Title: Buried in the Stacks

Author: Allison Brook

Series: A Haunted Library Mystery, #3

Publish Date: September 10, 2019

Thanks you to Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing an eARC for an honest review

Librarian Carrie Singleton is building a haven, but one of her neighbors is misbehavin’. Can resident spirit Evelyn help Carrie catch the culprit who made her a ghost?

In winter, the Haunted Library is a refuge for homeless townspeople. When a group purchases a vacant house to establish a daytime haven for the homeless, Carrie offers the library as a meeting place for the Haven House committee, but quickly learns that it may be used for illegal activities.

As the new Sunshine Delegate, Carrie heads to the hospital to visit her cantankerous colleague, Dorothy, who had fallen outside the local supermarket. She tells Carrie that her husband tried to kill her—and that he murdered her Aunt Evelyn, the library’s resident ghost, six years earlier.

And then Dorothy is murdered—run off the road as soon as she returns to work. Evelyn implores Carrie to find her niece’s killer, but that’s no easy task: Dorothy had made a hobby of blackmailing her neighbors and colleagues. Carrie, Evelyn, and Smoky Joe the cat are on the case, but are the library cards stacked against them?

My Review

This book is rounded up to a 3 star, I don’t do half stars…but if I did this would be a 2.5. Solid plot, decent characters, and a haunted Library. The execution I think was lacking a bit.

I didn’t like the writing style. This type of book, where there is no distinction between small movements, is my least favorite style. For example the main character would be in the middle of a conversation with someone, a decision or point would be made, and the next sentence she has moved on to the next day or a new setting. I have a very hard time staying in the story with this style of writing.

The other reason I knocked off some points is because I didn’t like the reveal. The culprit of the crime was believable, I could absolutely see this person doing it, but the way this person revealed their guilt was, albeit within character, it lacked any sort of suspense and ended so quickly.

Despite those two things I did like, it was enjoyable for what it was. I don’t think I’ll pick up any more in the series though. Not particularly my cup of tea.

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