Olive’s feud with Lindsey and her staff was quite public. And the body was found in the library. Even though Lindsey has sworn to all her friends that she is done sleuthing for good, how can she hang back now when her friend is the  prime suspect for Olive’s murder?

Review

This was excellent! As I have mentioned before, I love the characters in this series. I enjoy spending time with them in every book. The library angle is also a perfect fit for me.

Fans of McKinlay’s hat shop and cupcake shop series will be delighted to find the characters from those books making an appearance here. Both of those series are on my TBR pile – and this made me want to dive into those soon.

The mystery in this was outstanding. Olive was like Delores Umbridge in the HP series. Just a horrible, mean, hateful, narcissistic character. There were plenty of suspects to choose from. And the solution twisted and turned all the way to the end. Delightful!

I highly recommend this series. I am a big fan of Jenn McKinlay’s work. If you haven’t tried out any of her books, she has several series to choose from for both mystery and romance fans.

Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥*

*♥♥♥♥♥ = Outstanding!

REVIEW: Killer Research by Jenn McKinlay

REVIEW: Killer Research by Jenn McKinlay

Posted on by Jaymie

Summary

The mayoral race between Ms. Cole from the library and the incumbent, Mayor Hensen, is heating up. And Lindsey and her Crafternoon friends are all in for the campaign. In fact, children’s librarian, Beth, is serving as Ms. Cole’s campaign manager.

But when a dead body is found in Ms. Cole’s car, the mayor and his cronies smell blood in the water and turn up the heat on their smear campaign.

So Lindsey, Sully, and Beth start sleuthing, determined to clear Ms. Cole and clear a path to her election victory.

Review

This is one of those series that’s easy to fall into no matter how long it’s been since you read the last one. This is the 12th book in the Library Lovers Mystery series by Jenn McKinlay, and it’s a must-read for me and has been from the beginning. The main characters feel like old friends, and it’s no work at all to dive into a new book.

My book friends did not disappoint in this outing. I was completely invested in seeing Ms. Cole cleared, and I cheered every time she verbally stomped on the mayor when he tried to stir up trouble. The mystery kept me guessing, and I enjoyed watching the story and the solution play out.

I don’t know that you have to read this series in order. It helps, though, because of the history with Ms. Cole throughout the series. It’s so satisfying to have seen her evolution from the beginning of the series until now, especially in her relationships with Lindsey and the Crafternoon group. That said, I still think the story is easy enough to follow if you decide to drop into the series here.

Series fans, of course, should absolutely pick this one up and enjoy watching Lindsey work the case – and Ms. Cole work the election!

Rating: ♥♥♥♥*

*♥♥♥♥ = Great! Might re-read