A Murder for the Books

December 1, 2017

Fleeing a disastrous relationship, Amy Webber quits her academic library job and moves to historic Taylorsford, VA, where she becomes the director of the local library. Its archives attract a number of visitors, including Amy's handsome new neighbor Richard Muir, who is researching the dark past of the farmhouse he inherited from his great-uncle. It also draws in a killer, who leaves the body of a local resident for Amy and Richard to discover. As they probe the murder, the pair decide to investigate further the mountain community's local history of old crimes. But someone wants to keep the past buried. VERDICT This debut mystery and series launch by a former librarian is an intriguing cozy that combines historical tidbits, a taste of the supernatural, a budding romance, and humor. Fans of Miranda James and Jenn McKinlay will welcome a new librarian sleuth to the fold.--LH

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 23, 2017
Amy Webber, the narrator of Gilbert’s captivating first novel and series launch, escaped an embarrassing end to her last job and romance by returning to her ancestral family home in insular Taylorsford, Va., where she is now the town librarian. Amy’s next door neighbor is the handsome, forthright, and single Richard Muir, a classically trained dancer and college instructor, who inherited an old house that once belonged to his late great-uncle, novelist Paul Dassin. According to town gossip, the house’s original owner was poisoned by his wife, Eleanora Cooper, with whom Paul was in love. Eleanora was acquitted of the crime, then disappeared. Richard asks Amy to assist in his research to clear Eleanora’s name. Amy and Richard’s discovery of a body in the public library archive building puts them on a path leading toward terrifying family secrets—and solutions to both past and present murders. Cozy fans will look forward to seeing more of the appealing Amy. Agent: Frances Black, Literary Counsel.

October 15, 2017
A research-loving Virginia librarian digs up entirely too much information for her own good. After a nasty breakup with her boyfriend, a narcissistic musician, left her too crushed to continue her job at Clarion University, Amy Webber moved in with her aunt Lydia Talbot in the insular little town of Taylorsford and took a poorly paid but interesting job at the local library, a historic Carnegie building. When well-known dancer/choreographer/instructor Richard Muir appears at the library, Amy and her assistant, Sunshine Fields, are struck by his good looks. But it's his request for information that could prove Eleanora Cooper innocent of poisoning her husband that really hooks Amy. Richard lives next door to Amy's aunt in the Cooper house, which he inherited from his mother's relative, journalist Paul Dassin. Dassin, who was certain that Eleanora was innocent, wrote a fictional account based on the case. Although the jury exonerated Eleanora, everyone in town still thought her guilty, especially after she vanished following the trial. When Amy and Richard enter the archive, they find dementia patient Doris Virts shot to death, presumably because she was in the wrong place at the wrong time. Deeply upset, Amy does what she does best and begins researching the history of the town. It turns out that her own grandmother Rose Baker Litton's claim that she saw Eleanora with an herbal containing recipes for poison made her the star witness for the prosecution. Although Amy's abortive romance has made her gun-shy of anyone in the arts, she warms to Richard, who strives to overcome her distrust as they work together to solve murders old and new. A deeply buried secret will provide the clue that closes the case. Gilbert's series kickoff offers an intricate mystery, an interesting look at the past, and a clever and determined heroine.

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November 15, 2017
After causing a huge scene at a Clarion University reception when she discovered her boyfriend was having an affair, Amy Webber left the university and is now the director of the Taylorsford Public Library, living in the small Virginia town with her Aunt Lydia Talbot. Excitement comes to town when Richard Muir arrives at the library looking for proof that Eleanora Cooper was innocent of her husband's long-ago murder. While Cooper was acquitted of the murder and quickly disappeared from the area, the townspeople believed she was guilty. Muir's great-uncle, however, who wrote a fictionalized book about the case, believed in her innocence, and Richard would like to finally vindicate her. Matters are complicated when Richard and Amy find Doris Virts, who suffered from dementia, murdered in the archives. While investigating Virts' murder and the Cooper case, the two begin to believe the cases may be tied to a secret hidden by the town's leaders. The mystery is nicely framed by details of library work and research.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)