library ghost – Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery

Booked on Murder review

August 5, 2024 Tari Hann

This is the eighth and final book in the Haunted Library Mysteries by Allison Brook aka Marilyn Levinson. It quickly became a favorite series because who doesn’t love cute library cats and friendly, helpful library ghosts, right? Evelyn the ghost became as much of a fave to me as the living characters, so while this is the book we all waited for, it’s also the one I kinda dreaded knowing it’d be the final book. But I really loved how the author gave us a nice big dose of our characters and we got to linger as long as possible in this book.

#NetGalley #CrookedLane #AllisonBrook #MarilynLevinson

My Goodreads review:

Booked on Murder by Allison Brook
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Knowing this was the last book didn’t really affect me until the end which I was super thankful the author drew out like she did knowing fans would need tons of closure and a way to say goodbye to some amazing favorite characters. I’m getting leaky eyeballs again just writing the review. She did an absolute stellar job of closing out what had become one of my all-time favorite series.

Although I’m sure the characters had their own ideas of how they were gonna spend this last book, so in true Carrie fashion our sleuth found herself taking on something dangerous when it was just hours before her wedding. But her man was right there with her too—Dylan is so perfect for her!

I loved the old house they bought and how special it was too! There was just everything to love and give final hugs to in this book, but do yourself a favor by savoring the first seven books before reading this. There weren’t spoilers but there’s just a vibe you need when you read the last in a series, imho anyway.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of his book provided by Crooked Lane via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

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Overdue or Die review

October 10, 2023 Tari Hann

This is the seventh book in the Haunted Library Mysteries by Allison Brook, better known on social media as Marilyn Levinson, the talent behind the pen name. I’ve enjoyed this series since the beginning and trust me, the haunted library isn’t scary at all. Evelyn’s an awesome ghost who’s become a good friend of Carrie. It’d be so sweet if Evelyn could appear at Carrie and Dylan’s wedding coming up sometime soon. That should be one interesting wedding!

#NetGalley #CrookedLane #AllisonBrook

My Goodreads review:

Overdue or Die by Allison Brook
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was definitely a case with a ton of different connections and crazy stuff happening all the time. Even Dylan got pulled into it from an artwork detective standpoint. Who was leaving this pile of bodies and serving as the brains behind a sophisticated forgery operation? Well, if anyone could ferret all that information out, we know our pal Carrie’s the sleuth for the job. She even had two different people asking her to find killers…well three since Evelyn counts as part of ghost people.

Only our Carrie could manage to pull off all the above along with getting ready to be married in around six months. That showdown was pretty exciting and more than one person was proud of how Carrie handled everything and ended up not almost getting killed. The ending was so cool when a new friend had an incredible surprise for Carrie and Dylan. I can’t wait for the next book!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

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Death on the Shelf review

November 17, 2021November 17, 2021 Tari Hann

This is the fifth book in the Haunted Library series by Allison Brook, the pen name of Marilyn Levinson who’s on Facebook under her own name and posts regularly about her books. I found out recently she’s definitely contracted to do at least two more books in this series, yay!

If anyone’s on the fence about reading a paranormal book, no worries here. There’s absolutely no magic or anything weird going on if that type thing bothers anyone. Evelyn isn’t a scary ghost at all. In fact, she just pops in and talks to Carrie like anyone else would. And it’s so cute how Carrie’s little cousin can see her too. Tacey asks about Miss Evelyn all the time, adorable! After the epic ending of this book, I can’t wait for the next! According to Marilyn’s Facebook page, it’s called Dewey Decimated and releases in September 2022.

My Goodreads review:

Death on the Shelf by Allison Brook
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Another visit to Clover Ridge, CT with Carrie and all her friends was an especially good one. Angela got married and got a new husband, but all Carrie got out of it was a new murder case and an assignment from Evelyn her ghost friend.

Despite a couple of dead bodies throughout the book, there were plenty of amazing things going on that involved the assignment from Evelyn and Carrie’s dad (separately though.) I kept wondering if Evelyn’s request and what Carrie found out for her might eventually be connected to the murder. You’ll just have to read it yourself and find out, I don’t want to spoil it. The showdown was good, and I was proud of Carrie for being resourceful.

The very ending was so perfect and semi-expected but still just about the sweetest thing ever! I can’t wait to read the next book!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Crooked Lane via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

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Buried in the Stacks review

September 11, 2019 Tari Hann

This is the third book in the Haunted Library series by Allison Brook, the pen name of author Marilyn Levinson. I just love the library ghost, Evelyn! She’s not a scary ghost at all, just a sweet older lady who was killed before her time. In this book, it’s possible that Evelyn might get to find out what really happened to her and if she was murdered by the same person who killed her niece.

My Goodreads review:

Buried in the Stacks by Allison Brook

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Murder hit very close to the library ghost Evelyn’s heart in this story. Since it was her own relative that was killed, Evelyn promised Carrie that this time she’d be more willing to share things that she knew or could overhear. The side story of a daytime homeless facility was mixed up in the case as well, and Carrie couldn’t help getting involved, especially when her very sad ghost friend asked her to investigate. Evelyn had a soft spot for all her relatives.

I liked hearing from some of the previous characters like Ken Talbot and Gillian. I’ve really grown to like Carrie’s dad a lot, and she had a few good conversations with him, plus he was working for the same agency now as Dylan her boyfriend was. Dylan was coming home for good with a slight change in the original plan. I loved how little Smoky Joe, Carrie’s beloved cat that she shares with the library as their daytime cat, got to have a part in taking down the killer. I had a suspicion as to who the killer would be, but it was still really good seeing when Carrie would catch on and how the killer would get caught. Carrie got a surprise phone call from another relative who would be coming to see her in April, someone that she wasn’t really looking forward to seeing. The next book should be very interesting!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

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Death Overdue–review

September 6, 2018September 6, 2018 Tari Hann

I absolutely loved this book! Any element you could possibly want in a cozy mystery is right inside this book! Since I have an advance copy of the next book, I will be reading and reviewing it very soon. I can’t wait!

My Goodreads review:

Death Overdue by Allison Brook

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I loved this book so much that I didn’t want it to come to an end! It had everything I love in a cozy: an awesome small town, loving relatives, a smart and brave protagonist and lots of great supporting characters. The fact that Carrie works in a library and it has a resident (friendly) ghost and a cat, well those were just icing on the cake!

Carrie Singleton had come back to Clover Ridge CT with the intentions of visiting, but when she was offered an amazing job at the library where she worked as a temp, she decided to finally put down roots. She had it awfully good living with a sweet and devoted aunt and uncle, plus she’d met a nice guy since they happened to be investigating a murder together. A retired police detective was investigating a cold case he’d worked on 15 years ago when he was murdered during a presentation at the library. Carrie’s new friend Jared had been friends with the detective since the man was investigating Jared’s mom’s murder and had discovered who it was. Hopefully Jared and Carrie won’t anger the killer into doing away with them!

I just loved Evelyn, the library ghost! What a sweet old lady! She and Carrie made quite the team in looking into the case–and Evelyn was even able to tell her a thing or two about a report she needed to do for her new job. It was awesome how Evelyn helped Carrie take care of an issue between her grumpy niece Dorothy who had a huge grudge against Carrie for getting the job she wanted (never mind that Dorothy wasn’t even qualified for the position). You’ll love it when you read that part! And Smokey Joe, the kitten that adopted Carrie and became the library cat was a huge hit with most of the patrons. Surprisingly even boss Sally liked him and didn’t object.

A lot of cozies have relationship triangles, but I didn’t mind this one at all because it didn’t drag on. It became very clear as to which of the two handsome guys Carrie had in her life that she would decide to date and which one would be a friend. I also liked how there wasn’t an actual showdown with just Carrie and the killer, it was more of a car chase scene. I had only started to suspect who the killer was when the carefully placed clues started adding up.

I can’t wait to visit Clover Ridge again and see what my new friends’ next adventure will be!

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