It’s just over a week that the Briar Creek Public Library Director Lindsey Norris is supposed to marry Mike Sullivan, also known as Sully. They were planning a small wedding on Bell Island, just family and close friends, but some of the people in town have been asking about their registry. Lindsey starts to worry that people from town are planning on coming to the wedding, despite not being invited. She and Sully think it’s strange that so many people would be so rude as to invite themselves, but when it’s pointed out to Lindsay that she may have given the calligrapher the wrong guest list, they realize that instead of the modest 35 invitations they meant to send out, about 100 invitations were sent out to their original guest list.
They make plans to go out the next day to the island, where Sully’s parents live, to see if they can figure out how to make room for so many extra guests. Sully’s sister and her husband are taking care of the food, so increasing the number of servings is less of a problem. But it’s a small island. Can they really fit everyone comfortably at the ceremony? In December, when outside seating will be so much more difficult?
But first, it’s the Briggses’ Annual Christmas Party. Steve Briggs and Sully go way back, growing up together. Now, Sully is the town’s boat captain, and Steve is a corporate attorney. Their house is the largest in the area, a mansion really, and tonight it’s filled with food and music, party guests and decorations. Almost the entire town is there to celebrate the holiday, and Steve himself is dressed up in an elf costume. He’s in good spirits, and looking forward to officiating Lindsey and Sully’s upcoming wedding, as the local justice of the peace.
Lindsey and Sully spend some time enjoying the party, laughing with friends and enjoying festive drinks. They talk to Steve’s wife Jamie, who hints to Lindsey that maybe she should rethink getting married. And just as the couple were getting ready to head home, to enjoy a quiet evening at home with their dog Heathcliff, Steve’s law partner showed up and started yelling at him. Accusing Steve of kicking him out of the law firm and destroying his life, Tony Mancusi was making a big scene until Steve’s brother Nate stopped him and escorted him from the house.
Lindsey and Sully shrug it off and head home. They get some rest and then head out the next morning for Bell Island. After talking it over with Sully’s parents, Lindsey is starting to feel better about her invitation mistake. She and Sully decide to go for a walk, and that’s when Lindsey saw the body on the beach. When they go to investigate, they discover that it’s Steve, still dressed in his elf costume from the night before. They don’t see his boat anywhere, which is unusual. How did he get there? Who could have killed him? And why?
They report the Steve’s death to the police, and wait until they show up to answer the necessary questions. Meanwhile, Lindsey is also worried about the wedding. She’s worried about who will officiate, but more than that she’s worried about Sully losing his friend in the week before the ceremony. Lindsey knows that he won’t be able to relax until he knows exactly what happened to him and to know that justice is served.
Chief of Police Emma investigates, but Lindsey and Sully do too, to try to resolve this as soon as possible. In between meeting up with other potential officiates, they talk to others around town about Steve and what they knew about him. The more they learn about him, the more they realize how unhappy he was in his marriage. He wanted kids, but Jamie didn’t. And then, when Emma brings his brother Nate in for questioning, and Nate confesses, they can’t believe that Nate could do such a thing. They go to the police station to try to find out why, and that’s when Nate’s wife Naomi shows up and confesses that she was the one who killed Steve.
Lindsey isn’t convinced, but when she talks to Naomi and finds out what was really happening in the family, she understands why both of them would have wanted to kill Steve. But she still can’t believe that either Nate or Naomi killed him. So if it’s not one of them, then who? Was it his wife, who clearly didn’t like the man much? Or was it his business partner, who accused him of ruining his life?
As Lindsey and Sully find themselves up against so many questions and so few answers, Lindsey wonders if they should postpone the wedding. Sully is certain that the wedding will go on, maybe not as planned, but he believes that it will all work out.
But when the killer shows up the day of the wedding and starts shooing at Lindsey, she has to wonder if she’ll make it down that aisle after all . . .
Jenn McKinlay’s Library Lovers Mysteries is up to #11 with One for the Books. What should be the best week of Lindsay and Sully’s life together becomes a nightmare as they hunt down a killer. Sharply plotted and written with warmth and humanity, this cozy is a reminder of the power of love in a cynical world.
I listened to the audio book of One for the Books, and I thought narrator Allyson Ryan was perfect as the voice of these mysteries. She finds just the right tone to the story, both the humor and friendliness of Lindsey and her library but also the hunt for justice as they search for a murderer. She even reads the craft and recipe at the end of the book.
A copy of the audiobook for One for the Books was provided by Dreamscape Media through NetGalley, with many thanks, and I bought the ebook for myself.
