Tag: nags head NC

Death by Beach Read-review

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 (Lighthouse Library Mystery #9)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

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 (Lighthouse Library Mystery, #8)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

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 (Lighthouse Library Mystery #4)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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