I loved this book. I live in WI and found the setting to be very realistic. I loved the characters and how strong their friendships were. This is a fantastic book about friendship, family and if course a mystery to keep you guessing. I look forward to reading more in the series,

I am becoming a huge fan of the cozy mystery genre due to books like this. You can read this as an escape from the everyday in a weekend. A really good mystery.

Enjoyable first in the series entry, good characters and story development. Will be interested to read how the series develops as it progresses. I enjoyed myself.

Cozy mysteries are my favorite and this is a good one! This is a series debut with recent widow Rain being thrown into a mystery as soon as she comes home to her family’s log cabin home in Lofty Pines. Rain is planning for a change of scenery and a little rest but is informed she is expected by the Lakers to open the little library that is part of her cabin but soon that is the least of her concerns. This cozy mystery was enjoyable and I’m looking forward to the next in this series!

Good start to the series. I liked the setting at the lake and the characters were OK but I didn’t really feel a connection to any of them. I also was not a fan of the TSTL moments within the book but I will read the next in the series.

I received a copy from #NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

#MurderattheLakesideLibrary #NetGalley

Recently widowed, Rain Wilmont runs to the family's lakeside cottage to deal with her grief. Once there she discovers she's expected to run the library that's attached to the cabin and there's a dead body in the back yard.
Though Rain's Mother and Father are out of the country, (one for business one for volunteer work) a resident swears he's seen her father in town. Now, afraid her father will be accused, Rain and her best friend Julia begin to investigate who killed Thornton Hughes.
I love the idea of this book, but the reality did not live up to it's potential. As I read the descriptions of the location and the cabin, I certainly wanted to go and visit, but as for caring about the mystery or the characters, not so much. It was slow moving, the main character is not likable, and some of the dialog is awkward. Not a series I'll continue to read.
#netgalley #MurderattheLakesideLibrary

An enjoyable new cozy series set in fictional Pine Lake, Wisconsin. After the death of her husband, Rain heads to her family’s summer cabin that also houses the towns small library. When a body turns up on her property, Rain sets out with her old friend to solve the murder and uncovers some family mysteries along the way.
A perfect summer cozy.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book.
4 stars

Rain spent her summers in the Wisconsin Northwoods at the cabin built by her great grandfather. Having lived most of her adult life in the Milwaukee area, she returns to the northwoods to grieve for the husband she recently lost to an accident.
Rain is immediately surrounded by childhood friends and a murder!
I liked that the back story of the characters was interwoven with the present.
The surprise Rain uncovers while trying to solve the murder is something readers will appreciate!

There are so many things going on in this book, I don't know where to start, but i can tell you if you pick it up and give it a try, you will love it. Suspenseful, emotionally satisfying and an enjoyable read = you really can't ask for more. Family history sometimes gets in the way of living your own life as you would like to. But once the truth comes out everything falls into place quite nicely. Exactly what happens in this book. .

Murder at the Lakeside Library by Holly Danvers
Book #1: Lakeside Library Mystery
Source: NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books
Rating: 3/5 stars

**MINI REVIEW**

The Bottom Line: I’m not entirely sure where I fall with this read. In some ways – setting, the main character – I really should have loved this book. In other ways – the oddness of the plot and some of the minor characters – I couldn’t really get behind this story. The setting really is idyllic and when you add in a library, I am generally hooked. However, the things that would normally suck me in were overshadowed by the very odd nature of the plot, the identity of the big bad, and the qualities of some of the minor characters (the next-door neighbors!). Normally, I would be willing to give a new series a second chance, but I think I may take a pass on this one. I just don’t feel there is enough in this book to allow it to stand out from the pack – this is a packed genre – and hold my interest for the long run.

I'm always a bit hesitant when starting a new series as many times so many pages are devoted to setting up the characters and the location that the mystery starts to get a bit lost. However, this debut book kept my attention from the first few pages.

The characters seem very 'real' and feel like they could become friends very easily. The setting of the book was also very interesting to me.

I'm looking to reading more in this series.

#MurderattheLakesideLibrary #NetGalley

Cozy mysteries aren’t my favourite genre, but I make exceptions if they revolve around cats or libraries. This one fit that latter category, so I decided to give it a try.

This is the first book in a new series and the author really paints a lovely picture of lake-side cottage life. The premise is that after losing her husband, Rain moves back to her family cabin (out of which they run a library). She meets up with her childhood friend, Julia and the two of them attempt to solve a crime.

It’s definitely a nice, easy read, but it took a while for this story to get going. There’s a LOT of backstory here, which makes a bit of sense given that it’s the first in the series, but at times you start to forget there is a mystery supposedly going on. And how many times do we have to establish that Julia and Rain are really great friends that are always doing everything for each other. It would have been better to have had less of Julia and Rain reconnecting and had a few more suspects thrown in to make it interesting.

I also did find some of the story unrealistic - some of the dialog, the character reactions, and parts of the explanation at the end (I won’t give details in order to avoid spoilers). But a bit of unrealism is sort of par for the course for a cozy.

So, if you are looking for a new cozy that is a decent read and is in a nice setting, then certainly give this one a try, as there are some elements that are good. But I think this story could have been more focused.

Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC.

This was a sweet story of mystery and deception. The characters were loveable and it was definitely was suspenseful. The main character escapes personal tragedy to an idyllic lakeside settting . She was exoecting peae and quiet and was immediately pulled into a mystery. The library connection was really cool and this was a very relatable setting.

Rain has just arrived at the family cabin at the lake, she is not there very long and and a body by the outhouse is discovered. who is he and how killed him. all Rain wanted was some quiet time to rest and heal, her husband just died in a wreck and her parents are traveling and working around the world. if you like mysteries you will want to read the book, i was given a copy by netgalley but this is an honest review. it is well written and keeps you guessing what is going on, i enjoyed reading the story to the end

A good debut cozy mystery. Rain has gone to her family's lakeside cottage to attempt to heal after the death of her husband. The quiet she craves doesn't happen as she is immersed back into the community of year round lakeside residents, finding both old friends and new. The community is anxious for her to open the library that her mother has opened each season for the small town. Then there's a murder on her parents' property.

The characters were well developed. I liked the rekindling of the friendship between Rain and Julia. It's so true how old friends, even after not seeing each other for a long time, can see each other and immediately they are as close as they were before. The plot was good - not one of those you couldn't put down, but kept my interest. Overall I found it an enjoyable read.

Thanks to Crooked Lane Books through Netgalley for an advance copy.

I tried to enjoy the story but I had trouble connecting to the characters. I love the name of the female in the story.

Life hands you lemons so you pack up and head to the lake! A great new series that finds our main character having to start her life over from scratch as she is widowed and lost so she retreats to her family's lakeside retreat to try to figure out what comes next. Unfortunately, her mom left a few details out like that the family had started a makeshift library for the locals and tourists to use and she would need to run that, that there is something odd about her family history and then of course there is the dead body that she finds before she even gets a chance to unpack! Great plotting wrapped around fantastic characters makes this a must read book! I can't wait to see happens next!

Heartbroken and seeking escape, Rain Wilmot travels to the family cabin of her youth only to find pushy neighbors and a dead man on her property. The stakes are raised when it's found that Rain's mother was close to the victim. But as always in a mystery, not all is as it seems.

The premise of this book was strong, but I really struggled to get into it and I think that was because I found the characters quite unlikeable and painful. I also liked the setting and the cover art.

I'd be interested to see what other series this author has but this one is not for me unfortunately.

A delightful & cozy read with a lakeside setting in Lofty Pines, Wisconsin that takes you away. Rain and all the supporting characters made the storyline all the more enjoyable.

This is the first book I've read by this author and I really enjoyed it. Centres around a murder in a small community and the two best friends who act as amateur detectives in a bid to solve the mystery and clear the family name. Agreed escapist read yo while away a few lockdown hours.