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Book Review of Due or Die (Library Lover, Bk 2)

Due or Die (Library Lover, Bk 2)
cathyskye avatar reviewed on + 2269 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 3


First Line: "I could not believe that Lucy agreed to marry Cecil when she was so obviously in love with George," Violet La Rue declared.

The same evening that Carrie Rushton is voted in as the new president of the Friends of the Library, her husband is murdered. The evidence is stacking up against the well-liked woman, but head librarian Lindsey Norris and the Briar Creek crafternoon club doesn't believe a bit of it. When a nor'easter buries the small coastal town in snow, wind and frigid temperatures, the police are too busy digging out the residents to focus on the murder. Lindsey and her friends take this as their cue to conduct their own investigation.

This is the perfect book to read during a typical summer in Phoenix. I sat in the pool and smiled as I read about frostbite, howling winds, and towering snowdrifts. Hey... some people are made for cold; I'm made for heat.

I enjoyed the first book in this series, Books Can Be Deceiving, because McKinlay created the perfect small town setting complete with the perfect library. She continues this in Due or Die. Lindsey is loving her new home, her new library, and her new friends more and more as time passes. Tall, dark and handsome Mike Sullivan makes her pulse race even more than Ms. Cole, the obstreperous librarian nicknamed "the lemon," does. From abandoned puppies to widows, Lindsey is always there to lend a hand, and when someone mentions that to her, she wonders Was it true? Was she incapable of not helping a person in distress? Or was she just a big buttinsky?

The camaraderie between Lindsey, her coworkers and her friends is a delight to read, and her decision to "foster" an abandoned puppy until a good home can be found for it will make any pet lover smile knowingly and sigh with pleasure. And while I'm speaking about emotional reactions... let me tell you-- when Lindsey tells Sully off at the end of the book, my fist pump went a little wild, I almost knocked over my umbrella, and my "YOU GO GIRL!" scared off a few of my feathered friends at the birdbath nearby.

For those of you who like the goodies at the backs of books, the author has included tips to set up your own crafternoons, a reading guide, a crochet pattern, and recipes.

There is so much fun in this fast-paced book; McKinlay had to be smiling as she wrote it. Due or Die has much more to do with the feeling of closeness and friendship between all the characters than it has to do with whodunit, and sometimes that's exactly what the doctor ordered. I can't wait for the next book in the series!