DEATH ON THE SHELF by Allison Brook
The Fifth Haunted Library Mystery
Angela, Carrie Singleton's best friend, is usually cheerful and calm. That is not the case in the weeks before her wedding. With the brother who tormented her through her childhood coming to town and the restaurant catering her bridal shower cancelling less than a week before the event, it's no wonder Angela's having a bit of a meltdown. Angela's cousin, Donna, steps in to save the day, hosting the shower in her home. Everything is going well, until Angela's brother makes a scene at the rehearsal dinner, angry that Donna's husband won't invest in his film. When the good doctor drops dead at the wedding reception Angela is certain that her brother is a murderer. Although confident that the police will solve the case, Carrie can't help but begin her own investigation. Is one of Angela's relatives really a murderer?
Love is in the air in the fifth Haunted Library Mystery. Weddings and
reunions, friendships and family, illicit relationships and the pretense
of love, all can be found here. Ultimately, DEATH ON THE SHELF is about
family, love, and fitting in.
We learn quite a bit about Angela's relations in this book. Talk about a dysfunctional family! Kissing cousins, one-upmanship, and a hot headed violent brother make for a stressful wedding and plenty of motives for murder. I really liked the way the mystery developed, with characters showing very different faces as the story progressed. More than one person has some secrets going on! In fact, duplicitous characters really had me guessing and I wasn't sure who the murderer really was!
DEATH ON THE SHELF is a complex mystery that proves appearances can be deceiving, love can come in many forms, and acceptance is possible.
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Death on the Shelf: A Haunted Library Mystery
by Allison Brook
About Death on the Shelf
Death on the Shelf: A Haunted Library Mystery
Cozy Mystery 5th in Series
Publisher: Crooked Lane Books (November 9, 2021)
Hardcover: 320 pages
Librarian Carrie Singleton sleuths a murder at her best friend's wedding in Agatha Award nominee Allison Brook's fifth Haunted Library mystery.
Clover Ridge librarian Carrie Singleton is thrilled to attend her best friend Angela's wedding, but Angela's family can be a bit...much. Angela’s wealthy cousin Donna hosts an extravagant bridal shower at her resplendent home, but the celebrations turn to gossip as the guests notice Donna's surgeon husband, Aiden, spending a bit too much time with Donna’s cousin Roxy. At the wedding reception, the sweet occasion turns darkly bitter when Aiden topples into the chocolate fountain--dead.
The suspect list is as long as the guest list, and as difficult to sort out as the seating chart. A few of the top contenders on Carrie’s suspect list are the flirtatious Roxy, emotionally unstable since her recent divorce; Angela's grouchy brother, who feels Aiden betrayed him; and Roxy's scorned ex-husband. Even Donna may have had reason to want her husband dead. And Aiden's gossipy office manager has plenty to say about them all.
Then another member of Angela's family is murdered, making Carrie more determined than ever to find the killer. Can library ghost Evelyn and library cat Smoky Joe help Carrie solve the murders before she becomes the next of Angela’s wedding guests to head to the grave?
About Allison Brook
Allison writes the Haunted Library Mystery series. DEATH OVERDUE, the first in the series, was an Agatha nominee for Best Contemporary Novel in 2018. Other mysteries include the Golden Age of Mystery Book Club series and the Twin Lakes series.
Her juvenile novel, Rufus and Magic Run Amok, was an International Reading Association-Children's Book Council Children's Choice. And Don't Bring Jeremy was a nominee for six state awards.
Marilyn lives on Long Island, where many of her books take place. She loves traveling, reading, doing crossword puzzles and Sudoku, and chatting on FaceTime with her grandkids.
Author Links:
Twitter: @MarilynLevinson; @AllisonBrookML
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