Read and Gone - A Review & Giveaway

Review

READ AND GONE by Allison Brook

The Second Haunted Library Mystery

It may be Christmastime, but all is not jolly in Clover Ridge. Carrie Singleton is happy to be able to finally put down roots, having friends, family, a boyfriend, and a job she loves at the library. Everything changes when her absentee thief of a father shows us asking her to locate some gems that he helped steal. Now her relationship is on the rocks, a surprising amount of people know about the gems and are searching for them, and people are getting murdered! Will Carrie find the gems and send her father on his way, or will she become another victim?

The characters in this second Haunted Library Mystery have rich backstories which add depth to the novel. Carrie's low self-esteem and abandonment issues drive her to act quite juvenile in regard to her relationships and her goody two-shoesness can be irksome. Still in all, she's loyal and devoted to her job and Smoky Joe, although she really needs to get a cat carrier! I really enjoy her co-workers, well, Dorothy the sourpuss is a real pill and I wish the ghostly Eleanor made more appearances.

A pleasurable read, READ AND GONE is a well plotted enjoyable mystery focusing on family relations as well as murder!

*********************************************************************

READ AND GONE EXCERPT

Wednesday morning I was enjoying my second cup of coffee when the landline phone rang. Did Sally need me to come in early for some reason? My pulse quickened. Or had Dylan found a free moment in his busy schedule to call me?

“Carrie, you have to come and get me out of here!”

“Jim? Where are you?”

“In jail, dammit. They think I killed Parr, but I swear I didn’t.”

“Benton’s dead? I just saw him last night. Why do they think you killed him? How did they find you?”

“Caro, slow down. I went to his store before opening time. The lights were on, so I went inside, figuring he was in the back room. Only he was lying on the floor. There was all this blood coming from his abdomen. The kid who works for him came in and called the cops. I took off, but they nabbed me a few blocks away. Knocked me down. I’m bruised and all scratched up.”

“You need a lawyer.”

“I don’t have money for a lawyer.”

“I’m calling Uncle Bosco.”

He let out a long exhalation. “I don’t know, Caro. I haven’t spoken to the man in twenty years.”

“I know a lawyer. He doesn’t handle criminal cases, but he’ll know who to call.”

“All right, honey, call who you want. But please get down here as soon as you can.”

Uncle Bosco was not happy to hear my father was back in town. “When did he get here, Carrie? Why did he come?”

“He arrived a few days ago. I think he wanted to see me.” Both accurate statements, but far from the whole picture. “There’s more, Uncle Bosco. Benton Parr is dead. Murdered. And the police arrested Jim. He insists he didn’t do it.”

My uncle let out a long sigh that sounded very much like the one my father had exhaled only minutes earlier. “My poor brother. He’d turn over in his grave if he knew what his son has become.”

I cleared my throat. “Would you be willing to put up bail? I don’t have much savings, but I’ll take out a loan if I need to.”

“Of course I’ll put up bail. Your father’s a Singleton, whether I like it or not. I can’t let him rot in jail until his trial. Meanwhile, I’ll speak to John. Find out exactly what they have on him.”

“Thank you, Uncle Bosco. I’m going to call Ken Talbot. Have him recommend a good criminal lawyer for Jim.”

“The man doesn’t deserve to have you as his daughter.”

************************************************************************

Read and Gone: A Haunted Library Mystery by Allison Brook

About the Book

 

Read and Gone: A Haunted Library Mystery  

Cozy Mystery 2nd in Series  

Crooked Lane Books (September 11, 2018)  

Hardcover: 320 pages 

Twenty million dollars’ worth of missing gems bring Carrie Singleton’s long-lost and larcenous dad back into her life and it’s up to Carrie to clear his name.

A devoted dad is as precious as diamonds, but Carrie Singleton wouldn’t know since her dad Jim’s been on the lam most of her life. In an unusual family reunion, she finds Jim breaking into her cottage in the middle of the night. The fun really starts when he begs her to help him recover his half of a twenty-million-dollar gem heist he pulled off with the local jeweler, Benton Parr. When she refuses, Jim takes off again.

Carrie finds her father again behind bars for the recent murder of Benton Parr. Who made the connection? Unbeknownst to her, Carrie’s boyfriend Dylan, an insurance investigator, has been searching for the gems. Determined to find the jewels herself, she starts examining every facet of Parr’s life. She turns up a treasure trove of suspects, one of whom bashes her on the head as she’s searching the victim’s country cabin.

Retreating to the quiet confines of the library where she works, Carrie watches as Smokey Joe, the resident cat, paws at a hole in the wall. Is he after the library’s ghost Evelyn, or something shinier?

About the Author

Allison Brook is the pseudonym for Marilyn Levinson, who writes mysteries, romantic suspense, and novels for kids. She lives on Long Island and enjoys traveling, reading, watching foreign films, doing Sudoku and dining out. She especially loves to visit with her grandchildren on FaceTime.  

Author Links:
Website: http://www.marilynlevinson.com
My Amazon page: http://amzn.to/K6Md1O  
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marilyn.levinson.10?ref=ts&fref=ts  
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/161602.Marilyn_Levinson  
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarilynLevinson  
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/marilev/  

Purchase Links:  Amazon B&N BookBub

a Rafflecopter giveaway