When I read the first book in the Haunted Library series, I loved it so much that as soon as I saw Buried in the Stacks listed on NetGalley, I requested it. I was excited to receive the ARC for this third book in the Haunted Library Mysteries series, and I loved it even more than I expected. As a retired librarian, I appreciate all that Carrie does to promote the library and make it an important part of the community. Not only is that truly the role of the library, it is essential for funding, an issue this library, and all real ones, face. The book addresses several serious contemporary issues, but they are well incorporated into the story line so it feels natural. Homelessness and reactions to it, dementia, and abuse of funds all play an important role in the novel. The bit of romance is even stronger than before and I adore her special guy. Evelyn, the resident ghost is just icing on the cake.
Carry is shocked when, in her new role as Sunshine Chairman, she visits her nemesis in the hospital and the woman claims that her husband is trying to kill her. Later Dorothy denies the claim, but Carrie is still concerned about the other librarian's safety. Evelyn, who is an aunt to Dorothy, seeks Carries promise that she will look into the matter.
Carrie also steps up when concerns about the number of homeless people using the library as a way station during the hours the shelter is closed. As she works to address how the problem affects the library, she discovers that a group in the community has already received a grant to provide a day-care situation. The project is referred to as day-care because trained supervisors will be available for those with special need and to deal with trouble, the exact problems that the library is not set up to handle. The idea sounds great until she discovers that some person or people in charge of the project may be committing fraud rather than making sure the day-care succeeds.
Characters are well drawn and have both strengths and weaknesses, even Evelyn. The pacing is pretty much spot on; I hate when a story drags. Allison Brooks has become one of my must-read authors.

Buried in the Stacks is book three in the Haunted Library Mystery, and I really wish I had read the previous, as this one was so good! I do feel reading the previous would be advantageous as there seems to have been a lot of murders Carrie has had a hand helping solve and I would love to know how and why, but certainly this book was written in a way that it isn't necessary to have read them.

Carrie works in the library, and she has just been assigned the position of Sunshine Delegate when her first charge just so happens to be her colleague Dorothy - there is a lot of history between these two, and Dorothy is very much a bully and a grouch, so I really felt for Carrie having to visit her in the hospital after she had a bad fall on ice. Though we do get to see them warm towards each other only for Dorothy to be run off the road and die.

It soon becomes apparent that it wasn't and accident and they she was murdered, but with half the town hating on Dorothy the list of suspects were considerably high, I have to admit I did not see the killer coming! They were not on my radar, or Carrie's until the very end!

I loved this book, it was a great clean cozy mystery with a hint of the paranormal in the form or Evelyn the library's Ghost, who helps Carrie out on more than one occassion. I cant wait to see what Allison Brook's has in store next!

This is one of my favorite mystery series - it's a cozy with a librarian, a small town, a cat and a resident ghost. The perfect escape reading. Carrie is growing as a librarian, getting used to sharing library space with a ghost who can only be sensed by herself and her niece. She has a relationship with a nice guy and, aside from the occasional dead body every once in awhile, it's not bad. When the local homeless situation brings a group to purchase a vacant house with the intention of turning it into a daycare center for the homeless, Carrie offers them library space for their meetings and adds her own help to the project.
When she gets a phone call that the research librarian, Dorothy, has been injured in a fall, all is not as it seems. Dorothy says the fall was no accident. She suspects her husband of the attempt and says that her was responsible for her aunt's death. Her Aunt is the library ghost. Soon Dorothy dies in a car accident and her Aunt Evelyn, the ghost, needs Carrie to find the killer. It turns out that more than just Dorothy's husband is on the list of suspects. Carrie needs to tread carefully while tracking down the killer - one false move and she might be joining Evelyn as a ghost.
Buried in the Stacks works as a stand alone but, in order to get the most out of this series and to see how Carrie has evolved, it would best to read them in order. Full disclosure - I'm one of those readers who really does prefer to read any series in order but I can, sometimes, be lured into reading in willy nilly order.

This was a fun, cute cozy mystery! I love the theme throughout, and I will definitely be continuing with the series.

Buried in the Stacks was a good and interesting read. It was well written and engaging. This was a smooth flowing story with lots of action and very likeable characters.

Allison Brook has taken a number of the Seven Deadly Sins and bound them together in a tome that is all too readable!

Winter, a time of fun for kids (and the young at heart) but not so much for the homeless of which a few have taken to heading to the library as it is somewhere warm, dry and at least they can read, use the computers etc. Which is fine when they behave but not all of them do, so when Carrie hears about a new homeless day centre that is being set up (Haven House) she gets ready to join in, after all the library can supply books, DVDs etc that are being removed from circulation and would therefore provide an outlet for the homeless to have some enjoyment. Whilst all this is starting to happen she also needs to step up and be the Sunshine Delegate for the library (the member of staff who sends cards. flowers etc in the event of serious illness, birth of a baby etc to the member of staff in question), she wasn't expecting her first injured and in hospital to be her nemesis Dorothy! However she gets some flowers and heads to the hospital only to discover that Dorothy seems scared of her husband and insists he tried to kill her. Carrie shrugs it off as being pain killer induced but a couple of weeks later Dorothy is killed by a hit and run driver, and now Dorothy's deceased Aunt Evelyn (the library ghost) want's Carrie to find out the truth, especially when it seems it is linked to her own early demise.

Read it and enjoy is my recommendation!

2.5 stars, generously given And I mean that.. Finally finished this book. And maaan was it a struggle to read. I wanted it to be over. And finished it in hopes of it getting better further into the book.it didn’t.

Spoilers here:

I never warmed up to Carrie at all. And to think this is the 3rd book in the series.😣🙄 She is nosy, feels like she owns the town, and is a know-it-all. Fancies herself a detective, which looks to be a side hustle or a hobby, which she will never admit to as she’s just helping the police in their investigations.

When Carrie saw a man who was out with a woman she didn’t know, she went up to them to force an introduction. Who the heck does she think she is? And when someone breaks into her house and then wonders what if the person is still in there, what does Carrie do? Runs in the bathroom to vomit. Runs INSIDE the house to the bathroom. Hello?!?! 🙄 And the whole damn town enables her!

Evelyn is another character I’m not liking. An annoying ghost really. With a misguided sense of loyalty. I can give you better examples of ghosts in cozy mysteries (or just plain mysteries) that are waaay better than Evelyn. More interesting too.

The ending too was...meh. After all that, the bad guy comes to Carrie’s house.

I’ve read a lot of cozy mysteries, and I like the genre. I do. But this one, no. I didn’t like the book. And nothing in it is making me want to read the whole series. It’s not often I give less than a 3 star rating on a book.

Thanks anyway Crooked Lane Books for the review copy. Hopefully you have other more interesting books than this one. Thanks too NetGalley.

Thanks to Netgalley, Crooked Lane Books, and Allison Brook. This is my first book by this author and I loved every word of it. Such a great cozy mystery for my beach read. The ghost aspect is interesting but not overwhelming, The characters are varied and the storyline was interesting while not being boring. I am definitely looking forward to the next in this series.

Buried in the Stacks is the third book in A Haunted Library Mystery series. It can be read as a standalone for those new to the series. Carrie Singleton finds herself becoming the library’s new Sunshine Delegate and involved in a group trying to establish a daytime sanctuary for the homeless population in Clover Ridge. When Dorothy Hawkins, the tetchy reference librarian, ends up dead, the library’s resident ghost & Dorothy’s aunt, Evelyn asks Carrie to find the guilty party. I found Buried in the Stacks to be easy to read. Carrie has certainly changed from when she first appeared on the scene with her colorful hair and a wardrobe more suited to rock concert than a library. She has settled into her cottage, has Smokey Joe (her cat), dating Dylan, and getting involved in community events. With the homeless population needing a daytime facility (where they can read books, play games, crochet, etc.), a group of local citizens bought a home they are going to turn into Haven House. Carrie joins the members, but she soon learns that some citizens have ulterior motives. I like how the author deals with the topic of homeless. She shows that they are not anonymous people that should be ignored. They have fallen on hard times and just need a little extra help. As with any group of people, there are various types of personalities. Dorothy Hawkins ends up dead and her aunt, Evelyn (the library’s resident ghost) is upset. I am shocked that some individuals were not doing a little jig and singing “Ding dong the witch is dead” when the news was announced. Dorothy was an unlikeable woman who collected secrets and used them to her advantage which leads to a long list of suspects. It is amazing that Dorothy lived as long as she did. While identifying the guilty party is a walk in the park, I did like that a cold case gets solved in the process. Carrie did not seem as involved in solving Dorothy’s death as she did in what was happening with Haven House. She took some unnecessary risks that did not yield good results. I would have liked the story to have more focus on Dorothy’s murder with less repetition of case details. I do not know why people keep warning Carrie to not investigate, as with any cozy mystery sleuth, she cannot help herself. I am curious how the title related to the book since no one was buried or trapped beneath a pile of books. Buried in the Stacks is a haunting cozy mystery a chubby cat, a sweet spirit, deceptive do-gooders, an irascible reference librarian and pugnacious patrons.

Buried in the Stacks was a fun and entertaining cosy mystery. A haunted library, a cute cat and quirky characters made it all more fun. The plot had a few twists and turns, which made me guessing quite a bit who the murderer was. An added bonus is that this book also deals with homelessness, dementia and mental issues.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Like many communities, Clover Ridge is dealing with a homeless population. Because of the winter weather, many spend their days at the library. Carrie learns of a group that has purchased a vacant house in hopes to open Haven House, a daycare type center for the homeless. Carrie is excited about the venture and joins their committee and offers the library meeting room for future meetings. Sadly she learns it may all be just a scam.

Carrie has also become the library’s new Sunshine Delegate and immediately gets a call that research librarian took a fall and is in the hospital. When Carrie arrives for her visit, Dorothy tells her the fall was no accident. She believes her husband is trying to kill her just like he killed her aunt, the library’s resident ghost Evelyn. Dorothy is subsequently killed when her car is forced off the road. Evelyn begs Carrie to find the killer but Evelyn is holding something back. Carrie knew Dorothy was not happy when Carrie got the job she wanted, but Evelyn finally reveals Dorothy had a long list of enemies which translates to a long list of suspects. Carrie isn’t a cat and only has one life, she hopes by the time the killer is found she doesn’t become the second ghost haunting the library.

___

I have enjoyed this series from the start. Carrie has evolved so much from punk rocker chick the arrived in Clover Ridge to an almost sedate librarian. She and her cat Smokey Joe are settling in and she is patiently waiting for her boyfriend Dylan to settle down closer to home too. Her father has also turned his life around. We learn that most of the library staff has secrets. Secrets Dorothy knew about and may have been using to her advantage. Evelyn is still my favorite. She is a very friendly ghost that any library would be happy to have.

The author introduces readers to a few of the homeless taking shelter within the library. My heart broke for an elderly couple who had lost everything. It really brought home the reality of how close many people are to becoming homeless. Carrie handled things perfectly and used her resources/ her uncle to help them as much as she could. I applaud Ms. Brook for taking on hot community issues of mental health and homelessness and twisting things up a bit to fit her story but then gave us hope many places could emulate.

The mystery was a tricky one to solve as more and more suspects came to light. I am surprised someone hadn’t taken out the cranky broad before this. I was very intrigued when Dorothy’s case opened up new questions about Evelyn’s death.

Carrie was also trying to solve a second mystery surrounding Haven House. The cases did cross over in places but Carrie had a few moments when I wanted to jump into the book and stop her from what she was doing. She is a great planner for library programming but when she is snooping she tends to plow straight ahead without thinking things through.

A well-written story full of twists that was a lot of fun to read. The characters are believable and leaped off the page.

Be aware when you start reading the books in this series they are hard to put down. I do recommend reading all three in order but the author has written them so they can each be read on their own.

In this third book in The Haunted Library Mystery series, the library ghost Evelyn, needs Carrie's help. Her niece, library curmudgeon Dorothy, is killed after one attempt fails. As Carrie noses around and Evelyn gives her some hints, she finds out that Dorothy was blackmailing several people. There were no shortage of suspects for her murder. While all this is going on, the library is dealing with concerns from patrons over the number of homeless people that are spending the day in the library. Carrie works with a group of local residents to open Haven House, a place where the homeless population can stay in the daytime, complete with drug counsellors and social workers. That is until she finds out that a small group of the volunteers has other uses in mind for the house in the evenings. Are these events tied together? Is Carrie in danger?

I enjoy the small town atmosphere, the library and the staff and Carrie's family and friends. Part of this story, like the others in the series, is about Carrie's life and that of those close to her. Dylan and Carrie are moving forward in their relationship, with him moving back home to open a local office. I can't review this book without mentioning Smokey Joe, the library cat. Smokey actually belongs to Carrie, but spends his days in the library, loved by all the patrons. Smokey Joe plays a huge part in this story, but I won't spoil it for you. The rest of the story is well plotted with two storylines twisting around each other in such a way that I was not sure if and when they would come together. There were so many suspects in the murder of Dorothy, and then Carrie began to suspect that Evelyn's death 8 years earlier might have been committed by the same person. I was rapidly trying to eliminate suspects, before another popped up. This story was complex and had me reading quickly to find out what was really happening. As the clues were dropped and red herrings discounted, I did figure out who the murderer was, but that did not diminish my enjoyment of the mystery. I really liked the storyline involving the homeless situation. This is a very timely and important issue in most places, large cities and small towns. I liked that Allison Brook included the fact that just having a place to go does not solve the underlying problems. She gave very realistic situations and I liked the solutions she posed. A wonderful story, and not just for a good mystery, but for all the other wonderful storylines included. I definitely recommend this one to cozy mystery lovers everywhere.

I have read various books with a library setting. The Haunted Library Mystery Series is quickly becoming a favorite!

Carrie Singleton, the Library Director, is working hard to provide a refuge to the homeless community in Clover Ridge, which becomes a challenge in itself. When she accepted the position to be the Sunshine Delegate for library, she had no idea as to what she was getting herself into! When co-worker Dorothy Hawkins, ends up in the hospital, she confides in Carrie, her thoughts that her husband was trying to kill her. When someone runs Dorothy of the road, murder is the first thought that comes up. Carrie steps in quickly to find justice for Dorothy. With the help of Evelyn Havers, the resident ghost, as well as Dorothy’s aunt, Carrie finds her investigation taking on an even bigger problem other than Dorothy’s murder!

I enjoy this series due to the characters involved, especially Evelyn Hawkins, and Carrie’s cat Smokey Joe. Smokey Joe has a few mysteries of his own. The story has several plots that keep you guessing with several twists and turns leading in various directions. Cozy readers will enjoy this story. Although this can be read as a stand-alone novel, the previous two books will give an insight to the much-loved characters.

I requested and received an advance reader copy of this book from Penguin Random House Books and Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own. #Buriedinthestacks #NetGalley

The third book in The Haunted Library Mysteries series by Allison Brook. In this latest book, Carrie sleuths to solve the murder of her coworker Dorothy. Dorothy wasn't a very pleasant person to be around, but as the new Sunshine Delegate, Carrie made an effort to be nice. When Carrie suspects foul play, she wants to find the killer. Plus, Dorothy was the niece of Evelyn, the library ghost.

I've read the previous two books in this series and have enjoyed each one. I do recommend reading this series in order, since it helps to know everyone's backstory. Still, this could be read as a standalone if you don't get the chance to read the first two books, Death Overdue and Read and Gone.

A charming cozy mystery with a touch of the supernatural. The supernatural part concerns the library ghost, Evelyn. A friendly ghost who only Carrie can see. I have found Evelyn doesn't play a big role in these books, but it's a unique way to include a character.

Great setting with the haunted library and plenty of quirky characters. Recommended to readers of cozy mysteries. A delightful read.

I received a free digital copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

BURIED IN THE STACKS by Allison Brook
The Third Haunted Library Mystery

Things are going well for Carrie Singleton. She's happily dating Dylan, who will soon be living and working in Clover Ridge, she's supporting her best friend who's planning her nuptials, and she's satisfied with her job as the Program and Events Manager at the library. Carrie's even come to a truce with the despicable research librarian, Dorothy. But things aren't quiet at the library for long. With the cold weather and no place else to go several homeless people are hanging out at the library. As problems and complaints start pouring in, Carrie is intrigued by the idea of a day center and looks to support its creation, while all the librarians cover for Dorothy, who had fallen of the ice. But even on crutches Dorothy seems to be up to her old tricks, and when her car is rammed no one is too surprised. But would somebody actually murder Dorothy? And could a day center for the homeless really be a solution or just a front for illegal activity? Despite warnings to leave things to the police, Carrie is determined to ask questions, but in doing so will she provoke a murderer?

There are a lot of annoying characters in Clover Ridge. Women desperate to be part of a couple, nasty troublemakers, greedy relatives, self absorbed snobs, and even Carrie, who goes all out to appease an ungrateful ghost. Evelyn continues to be more of a hindrance than a help despite her otherworldly status. No wonder murders occur in this small Connecticut town!

Belief in family, worthy or not, loyalty to friends and corresponding pride and shame cause rifts and further the plot in the third Haunted Library Mystery. An important social issue is raised, specifically that of homelessness and particularly how libraries deal with the issue. While good points were brought out, the naiveté of the townsfolk was a bit pronounced with their "solution" to the problem.

BURIED IN THE STACKS is a diverting read combining social issues with murder.

Fun mystery. Even the ghost comes across as a real person with foibles. Demonstrates the difficulties library staff face when working with opposing patrons. Displays the issues the homeless bring to libraries with empathy. This mystery is so grounded in library truths, I often forget the ghost isn't alive.

This is my first book in this series. You can read this book as a stand alone but I think it would be better to have more background that was most likely in the first two books. I did know who the killer was early on but it was still fun to see how Carrie figures it out. Smokey Joe is my favorite but he's a cat so that could be why. I think it will be interesting in future books to see how Dyland and Carrie's relationship develops. I do like that it takes place in Connecticut which is my home state. I look forward to reading more in this series.


*I received a free copy of this book via NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.*

Librarian Carrie Singleton is building a haven, but one of her neighbors is misbehavin'. Can resident spirit Evelyn help Carrie catch the culprit who made her a ghost?

In winter, the Haunted Library is a refuge for homeless townspeople. When a group purchases a vacant house to establish a daytime haven for the homeless, Carrie offers the library as a meeting place for the Haven House committee, but quickly learns that it may be used for illegal activities.

As the new Sunshine Delegate, Carrie heads to the hospital to visit her cantankerous colleague, Dorothy, who had fallen outside the local supermarket. She tells Carrie that her husband tried to kill her--and that he murdered her Aunt Evelyn, the library's resident ghost, six years earlier.

And then Dorothy is murdered--run off the road as soon as she returns to work. Evelyn implores Carrie to find her niece's killer, but that's no easy task: Dorothy had made a hobby of blackmailing her neighbors and colleagues. Carrie, Evelyn, and Smoky Joe the cat are on the case, but are the library cards stacked against them?
Amazon.com

Most of you know that WWK’s Marilyn Levinson writes under the name Allison Brook. Buried in the Stacks is the third in her Haunted Library mystery series, which was released by Crooked Lane Books yesterday.

I interviewed Marilyn about the first book in this series, Death Overdue, in 2017. I’m happy she joined WWK this year and wanted to interview her about Buried in the Stacks. Feel free to say hello and ask questions of Marilyn about her series using the comments link below.

Welcome, Marilyn! E. B. Davis

Hello, Elaine! I'm happy to be part of Writers Who Kill and to be interviewed by you once again.

The homeless have taken to spending time in the library, especially since the onset of winter. Does this happen at all libraries?

Yes, very often when the weather turns cold. Many homeless seek out comfortable places like the library where they can spend their days until it's time to return to their shelter for dinner and to sleep.

Sally, Carrie’s boss, appoints her the new Sunshine Delegate, which entails sending cards or flowers to ill library staff or those who have a death in the family. When odious Dorothy ends up in the hospital after a fall on black ice, why does Carrie decide to visit her?

Sally suggests that Carrie visit Dorothy in the hospital. Carrie knows that this is more than a request. She also does it for Evelyn Havers' sake. Evelyn, the library ghost, is very fond of her niece Dorothy, despite her unpleasant disposition.

Doris and Henry Maris are middle-class but are now homeless. How does this happen?

Henry is becoming senile and made several bad decisions that ruined their business. The Marises eventually lose their store and their home. They go to live with their son, but he, too, loses his home when he and his wife separate.

Dylan, Carrie’s boyfriend changes his business plans, which upsets Carrie. Why?

Dylan's original plan was to set up his investigator's office in Clover Ridge. When his boss Mac invites Dylan to become a partner, they both decide that New Haven would be a better locale for the new office as it's closer to Manhattan. Carrie is upset because this means that Dylan will be working half an hour away instead of in Clover Ridge.

Dorothy is convinced mild-mannered Fred, her husband, is not only responsible for her injury, but also for her Aunty Evelyn’s death. Why would she think that?

Someone knocks Dorothy down. Fred is the first person she sees after being out cold for a minute or two. Seeing Fred triggers the memory of her Aunt Evelyn's death years ago when Evelyn died as the result of a fall on ice. That same night, Dorothy suddenly remembers, Fred came home late. In her confused state, she thinks Fred knocked her down as well as Evelyn, who died as a result of her fall.

Ernie Pfeiffer is a crook who swindled Evelyn and her husband. Why would Fred want to invest with him?

Ernie swears that this investment is on the up-and-up. Fred is naïve and believes him. Fred wants to believe it's true because of the promise of big returns on his investment

Is Carrie obsessed with eating avocados?

Like her author, Carrie eats avocados often. She likes the way they taste and knows that they are healthy.

Although Evelyn is a ghost, Carrie learns she hasn’t acted in life or death angelically. What brought Carrie to that conclusion?

One life lesson that Carrie learns in Buried In The Stacks is that everyone has his or her dark side and is capable of spiteful, dishonorable behavior. Before Sally became the library's director, Evelyn helped her predecessor with financial records, etc. Sally refused Evelyn's help in a tactless manner and the two women clashed. Carrie realizes that Evelyn encouraged her to take the head of programs and events position, not because she thought she'd be great at the job, but in hope that she'd be a thorn in Sally's paw. Also, Evelyn put salt in the grumpy computer librarian's coffee when he was less than civil to her.
Most importantly, Evelyn holds back important information regarding investigations if there's a chance that it will make her nieces and nephew look bad.

Carrie suffers from illogical thinking. “…if I couldn’t convince her to tell me the truth, I should have told John what she’d said in the hospital. Then it would have been John’s fault that she was killed and not mine.” (Kindle Loc. 1130) Why does Carrie think John or she were responsible for Dorothy’s death?

Carrie is suffering survivor's guilt and feeling somewhat responsible for not preventing Dorothy's death. If only she'd told John that Dorothy suspected that her husband had tried to murder her! Then she'd no longer be responsible because the problem would be in the hands of the police. And then if Dorothy died, according to her illogical thinking, John would have been responsible for Dorothy's death.

Evelyn fears she exacerbated the rivalry Dorothy had with her younger sister and brother by bequeathing her estate to Dorothy. Why did Evelyn make Dorothy her sole heir?

Dorothy's brother and sister kept on hitting Evelyn up for small loans that they had no intention of repaying. Evelyn got tired of this and decided to leave all of her money (not very much, after losing most of it to one of Ernie Pfeiffer's schemes) to Dorothy, who was her favorite.


Why does Carrie have great empathy for Evelyn even if she doesn’t always reveal everything she knows to Carrie?

Carrie is very fond of Evelyn. She knows that she holds back information when it might implicate one of her nieces or nephew.

Carrie thinks, “…how sad it was that we weren’t able to choose the people we love.” (Kindle Loc. 1617) Is that true? Don’t we have a choice?

Ah, books can and have been written about this subject. I think it's true that we can't choose the people we love. Sometimes our choices are disasters. Evelyn loves Dorothy and makes excuses for the bad things she does. As for the question—do we have a choice? It's not possible to "choose" a feeling. Only our ability to act on it.

Gillian has lousy taste in men. Will she ever wise up?

Let's hope. She falls for men who are good-looking and forgets to look for indications that will reveal character. Carrie meets a nice young man in the fourth book of the series. In book five, she considers introducing him to Gillian.

When Gillian tells Carrie Haven House will be used after hours for illegal activities, Carrie gets depressed turning it into self-doubt. After her upbringing, is she still idealistic?

Carrie is still idealistic. She joins the group that is bringing Haven Home to the homeless population and is disgusted when she learns it's a front for a group of people intent on making money. She's also an activist and helps devise a solution for the future of Haven House.

Are all families dysfunctional?

More books could be written about this. <g> I wouldn't go so far as to say all families are dysfunctional, but it's my experience that people have many sides to them. People have quirks, bad habits and worse that impact their loved ones.

Who is Ken Talbot and how does Carrie know him?

Carrie meets Ken Talbot, a lawyer, in Death Overdue, the first book in the Haunted Library mystery series when Ken accompanies members of the Foster family to the library to hear retired Detective Al Buckley talk about his newly discovered evidence concerning the murder of Laura Foster fifteen years earlier. Ken and Carrie forge a friendship and she occasionally calls on
him for help regarding legal matters.

Carrie has complicated relationships with her parents. Although her father was a thief, she has a better relationship with him than with her mother. Why?

Carrie always adored her father and was very hurt when Jim spent periods of time away from the family, even when he wasn't behind bars. Jim shows up suddenly in Read and Gone, asking Carrie to help him out with a "little problem" that she rightfully refuses to touch. But when he's accused of murder, she staunchly defends him though she refuses to call him "dad." Jim loves Carrie and proves it time after time until she sees that it's true. He even gives up his life of crime.
Carrie's mother is not very maternal. She resents having been thrust into the position of a single parent. She's self-absorbed, and critical rather than supportive of Carrie. When Carrie was at her lowest point and asked to stay with her mother and her husband, she was refused.

What’s next for Carrie?

In Checked Out For Murder, Carrie's mother arrives in Clover Ridge with her husband and a movie crew to film a romantic comedy. Meanwhile, Carrie makes a new friend who, so Evelyn tells her, used to live in Clover Ridge until her father was murdered twenty years ago. More murders, more complications, more fun!

Murder hit very close to the library ghost Evelyn's heart in this story. Since it was her own relative that was killed, Evelyn promised Carrie that this time she'd be more willing to share things that she knew or could overhear. The side story of a daytime homeless facility was mixed up in the case as well, and Carrie couldn't help getting involved, especially when her very sad ghost friend asked her to investigate. Evelyn had a soft spot for all her relatives.

I liked hearing from some of the previous characters like Ken Talbot and Gillian. I've really grown to like Carrie's dad a lot, and she had a few good conversations with him, plus he was working for the same agency now as Dylan her boyfriend was. Dylan was coming home for good with a slight change in the original plan. I loved how little Smoky Joe, Carrie's beloved cat that she shares with the library as their daytime cat, got to have a part in taking down the killer. I had a suspicion as to who the killer would be, but it was still really good seeing when Carrie would catch on and how the killer would get caught. Carrie got a surprise phone call from another relative who would be coming to see her in April, someone that she wasn't really looking forward to seeing. The next book should be very interesting!

I voluntarily read and reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher via NetGalley, and my opinions are my own.

Buried in the Stacks by Allison Brook is the third in the Haunted Library Mystery series. I truly enjoy this series. This can be read as a stand alone as Ms. Brook gives enough past info so you are not lost.
It's winter in Clover Ridge and Carrie is busy working and helping her best friend with wedding plans. She also been asked to be the Sunshine Chairman for the library and no sooner then she has agreed, she is handed the task to visit Dorothy who is in the hospital after falling in an icy parking lot. Carrie and Dorothy are far from being friends, so when Dorothy tells her she thinks her husband is trying to kill her Carrie is stunned. Then when Dorothy dies in a hit and run car accident, Carrie's radar go off and she starts asking questions. Then when it is determined it was not an accident, Carrie is out to find out who is to blame. Since her boyfriend, Dylan, is out of town for work she has plenty of time to investigate. She gets help from the library's resident ghost, Evelyn.
This story also addresses homelessness and mental issues. There is romance, family, friendship, and plenty of plot twists to have you guessing until the end.
I was given an ARC from the publisher through NetGalley for an honest review.