what would miss marple do?

When librarian Tru Beckett set up a secret library in the basement of the public library where she works, she had no idea it would cause so much trouble. The city of Cypress, South Carolina had decided to take their library into the future and get rid of all the books. All the physical books, that is. They still offer e-readers and electronic books for their patrons, along with 3D printers and sewing machines and lots of classes and activities.

But Tru had been a librarian there for 13 years, and she couldn’t bear the thought of getting rid of the books. So she rescued as many as she could and set up a lending library in an unused room of the basement. It’s not easy to keep it all secret from the head librarian and Tru’s boss, Mrs. Farnsworth, but Tru and her friends have a system. And they have very strict rules about who is allowed in, or even allowed to know about the secret room. Tru’s best friend Tori, who owns a coffeeshop, she knows. Her best friend at the library, Flossie, knows and helps when she can. But police detective Jace Bailey, who Tru harbors a not-so-secret crush on, can not know.

So when someone starts breaking in to the secret room, pulling down shelves and scattering books all over, Tru can’t go to Jace to get some help in figuring out who is breaking in or why. So it’s up to Tru, her best friends, and their mystery book club to try to figure it out. And Dewey Decimal, of course. Every good detective needs a trusty cat to help with the investigation.

But when local auto mechanic Owen Maynard is found in his truck, dead, in the alley behind the library, Tru knows that Jace will be around to investigate that. She doesn’t want to tell him about the break-ins in the secret room. But is it possible that the break-ins are related to the murder? If so, Jace will need to know. But does that mean that Mrs. Farnsworth will find out too, and maybe fire Tru for what she’s been doing?

But more importantly, who would kill Owen? Was it someone unhappy with his work as a mechanic, like used car salesman Frank Calhoun, who has been flirting with Tru? Or could it be mysterious newcomer to town, used bookstore owner Charlie, who Tori had her eye on to be husband number five? He had moved to town from Las Vegas. Is he hiding secrets from his past that ended in murder? Or could it have something to do with the Museum Board? Owen had recently become the vice-president, and Tru heard that all the local research that had been done by the previous vice-president has gone missing. Could he have learned something that caused his death?

Will Tru, Dewey, and her crew be able to figure out who killed Own and who is breaking in to their secret basement library, or will they find that trying to play Miss Marple puts them in more danger than they can handle?

A Perfect Bind is Dorothy St. James’ second book in the Beloved Bookroom Mystery series. Although the series is still fairly new, the characters feel really well developed, with lots of interesting secrets that are still waiting to come out. I thought that the writing is beautiful, making this an effortless read. If I have a complaint about this book (or the series, really), it’s that it is yet another cozy mystery series about a librarian. I do love the secret basement library twist, which adds a layer of interest and sneakiness, but otherwise it’s a little familiar. Which is both a bad thing and a good thing.

But like I said, it’s extremely well written, so if you like a mystery set in a library, with a cat, set in a small town, then this is definitely the book for you.

Egalleys for A Perfect Bind were provided by Berkley Publishing Group through NetGalley, with many thanks.