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BOOK INFO
Title: Better Off Read
Author: Nora Page
Publisher: Crooked Lane
Publish Date: May 8, 2018
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Series: Bookmobile Mystery #1
My Rating: 3/5
BOOK BLURB
When her best hope of saving her storm-damaged library is found murdered, senior librarian Cleo Watkins hits the road in her bookmobile in search of justice.
Septuagenarian librarian Cleo Watkins won’t be shushed when an upstart young mayor threatens to permanently shelve her tiny town’s storm-damaged library. She takes to her bookmobile, Words on Wheels, to collect allies and rally library support throughout Catalpa Springs, Georgia.
However, Cleo soon rolls into trouble. A major benefactor known for his eccentric DIY projects requests all available books on getting away with murder. He’s no Georgia peach, and Cleo wonders if she should worry about his plans. She knows she should when she discovers him bludgeoned and evidence points to her best friend, Mary-Rose Garland.
Sure of Mary-Rose’s innocence, Cleo applies her librarian’s sleuthing skills to the case, assisted by friends, family, and the dapper antiquarian bookseller everyone keeps calling her boyfriend. Evidence stacks up, but a killer is overdue to strike again. With lives and her library on the line, Cleo must shift into high gear to close the book on murder in Better Off Read, the charming Bookmobile series debut by Nora Page.
MY REVIEW
Better Off Read is a cozy mystery featuring Cleo, a seventy-five year old librarian in a small Southern town. After the library suffers storm damage, the mayor threatens to keep it closed. Cleo brings out the bookmobile, and looks for support to keep the library open. Plus, a local is found murdered, and Cleo’s best friend is the prime suspect. Cleo stays busy with her librarian duties, and playing amateur sleuth to prove her best friend’s innocence.
Better Off Read is the first book in the Bookmobile mystery series. A charming town with eccentric characters. I especially enjoyed the spry older protagonist. The story was a little awkward at first, but with the characters and setting in place, this could be a fun cozy mystery series.
I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Books in the Bookmobile Mystery Series:
- Better Off Read
- Read on Arrival
- Read or Alive