Outer Banks, library, lighthouse, library-cat, amateur-sleuth, librarian, small-town, small-business, cozy-mystery, art, art-theft, art-show, detective, family, family-dynamics, friction, friendship, investigation, local-gossip, local-law-enforcement, mayor, murder, relationships, relatives, series, unputdownable, unpleasant-guests*****

Nags Head, North Carolina. Librarian Lucy and the staff at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library are part of an art appreciation initiative involving some local residents. There are nice, wretched, and even pretentious characters present and then the body of one is found face down in the mud. Let the excellent sleuthing begin!
I requested and received a free temporary EARC from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!
Available 04 Jun 2024 #LighthouseLibraryMysteryBk11 ( )

This novel was the first in a long cozy series that I have read, although I love the author's Tea By the Sea series. It took me a couple of chapters to really get into it (likely because I was catching up on a lot of backstory), but after that, I breezed right through it. I enjoyed the art references and the characters as well as the scenery/setting. I adored the ending as well. Reading this book from another likeable series has firmly established this author as one of my top five favorite cozy mystery writers.

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This 11th book in the Lighthouse Library series is, once again, truly enjoyable for cozy fans.

Here, Lucy, the Outer Banks librarian, is involved in intrigue in the art world. All the usual characters are present along with some interesting characters from the art world, Those characters, as well as the Nags Head, NC setting added to my enjoyment, along with a great plot.

Among my favorite cozy series and, again, Eva Gates did not disappoint.

Highly recommended!!

(I received a copy of this book from the publisher, via Net Galley, in exchange for a fair and honest review.) ( )

Librarian Lucy McNeil is recently married and returned from her honeymoon in Europe, happy to be home. She's involved in displaying Impressionist art in the library, a co-project of a traveling art show, and they are displaying reproductions of art, which are meant for library visitors to learn about the genre. While the opening goes well, Lucy is amused once again by Louise Jane, who has a painting by one of her ancestors at the opening, a well-known Outer Banks artist. But the next day they notice the painting is missing, and no one seems to know where it has gone. Even though they report it to the police, it now has to take a back seat, because Lucy, her cousin Josie, and Louise Jane have discovered the body of one of the show's organizers.

What Lucy wants to know is are the two crimes connected, and if so, how? Even if Detective Sam Watson asks for Lucy's impression of some of the suspects, she's more concerned with the painting, as it wasn't valuable but sentimental. Why would someone steal it at all?

But there's also the problem of Louise Jane being attracted to Tom Reilly, a man who claims to be an art dealer, but he disappears and can't be found. While Louise Jane refuses to believe anything bad about him, Lucy isn't so sure. And finding him might be just as difficult as finding out why the painting was taken, and why the organizer was killed. Can she once again enter a murder investigation but without putting herself in danger?...

This is the eleventh book in the series and I have read them all. While I will admit that it took me a few books to warm up to the series, I now love it. I have fully immersed myself in the Outer Banks without actually visiting there, and the populace in this book makes you want to do so. The characters are quite human, and actually have human interests. By that, I mean that they don't spend their time sitting around drinking, but they also watch television, go shopping, etc. It's the same type of lives that we, outside the books, live. This is what makes them so endearing, and the author has done a wonderful job of it.

But back to the book -- when the painting is discovered missing, I, along with Lucy, am wondering why anyone would want it at all. But then there's a surprise in store (and I won't mention it here) that helps in the investigation, and we only have to decipher the clue. Hah! Easier said than done. Especially when Lucy is pretty much on her own this time, since Sam is concerned with finding out who killed the Person in the Pond. Two very different mysteries, with possibly two different reasons. Or is it?

When the ending comes, I have to say that I figured out the killer earlier than Lucy, but then again, as I've said many times before, I read a lot of mysteries, so this is how my brain works. However, finding the reason why was a bit more difficult, and worth the read altogether.

There's a bit of a twist at the end, and it makes everything even more worthwhile. Again, I love this series and would have no problem recommending it to anyone. You can read this as a standalone, but it will make you want to go back to the beginning and see how it all began. Recommended.

I was given an advance copy of this book from the publisher and NetGalley but this in no way influenced my review. ( )