Tuesday, June 19, 2018

The Spook In The Stacks by Eva Gates Great Escapes Tour-Review/Giveaway

About the book 
Halloween in North Carolina’s Outer Banks becomes seriously tricky when librarian Lucy Richardson stumbles across something extra unusual in the rare books section: a dead body.
Wealthy businessman Jay Ruddle is considering donating his extensive collection of North Carolina historical documents to the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, but the competition for the collection is fierce. Unfortunately, while the library is hosting a lecture on ghostly legends, Jay becomes one of the dearly departed in the rare books section. Now, it’s up to Lucy Richardson and her fellow librarians to bone up on their detective skills and discover who is responsible for this wicked Halloween homicide.
Meanwhile, very strange things are happening at the library―haunted horses are materializing in the marsh, the lights seem to have an eerie life of their own, and the tiny crew of a model ship appears to move around when no one is watching. Is Lucy at her wit’s end? Or can it be that the Bodie Island Lighthouse really is haunted?
With The Legend of Sleepy Hollow on everyone’s minds and ghoulish gossip on everyone’s lips, Lucy will need to separate the clues from the boos if she wants to crack this case without losing her head in The Spook in the Stacks, the delightful fourth in national bestseller Eva Gates’ Lighthouse Library mysteries
And I thought
A goulish read?  Not really just a good 'ole cozy.  Although there might just be a little of Sleepy Hollow type eerieness going in future books.  Not revealing anything though.  
This was a fun and enjoyable read and my first visit to the lighthouse.
As with all good cozy's that are series books most of the books are written as a stand alone The Spook In The Stacks was a fine place to start even though it is book 4 in the series. (You will probably want to read the previous books. I do)
The characters are all charming and fun.  Especially Charles the 
live in library cat.  He tends to hang around and help Lucy decipher good guys from bad guys most of the time. 
When a very rich collector is murdered at a Light House event his 
grand daughter is accused.  The fair Julia whom Theodore one of
Julia's co-worker is smitten with becomes the prime suspect; it is
only logical for Theodore to beg for Julia's help in investigating. 
And clearing Julia's name.  
Even though I haven't read the other books it was easy to gather 
that Julia is a somewhat a reluctant sleuth that happens to have some talent.  As Detective Watson who is doing the official investigation tends to listen to Julia's suppositions.  There is clearly some sort of a working relationship between them. 
All the while the truth is being ferreted out there an election going on.   The mayor who is Julia's sort of boyfriend is running for re-election.  Surprisingly for this reader he wasn't on the suspect list 
which tends to be the norm for most cozy's.  That was refreshing.
The challenger however does have some reasons to be on the list.  

As Julia struggles to keep the light house running smoothly she struggles with her as of yet un-named relationship with said 
Mayor. 
Everythings comes together in the end with the real murderer being discovered as he tries to take out Theodore and Julia.  

I was a little surprised with how things turned out with them and I am wondering if they'll make it into a future installment.  Is Julia 
the heiress going to later become a victim?  Things seem to be set up for some interesting reading in book 5.

I received a complimentary copy. 
This review will appear on retail sites. 
This review will appear on Good Reads and Net Galley.

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2 comments:

  1. Thank you for your review on "The Spook In The Stacks" by Eva Gates and being part of the book tour with Great Escapes Tour.

    Absolutely LOVE this cover. Then again LOVE this author so didn't expect anything less. I'd LOVE the opportunity to read this book.

    2clowns at arkansas dot net

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  2. Great series! I love the Outer Banks and Lighthouse Library setting. Looking forward to reading "The Spook in the Stacks".

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