nags head NC – Cuddle Up With a Cozy Mystery

Shot Through the Book– review

May 8, 2025 Tari Hann

This is the twelfth book in the long-running Lighthouse Library Mysteries by Eva Gates, better known to cozy mystery fans as Vicki Delany, author of the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mysteries, Year-Round Christmas Mysteries and Tea by the Sea Mysteries, all of which quickly became fave series to me. The author has the awesome talent of creating characters you won’t forget and that you’d really wanna be friends with. It’s like coming home to old friends whenever I read another Lighthouse Library or any of the others.

#NetGalley #CrookedLane #VickiDelany #EvaGates

My Goodreads review:

Shot Through the Book by Eva Gates
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I never thought I’d see the day when Louise Jane’s character actually didn’t get on my nerves. In some ways, she’s pretty helpful and fiercely loyal to Lucy and the library. I guess all it took was Lucy getting married so Louise Jane could live in the lighthouse apartment and work there.

One of the characters who’s always been on the sidelines with a few mentions actually got a bigger part in this book during the showdown that Lucy never saw coming. Someone else did a good job controlling the perp and was gonna have one crazy story to tell friends after it was over. There’d been a little side thing going on all along which I totally guessed. A few things happened toward the end of the book that really makes me eager to read the next book!

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

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The Stranger in the Library review

June 4, 2024 Tari Hann

This is the eleventh book in the long-running Lighthouse Library Mysteries by Eva Gates, a pen name for beloved cozy author, Vicki Delany who writes the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop Mysteries, Tea by the Sea Mysteries and Year-Round Christmas Mysteries. You just can’t go wrong with anything this talented lady writes!

#NetGalley #CrookedLaneBooks #EvaGates #VickiDelany

My Goodreads review:

The Stranger in the Library by Eva Gates
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

While I’m not an art fan at all and the talk of it and history are slightly boring to me, I still enjoyed the mystery behind this book and seeing Lucy in action sleuthing again. I never would’ve thought I’d actually kinda like Louise Jane’s character, ever, but now even though she’s still snarky and everything, she’s a fixture I’d miss, lol. She’s always good for a laugh whether she meant to be funny or not 😉 Will good old LJ really find the love she’s been hoping for with someone from this book? Or…maybe she loves the lighthouse apartment too much to really fall for someone. I guess only time’ll tell on that!

Lucy and Louise Jane were together during the showdown and what led up to it as well as what followed. They did honestly work well together sleuthing and of course, LJ’s always got a trick or two up her sleeve. I’m eager to see what happens in the next book—will it be about what Louise Jane found out she’ll be doing soon?

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 Knells and Wedding Bells review

June 6, 2023June 6, 2023 Tari Hann

This is the tenth book in the long-running Lighthouse Library Mysteries by Eva Gates, better known as Vicki Delany. It’s been one of my fave series ever since I read that first book and fell in love with the idea of a library being in a lighthouse which, as we know only exists in our imaginations when reading this series. It’s awfully cool to picture it though! Lucy and Connor’s long-awaited wedding happened and we join the newlyweds at the reception when the book opens. But hang on, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride. Not as far as newlywed life but yeah, just that thing Lucy’s come to know as investigating a murder but not really investigating lol. It’s available today and if you like beach reads, I think it’d be perfect!

#NetGalley #CrookedLane #EvaGates #VickiDelany

My Goodreads review:

Death Knells and Wedding Bells by Eva Gates
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I was so happy that Lucy and Connor’s wedding went off without any issues. It was great to join the reception in progress because I always worry at cozy mystery wedding ceremonies that someone’s gonna show up from someone’s past and say something they shouldn’t lol. Instead of a mysterious past showing up for the bride and groom, the dead guy at the reception managed to get the cops unearthing several other people’s pasts. After some clues starting fitting and just from a gut feeling I had, I was pretty sure I knew who the killer was, just not why.

The showdown was nail bitingly exciting (go Charles! I love that cat!) and soon the nasty killer was away while Lucy got the fun not fun job of giving her statement. She got some nice incriminating pictures too! The ending was just sweet and very normal which these two newlyweds need a lot of now for a long time—or until the next book! 😉 This book’s available today!

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

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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.

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Deadly Ever After review

May 14, 2021 Tari Hann

This is the eighth book in the Lighthouse Library by Eva Gates (aka Vicki Delaney), another of my favorite series. It always has everything you’d want in a cozy mystery, and it’s big on a great setting being Nags Head, NC and the Bodie Island Lighthouse. Wouldn’t it be great if there really was such a thing as a lighthouse library? I love how in the Acknowledgments, the author says the inside is all her own imagination and compares it to Hermione Grainger’s carpet bag being big enough to hold everything. Perfect comparison!

My Goodreads review:

Deadly Ever After by Eva Gates
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Oh my goodness, this was so good! One of my favorite book couples got engaged in the last book in this series, and this book continues with Lucy and Connor’s engagement party kicking things off. Everything was going along just fine until the body showed up in Jake’s alley.

There were a lot of secrets, motives and possible suspects that Lucy wanted to sift through and like always ended up getting a little too close to the truth even if she didn’t realize it. At least for once, the murder wasn’t at the library itself, but Lucy felt invested because of her mom feeling like she needed to support an old frenemy. I liked the little side stories of Charlene doing research with a handsome British guy, then Connor and Lucy kept looking for a house. Both had great outcomes and resulted in an awesome book hangover!

The showdown was pretty epic, and I loved how it tied in perfectly with Lucy’s book club’s selection of “The Hound of the Baskervilles.” This is another series that doesn’t just cut off and finish when the killer is caught. There’s always that satisfying ending involving most of the characters. All I can say is, I’m anxious for the next book and wish we didn’t have to wait a year!

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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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!

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