ARC Review: Death Overdue by Allison Brook

Death Overdue
Author: Allison Brook
Series: Haunted Library Mystery
Publication: Crooked Lane Books (October 10, 2017)

Description: Carrie Singleton is just about done with Clover Ridge, Connecticut until she's offered a job as the head of programs and events at the spooky local library, complete with its own librarian ghost. Her first major event is a program presented by a retired homicide detective, Al Buckley, who claims he knows who murdered Laura Foster, a much-loved part-time library aide who was bludgeoned to death fifteen years earlier. As he invites members of the audience to share stories about Laura, he suddenly keels over and dies.

The medical examiner reveals that poison is what did him in and Carrie feels responsible for having surged forward with the program despite pushback from her director. Driven by guilt, Carrie’s determined to discover who murdered the detective, convinced it’s the same man who killed Laura all those years ago. Luckily for Carrie, she has a friendly, knowledgeable ghost by her side. But as she questions the shadows surrounding Laura's case, disturbing secrets come to light and with each step Carrie takes, she gets closer to ending up like Al.

Now it's due or die for Carrie in Death Overdue the delightful first in a new cozy series by Allison Brook.

My Thoughts: Carrie Singleton is ready to leave Clover Ridge, Connecticut, when she is offered the job of events coordinator at the public library where she works. Though she spent summers in Clover Ridge, she never intended to stay when she came to visit her great-aunt and great-uncle. This job is just the challenge she is looking for and it becomes more than a challenge when her first guest speaker dies after eating a cookie.

Al Buckley had come to talk about the murder of a housewife that happened fifteen years earlier. He was the police detective in charge but messed up the case because of his drinking. Once he got himself straightened out, he began investigating again and now believes that he knows who murdered Laura Foster. Someone doesn't want the identity of the killer to come out.

Despite knowing Al for about fifteen minutes and having no experience as a detective, Carrie decides to solve the crime that has baffled the police for fifteen years. She teams up with Jared who is Laura's youngest son (and a potential suspect). Together they interview people who know Laura and who knew Al to try to solve the crime.

Carrie is also dealing with a co-worker who is jealous that Carrie got the job she wanted and the ghost of a former library employee who is the vengeful co-worker's aunt. After living with her aunt and uncle since her arrival in town, now that she has a full-time job, she is looking to get a place of her own. She gets a great deal on a cottage owned by the mysterious Dylan Avery who was a childhood friend of Carrie's brother Jordan.

There is a romantic triangle here as Jared wants to do more than investigate with Carrie and Carrie is fascinated by the mysterious Dylan. There are also quite a few suspects in Laura's death including her husband, son with anger management issues and even Jared who is keeping secrets of his own. Then there is Laura's secret lover as a possibility.

This was a nice mystery which reads as a first book. The plotting is fine if you can get behind the assumption that Carrie would attempt the solve the mystery at all. I felt that there was some inconsistent character development with some of the side characters. I do look forward to reading more by this author about Carrie and her ghostly assistant.

Favorite Quote:

As he lifted the blueberry yogurt cookie to his mouth, I noticed the remaining cookie was dark brown. Chocolate! No wonder. Al was probably a chocolate freak. Someone must have brought it, because I didn't remember buying chocolate cookies.

I received this one in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley. You can buy your copy here.