'It takes more than a lurid legend to scare off the League of Literary Ladies...
For Halloween, the Literary Ladies have chosen to read Washington Irving's spooky classic, The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, with its infamous headless horseman. But South Bass Island has its own headless legend--of a Prohibition bootlegger named Charlie "Sleepy" Harlow. Decapitated by rival rumrunners, Harlow appears once a year in spectral form to search for his noggin.
This October, the Elkhart Ghost Getters (EGG) have returned to the island. The group claims that they have film footage of Harlow's ghost, and are determined to get more. They're staying at Bea Cartwright's B and B, but it's Kate Wilder who isn't happy to see them after they trashed her winery last year. When the EGG leader turns up dead, Kate becomes the prime suspect, and the other League members need to scramble to crack the case.'
My thoughts:
I seem to be a little behind with Christmas right around the corner and here I am reading a Halloween-themed cozy mystery. Oh well, story of my life. I typically do not read holiday themed mysteries near the actual holiday that is featured, so this should be no different for me. But at least it is technically still Autumn, so I did actually get the season right. This book is the third installment of the League of Literary Ladies mystery series and I have to say, unfortunately, I enjoyed the first two books better. What drew me into this series in the first place was the fact that the main characters were forced by the local magistrate to participate in a book club. It was the fact that the book that the main characters were reading really played a big role in the actual mystery of the story.
This book does have some references to the Irving classic, but I really didn't enjoy this one as much as its predecessors. Usually, these books have more interaction at the actual book club meeting and there really wasn't that much of that happening in this one. I will say that I really did enjoy the legend and history of Sleepy Harlow as he was a rumrunner during the Prohibition era. I love that time period and it was interesting to see how the author incorporated research into that time period into this novel. However, when it comes to the actual murder and conclusion, well let's just say it's not really a surprise. I had a good hunch that I knew the solution well into the beginning of this book and I ended up being right.
Overall, I would probably say that this is my least favorite in the series so far. I enjoyed the others in this series, but this one really didn't stand up to the usual that I have come to expect of this series. Of course, me being the optimist that I am, I am always hopeful that the next book will be better. I'm curious to see what is the next book that the author will base her next installment on and where the author is going to take her characters. I didn't enjoy this book as much, but I still like the series and can't wait to see what comes next.
Overall Rating: 2.5
Title: The Legend of Sleepy Harlow
Author: Kylie Logan
Series: League of Literary Ladies Mystery #3
Publisher: Berkley
Publication Date: October 7, 2014
Pages: 304
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Get It: Amazon; Barnes & Noble
Disclaimer: This book was selected from the library by myself and I reviewed this book without compensation of any kind. All thoughts and opinions are solely mine.