loribonesscaswell

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Jenn McKinlay’s wonderful series continues as the Dinner in the Stacks fundraiser is about to take place in Briar Creek. That is if the new library board president, Olive Boyle doesn’t screw everything up. She is a cantankerous woman that makes Ms. Cole (lemon) look like a real peach. Olive Boyle has all kinds of plans for the library including uniforms and getting rid of Lindsey and Paula. She also makes some last minute decisions regarding the fundraiser dinner, but luckily Lindsey is able to get everything back on track.

The big night arrives and so does Olive Boyle along with her friends. She tries to steal the limelight by trashing Lindsey until the plug to the mic is pulled. The event goes on as planned but at the end of the night the board president is missing and when she is found, she has been stabbed to death in the stacks with Paula by her side. She claims she didn’t do it and Lindsey believes her, but she is their prime suspect. Lindsey soon learns Olive has plenty of enemies even among her friends. She vows to stay out of the case but with the evidence pointing to Paula her staff begs her to solve the case before their friend is sentenced to life at prison library.

Each addition to the Jenn McKinlay shelf at the library makes me happy. This installment has all of my favorite characters working together to find out who killed the woman no one in town really liked. All these characters continue to evolve and grow and by the end one of them startles them all by taking a giant step. The author also integrates the characters from her Cupcake Bakery Mysteries and her Hat Shop Mysteries as they first show up as guests at the dinner and then drop in at the library. It was fun seeing all the characters in one place.

Ms. McKinley has written another extraordinary mystery. She sets a quick pace and leads readers down a tightly woven path. All this while dropping actual books and authors into the story line with Lindsey making book recommendations or checking books out or putting them back on the shelf. The suspect pool is large and eliminating people from the list isn’t easy. Each twist bring new possibilities but we are kept guessing right up until the end.

I was engaged by the characters and entertained by the entire story. I always enjoy my trips to Briar Creek and can’t wait to return next year.