Dewey Decimated

July 15, 2022
A librarian solves a very cold case with help from a friendly spirit. Carrie Singleton has had a wonderful year. She's landed a great job at the Clover Ridge Library, joined the town council, and become engaged to Dylan Avery. Now that the library's acquired the building next door on the town square, renovations are underway courtesy of Powell Construction, whose owner, Sean Powell, has an excellent reputation. Evelyn Havers, the library ghost whom very few lucky souls have seen, has often helped Carrie with problems. But she's taken aback when the workmen find a body in the cellar of the building under renovation. Carrie plans to keep out of the investigation until the body is identified as that of Dylan's uncle, Alec Dunmore, whose ghost turns up in the library with a very limited memory of who he is and who murdered him. The three members of the Whitehead family who owned the building and sold it to the town were dominated by the dishonest James, whom many can easily imagine as a murderer, and there are plenty of other suspects. In the meantime, the town council has to decide what to do with a neglected nature preserve: make improvements, turn it into a park, or build high-end condos. The pressure put on Carrie by a snarky reporter who's joined her to investigate places her friendship with police chief Lt. John Mathers in jeopardy. Even so, she can't resist a puzzle and hopes the past and present will provide some answers. Books, ghosts, murder, fun.

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July 25, 2022
The discovery of the remains of an unidentified man at a construction site next door to the Clover Ridge, Conn., library drives Agatha finalist Brook’s enjoyable sixth Haunted Library mystery (after 2021’s Death on the Shelf). Hotshot TV reporter Julie Theron tries to draw Carrie Singleton, the library’s head of programs and events, into her investigation of the unknown man. Carrie, however, has enough on her plate as a member of the town council debating the use of a valuable piece of land. Eventually, the body is identified as that of Alec Dunmore, the long-lost uncle of Carrie’s fiancé, Dylan. Alec’s ghost takes up residence in the library, where sympathetic Carrie and her ghost friend, Evelyn Havers, feel compelled to help sort out his mysterious past and figure out who killed him. Another murder, of a town council member, raises the stakes. Brook makes subtle and strategic use of the ghost trope without diminishing Carrie’s sleuthing skills, and how the two murders are related remains a tantalizing puzzle. Fans of paranormal cozies will be well satisfied. Agent: Dawn Dowdle, Blue Ridge Literary.