Tag: Series

Cozy Mysteries set in a Library

- Beth Leave a comment

What’s cozier than a cozy mystery that takes place in a library? A cozy mystery falls in the mystery / crime genre. Some of the traits of a cozy mystery are the violence taking place off-page, a cast of quirky supporting characters, and an amateur sleuth. In our case today, we are looking at cozy mysteries where the crime-solver’s day job is working as a librarian!

42nd Street Library Mysteries by Cornelius Lehane – Con Lehane’s 42nd Street Library Mysteries feature librarian and reluctant sleuth Raymond Ambler, curator of the (fictional) crime fiction collection at New York City’s landmark 42nd Street Library. Raymond is a doggedly curious fellow who uncovers murderous secrets hidden behind the majestic marble building.
First title of series: Murder at the 42nd Street Library. Total number in series: 5

Cat in the Stacks by Miranda James – Charlie Harris is a widowed librarian who knows how to search for clues. Diesel is a Maine coon cat who likes to go on walks. Together this duo is known for cracking the case when a murder occurs in the college town of Athena, Mississippi.
First title of series: Murder Past Due. Total number in series: 16

First Edition Library Mysteries by Marty Wingate – The First Edition Library Mysteries are set in the lovely spa town of Bath, England. Here we find Hayley Burke, curator of an impressive collection of books from the Golden Age of Mystery—Agatha Christie, Dorothy L. Sayers, Ngaio Marsh, Margery Allingham, and all the rest. Too bad Hayley has never read a detective story in her life.
First title of series: The Bodies in the Library. Total number in series: 3

The Haunted Library Mysteries by Allison Brook – Ghosts, books, and cats, oh my! This is a ‘spirited’ cozy mystery series about a sleuthing Connecticut librarian, her paranormal sidekick, and the library’s resident cat. Carrie Singleton works as the head of programs and events at the haunted local library, complete with its own librarian ghost.
First title of series: Death Overdue. Total number in series: 8

Lakeside Library Mysteries by Holly Danvers – Rain Wilmot runs an informal library out of her family’s waterfront log cabin in Lofty Pines, Wisconsin. Between snowed in winters and busy touristy summers, there is never a dull moment in the Northwoods, especially as the locals keep turning up murdered!
First title of series: Murder at the Lakeside Library. Total number in series: 3

Lighthouse Library Mystery by Eva Gates – Determined to rewrite her life, Lucy leaves her job pouring over the rare tomes of literature for the Harvard Library. It’s a dream come true when she arrives in the Outer Banks and lands a librarian job at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, but theft and murder could derail her happy ending.
First title of series: By Book or By Crook. Total number in series: 11

Cozy Mystery Reads: Canon Clement Mystery series by The Reverend Richard Coles

- Stephanie Leave a comment

“But what he liked most of all about dogs was their innocence of human motives, the self-promoting stratagems and egotism, their affection unstaled by familiarity and reciprocity. This is why the queen surrounds herself with corgis, he sometimes thought: love without deference.”
― Richard Coles, Murder Before Evensong

Canon Daniel Clement has been the Rector of Champton for eight years, the last four of which he has been living with his widowed mother, Audrey in the Rectory. His two dachshunds, Cosmo and Hilda, keep him company when his opinionated mother starts on a tangent.

Champton is on a relative even keel until Daniel announces his plan to install a lavatory in the church which would necessitate the removal of pews. This divides the community and sends his parishioners into a tizzy, fighting over tradition and what should be done instead of the lavatory. Daniel expected a bit of an outcry, but not one as large and longstanding as he received. Lines are drawn throughout town with some going so far as to suggest plans of their own for the proposed lavatory space.

These plans come to a screeching halt when someone is found dead at the back of the church, stabbed in the neck with a pair of secateurs, also known as pruning shears. The police start investigating, other bodies are found, and Daniel is left trying to put his community back together. Tensions start to rise as secrets that were once long buried are unearthed. Who is the killer? A member of the community? Or a stranger seeking revenge for a long ago wrong-doing? Daniel searches for answers all while trying to keep his sleepy parish from falling apart.

“Daniel recalled the bishop saying the same thing, that the higher you rise in an organisation, the further you are from what you need to know.”
― Richard Coles, Murder Before Evensong

Canon Clement Mystery series

  1. Murder Before Evensong (2022)
  2. A Death in the Parish (2023)
  3. Murder at the Monastery (2024)

Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge by Spencer Quinn

- Stephanie Leave a comment

If you don’t know what to read, what is your go-to? I gravitate towards cozy mysteries starring elderly people. My latest read was Mrs. Plansky’s Revenge, the first book in the new Mrs. Plansky series written by Spencer Quinn, a pseudonym used by author Peter Abrahams. Spencer Quinn is most known for his Chet and Bernie Mystery series that started in 2009, starring Chet the dog and his human partner PI Bernie Little.

Mrs. Loretta Plansky has been dealing with a lot lately: her husband has just died, her retirement in Florida is mired with dealing with her cantankerous 98-year-old father, and her children and grandchildren are constantly asking her for money. As a recent widow in her seventies, Loretta just wants to spend her day playing tennis and enjoying her new hip!

Mrs. Plansky receives a phone call in the middle of the night from her grandson, Will, saying that he has been arrested and needs ten thousand dollars. After asking some questions, she decides to give him the money. She sends him her bank details, delighted to receive another phone call a short while later saying that Will has the money and has been released. She heads back to sleep, happy that Will is safe.

Loretta wakes up the next morning and phone calls start pouring in. She is shocked to discover that she has lost everything. Her bank and her financial advisor call to say that she drew her accounts down to zero the night before, millions of dollars gone in the blink of an eye. Loretta soon finds herself in meetings with law enforcement who inform her that her life savings are gone and unfortunately there isn’t much they can do to help her. The scammers are gone, their heist complete, and Loretta is left with nothing. After processing her emotions, she decides to start investigating on her own, following the only clue that she has to a small village in Romania. Mrs. Plansky wants her money back. She isn’t a fool and won’t be taken advantage of anymore.

This was a good introduction to a new series, enough to have me hoping that the subsequent books in the series will be more entertaining. Typically cozy mysteries have a main character with a quirky sidekick, but this book popped back and forth between two view points: 1) Mrs. Plansky and 2) the scammers in Romania. Mrs. Plansky spend the majority of the book by herself with no relief or help. The story focused instead on her forgetfulness as a character, which was distracting. Thankfully about 80% of the way through, some helpers popped into Mrs. Plansky’s life, adding some comic relief to the story. Hopefully these characters are also present in the next books.

This title is also available in large print.

Because I Could Not Stop for Death: an Emily Dickinson mystery by Amanda Flower

- Stephanie Leave a comment

One of my favorite cozy mystery writers has started a new series based on Emily Dickinson! Because I Could Not Stop for Death is the first in the new Emily Dickinson Mystery series started by author Amanda Flower.

It’s January 1855 and Willa Noble is on her way to a job interview at the Dickinson home in Amherst, Massachusetts. While she’s qualified for the job, her disheveled appearance leaves much to be desired. This job will be a much-needed stepping stone up the employment ladder for Willa, allowing her to save more money for herself and her younger brother, Henry. As Willa leaves after her disastrous interview, she is stopped by the voice of Emily Dickinson, alerting her that she has been hired for the job despite the housekeeper’s reticence.

Emily sees something in Willa that intrigues her, leading the two to strike up a friendship of sorts. Not long after starting her new job, tragedy strikes. Willa’s brother Henry is found dead, killed in an accident at the town stables where he works. The police label it as a tragic accident, something that Willa doesn’t believe for a moment. She is convinced that Henry was murdered. She confides in Emily her beliefs and her reasoning. Emily offers to help and the two start on a deadly chase for the truth that leads them all around Amherst to Washington DC and back. What they thought was an intriguing puzzle at the beginning weaves the two into a web of corruption and political intrigue that could destroy Willa, Emily, and the entire Dickinson family.

This intro to a new series blew me away. It’s more than just a cozy mystery, instead it is also a historical cozy! The fact that the story is told by a housemaid in the Dickinson household was interesting as readers get to learn more about Emily’s life from an outsider. I particularly enjoyed the cast of characters in this book. They all have vivid descriptions and interact with each other fairly frequently. The setting also plays a large role in the plot of the story. Readers travel the streets of Amherst and then take the train to Washington DC to visit the Dickinson patriarch. Seeing mid-1800s Washington DC through the eyes of the character allows readers to experience briefly what time really was like in such a historical place. This book was darker than other titles written by the same author, but if you enjoy historical mysteries, cozy mysteries, and amateur sleuths, you’ll enjoy this title.

Emily Dickinson Mystery series

  1. Because I Could Not Stop for Death (2022)
  2. I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died (2023)

Online Reading Challenge – December Wrap-Up

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Hello Fellow Challenge Readers!

We’ve made it to the last month of the 2023 Online Reading Challenge! With our theme of Location, Location, Location, we have traveled the globe exploring different places in fiction. What was your favorite location to read about?

For our last month, we settled in Cuba. How did your reading go this month? Did you read something set in Cuba that you enjoyed? Share in the comments!

I read our main title: Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton. This is a dual timeline historical fiction set in Cuba. It follows the stories of Marisol Ferrera and her grandmother, Elisa Perez. At the start of the story, Elisa has just passed away. In her will, she has written that Marisol must scatter her ashes back in Cuba, the country of her birth. As a Cuban-American woman traveling to Cuba in 2017, Marisol is in danger that she doesn’t quite realize yet. Born and raised in Miami amidst Cuban exiles, Marisol has her own opinions of Cuba. Once she arrives in Havana, she is struck by Cuba’s beauty and the perilous political climate. Marisol learns some startling family secrets while falling in love with a Cuban man with his own secrets.

Flash back: Elisa Perez has only known Cuba. It’s 1958 and as the daughter of a sugar baron, she and her siblings are sheltered amongst the other members of high society. While they all sneak out to parties, Elisa is largely unaware of the political unrest happening in Cuba. A chance meeting with a handsome revolutionary changes her life forever, leading her into a passionate affair with the power to destroy her family and her future. As her family was known to support Batista, once Castro rose to power, their money and influence made them targets.

Cleeton’s decision to write in dual timelines allowed readers to have a slight mental break when the dialogue shifted to 2017. The tours of Cuba Marisol ventured on in 2017 lined up with the history discussed in Elisa’s life in 1958. Cleeton has clearly made Cuba the star of this book. The people, customs, and stories told all support the fact that Cuba is the main player. While the cover of this book makes it seem like it is going to be a light romance, I found the history and politics to be more hard-hitting with the romance as a smaller component that added to the story. There are three threads of being Cuban discussed in this book that end up playing a huge role: 1) a Cuban in exile, 2) a Cuban born and living in Cuba today, and 3) a Cuban born and brought up in another country. Seeing how those three identities flowed and butted up against the others was insightful and added another layer to the story.

While I enjoyed this book, I did find myself wishing I had known more about Cuban history before I sat down to read. I spent time looking up what I didn’t understand in order to grasp the narrative as it unfolded. Because my history knowledge was lacking, I found the title to be a little dense, as the history, politics, and love story were so entwined that you had to understand one in order to fully grasp the others. Now that I have finished my first Cleeton book, I feel like I know more about past and present Cuban history and would more fully appreciate other titles set in Cuba.

If you read this book and enjoyed it, you’re in luck! Next Year in Havana is the first book in the Cuba Saga by Chanel Cleeton.

  1. Next Year in Havana (2018)
  2. When We Left Cuba (2019)
  3. The Last Train to Key West (2020)
  4. The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba (2021)
  5. Our Last Days in Barcelona (2022)
  6. The Cuban Heiress (2023)

In 2024, we will have a whole new theme! Check back in January for more information.

Online Reading Challenge – December

- Stephanie Leave a comment

Welcome Readers!

This month the Online Reading Challenge travels to Cuba. Our Main title for December is Next Year in Havana by Chanel Cleeton. Here’s a quick summary from the publisher.

After the death of her beloved grandmother, a Cuban-American woman travels to Havana, where she discovers the roots of her identity—and unearths a family secret hidden since the revolution…

Havana, 1958. The daughter of a sugar baron, nineteen-year-old Elisa Perez is part of Cuba’s high society, where she is largely sheltered from the country’s growing political unrest—until she embarks on a clandestine affair with a passionate revolutionary…

Miami, 2017. Freelance writer Marisol Ferrera grew up hearing romantic stories of Cuba from her late grandmother Elisa, who was forced to flee with her family during the revolution. Elisa’s last wish was for Marisol to scatter her ashes in the country of her birth.

Arriving in Havana, Marisol comes face-to-face with the contrast of Cuba’s tropical, timeless beauty and its perilous political climate. When more family history comes to light and Marisol finds herself attracted to a man with secrets of his own, she’ll need the lessons of her grandmother’s past to help her understand the true meaning of courage. – Penguin Random House

This title is also available in large print, Libby eBook, and Libby eAudiobook.

Next Year in Havana is the first book in the Cuba Saga by Chanel Cleeton.

  1. Next Year in Havana (2018)
  2. When We Left Cuba (2019)
  3. The Last Train to Key West (2020)
  4. The Most Beautiful Girl in Cuba (2021)
  5. Our Last Days in Barcelona (2022)
  6. The Cuban Heiress (2023)

As always, check each of our locations for displays with lots more titles to choose from!

The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes

- Bianca Leave a comment

You may have noticed advertisements for the new Hunger Games movie and wondered when, why, and how is there another movie in the beloved Hunger Games series? Suzanne Collins released The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, a prequel to The Hunger Games series we all know and love, quietly in May of 2020. That’s right. Collins’ book released in the early days of the pandemic and most people didn’t even notice, including yours truly, a number 1 Hunger Games fan. Embarrassingly, I didn’t pick up the book until 2022 and that was only after hearing buzz that a movie was in the works.

So, what is this book about? This story is about Coriolanus Snow, known better as President Snow, as he embarks on his final year at a prestigious academy in the Capital. Snow is at the top of his class and destined for great things, but he has a secret. Though once one of the wealthiest and well-respected families in Panem, the war with the districts, which ended ten years previously, has taken everything from them, including both of Snow’s parents. He lives with his grandmother and cousin Tigris in near poverty, barely able to maintain their apartment which is the last remnant of their previous life. As the 10th Hunger Games approaches and Coriolanus is named mentor in the games, he must secure a win to ensure his future in the Capital.

Enter Lucy Gray Baird from District 12. The original Hunger Games series alluded to District 12’s first Hunger Games winner but they are never named. In fact, all records of the 10th Annual Hunger Games were removed. As you may have deduced, Lucy Gray is assigned Snow for a mentor and the two must work together if Lucy is to survive and Snow is to once again be on top. What follows will become one of the Capital’s and Snow’s biggest secrets.

The story unfolds much the same way as the original Hunger Games, but with a much different arena, plenty of unexpected twists, and the last third of the book is like nothing we have seen from Collins before. If you are a fan of The Hunger Games, I highly recommend reading the book and watching the movie, which premieres November 17, 2023, or you can wait until it comes out on DVD and check it out from the library! Viola Davis and Peter Dinklage star in the movie along with Rachel Zegler as Lucy Gray and Tom Blyth as Coriolanus Snow.

Mystery Reads: Coffeehouse Mystery series by Cleo Coyle

- Stephanie Leave a comment

“Coffee makes a sad man cheerful, a languorous man active, a cold man warm, a warm man glowing. It awakens mental powers thought to be dead, and when left in a sick room, it fills the room with a fragrance…. The very smell of coffee terrorizes death.”
― Cleo Coyle, On What Grounds

Ten years ago, Clare Cosi left her job managing the historic Village Blend coffeehouse in New York City. She moved to the quieter suburbs to raise her daughter. These quieter spaces are starting to bother Clare, so when the owner of Village Blend calls and proposes that Clare come back to manage the coffeehouse, she is intrigued. Soon Clare is moving back to New York City, right in the action and ready to serve up coffee.

Clare has scored the spacious rent-free apartment located right above Village Blend. Bringing her last bit of belongings to her new place early one morning, Clare is shocked to see that Village Blend is closed and locked when it should be open, serving customers. Angry that her new assistant manager is slacking on the job, Clare walks into the coffeehouse to find coffee grounds all over and her employee gravely injured. The arrival of the police and their subsequent ruling that this whole incident was an accident rubs Clare the wrong way. She isn’t convinced, despite their certainty, that her employee was clumsy enough to fall down the stairs. Clare begins an investigation of her own, determined to uncover the truth.

This series has been on my to-read list for quite a while. I took a risk and decided to read the first. While not a coffee drinker, I did find myself enjoying all of the coffee making tips and recipes that the author sprinkles throughout the book. I was pleasantly surprised with the plot. It wasn’t the best cozy mystery start to a series that I’ve read, but it also wasn’t the worst! I’m excited to see where the second book takes me.

This title is also available as a Libby eBook.

“As the 1902 coffee almanac put it, ‘When coffee is bad it is the wickedest thing in town; when good, the most glorious.”
― Cleo Coyle, On What Grounds

Coffeehouse Mystery series

  1. On What Grounds (2003)
  2. Through the Grinder (2004)
  3. Latte Trouble (2005)
  4. Murder Most Frothy (2006)
  5. Decaffeinated Corpse (2007)
  6. French Pressed (2008)
  7. Espresso Shot (2008)
  8. Holiday Grind (2009)
  9. Roast Mortem (2010)
  10. Murder by Mocha (2011)
  11. A Brew to a Kill (2012)
  12. Holiday Buzz (2012)
  13. Billionaire Blend (2013)
  14. Once Upon a Grind (2014)
  15. Dead to the Last Drop (2015)
  16. Dead Cold Brew (2017)
  17. Shot in the Dark (2018)
  18. Brewed Awakening (2019)
  19. Honey Roasted (2022)
  20. Bulletproof Barista (2023)

Simply Held October Author: Colson Whitehead

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Want the hottest new release from your favorite author? Want to stay current with a celebrity book club? Love nonfiction and fiction? You should join Simply Held. Choose any author, celebrity pick, nonfiction and/or fiction pick and the Davenport Public Library will put the latest title on hold for you automatically. Select as many as you want! If you still have questions, please check out our list of FAQs.

New month means new highlighted authors from Simply Held. October’s fiction author is Colson Whitehead.

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Photo: Chris Close
Photo: Chris Close

Our October fiction author is Colson Whitehead. His first job after graduating from Harvard College was writing reviews at the Village Voice. His first novel, The Intuitionist, about chaos in the Department of Elevator Inspectors, was published in 1998. Since then, he has written eleven books, as well as multiple reviews, essays, and fiction that have appeared in many publications, such as the New York Times and others. He has taught at a number of universities and won numerous awards and fellowships, including the Pulitzer Prize, the Carnegie Medal for Fiction, a MacArthur Fellowship, plus many more. Colson currently lived in New York City.

Whitehead writes literary fiction, historical fiction, mystery, and horror.

Whitehead’s newest book is Crook Manifesto, the second book in the Harlem Trilogy. This book was published in July 2023.

Curious what this book is about? Check out the following description provided by the publisher.

It’s 1971. Trash piles up on the streets, crime is at an all-time high, the city is careening towards bankruptcy, and a shooting war has broken out between the NYPD and the Black Liberation Army. Amidst this collective nervous breakdown furniture store owner and ex-fence Ray Carney tries to keep his head down and his business thriving. His days moving stolen goods around the city are over. It’s strictly the straight-and-narrow for him — until he needs Jackson 5 tickets for his daughter May and he decides to hit up his old police contact Munson, fixer extraordinaire. But Munson has his own favors to ask of Carney and staying out of the game gets a lot more complicated – and deadly.

1973. The counter-culture has created a new generation, the old ways are being overthrown, but there is one constant, Pepper, Carney’s endearingly violent partner in crime. It’s getting harder to put together a reliable crew for hijackings, heists, and assorted felonies, so Pepper takes on a side gig doing security on a Blaxploitation shoot in Harlem. He finds himself in a freaky world of Hollywood stars, up-and-coming comedians, and celebrity drug dealers, in addition to the usual cast of hustlers, mobsters, and hit men. These adversaries underestimate the seasoned crook – to their regret.

1976. Harlem is burning, block by block, while the whole country is gearing up for Bicentennial celebrations. Carney is trying to come up with a July 4th ad he can live with. (“Two Hundred Years of Getting Away with It!”), while his wife Elizabeth is campaigning for her childhood friend, the former assistant D.A and rising politician Alexander Oakes. When a fire severely injures one of Carney’s tenants, he enlists Pepper to look into who may be behind it. Our crooked duo have to battle their way through a crumbling metropolis run by the shady, the violent, and the utterly corrupted.

CROOK MANIFESTO is a darkly funny tale of a city under siege, but also a sneakily searching portrait of the meaning of family. Colson Whitehead’s kaleidoscopic portrait of Harlem is sure to stand as one of the all-time great evocations of a place and a time.  – Penguin Random House

This title is also available in large print, CD audiobook, Playaway audiobook and as a Libby eAudiobook and Libby eBook.

You Lucky Dog by Julia London

- Stephanie Leave a comment

‘She’d done everything right. She’d gotten good grades in school, had gotten a good job, and had worked hard. She’d been a decent daughter, a better sister. She didn’t do drugs or drink much. She’d done everything right. It was not supposed to be this way. She was supposed to have it all by now, not be worrying about how to pay her rent.’ – Julia London, You Lucky Dog

Every once in a while, I need a reading break. When that happens, I look up feel good romances that I know will make me smile or laugh. My latest feel good read was You Lucky Dog by Julia London. I won’t lie – the cover hooked me first, giving me 101 Dalmatians vibes with the twisted together leashes. That plus basset hounds and I was ready to start reading. You Lucky Dog is the first in the the Lucky Dog series.

Carly Kennedy is struggling. Her new business, Carly Kennedy Public Relations, is not going well. She only has two clients, yet they are the neediest clients she has ever had and demand so much of her time. Her parents are divorced and are both now going through separate midlife crises that are way too much. Her mother bought her sister a basset hound WITHOUT asking her, causing said sister to completely melt down. Baxter, the basset, is now Carly’s problem. Baxter is a sad basset hound. In fact, Carly thinks he may be depressed. He can frequently be found with his head wedged in the corner of the room no matter Carly’s best efforts to coax him out. Baxter is growing on her though.

Yet another inconvenience is dropped on Carly’s plate when she comes home from work late one night to discover an imposter basset hound in her house. Her dog walker has switched out her sad basset for this perkier female basset who has no boundaries. This one is on her couch, chewing on things she shouldn’t be touching!

Max Sheffington is also confused. His happy basset hound, Haxel, has been replaced by this depressed male basset hound who, for some reason, will not get out of the corner of the room. Max is even more bewildered when Carly shows up on his front step demanding her dog back. It doesn’t help that Carly is pretty and extremely opinionated, facts that distract Max and simultaneously captivate him. He was expecting his dog walker, something that this gorgeous woman is not. Carly was expecting a stuffy old man given the name of the man she was told had her dog. Instead she finds a handsome man who is corrupting poor Baxter! Her dog is sprawled on the couch and has clearly been eating macaroni and cheese.

What most surprises Carly is that Baxter seems to be at home at Max’s house. He loves Hazel and follows her around. Since Baxter’s mood has improved, Carly decides that she needs to spend more time with Hazel and Max to keep him happy. It doesn’t take long for Carly to realize that there are feelings buzzing between her and Max, even though the two couldn’t be more different. Their lives end up being completely altered by an accidental dog swap.

While I enjoyed the premise, I found myself wanting to shake Carly at points (to be fair, I find myself more likely to want to shake the main characters when I’m reading romance – just TALK to each other already). Some of the solutions to her problems were right in front of her face, but she was just not seeing them. Regardless of my frustrations, this novel was adorable and exactly the brain break I needed. The main characters were both genuinely nice and cared about all the people in their lives. The fact that the author made Max’s brother autistic was a breath of fresh air. His portrayal was done sensitively and seeing him through Max’s eyes from both a scientific and familial point of view was also realistic. All in all, I enjoyed this book and am already searching for the second book, It Started with a Dog.

This title is also available in large print, as a Libby eBook, and Libby eAudiobook.

Lucky Dog series

  1. You Lucky Dog (2020)
  2. It Started with a Dog (2021)

‘That was the problem with social media—there were people in the world who seemingly existed just to tear other people down, but you couldn’t give them any oxygen. You couldn’t let them steal your mojo. And the best way to keep your mojo intact was to stay off social media and allow your publicist to post for you and monitor comments.’ – Julia London, You Lucky Dog