Description (from publisher):
'A midwest Librarian vacations in London and becomes entangled in a murder mystery when one dead body turns up in the B&B where she is staying--and she fears there will be another--in this first book in an engaging new cozy librarian series.
Minnesota librarian Karen Nash decides to go on her London vacation anyway even though her boyfriend has jilted her the day they are about to leave. Then she seems him at the airport boarding the same plane as she, only with another woman. Karen's thoughts turn murderous and later spill over in what she assumes is an idle pub conversation with a sympathetic stranger. Only later does she realize this man might have taken her at her word when she angrily said she wanted her ex dead. Meanwhile as Karen gets better acquainted with Caldwell Perkins, the owner of the charming B&B where she is staying, she discovers they have a lot in common--he might well love books as much as she does.
Things are starting to look up when all of a sudden a dead body turns up in Caldwell's B&B sitting room--and several of the guests have reason to seem suspicious. Karen can't help but play detective, and clues begin to fall into place as she visits museums, used bookstores and the Chelsea garden show. With that mystery solved, Karen realizes it's time to put her hurt and anger behind her. But is it too late?'
My thoughts:
Oh the anglophile in me rejoices in this book. Karen Nash is a lot like myself. She loves books and is very bookish and has a love of all things British. She is ecstatic to be going on her first trip to London with her current boyfriend Dave and has the whole trip planned. On the day the flight is scheduled to leave, Dave breaks up with her and Karen is so determined to go anyways that she buys her own ticket and heads out for the trip of a lifetime. When she gets to the airport she is appalled to learn that Dave is still going on the trip, but he has brought another woman with him. Karen decides that she will not let Dave and this other woman ruin her trip and she learns a lot about herself along the way.
A couple nights after arriving in London, one of the guests at the B&B where she is staying turns up dead. While the investigators seem to think that this was an accidental death, something keeps niggling at the back of Karen's mind to make her think that murder might be a possibility. She uses her love of mystery novels to go about her own investigation and learns that a lot of the other guests at the B&B had motive and opportunity to commit murder.
I really enjoyed reading this book because like I said earlier I am a true anglophile. I love all things British and the main character Karen is just the same way I am. Karen is very bookish (she is a librarian, after all) and there are little lines in this book that book lovers and readers will pick up on right away. The plot was engaging and the characters were well-rounded and likable. The mystery took a back seat to the romance of the characters and I wish there would have been more of a mystery to solve. It was a little disappointing because there weren't really a lot of clues and suspects. Don't get me wrong though, this book was still a great read. I really felt like Karen Nash was someone I could really relate to and I will continue with the series. I just hope that the author has more 'mystery' in the next book as this one is hard to classify as a mystery. Think romance or a character finding oneself with a hint of mystery instead of being a generic cozy mystery.
Overall Rating: 4
Title: Killer Librarian
Author: Mary Lou Kirwin
Series: (not exactly sure, but this is book 1 in whatever it is called)
Publisher: Pocket Books
Publication Date: November 27, 2012
Pages: 320
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Disclaimer: This book was given to me by the publisher through Edelweiss in exchange for my review. I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.
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