Title: Death Overdue: Karen Nash Mystery Series by Mary Lou Kirwin
Published November 5, 2013; Gallery Books
Genre: cozy mystery
Objective rating: 4.5/5
"What I would like to know..."the inspector humphed. "How does a bookcase fall down like that?" he asked the room. (ch. 7)Plot: Midwestern librarian Karen Nash has a long-distance relationship with book lover, Caldwell Perkins, who runs a bed and breakfast in London. Karen has gone over to help Caldwell open a bookstore, and Caldwell hopes that Karen will be co-owner in the new venture.
Unfortunately for their plans, Caldwell's former partner, Sally, returns to London with her Italian fiance, and decides she wants to run the bed and breakfast with Caldwell. When Sally is killed by a heavy bookcase and an avalanche of books in the B&B, the police suspect Caldwell of murder. Karen decides to find the real killer, to save Caldwell and their fledgling plans for their new bookstore.
Comments: I just love that this mystery does not have a gazillion extraneous characters as too many cozy mystery books tend to do. There is only one subplot involving the love life of Karen's library assistant back in the U.S., but other than that, the plot stays on target and gets to the point effortlessly. It's also interesting that Karen, in naming the culprit at the end of the book, tells us she will copy Agatha Christie and Hercule Poirot's methods in revealing the killer. She calls all the suspects into one room and proceeds to show how the clues point to one person. Very clever.
Recommendation: Likeable characters and smoothly flowing plot make this a delight to read. Book lovers will like the setting and the plot. Other cozy lovers will, also. I will say the same for the first and previous novel in the series, Killer Librarian.
Thanks to the publisher for review copies of the books.
Also submitted to Teaser Tuesdays hosted by MizB; choose sentences from your current read and identify author and title for readers.
