Monday, June 9, 2014

Book Review - Killer Librarian - Mary Lou Kirwin

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Title: Killer Librarian

Author: Mary Lou Kirwin

Review: A good cozy mystery introduces a likable character who needs to fall in love (or at least relationship issues), a quirky location, and filled with interesting side characters.  Killer Librarian has all of these elements so it is an excellent freshman effort in the genre.  Our heroine is a librarian whose relationship is in flux so she sets of for London (my hometown - so way interesting) wherein she settles into a bed and breakfast that is doubling as a used bookstore.  Throw in a eclectic cast of side characters and a fairly tame mystery and you have got cozy gold.

The book moves along at a decent pace and keeps you guessing until the end. Our heroine is all set for a new adventures.  The only problem I had with the structure of the book is the author did not definitely settle on a world for the lead to inhabit.  She has on one hand her little library in rural Minnesota with the weird coworker and grumpy patrons; and then she also has the B&B/bookstore with her possible love interest in London.  That gap is really too wide to bridge overtime and the author really should have settled it by the end of the first book.  We can always give allowances for book one when they are creating the world in which the adventures will take place.

My vote is for London.  Either find a reason for her best friend to move there too, or just rip that band-aid off and write a new best friend.

Overall a decent beginning to hopefully a long running series.

Publisher: Pocket Books
ISBN: 978-1-4516-8464-3
Copyright: 2012
Pages: 308
Quick Review: 3.5 stars out of 5
Why I Read It: Like a good mystery and do enjoy the occasional cozy.  Plus
I am a Londoner who lives in Minnesota (the book is a Minnesotan in
London).
Where I Obtained the Book: Sent to me by the publisher for review.

Synopsis: Champion of the mystery section at a small-town Minnesota library, Karen Nash is about to embark on a dream trip to London, a literary tour inspired by every murderous intrigue, wily suspect, and ingenious crime found in the pages of the British mysteries that she devours. But she's clueless why the love of her mid-life, Dave, would dump her hours before takeoff, until she spies him at the airport with a young honey on his arm! She decides the best revenge (for now) is to get on that plane anyway . . . and entertain schemes for Dave's untimely demise while crossing the pond.

After touching ground in the hallowed homeland of Christie, Sayers, and Peters, she checks into a cozy B & B run by charming bibliophile Caldwell Perkins. Soon she's spilling tears in her pint at the corner pub, sharing her heartbreak saga with a stranger. That night, a B & B guest drops out of circulation permanently. And when Dave and his cutie turn up in London, Karen realizes they are an assassin's target. With the meticulous attention to detail that makes her a killer librarian, Karen sleuths her way through her own real-life mystery in which library science meets the art of murder.

Author Biography:  Mary Lou Kirwin has lived in France, Belgium, England, and New York City. She now lives a quiet life in the wilds of Minnesota and Wisconsin. She feels she owes a great deal to all the librarians in her life—for handing her the right book at the right time.


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