Cleo
Watkins is a librarian in Catalpa Springs, Georgia. While
she loves to get out and drive the bookmobile, Words on Wheels,
she has been kept busy with overseeing renovations to the
library after the damage done by a storm. She’s also
grooming her protégé, Leanna, to one day take
over her position. Leanna is furthering her education and
should be an ideal fit. Library Board president, Mercer Whitty,
has different ideas. He is smitten with Belle Beauchamp who,
after retiring from corporate branding, has rebranded herself
as an outreach innovator for libraries. This seems like a
big problem for Cleo, but as it turns out, Belle is the least
of her current worries.
Dixie
Huddleston has been a thorn in Cleo’s side for over
40 years. She is rude, selfish, loud and determined to get
her own way about everything. Dixie checked out a library
book titled, Luck and Lore decades ago and never returned
it. She goes as far as offering to return it and then reneging
just to stick it to Cleo again. Cleo tells the story of the
book with the $800 fine to a newspaper reporter who is writing
an article about the upcoming reopening of the library. She
does not name Dixie as the delinquent patron, but everyone
in town knows who it is. Dixie claims that death is coming
for her and she wants to give the book back as part of settling
her affairs. Dixie is superstitious and among her claims of
omens says she saw the Grim Reaper outside of her window.
Dixie
and her gentleman friend, Henry, go to Dixie’s home
to collect the book, but when they arrive, they find a locked
pantry. Unlocking the pantry and opening the door, they discover
a swarm of bees. They also find Dixie on the floor, obviously
dead. Because of their long-standing feud, Cleo is cast in
the role of a suspect. Determined to clear her name and to
also find justice for Dixie, Cleo once again puts on her sleuthing
cap and works to find the killer.
I
enjoyed this book as well as the first in the series because
I love a good Southern mystery featuring a librarian, a cat,
and quirky local characters. Initially, I had trouble with
the pacing of this story, but once I got far enough in to
have an investment in the characters, it moved right along
at a satisfactory clip.
As
well as a solid murder mystery, there is a hearty dose of
humor and relationships which continue to build. What’s
not to like about a book that hits all of those marks? Nothing.
It’s all good!
While
fine as a stand-alone, I was glad to have read the first book
and recommend that readers do the same.
Reviews of other titles in this series
Better
Off Dead #1
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