Murder in the Library is the second outing for Miss Merrill and Aunt Violet by Anita Davison. Released 19th Feb 2024 by Boldwood Books, it's 266 pages and is available in hardcover, paperback, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. For Kindle Unlimited subscribers, this book is currently included in the KU subscription library to borrow and read for free. The other books in the series are also currently available on KU.
This is an engaging and well written historical cozy set in 1916. MC Hannah is volunteering to do her bit for the war effort by volunteering in the library of the local military hospital. She's soon drawn into another amateur investigation when an inconvenient murder occurs there. With the possibly related disappearance of a hospital nurse, Hannah and the inimitable Aunt Violet are once again called on to get to the bottom of things.
The plotting is tight and well engineered and without obvious holes. The author does a good job with the period dialogue and characterization. The writing is clean and there is no bad language or on-page objectionable content. There are several threads, murder, disappearance, malfeasance, and more.
The denouement and resolution were twisty and satisfying with some unexpected surprises.
Four stars. This is definitely one for historical cozy fans. There are 3 books extant in the series with a 4th due out in 1st quarter 2025. It would be a good choice for a binge/buddy read. It's not derivative, but fans of Lydia Travers, Carola Dunn, and Catriona McPherson (the Dandy Gilver series, although the Last Ditch ones are hysterically funny and not to be missed, totally different vibe) will likely enjoy this one as well.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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