Death in the Stacks: A Library Lover’s Mystery by Jenn McKinlay

                I’m always happy when a romantic situation gets figured out in a book series.  It makes everything flow so much easier.  Sadly, sometimes it also means the end of a series.  Fortunately, not in this case.

              Library director Lindsey Norris may have gotten her romantic relationship with boat captain Sully figured out, but she now has another obstacle to deal with.  This time it is with the new president of the library board, Olive Boyle. 

A true terror, Olive desires to change everything about the library, even though she has never shown any interest in anything about it before.  Now, as board president, Olive acts as though she owns the place.  While this irks Lindsey, she does try to get along.  At least she does until Olive starts attacking her employees.  Then she’s had it.

Olive’s favorite employee to go after is the newest, Paula.  She is different from what most would usually consider an employee in a library (especially with her purple hair), but Lindsey doesn’t care.  Paula knows her books and is good at her job.  That is what matters to Lindsey.

With Olive it is a completely different story.  For whatever reason, she does not like Paula.  Every chance she gets, she goes after her.  Olive even goes as far as threatening Paula with her secret past.

The situation gets so bad even the very formal Ms. Cole jumps to Paula’s defense.  In fact, it is Ms. Cole who pushes Lindsey to investigate who may have killed Olive after her body is discovered in the library and Paula becomes the main suspect. 

The thing is, Lindsey has a problem looking into Olive’s death.  After the near-death experience she had with the last murder she looked into, Lindsey has sworn off investigating.  Only, with Ms. Cole pushing and Paula in trouble, Lindsey doesn’t know how she can stay out of things.  She just hopes Sully will understand her going back on her word.

Library Card/Artwork by Kate Dorsey

There were so many relationship elements in this book.  I actually found them more interesting than the case.  Part of the reason for this may have been because Olive was so horrible it didn’t really matter who killed her.  All that mattered was for Paula to get her name cleared.

One element I thought was really fun was the inclusion of the characters from the other Jenn McKinlay books.  Since I’ve read some of the Cupcake Bakery mystery series, I found it interesting to learn what was going on with their lives, and how they were incorporated into Lindsey’s story.          

                Another thing I really liked was seeing how much Sully loves Lindsey for who she is.  Yes, Lindsey said she wouldn’t investigate anymore, but he knows it is a part of who Lindsey is.  In the end, as long as he knows Lindsey is safe at night, he will support her in whatever she chooses to do.

                With all the things I liked about this book, my favorite part was something Ms. Cole does in the end.  I won’t ruin anything and tell you what she does, but it’s a really great scene.