lighthouse library – Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery

Death by Beach Read-review

June 6, 2022June 6, 2022 Tari Hann

This is the ninth book in the Lighthouse Library Mysteries by Eva Gates also known as Vicki Delany. You can check the links to see what she’s written under both, but I know she’s used the Eva Gates exclusively for the Lighthouse Library.

I just love this long-running series and how all the characters have grown and developed. Probably the most changed was Louise Jane. She went from being someone I absolutely couldn’t stand to someone who’s actually a decent supporting character now. Yep, she’ll never get over loving to tease Lucy (because Lucy’s just so teasable, lol.), but since she’s now the proud inhabitant of the Lighthouse Aerie, part of her lifelong dream came true. I believe Louise Jane might just achieve complete happiness if she could adopt a ghost as a pet or a roommate!

My Goodreads review:

Death by Beach Read by Eva Gates
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Lucy and Connor didn’t exactly count on a ghostly roommate when they started working on fixing up the Harper house on the beach, but good ole Louise Jane’s always hoping for a new haunt to talk about. Lucy didn’t think for a minute that the noises she heard in their house had anything to do with a ghost but more like a flesh ‘n blood intruder…which they’d find out soon enough when a guy was killed in their house.

OMG I was so unhappy to see that Diane, one of the nasty previous library board members was back in town and just wondered what kind of trouble she’d get into this time. Then we met Ralph’s recluse sister Jo who surprised everyone by attending book club. Another woman came around claiming to be the dead guy’s ex-wife and wanting her fair share of the house’s sales. Was it one of them whodunit…or could one of Louise Jane’s wishes come true, and the man was killed by a ghost? Not that she’d ever wish someone was killed by a ghost, but she sure likes talking about ghosts.

Lucy definitely had her plate full…again with juggling the murder and sometimes actually being asked to help Sam, she was planning her wedding, and there was pesky Diane back in town probably hoping to get back on the library board. What’s a girl to do? Well for starters, you just cuddle a certain library cat named Charles. Speaking of Charles, he got to be a hero cat in this book-I always love when a pet gets to intervene and help. Poor guy, I felt bad for the cat having to get used to living in a house when he previously had full run of the library.

That showdown was something else, but Lucy used her head about at least part of it, and there was some good evidence to turn in. It was pretty sweet how poor, troubled Jo had gotten some closure for an event that’d still haunted her from long ago. And a nice older gentleman got a new friend in her. I’m really eager now for the next book figuring and hoping it’s Lucy and Connor’s wedding story. As in everything Lucy does, I’m sure it’s gonna be an adventurous tale!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC provided by Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own. This book releases June 7, 2022.

View all my reviews

A Death Long Overdue review

October 19, 2020 Tari Hann

This is the seventh book in the Lighthouse Library series by Eva Gates aka Vicki Delany, and it’s been a favorite series of mine ever since the first book. It’s always fun to read and wish that there really was a library inside a lighthouse somewhere. I’ve always loved Charles, the library cat that lives with Lucy in her apartment, but he was extra helpful in this book. The picture I found made me think of how he’d probably sit on guard right outside the lighthouse door if he ever got out.

Something special was in the works, and now I can’t wait for the next book!

My Goodreads review:

A Death Long Overdue: A Lighthouse Library Mystery by Eva Gates
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I always love visiting the Lighthouse Library. This time we met Bertie’s predecessor who wasn’t a very nice person, so what happened wasn’t a real shocker. The hunt for the killer was a good one with plenty of good red herrings. I think Sam let Lucy help more in this book than any other so far. Louise Jane wasn’t quite as obnoxious as she was once, but she was still a handful that Bertie sometimes had to reign in.

The setup at the end to trap the killer was great and led to a quick but exciting showdown. What happened after that was amazing! It’s great how this series never just solves the case and ends like quite a few other books have done. There’s always closure and plenty of explanations going on even to what might have seemed trivial at the time. I can’t wait for the next book!

View all my reviews

Read and Buried review

October 7, 2019 Tari Hann

This is the sixth book in the Lighthouse Library series by Eva Gates who is also known as Vicki Delaney, author of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series as well as the Year Round Christmas series. The latter series just had a new release this summer. I made it my goal to have the Lighthouse Library caught up by the time this book was coming out, and I’m happy to say that it did happen. I had read Spook in the Stacks and Something Read, Something Dead as ARCs but only in that order, so I had definitely wanted to start at the beginning. I hope there are many more books in this series, because I have a feeling there’s still a ton of historical and book connections that could be made to upcoming mysteries.

My Goodreads review:

Read and Buried by Eva Gates

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I’m completely caught up in this series after reading this book and as always, I’m really anxious for another book in the series. It’s always fun how the book that the library book club is reading goes along with the mystery, and there’s some type of Outer Banks historical tie-in as well. This book had all of the above as well as a happy historical ending for the family that it affected.

The showdown was pretty exciting and oddly enough it was out among everyone at the Settlers’ Day event. Lucy found out that sometimes the biggest pests can come in handy by saving a person’s life. The whole story had revolved around a mysterious map and page of lettering that had been found under the library, so it was interesting to see everyone working together toward the end to decipher the code and find out what exactly had been hidden there for 150 years. Charles the cat may not have caught himself a killer this time, but he was very useful in getting rid of a library intruder. I really hope that another book in the series will be coming now that the series has a new publisher home.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own. This book publishes on October 15, 2019.

View all my reviews

Something Read, Something Dead–review

March 25, 2019 Tari Hann

This is the fifth book in the Lighthouse Library series by Eva Gates, which is a pen name for Vicki Delany who some know best for her Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series. In fact, there was a cool little reference to that series, see if you can find it!

I just love Charles, the library cat. It was hilarious how he showed an unwelcome library visitor that he wasn’t welcome. I found this picture on Google under licensed for reuse, and I think Charles might look something like this.

My Goodreads review:

Something Read, Something Dead by Eva Gates

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This was even better than the last book, and I really liked that one a lot. While this is only the second book I’ve read in the series (I seriously do need to start it at the beginning), I’m never lost, because the character relationships and previous happenings are referenced or explained, and…I like that there are never any spoilers.

Josie and Jake’s wedding was coming up soon and when the “Louisiana Mafia” as Josie called her Grandma Gloria, aunt and cousins on her dad’s side, showed up, Josie was nearly tempted to grab Jake and elope. One of the cousins died after eating a dessert at Josie’s shower at the lighthouse, and since the dessert was made by Josie, her bakery was closed for the investigation, and she was the main person of interest. Sam Watson who was the usual detective had to step to the side and allow the state detective to take over, and it wasn’t easy for Lucy to investigate without him getting angry.

There was an awesome twist toward the end that I never saw coming, and I hadn’t really figured out the killer. I had it down to two people, but no particular reason, so it was fun to watch it play out. I especially liked that Lucy had all the suspects and both detectives gathered at her aunt Ellen’s house and was able to do her big reveal there, like in so many TV shows and older mysteries.

The side story of the library desperately needing $100K for emergency repairs was interesting and even had a little drama of its own, when someone spread rumors that the donations would revert to the town’s operating fund if the library didn’t raise the total (which was a total lie). In the end, everything worked out great and I was very pleased with the book’s ending as well. While I’m anxious for the next book, I hope I can get caught up with the first three before it comes out!

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

View all my reviews

The Spook in the Stacks–review

June 30, 2018June 30, 2018 Tari Hann

This is the fourth book in the Lighthouse Library series by Vicki Delaney who also writes the Year Round Christmas series and the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series. I love both those series as well! I was excited to be chosen to get a hardback copy of this book to voluntarily read and review, courtesy of the publisher and a Facebook group I’m in.

My Goodreads:

The Spook in the Stacks by Eva Gates

My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this much-anticipated book in the Lighthouse Library series. Even though I may be one of those who hasn’t read the others (yet, I do have them on hand) I didn’t feel lost at any time since the author does a great job of explaining and catching readers up without giving away any of the juicy details from the previous mysteries. I was super surprised at who the killer was and loved the showdown. Can we just say that book nerds rule? 😉 You’ll see what I mean when you read it!

Halloween was close and Lucy wasn’t anxious for it since it wasn’t a favorite holiday. One of the overly-enthusiastic volunteers of the Lighthouse Library, Louise Jane, was going to give some talks on local spooky legends. It was all fun and games until the body of Jay Ruddle, a wealthy octogenarian who was going to pass his nautical maps and papers collection on to the library, was found in the rare book rooms, a lot less than alive. His granddaughter, Julia, was the prime suspect. Lucy vowed she was not going to get involved, but we all know how that goes, right? She and her library director, Bertie, did some sleuthing and found some other suspects that could have had a reason to kill the old man. Hopefully they can find the real killer before the suspect herself becomes a victim!

I’ve only read this book in the series so far and already I love these characters! I can’t wait to start from the beginning and really see how it all began when Lucy arrived. The library cat, Charles, a Himalayan was so cool! He seems to have a sense about people he likes and loves to be petted and cuddled by anyone that comes into the library.

In this book it said that she’d only been in the Nags Head, NC area for several months so I guess the first three books cover a short time period and might be easy to binge read yet this summer, we’ll see! All I know is, I can highly recommend this book! Well-plotted and written, plenty of suspects and just a little hint of Halloween (possibly explainable lol) spookiness!

View all my reviews