Cover Image: Murder at the Lakeside Library

Murder at the Lakeside Library

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Member Reviews

Cozies can be hit or miss for me and sadly this one was a little too low-tension for me.

Rain returns to her family cabin and is immediately pressured to open the informal lending library that her mother Willow used to run. Then a body is discovered and Rain's mother is the prime suspect. So Rain and her friend Julia team up to solve the murder.

The setting in this was unique and fun and well-described.But there was also a lot of narrative summary, a LOT of time with Rain contemplating things, and a lot of hand waving.

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Great start to a new cozy mystery series. I am eager to read the next one. Lots of potential for romance, resolving family issues, more library and outhouse activity. Thanks to the publisher for providing a copy via NetGalley.

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I absolutely love cozy mysteries, particularly those set by the water, but unfortunately this story didn't hold my attention.

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This is a wonderful start to a new cozy mystery series. It starts out a little slow but it picks up and was a very enjoyable read. It has just enough twists and turns to keep you turning the pages. I look forward to reading the next book in this series. Thank you Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

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Murder at the Lakeside Library by Holly Danvers gets off to a very slow start and unfortunately I found myself skimming a lot because of all the repetition. I’ll keep saying it, give me a shorter book with a tighter story any day over a longer book that keeps repeating. Did I mention all the repetition?! ;)

Even with the three star rating and recapping, I would try another book in A Lakeside Library Mystery series because the descriptions of Wisconsin’s Northwoods were perfect and made me feel as if I was back in my hometown of Eagle River.

And the characters are true to what you’ll find in Northern Wisconsin; people who have impromptu cookouts and invite everyone, people who are willing to drop everything and help, people who randomly cut a neighbor’s grass, friends/family who get the tab and say you can get the next one, and randomly seeing people you knew in high school when someone moves back to town after being away for 20 years.

With so much repetition of things besides the murder, there was not as much to the mystery as there are in other cozies, although Danvers does have some red herrings. The ending did seem a bit rushed, but was still a good reveal.

I’ll be checking out book two, Long Overdue at the Lakeside Library, if nothing else, to see the library finally up and running.

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This book was so much more than I expected. Set as a cozy mystery on a lake in upstate Wisconsin, this book tackles so much more than just murder. Rain, trying to take a respite at her family's lakeside cabin after a series of traumatic events in her personal life, unfortunately, dives head first into even more questions in her life. The author very respectfully handles themes of infertility, death, family relationships, parental trauma, generational trauma. I am really hoping this isn't the last we see of Rain, Julia, Jace, and the library. Even more so I would love to hear the actual story about Rain's parents!

4/5 Stars

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for providing me with an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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This is the first book in the cozy mystery series about Rain Wilmont, who returns home to her family's waterfront cabin in Lofty Pines after the death of her husband. Attached to the cabin the family has a small informal library, normally run by Rain's mother. This summer Rain will have to do this job, but before she can re-open the library a dead man is discovered outside.

This was such a good summer cozy mystery, a real easy read set in lovely surroundings. The mystery was not very complicated, but I still enjoyed the book, and will look forward to the next one in the series.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book.

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Rain retreats to her family’s summer cottage when her husband dies. She is shocked to find people want her to open the library room from the original family cabin. This is book 1 in the Lakeside Library series and it’s a great beginning. Old childhood friends help ease her sorrow and help solve the murder of a real estate agent found outside the cabin. I received a copy of this arc in exchange for a fair and honest review.

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This was a cute story. For the most part the main characters were likeable and their plotlines fathomable. While the ending seemed rushed as compared to the rest of the book, the revelation of the whodunit part of the mystery was very good. I definitely see where this could be a good series with the characters and relationships that have been introduced with this debut book.

I received an advance copy of this title via NetGalley.

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This is the first in the Lakeside Library mystery series. I loved the informal library, the quaint lakeside community and the relationships that Rain has with the "Lakers." Rain has returned to Lofty Pines after the untimely death of her husband. She has decided to come back to time some time to mourn and be away from people, but is immediately met by the news that she will have to open and run the library that is attached to the cabin. She is a little put off by the responsibility, but is enjoying spending time with her childhood best friend, Julia. She is working on reopening the library when she and her friends stumble upon the body of Thornton Hughes, clutching a book written by her grandfather.

This one started off a little slow for me, but picked up not far in to the novel and I was hooked. There were a lot of twists and turns, which I loved. Family secrets were discovered and I loved Rain's persistence in proving her family's innocence. I could picture the setting and would have loved to be sitting lakeside by the library reading a good book!

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This novel is Holly Danvers’ series debut for Lakeside Library Mysteries, and the book starts slow, eventually picking up. There are a few interesting elements to the murder mystery, but the story is easy to put down. The resolution is unexpected and finally evokes an emotional touch.

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Danvers initiates a new series about an upper Midwest lake town. First, I like the setting since I hail from the Midwest. Second, I like the main character, Rain. She’s transitioning to a new life and I hope there is a spark with Jace. Julie was a good sidekick for her as they chased down clues. It was almost like Cagney and Lacey. I liked the mystery plot. Family secrets, a library, and books are all topics I’m interested in. The cover makes me want to dive into it and explore. I think the series is off to a stellar beginning.

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Murder at the Lakeside Library by Holly Danvers is the first book in this author's A Lakeside Library Mystery series. I really enjoyed this story. The characters are very likable and realistic. The storyline flows well. The author describes Northwood in such a way I'm sure I'd enjoy a visit there. I especially enjoyed the surprise twist at the end of the book. The next book in the series, Long Overdue at the Library is on my TBR list.

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If you are looking for a book to read by the lake this summer, here it is!

Our main character, Rain, is newly widowed and decides to move back to her childhood lakeside summer home for some time away from the big city. Upon arrival there is a dead body discovered and Rain is wondering what the dead guy's connection is to her family. This of course leads to uncovering family skeletons and a little danger to herself.

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The premise of this is great - a more remote setting than usual in a cosy mystery, being a lakeside community in northern Wisconsin, which sounds quite idyllic - but I struggled to make it to 40% and then skimmed to the end. Standard ARC issues aside, I struggled with the dialogue and found it generally a clunky and awkward read. All the weird descriptions of people's hands grated, as did all the details, descriptions and comparisons throughout, which came across as so much filler rather than contributing anything towards the story and/or mystery and slowed the pace tremendously.

Not a series for me, although it will appeal to many who want a simple summer escape read.

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Rain comes to the family summer cabin of her childhood to recharge after the death of her husband. Thinking to find her mother waiting, she is troubled to find no mother, an unwanted task of running the library housed in the cabin and a body near the outhouse. This would be great for someone interested in character studies more than the mystery. It felt bogged down in places and solving the crime seemed secondary.

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Sometimes we all just need to get away and solve a little mystery! And that is what Rain does with a little help from her friend Julia. Rain has come to the family lakeside home and community library to regroup after the death of her husband. Little does she know that she will be greeted by the new local dead man! Join Rain as she tries to solve who the dead man is and spend some time with the hunky sheriff, Jace!

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I haven’t read a cozy mystery in a while and it was great to reconnect with that genre.

It took me too longer read at the beginning for personal reasons and not because I wasn’t liking the book, under normal circumstances I would have binge read it.
All in all I’ve finished reading it and loved it! Great debut cozy serie. 4⭐️

After a tragedy, Rain decides to go to her family’s cottage at Lakeside to be by herself during the hard times. Little did she know, she would have to take care of the Library her family open every Summer, or that a body would turn up on her property. Looks like the Summer will not be as quiet as she planed on.


Murder at the Lakeside Library by Holly Danvers will be out on July 13, 2021


Thanks you @netgalley and crooked lane books for the ARC for an honest opinion. Can’t wait for the next book in the serie

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Murder at the Lakeside Library is the first book in a new library cozy mystery series by Holly Danvers. Due out 13th July 2021 from Crooked Lane Books, it's 336 pages and will be available in hardcover, 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. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.

It's always fun to find a new library cozy, and this one is off to a promising start. Protagonist Rain has only been at the lakeside summer cabin community less than 24 hours before she stumbles (almost literally) across a body. The usual pool of small-town-oddball characters are present, there's skullduggery and hidden motives to be unearthed, there's even a handsome law enforcement officer, and Rain is motivated to establish her parents' innocence, as well as her own.

Some of the plot developments are admittedly a bit over the top and there are some twists which require a healthy suspension of disbelief, but all in all, it's a pretty good example of why the librarian cozy subgenre is so popular. I found the denouement and explanation out of sync with the majority of the rest of the novel and there were a few continuity problems, but nothing truly egregious. The language is squeaky clean and the violence is off-page and not graphic.

Three and a half stars. This would be a good light summer read for fans of cozies. It would be perfectly safe for work/commute reading. I'm interested to see what comes next for Rain and co.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

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An easy to read cozy mystery debut set at a lake in the North, with a library which sadly doesn´t appear much.

The main character Rain returns to her family´s lakeside library after having lost her husband, and doesn´t only find friends from childhood and other "Lakers", but also a body on her property. Her friend Julia helps to follow several tracks to the murder, though the police are the ones who puzzle the thing together, among them Jace, which whom Rain develps a good relationship.

The setting is nice and summery, and the non-mystery story about love, friendship and family is well written, but the mystery isn´t the main point. There are too many unnecessary descriptions and too many suspects, but the twists and turns lead to an end that´s not really relatable. A chance to develop more in this series.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for a free ebook in return for an honest review.

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