Books Can Be Deceiving

by Jenn McKinlay

Library Lover's Mystery (1)

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From the New York Times bestselling author of The Cupcake Bakery Mysteries comes the start of a series about a library where the mysteries refuse to stay in the fiction section...

Lindsey is getting into her groove as the director of the Briar Creek Public Library when a New York editor visits town, creating quite a buzz. Lindsey’s friend Beth wants to sell the editor her children’s book, but Beth’s boyfriend, a famous author, gets in the way. When they go to confront him, he’s show more found murdered—and Beth is the prime suspect. Lindsey has to act fast—before they throw the book at the wrong person. show less

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Books Can be Deceiving by Jenn McKinley is a 2011 Berkley publication.

Lindsey is the new director at the Briar Creek Public Library. Newly single, she’s sworn off men… at least for the time being. In the meantime, when an editor from NYC shows up in town, Lindsey encourages her best friend, Beth, to present her with the children’s book she’s worked so hard on. But when the editor sees it, she informs them that the book was plagiarized by Beth’s long-time boyfriend who is a famous author. Furious, Beth and Lindsey go to confront him, only to find he’s been murdered. Naturally, under the circumstances, Beth becomes suspect number one…

This is the first book in this long running series. It’s a series I’ve been meaning to show more start for a long time and this book has been on and off my TBR list for years. I finally shoved everything else to the side and made room for it- over a decade after it was first published.

The story grabbed me right away and I knew immediately I was going to love this series. Libraries, crafts, recipes and murder mysteries- can’t go wrong with those elements. Now I wish I’d made room for this series earlier! Looking forward to the next installment!

4.5 stars
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½
Being someone who visits her local library so frequently that they know my name, this book hit home for me almost immediately. The characters are very true-to-life. They're not all likeable and they're not all funny or smart, but mostly they're heartwarming and friendly.

The story also seemed on the most part realistic. We all would fear something bad happening in our personal environment and then being erroneously blamed for it simply because we would be the most likely culprit. I would hope if that happened to me, I would have a friend like Lindsey Norris who, when her friend Beth appears to be the murderer, sets out to find the real killer to clear her friend's name.

The backdrop the library also makes this story warm and cozy. How show more many of us head home to a quiet evening and a good book when we're stressed. That's exactly how the characters in the Briar Creek behave. The crafternoon club brings the comfort of a good book, a ladies group, and fun crafts together at the library so that the setting is not just a place for books but also friendships.

I really liked this book and will have to keep an eye out for the next one.
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This is the first book in a cozy mystery series taking place in a small town in Connecticut. The main character is the head librarian. As a librarian myself, I'm drawn to this sort of thing so it was only natural that I read a book from the Library Lover's Mystery series.

I pretty much immediately fell in love with the town and the characters. I loved the bit where Lindsay and Beth tell Professor Cushion about a patron who came into the library wearing everything but his pants. He then responds with, "I had no idea that libraries were so rich with characters." At this point, I nodded to myself and said, 'So true, so true.'

As for the mystery side of things, I guessed a few bits but was surprised by others. In other words, this was not a show more predictable story at all. It was fun and totally enjoyable. I look forward to others in the series.

I had only one issue, and it was more of an editing/language problem than anything else: When Lindsey and Beth are talking to Eloise, they realize they need to tell their story before they'll get any information out of her, so "Beth gave an annotated version." I'm sure the author meant "abridged," not "annotated," but that's just something that slipped by both her and her editor. No biggie.

As I said, this book is loaded with characters I wanted to hang out with and had me smiling to myself quite a lot. It's charming and fun and I totally recommend it.
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This review was written for LibraryThing Member Giveaways.
This is a series that I have wanted to read for awhile. After all the comments about how good this series is, and having read and enjoyed many other books by Jenn McKinlay, I decided I needed to give it a try. I did enjoy this story, but not as much as I had anticipated.

Lindsey Norris has been hires as the director of the Briar Creek Library in Briar Creek CT. Her best friend Beth works with her as the children's librarian. There are several other employees, but I must mentions Ms. Cole, who is called "The Lemon" behind her back. Lindsey is settling in well, making some long overdue changes to the library and getting the Library Board's vote of confidence. All seems well, until Beth and her boyfriend of five years, Rick break up. When show more Beth finds out that the children's book she has been writing has been plagarized, she is ready to go and give Rick a piece of her mind. When Lindsey, Beth and Captain Sulley show up on the private island, they find Rick in no condition to listen to anything Beth has to say. With the breakup and plagarism, Beth becomes the main suspect, in fact, the only suspect as far as the sheriff is concerned.

This was a great cast of characters, including several townspeople, the library workers and the ladies who participate in "Crafternoon" that made the story interesting. The small town feel with the gossip mill that I love in cozies, was in full swing. Milton, the 80 something year old yoga expert was such a nice guy! He was the chair of the library board and when things got a bit sticky, I loved how he stood up for his staff. There is a rather nosy reporter who I would have liked to kick out of town, but again, it made the book interesting. There were not a lot of clues, so it is the questioning and nosiness that eventually reveal the culprit. I had a suspicion of who the killer was, and I was correct, but there was quite a twist at the end of the story that I was not expecting. A good cozy story that is a good introduction to this series and to Briar Creek. I am definitely going to read more in this series.
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First Line: "Oh, I just love that Maxim de Winter," Violet La Rue said, her knitting needles clacking together as if to emphasize her words.

Lindsey Norris has found a job she loves-- being the director of the Briar Creek Public Library-- in a town she's come to love, and she has to admit that her apartment is great and she's making lots of friends. Everything is just peachy, even if her co-worker (AKA "The Lemon") is determined to put a sour note or three in Lindsey's cheery song.

That changes when a New York editor shows up in town for some R&R. Lindsey's friend Beth has been working for years on a children's book, and she's finally persuaded to show her work to the editor. Beth's boyfriend, already a famous author, gets in the way, and show more when Beth goes to confront him, she finds his body and becomes the prime suspect in his murder. The local sheriff is convinced of Beth's guilt, so Lindsey has to work fast to prove her friend's innocence.

Sometimes I wish we could call a moratorium on big-bellied, stupid, belligerent sheriffs, but there must be enough of them in real life that I wouldn't be able to pull it off. Yes, there is one in this book, but-- thank heavens-- the state sends in a detective to keep the idiot in line.

The setting in a small town by the sea in Connecticut is very well done, and I definitely wouldn't mind going there for a visit. As befits all the best cozies, the cast is what reigns supreme in this book. Lindsey and her circle of friends drew me right in, and even the old sour puss, Ms. Cole, had me keeping my eye on her. There's also a handsome hunk of man that knows his way around a boat, and he's not about to repel all boarders when Lindsey's around.

About the only thing that bothered me in this book was the fact that I didn't really get to deduce whodunit because, by the time Lindsey and her friends started checking into the victim's background, it was close to the end and all the characters really weren't on the scorecard yet. Be that as it may, I still found this an enjoyable book filled with characters that I want to read about again. My favorite line? "Nobody threatens my library."
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Lindsey used to be an archivist at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale until about six months ago, when she was laid off. She's now the director of the Briar Creek Library. She's just starting to feel more comfortable with small town life and her new position. It helps that one of her employees, Beth, is also her friend from back when they were both getting their library science degrees.

Beth is a children's librarian who's been working on a children's book of her own for several years. Lindsey thinks Beth should show her work to a New York editor who's vacationing in Briar Creek, but Beth is hesitant - her horrible boyfriend, Rick, keeps telling her it isn't good enough and needs a lot more work. Since he's a famous show more author whose first book won the Caldecott Medal, he'd know, right? When Beth tells Rick about her plans to meet with the editor, things rapidly sour between them. They break up, but the situation only gets worse after Beth hears what the editor has to say. She attempts to go to Rick's island and give him a piece of her mind, only to discover that he's been murdered. Unfortunately, Chief Daniels seems to consider Beth his top suspect.

A coworker of mine highly recommend this series to me. She basically inhaled what's been published in the series so far. She enjoyed the library aspects, the romance with Sully (she mentioned the love triangle that pops up in a later book, so I already know to expect that), and the fact that Lindsey is fairly similar in age to her (and me, too!).

My feelings about this book are more measured, but I enjoyed it too. The library aspects were great, even though there were a few things that made me raise an eyebrow. The odds of Lindsey getting an archivist job at Yale right out of library school seemed incredibly slim, based on what my job hunt 9 or 10 years ago was like. Then again, this was published in 2011, so maybe such a thing would have been more likely in the early 2000s. I also raised an eyebrow at the way Lindsey handled Beth's situation. I couldn't help but wonder if she'd have been as quick to promise Ms. Cole, aka "the lemon," she wouldn't suspend her if she had been the one accused of murder. Having your best friend as one of your employees can mess with your judgment.

That said, most of the details were great, like the random phone call from a vendor selling a database the library neither needed nor could afford, the couple arguing over which movie to check out right before closing time, and Lindsey's "crafternoons" idea. I can add this to my short list of books that star librarians who actually do occasional on-page library work.

The mystery itself was good, with a few twists I absolutely did not expect. I did wonder about the bit where Lindsey and Beth left town to do some investigating on their own. Would Beth have been allowed to leave like that?  Detective Trimble seemed more open to other possibilities, but Chief Daniels certainly considered her a suspect.

I'm looking forward to more developments in the romance between Lindsey and Sully, although I'm already dreading the love triangle. Sully seems like a great guy, and I could think of a lot of things that could complicate his and Lindsey's relationship without a love triangle being added to the mix. For example, Lindsey is still dealing with the hurt and betrayal of discovering that her fiance was cheating on her, which unfortunately happened at around the same time she was laid off.

All in all, this was an enjoyable and quick read. I definitely plan on reading the next book. In fact, I already have a copy in via interlibrary loan.

Extras:

At the end of the book there are several extras, including "The Briar Creek Library Guide to Crafternoons," a reader's guide for The Last Time I Saw Paris by Lynn Sheene, a knitting pattern for the rolled hat Lindsey made (which was originally supposed to be a sock), a recipe for Sully's hot chocolate, and a recipe for Mary's clam chowder. The crafternoons guide could come in handy for public librarians looking for adult programming ideas.

For my part, the only extra I've used is the recipe for Sully's hot chocolate, which I've now made several times (with powdered cinnamon instead of sticks, and no nutmeg). I disagree with Lindsey's assessment that it isn't too sweet - after my first time making it, I cut the sugar back by half. I suggest halving the recipe if you just want to make enough hot chocolate for yourself. It's a very rich drink, and halving it makes enough for one good-sized mug.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.)
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½
Lindsey Norris has started a new job as the director of the Briar Creek Library half a year ago after breaking up with her fiancé. She has introduced a few new activities to the library, like the crafternoons when a circle of women do crafts and talk about the books they have read, and like that she has made a few friends and already feels at home in the small town. Her best friend Beth, who is the children's librarian and an inspiring children's book author, suddenly finds herself to be the prime suspect of a murder investigation, but Lindsey is convinced of her innocence and sets out to find the truth.

There is nothing really new here of course, but I still enjoyed the cosiness of the small community at Briar Creek. The setting is a show more big plus because it is a coastal town, so the action takes place around the small islands off the coast and there is lots of boating, which I loved to read about. I also liked the characters, but must say that the writing style could be improved because the dialogue felt stilted most of the time.
I don't think I will seek the next one out soon, but I liked it enough to want to meet the characters again and see how the romance that has only tentatively started so far develops.
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Canonical title
Books Can Be Deceiving
Original publication date
2011
People/Characters
Lindsey Norris (Director, Briar Creek Public Library, crafternoon club member); Beth Stanley (children's librarian, crafternoon club member); Captain Mike 'Sully' Sullivan (Thumb Islands tour-boat company); Chief J. R. Daniels (of the local police); Detective Trimble (of the state police); Violet LaRue (a former stage actress in New York, crafternoon club member) (show all 44); Nancy Peyton (Captain Jake's widow, Lindsey's landlady, crafternoon mbr); Ms. Cole (runs the circulation desk); Ann Marie Martin (the library's part-time clerk); Milton Duffy (library board chairman, a certified yogi, Lindsey's friend); Rick Eckman (award-winning children's book author, Beth's boyfriend); Mary Sullivan Murphy (runs Blue Anchor Café, Sully's sister, crafternoon mbr); Eva Hernandez (a waitress at the Blue Anchor Café); Carol Towles (former public librarian, library board mbr, Lindsey's mentor); Sydney Carlisle (she's a Caterpillar Press editor, on her vacation); Ian Murphy (Mary's charming husband, he runs the Blue Anchor Café); Charlie Peyton (Nancy's nephew, an aspiring rock star); Ronnie Maynard (she's the boat tour coordinator); Mrs. Sullivan of Bell Island (Sully & Mary's mother); Officer Emma Plewicki (of the local police); Alice Corson; Robin (science fiction fan, works at the Briar Creek General Store); Candace Halpern; Jeanette Palmer (owns Beachfront Bed and Breakfast); Jessica Gallo (another part-time library assistant); Herb Gunderson; Lydia Wilcox (retired English teacher, library board member); Earl Longren (owns Briar Creek General Store, library board member); Kili Peters (a clueless TV reporter); Ty Ferguson (coanchor to Charlene LaRue, Violet's daughter); John (a law professor); Perry (a teenaged library page); Heather (a teenaged library page); Cheri Downs (runs the local real estate office); Bruce (mechanic with a shop on Tyler Street, Jessica Gallo's friend); Trudi (receptionist, assisted-care facility in Kingston); Mrs. Adele Broderick (widow, owner of Gull Island, lives where Trudi works); Frank (an employee of the facility where Mrs. Broderick lives); Ernie Shadegg (former student of the college where Rick Eckman studied); Charlene (Violet LaRue's daughter); Eloise Sinclair (Ernie's former landlady in New London); Tina (Sydney Carlislie's assistant at Caterpillar Press); Professor Tim Cushion (New London School of Design dean of arts); Professor Astrid Blunt (New London School of Design teacher)
Important places
Briar Creek, Connecticut, USA; Briar Creek Public Library, Briar Creek, Connecticut, USA; Blue Anchor Café, Briar Creek, Connecticut, USA; Kingston, New York, USA; New London, Connecticut, USA; New London School of Design, New London, Connecticut, USA
Epigraph
Perhaps no place in any community is so totally democratic as the town library. The only entrance requirement is interest.
-- LADY BIRD JOHNSON
Dedication
For my brilliant agent, Jessica Faust
First words
I have been very fortunate to spend my formative years and my adult years working in a variety of positions in many different libraries. [from the Acknowledgments section]


'Oh, I just love that Maxim de Winter,'... (show all) Violet LaRue said, her knitting needles clicking together as if to emphasize her words. [from the novel itself]
Quotations
As always, Lindsey felt all of her troubles ease once she was back among the familiar. Just seeing the names on the spines of the books was like calling hello to old friends. They had always given her solace in their steadfas... (show all)tness, and she valued each and every one more than she could ever say. (chapter 12)
Last words
(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)As much as her life had changed over the past six months, she knew there was no other place she'd rather be.
Publisher's editor
Seaver, Kate; Pelz, Katherine; Kinney, Eloise L.
Original language*
English
*Some information comes from Common Knowledge in other languages. Click "Edit" for more information.

Classifications

Genres
Fiction and Literature, Mystery
DDC/MDS
813.6Literature & rhetoricAmerican literature in EnglishAmerican fiction in English2000-
LCC
PS3612 .A948 .B66Language and LiteratureAmerican literature
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