5 out of 5 stars.

Purchase Links: Amazon – B&N – Kobo

Synopsis

After a successful party at Bodie Island’s Lighthouse Library, librarian Lucy Richardson is ready to curl up with her cat, Charles, and a good book. But her R and R is cut short when she notices some mysterious lights leading a small boat to crash into the coast.

The two shipwrecked seafarers survive the ordeal—but one of them shows up dead ashore a few days later. Lucy finds herself again roped into a murder investigation and navigating a sea of suspects, all of whom had motives to deep-six the deceased. And this time, she has a sinking feeling that finding the real killer won’t be so easy…

Review

Reading Up A Storm by Eva Gates is the third book in the Lighthouse Library Mystery series. I found this book to be absolutely delightful. I’ve enjoyed the series since its creation and this book was no exception. It was very well-written and I love the settings and characters.

What’s not to love about a library set inside a historic lighthouse? That coupled with the fact that Lucy, our heroine, lives in a small apartment on the top floor of the lighthouse, makes it the perfect setting.

I like that while Lucy is often trying to figure out who the murderer is, she doesn’t take unneeded risks like some cozy mystery heroines do. She asks questions and annoys people with that, which sometimes makes the villain come after her, but when it comes to setting up “sting” operations or anything like that, she’s careful to involve friends and/or law enforcement. Many cozy mystery heroines take unnecessary risks and sometimes it drives me crazy. I really like that Lucy doesn’t do that.

This mystery kept me guessing. I wondered about the one character (who ended up being the villain) but I wasn’t sure it was him/her until the end. The plot line moved along nicely. It wasn’t too fast or too slow. I also appreciate the fact that Lucy’s dilemma between two men worked itself out in this book, instead of dragging on and on.

Unfortunately, the sad thing is, that unless this book has some fantastic sales, it’s the end of the Lighthouse Library mysteries. This series really is terrific and I urge you all to check it out. You don’t have to start from the beginning to understand the series. You can read them as stand-alone books. Buy “Reading Up a Storm” by Eva Gates – I’m sure you’ll love it as much as I did!

[I received a free copy of this book from the author/publisher in exchange for my fair and honest review. My review was not influenced by this, nor was I compensated for my review. All opinions and conclusions are my own.]

*** UPDATE (5/9/17): We’ve had good news from the author! She was able to buy the copyright to the series and these books will be re-issued by Crooked Lane publishing company and there will be more in the series!! YAY!!!! ***