cozy murder mysteries, a quaint rural town, and demon problems

Sherry Pinkwhistle is a bit of a cliché. She is a single librarian in the quaint rural town of Winesap, New York, and she has a cat. And if that’s not enough, she solves murders. Every in the town knows that she solves the murders, and they’re okay with it. When Sherry finds out about another murder, she sets out to investigate. She asks questions, she researches, she turns over her findings to Sheriff Brown, and the killer goes to jail.

Until the killer strikes too close to home for Sherry. The victim is her boyfriend Alan, and Sherry is struck with grief. When her friends come to her and ask if she’s going to solve the murder, she tells them no and sends them away. When Sheriff Brown comes to her and asks if she’s going to solve the murder, she tells him no and sends him away. And she starts to think about exactly what’s been happening in their small town.

There have been an unusual number of murders in such a small town, a really startling number of them given the population. And the investigations that Sherry do are pretty repetitive. It’s like she’s stuck in a routine, like the whole town is. But when Alan died, Sherry was able to take a step back from it and see how absurd it all seems. It’s almost like they’re not entirely in charge of their lives. But how could that even happen? Nothing natural, that’s for certain. So it must be supernatural.

With the help of her friends and the local priest, Sherry sets out to find the demon that is haunting them all. And what she finds is a force more powerful than she expected. The demon embodies her cat, Lord Thomas Cromwell, and they have a conversation about murders and tasty treats that cats enjoy. But the demon doesn’t stay there. She sometimes takes over others, like the sheriff, when she wants them to do exactly what she wants, like throw Sherry in jail when she won’t play along.

Sherry is smart and an expert at research. But will that, and her stray bottle of holy water, be enough to take on the demon that’s been holding their town hostage in an endless loop of murder mysteries, or will they be stuck there forever?

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society is a mystery like no other. If you’re ever watched Murder, She Wrote and wondered why anyone would agree to go to a dinner party at Jessica Fletcher’s house, then you will enjoy this book. It’s a wild supernatural twist on the cozy mystery genre, and it’s filled with surprises. The story is clever, the characters are smart, and the ending is like no other mystery I’ve ever read.

I wasn’t entirely sure what I was in for with this book when I started it, but the deeper I got into the mystery, the more I loved it. It’s funny and self-aware and smart and offers a fresh twist on the trope of the cozy. Author C.M. Waggoner turns the murder mystery on its head, and it felt a little like a roller coaster, but it was one amazing ride. I would recommend this to anyone who wants an alternative to the usual cozy, and strap yourself in for all those twists and turns.

Egalleys for The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society were provided by Berkley through NetGalley, with many thanks.