A Book Club to Die For

Starred review from September 1, 2022

Librarian Trudell Beckett has a knack for solving murders in her hometown of Cypress, SC, much to the dismay of the local police. When Tru walks into Hazel Bailey's kitchen and finds the dead body of Rebecca White, leader of the Arete Society book club, on the floor covered in tuna casserole, she knows it's going to be a very long night. Hazel is immediately arrested--after all, it's her house and no one else was in the kitchen. Tru knows better and sets out to prove that there is a killer on the loose. Meanwhile, Tru's father is missing, so she tasks Jace, her boyfriend, a policeman and Hazel's son, to find her dad. Dewey Decimal, Tru's tabby cat, gets in on the action, sharing clues that eventually help Tru to dig out the truth. With the help of Tru's best friend Tori, Charlie, Tori's boyfriend, and many other friends, Tru eventually solves the case. VERDICT This cozy mystery full of books, romance, and a crime-solving cat will appeal to readers of Kate Carlisle's "Bibliophile" mysteries.--Jane Blue

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September 1, 2022
A group of library lovers works to solve a murder. Trudell Becket, an assistant librarian in quiet Cypress, South Carolina, is hiding a big secret. As part of her town's effort to attract tech businesses, her library has gone completely online. Since she can't bring herself to trash real books, Tru's created a secret library in a basement storage space only a select few know about. Now she's been invited to give a presentation at a meeting of the snobbish Arete Society book club at the home of her possible future mother-in-law, Hazel Bailey. The society--which is so insular that even Tru's pal Flossie Finnegan-Baker, an author, hasn't been invited to join--is run with an iron fist by former soap opera star Rebecca White, who refuses to let anyone read what she considers trashy books. Hazel is known for her beautiful house and stunning dinner parties, but Rebecca's reduced her to a trembling wreck. So when Rebecca ends up dead on her kitchen floor, Hazel is a prime suspect. Tru has built a reputation as an accomplished sleuth, but this case presents unusual challenges. Her boyfriend, Jace, a former NYPD detective who's joined the local police, is warned off the case. Desperate to help his mother, he begs Tru to investigate. Rebecca had plenty of unseen enemies, but all the evidence points straight at Hazel, leaving Tru and her friends with their hardest test yet. Loyalty, romance, and Southern mores are highlighted in this pleasant cozy.

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November 1, 2022
Cypress Public Library assistant librarian Trudell ""Tru"" Becket is waiting to give a talk about the library to the Arete Society, an exclusive, invitation-only book group, when the club's president, the disagreeable Rebecca White, is murdered in the hostess' home. The hostess, Hazel Bailey, mother of Tru's boyfriend, Jace, a police detective, is soon arrested as the chief suspect. Jace is shut out of the investigation, so Tru begins her own inquiry to clear Hazel; unfortunately, Hazel's good friend Flossie, also present at the time of the murder, could end up taking Hazel's place on the suspect list. Complicating matters for Tru are her opinionated mother, a menacing robot prototype being tested at the library, and the secret of her library's basement book room, where Tru stashed a collection of print books when the library became all digital. Readers who enjoy well-drawn characters, a lovingly described small-town setting, and a book-centered frame will also want to check out Jenn McKinlay's The Plot and the Pendulum (2022).

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