Not Another Murder!
By Charles the Library Cat, from the Lighthouse Library series by Eva Gates
Not again! Once again one of those blasted humans has interrupted the peace and quiet of my library by getting themselves killed. Come on people: I work hard all day being the library cat. I allow people to fuss over me and stroke me. I let small children pull my tail (most amusing). I comfort the old and the lonely. I do my very best to keep Lucy out of trouble. Although, I have to admit that sometimes even my very best isn’t quite up to the task.
I expect a lot of fuss and bother during the day, but a cat needs his rest in the evening. (Besides, any comings and goings in the evening dissuades the mice from tentatively venturing out of their hiding places.)
Case in point: In the midst of all the noise and fuss and bother going out on outside where work is being done to repair the crumbling foundations of the lighthouse, they dug up an old box. A box! Much ado about nothing, I say.
In this box they found an old journal containing a hand-drawn map and a page written in some sort of code. So that caused more fuss and bother as everyone jostled for a peek. And then at closing time more people came in for more jostling for a peek.
Finally, Bertie sent them all away, and locked the box in her desk. Lucy and Connor left for their dinner date and peace and quiet fell over my library. As for Lucy and Connor, it’s long past time they realize how much in love with each other they are and get on with it. Does anyone listen to me? Ha.
I digress. I was settling down next to where I think the mice are hiding, when the door fell down. Yes, the front door actually fell down! As you can imagine that sent any mice scurrying deeper into the walls.
Two people entered through the broken door with flashlights. They didn’t bother switching on the library lights, so that told me right away they were up to no good. They tip-toed through the library and into Bettie’s office. I followed them of course. Like typical humans up to no good, almost immediately they began fighting. Much yelling and throwing things and then one of them fell down, hit his head, and now he isn’t moving!
Oh, my goodness. Before I could check if he was okay, the other fled. Shutting the office door behind him. So now I’m trapped in Bertie’s office.
I hate it when that happens.
Hold on, is that the sound of little mice feet I hear?
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Read and Buried: A Lighthouse Library Mystery by Eva Gates
About Read and Buried
Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Crooked Lane Books (October 15, 2019)
Hardcover: 325 Pages
Librarian Lucy Richardson unearths a mysterious map dating back to the Civil War. But if she can't crack its code, she may end up read and buried.
The Bodie Island Lighthouse Library Classic Novel Book Club is reading Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne while workers dig into the earth to repair the Lighthouse Library's foundations. The digging halts when Lucy pulls a battered tin box containing a Civil War-era diary from the pit. Tucked inside is a hand-drawn map of the Outer Banks accompanied by a page written in an indecipherable code.
The library is overrun by people clamoring to see the artifact. Later that night, Lucy and Connor McNeil find the body of historical society member Jeremy Hughes inside the library. Clearly Jeremy was not the only one who broke into the library--the map and the coded page are missing.
Lucy's nemesis, Louise Jane McKaughnan, confesses to entering the library after closing to sneak a peek but denies seeing Jeremy--or his killer. When Lucy discovers that fellow-librarian Charlene had a past with Jeremy, she's forced to do what she vowed not to do--get involved in the case. Meanwhile, the entire library staff and community become obsessed with trying to decode the page. But when the library has a second break in, it becomes clear that someone is determined to solve that code.
About Eva Gates
Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than thirty books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing four cozy mystery series: the Tea By The Sea mysteries for Kensington, the Year Round Christmas mysteries for Penguin Random House, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series and, as Eva Gates, the Lighthouse Library books for Crooked Lane.
Vicki is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada and co-founder and organizer of the Women Killing It crime writing festival. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.
Author Links
- Website: www.vickidelany.com www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor;
- Twitter: @vickidelany @evagatesauthor
- Instagram: vickidelany
