Run off the mill cozy. Ticks boxes for contemporary cosy mystery stereotypes.
A single woman on a self searching after her previous life has collapsed. Looks like a model, loves books and reading. Etc. Descriptions are long and did not keep my interest.

The title and cover of this cozy mystery caught my attention, the setting on a lake with books sounds like heaven to me. It was anything but for Rain who returns to her family cabin after being away for so long. Rain is still mourning the loss of her husband and has unresolved issues with several of her relationships. Her need for peace and quiet is disrupted by the discovery of a dead body on her property. This leads Rain and her friend Julia on a mission to uncover clues about the mysterious victim and his murder. The discovery of secrets involving the locals (the so called Lakers) made for an intriguing storyline and the best aspect of the book. To me the story didn't flow and the characters were too flat. Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for a free copy of the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The good: the setting is fantastic! I love the lake, the surrounding cabins, the peaceful atmosphere, it’s all very cozy and reminiscent of childhood vacations camping in the woods at the lake. The two main characters are nice, I like that the main character is taking advantage of her new surroundings and using the opportunity to change her life in other ways.

The not-as-good: the dialogue was kind of awkward in places, which slowed the story down. There was also a bit more description than I like, especially the authors tendency to overdescribe what people are doing with their hands. The formatting was really off and I had trouble in some places telling who was talking because the paragraphs were smooshed together. The ending was a little confusing to me, the victim was apparently the one who created the killer’s alibi, but did so without knowing a murder would be committed.

Overall I enjoyed the story, I think some more editing could make this a 5 star book. If you enjoyed Lucy Lawrence’s Decoupage series, this is very similar.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

Returning to her family's cottage in the north woods of Wisconsin brings Rain Wilmont a mixture of odd feelings. Combined with her continued mourning for the loss of her husband, she is not sure how comfortable she will be back in the old surroundings. When her old friend Julia appears from next door, Rain begins to feel more comfortable until they discover a body on the property. Thornton Hughes was a property developer who made some people angry with his plans for Lofty Pines, but Rain soon learns her mother was friendly with Hughes and that starts to worry her. Was her mother having an affair with Hughes? With the help of her friend Julia and Julia's policeman brother Jace, Rain learns who the killer is. An interesting start to what I think might be a continuing series.

While the murder mystery itself was decent, there was far too much exposition and the characters were difficult to connect with. I found Rain to be by turns flaky and a complete pushover, Julia to be both overwhelming and self effacing, and both seemed a little too easily manipulated. Additionally some of the relationships between characters seemed unrealistic given the premise of the story.

A story setting that seems peaceful but instead filled with mystery. Full of well developed characters and a mystery that gives away nothing!

This is the first in the Lakeside Library Mystery series. Our heroin is Rain Wilmont who has recently lost her husband and decide to move to her family summer home in Lofty Pines Wisconsin. Her first day there and she finds a dead body. Not just any dead body, but the dead body of a close friend of her mother's. But how close is part of the mystery. With her mother and Father not easily reachable, she will depend on her childhood friend, Julia, "laker" Marge, Julia's husband and brother, Nick and Jace (who is also a Lofty Pines police officer) to help her solve the murder. The setting is very lovely and makes me wish I knew of a lake town where I could borrow a book from the library and sit on the deck overlooking the lake. Or maybe get in the boat and head to the local dock side restaurant. The characters have their own backstories which adds to the story. Julia shares a secret that makes Rain have second thoughts about what she was sure was the perfect way of feeling about her late husband. I enjoyed that the characters were not perfect and had to be shown there are often if not always two sides to all situations. This was a fun, yes fun, murder mystery and I hope the series continues. I am giving this solid 4 stars and looking forward to book 2 and more.

Very cute first in a series! I really enjoyed the main characters quirkiness and the pace at which this cozy was written. A lot of first in the series are a slower pace to introduce us to the characters and setting but I thought this one did a good job of introducing us to Rain and the small town that she is from! Well done! Can't wait for book 2! My only complaint is that this is coming out in hardback first, which is a hard sell in my area for a cozy

It took me til the third chapter when the body was found that i got into this book. The chapters are long, I like short chapters cause I hate stopping in the middle of a chapter. As with all mysteries, you think you have it figured out right away, this time it took awhile and I was still wrong. This will surprise you and i hope to see this author excel.

Thank You #MurderattheLakesideLibrary #NetGalley

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book is the first in a new series by a new author, at least she is to me.

In this first instalment, we meet Rainmaker who’s coming to spend the summer at her family’s cabin in some small lakeside community in Wisconsin. Barely arrived, her plans for a quiet summer are thwarted first by her friend and neighbor, Julia & an old lady from the town named Marjory who want her to reopen her family’s private library to the inhabitants of the village. With some apprehension, Rain agrees but that too gets thwarted when a dead body is discovered on Rain’s family’s property. Obviously, the ladies will have their investigation and will be well that ends well.

I like the way the story went and it wasn’t too hard to follow, the way any cozy mystery is, in my mind, supposed to be and the motivation is also pretty straightforward.

I have to confess to being jealous of Rain for having a library in her family’s summer cabin but that felt unrealistic to as well as the too perfect instant friendship between Rain and Marjory.

The description of the decor was perfect and I appreciated that there was no cheesy romance between the characters thrown in just for the sake of it, that is so tiresome to have that when it serves no purpose to the story.

I had a hard time really getting into this book. There was so much filler and descriptions of everything that I forgot what was going on. The main character did so much self introspection that I thought it would have served the reader better for this to be written in first person and not third person. It got awkward at times. There seemed to be a lot of people to keep track of for a tiny vacation place. I got to where I was just skimming the book by the end to find out who dunnit.

It isn't a bad book. It's ok. But it is not for me. I did not liked the main character and it is very important to enjoy the story. Loved the cover.

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

I really wanted to like this book; it had a lot of potential. The mystery was well plotted and there were a couple of great twists. However, I struggled with the characters. The setting was amazing and again, I feel like it has a lot of potential. I hope the next installment of this series is better filled out.

This is a pretty good cozy. The characters are sweet and genuine. The twists and turns keep you off the trail. I read this in one sitting. It was great.

Review posted on Goodreads, Amazon, and Facebook. The review is also posted in my library for patrons.

This was a cute, comforting read, a debut entry in a new cozy series. Rain has lost her husband and decided to spend some time at her family’s lakefront home. She needs some time to relax and grieve and deal with her conflicting emotions around her husband, but cascading, murder-y, events quickly make this impossible. Rain has no sooner pulled into the driveway of her family’s lake house when she runs into her childhood best friend who tells her that her mother had transformed part of their home into a lending library—Rain finds out that this is part of her mother’s plan to help her in her grieving process. Then, they find a body and things happen even faster from that point forward.

Rain and Julia and the Lakers try to figure out why this man was killed on her property. There are mishaps, an interesting and homespun cast of characters, potential for romance later in the series.

Ultimately this was a decently written, nice mystery. It wasn’t utterly compelling, but it was entertaining and Rain was an empathetic character.

I was a bit disappointed in this book. I really liked the set-up, basically the first half of the novel. The characters were nice and the setting great for a mystery, an isolated lakeside community with insiders and outsiders and interesting class dynamics. But all that was thrown away in the second half when the characters proceeded to make more and more stupid decisions (like confronting a murderer on their own when they really didn't need to) and their conversations became more and more repetitive. The writing on the sentence level is also really clunky and awkward. Lovely descriptions of nature though.

A cozy, easy-read mystery, this book was a good read! Follow Rain and Julia as they get deeply involved in a murder investigation. They can’t stop themselves from meddling in the investigation.

A great debut cozy that flows steadily along and is absorbing. The lakeside setting of Pine Lake, WI sounds lovely and relaxing. Widow, Rain Wilmot returns to the family’s summer cabin hoping for some peace and quiet to heal her battered emotions. Opening up the part of the house that was turned into a library for the locals to use isn’t on her bucket list; however, with her friend Julia’s help, Rain agrees to try.

Things rapidly shift into high gear when a lifeless body is discovered a few feet away from the cabin! Shockingly, a rare edition of a book written by Rain’s grandfather, Luis, lays near the corpse. Julia’s handsome brother, Jace; a lawman, does everything he can to catch the culprit and protect Rain and Julia, who tend to be snoops.

I found this story filled with plenty of surprise twists and turns and a splash of humor here and there; which are characteristics I look for in a great cozy mystery. I enjoyed the main characters, a cute cocker spaniel pet, and the murder mystery, and look forward to the next story.

I honestly reviewed a digital arc provided by NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books. All opinions are my own. Thank you.

After losing her husband, Rain moves back to the small lakefront community her family has summered at for years. She hopes to come to grips with the loss and reconnect with friends she's lost touch with. Her plans are immediately disrupted when the body of a man she doesn't know is found near an old outhouse on the property.

When one of Rain's relatives comes under suspicion of the murder she and her friends are determined to find out who the real culprit is. I liked the setting and the description of the close-knit community. There are some interesting characters and a mystery within a mystery when a hidden birth certificate comes to light.

The book is an easy read and there are some plot twists and surprises along the way. At times, Rain and her friend exhibit some risky behavior that would be far fetched in real life, but fans of cozy mysteries will enjoy the book.