Murder Checks Out by Victoria Gilbert is book 8 in the Blue Ridge Library Mysteries, but don’t worry if you haven’t read the rest of the series, I found it easy to slip into this world not having read any of the previous books.
Amy Muir, a library director, is in the middle of a busy holiday season when her brother-in-law, Ethan, is accused of murdering the chair of the town’s festival committee. There is no shortage of people who may have wanted the victim dead, but he was the one with the most recent public disagreement with her.
This was an enjoyable mystery set during the Christmas season. Not only is there a murder to solve but Amy’s family life is busy as well. Her husband, a former professional dancer, is producing a production of The Nutcracker, and both of their five year old twins are performing in it.
I found the book a bit slow because there was so much about Amy’s family life, but although it didn’t add to the mystery, it didn’t take significantly lower my enjoyment of the story.
The one thing I found irritating was how often Amy mentioned how worried she was about Ethan, and how often she was intending to reach out to see how he was (knowing he was suspected of murder, and his husband was out of town) and never actually did. It also seemed to take her forever to do any real investigating considering how concerned she was supposed to be.
Despite the minor irritations, this was a good cozy mystery. Although I figured out the culprit fairly early, their motivation was not quite as clear until closer to the end of the book.
I would recommend it as a nice light, holiday themed cozy mystery.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Murder Checks Out is available on November 14 2023.
Life, Tea, and Everything 