Nora Page

3.5 stars (rating shown may vary depending on review site). This was on the library sale shelf and the books + cat + dog on the cover caught my interest. (I also thought I'd read another book in this series.) I did not realize this was book 1 in the series until I came on to review sites.

The future of the library is endangered (boo!). The library building suffered damage and is closed until repairs can be performed; however, the mayor is claiming there are no funds for the library! In the meantime, librarian Cleo is using the bus-turned-bookmobile to keep the library going.

When one of the library's staunchest patrons dies under suspicious circumstances, Cleo and her friends seek to discover the truth.

I did not suspect who the perpetrator was prior to the reveal, but that's my norm so your experience may vary.… (mehr)

70-something librarian Cleo Watkins is celebrating 50 years of librarianship. The library's renovations near completion in this installment, but the bookmobile continues to provide books to patrons. However, everything is threatened when Belle moves back to the area and begins her own "bookmobile" that contains almost no books. Belle charms people, including the library board president, and tries to get them to adapt new ways. Cleo and her assistant know Belle does not like books. Then a real estate agent with the library's oldest overdue book dies via a means that shows the perpetrator's familiarity with the victim. General and specific threats in the form of paper coffins begin appearing around town. Suspects abound. Cleo can't resist a little sleuthing on the side, and she feeds her info to her neighbor, Officer "Gabby." This one went on a little too long for me. It seemed to bog down in multiple places. The plot is not very believable. I do like some of the characters, particularly the up-and-coming librarian who works for Cleo and Officer Gabby, and I'll probably continue to occasionally throw one of these in my reading, but I won't rush to read the rest of the series.… (mehr)

I loved the bookmobile, and that Cleo was older and spunky and fighting for her library. The small town setting was drawn nicely and many of the characters were enjoyable. There were a LOT of characters introduced in this book, however, and and at times I confused them. The story was good, with a twist or two I didn't see coming.

However, the start was slow, and it took me until I was a good third of the way through before I really got drawn into the story. In theory, I should have loved Cleo but I felt like I still didn't really know as much about her as I would have liked to, and hopefully this will be sorted as the series continues (and I hope it does). I love the idea of her character, so I hope to see her developed a little more fully in the next story.

Some of the characters in the book - the mayor and sheriff, in particular - who I assume will be recurring thorns in Cleo's side, felt cartoonish. The rest of the characters were interesting and I look forward to learning more about them as the series continues. She had some fun twists with several of the characters that I was not expecting!

I look forward to learning more about Cleo and hopefully seeing the library in repair in author Page's next novel.

Many thanks to Goodreads for providing a copy of the book. All opinions are my own.… (mehr)