Richard's reaction to Kirk following and helping to fond his career was overrated. Now, in the sleuthing area, I believed Amy got hoodwinked and blindsided by the real murderer. All her research achieved was a bulls-eye on her back. Not that she didn’t follow the clues, they just led her to the wrong one. An intriguing puzzler with a couple of twisted and tangled trails, holding you captivated to every page.

Renewed for Murder was a cosy, easy read.

The characterization was what jumped out of this book for me - I felt a connection to Amy, Richard, Zelda, Brad and Lydia in particular, they helped to create a scene that was fully immersive and I couldn't tear myself away from the pages.

I would love to read the books that predate this one in the series, I recieved this book via NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Amy Weber, librarian in the small town of Blue Ridge, is settling into married life with her beloved Richard. However, the peace is about to be shattered when one of the couple's friends, Zelda, becomes the prime suspect after a dead body is found in her garden. Zelda doesn't help her own case, becoming suspiciously secretive about her past, how she knew the victim - and why she was being blackmailed!

I've enjoyed the series to date, and this one improved from a minor dip with the previous instalment. I did wonder if the series would end with the wedding, but it's actually nice to see Amy and Richard getting on with their new life without changing character or motivations.

The mystery - the main point for me, all too often overshadowed by romance etc in cosy mysteries! - relies a little too heavily on someone being overly cagey about their past, given a murder accusation, but it still keeps you guessing. Overall: full points for cosy, not too bad on the mystery.

Loved reading this book and author. If you haven't read it yet I highly recommend her and her books. Happy reading and enjoy

Amy Webber Muir, the library director, is looking forward to the local Arts Festival. Her husband, Richard, a dancer, has choregraphed a dance set to folk music. In the meantime Amy has been asked by her Aunt Lydia to help her friend Zelda who seems to be a bit rattled about something. Before Amy can even talk to Zelda she is called to Zelda's house where she, Aunt Lydia, and Zelda find a body in the gazebo.

The mystery is a bit complicated but the clues are all there to figure out who is the murderer and why the victim was left in Zelda's yard.

I think this would have been a bit more enjoyable if there hadn't been so many possibilities. But the main characters were well-written and the story itself was fun to read.

Renewed For Murder is the sixth book in the Blue Ridge Library Mysteries series and the second one I have read. I started with this series by reading book five last year and I still have to read all the earlier books but what I have noticed reading the latest two books is that the author gives just the right amount of background information on all the characters to make it easy for a new reader to follow the storyline.

Renewed for Murder: A Blue Ridge Library Mystery
By Victoria Gilbert
Crooked Lane
December 2021

Review by Cynthia Chow

Only three years after starting her life over in Taylorsford, Virginia, Amy Webber has become the director of Taylorsford Public Library, reunited with her beloved Aunt Lydia, and even married famous dancer/choreographer Richard Muir. Together they have taken up the project of renovating the 1920s home he inherited next door, although it’s another blast from the past that threatens to disrupt their blissful lives. The Leeland High School chamber choir is hosting their 50th reunion during the August weekend art festival, and many of Lydia Talbot’s choirmates are back in town for the celebration. Her best friend Zelda Shoemaker is acting uncharacteristically secretive and quiet, which is why Lydia asks her niece to use some of her librarian reference interviewing skills to discreetly find out why. They were right to be concerned, as when rival Stonebridge chamber choir member Claudia Everhart is found shot to death in a gazebo, evidence quickly makes Zelda the primary suspect.

While Amy has trouble believing that anyone could be vengeful enough to kill over fifty-year-old rivalries, dark secrets and a rumored curse lead back to long ago tragedies that occurred after the choir competition. A peanut-related death, car accident, and allegations of impropriety all lead back to long-held resentments and romantic entanglements. Zelda may not be guilty of this murder, but she’s acting like someone who is hiding shameful secrets and carrying the weight of past crimes.

This 6th in the series welcomes readers back into the Blue Ridge Mountain region of Virginia, where Amy has uncovered secrets from her own past while finding so much comfort and love in her present. Her small library is a welcoming home for the community, where gossip is shared and friendships are forged. While Amy has confidence in her local law enforcement, her innate curiosity and librarian research skills have her determined to look into the secrets of the past and uncover the truth. Richard and her best friend, Mayor Sunny Fields, do what they can to keep their favorite murderer-target protected, and along with Lydia’s boyfriend Hugh Chen they are a considerable force of knowledge with official connections. Library lovers will of course adore this series, and fans of these charming characters will enjoy spending time with this latest body-positive, creative arts-embracing mystery.

While I didn't love this one as much as the previous books in the series, it was still nice to travel back to Taylorsford Virginia and reconnect with librarian Amy and the gang. Because reading a cozy mystery the heroine and the other characters fill like friends. But the mystery for once was one that kept me on my toes the whole time I was reading.

Newly married librarian Amy Webber finds herself in the middle of yet another murder mystery when Aunt Lydia's best friend, Zelda becomes the main suspect when a body turns up in her garden. An art festival is bringing in lots of visitors to the town of Taylorsford, including a group of women who will the preforming in the choir performance. Turns out the body belongs to one of the women who performed in the choir demonstration who also happens to be a former rival of Zelda from the high school days. Some fifty years back, Zelda and the victim were each members of rival high school choir groups. While the evidence all seems to point towards Zelda as the culprit, as the victim was shot with Zelda's late husband's gun, Amy is determined to prove Zelda's innocence.

Renewed for murder has all the elements of a delightfully enjoyable cozy series including a diverse cast of recurring characters, plenty of suspenseful drama, and a lovely library setting at the foot of the blue ridge mountains. While the mystery itself is quite complex with lots of moving parts and plenty of motives and suspects to keep things interesting, it never becomes confusing or convoluted. The story takes on a bit of a dual perspective timeline as we are thrust back in time to when Zelda and the victim were in high school, providing a fascinating backstory and context for the current mystery. Amy is a delightful main character and amateur sleuth who uses her skills in research to solve crimes, an element that adds an extra level of enjoyment to library users and lovers everywhere. The author incorporates just the right amount of details pertaining to the character's background to ensure new readers like myself are able to not only follow along with ease but also enjoy the mystery to its full extent. I highly recommend Renewed for Murder to cozy mystery fans looking for an enjoyable mystery set in a charming mountainside town with plenty of book loving library vibes.

I have enjoyed other books in the past more than this one. Zelda's out of character clamming up about the dead woman found in her backyard, not even talking to the man she loves or her best friend, was a little unbelievable. It didn't diminish my enjoyment of this book, though. The mystery was fun and fast paced. I wish Kurt had played a bigger role. He's my favorite character. Things are always interesting when he's involved. A fun read regardless. Looking forward to seeing what's next for Amy.

I love this series and was so excited to be able to read this next installment. The witty banter and fun little mysteries are my favorite and throw in a library and it's always a winner!

Fun librarian cozy. I haven't read others in this series, but was able to jump in and follow along with the characters back stories.

Another wonderful installment in the Blue Ridge Library Mystery series! Gilbert continues to dazzle with her plots and characters, and long-time readers will greatly enjoy a look into the newlywed life of Amy and Richard.

I always find that this series is well written and the story keeps you interested but there's just something missing. Amy seems nice enough and competent but I've never really warmed to her as much as I think I should have seeing as we shared a profession. This mystery in particular seemed to drag until the very end when the killer seems to come out of nowhere. When it did get going, it was very good but this probably is my least favorite in the series. As another review mentioned (and is completely accurate), Amy as a library director should know better how to handle archival materials and the old newspapers were likely digitized years ago so no need to go into the archives, which apparently are poorly maintained. Still, I will continue with the series as I do find the small town setting enjoyable and hope that I warm to Amy soon.

Another excellent edition to a wonderful series! Full of twists and turns that leaves you wanting more and enjoying each moment until the end when the killer is caught!

Amy Muir (nee Webber) is settling into new married life with her husband, dancer Richard Muir. Things seem to finally be going smoothly, and she's happy and content. But then she finds out from her aunt Lydia, who lives next door, that Lydia's friend Zelda is in trouble, and insists that Amy and her husband take her to Zelda's instead of calling the police. When they arrive, there is a dead body in Zelda's gazebo, and Zelda is nowhere to be found. But when the woman is identified, it appears she may have been blackmailing Zelda. But the only connection the two women have is a long-ago choir they were both in; one that Zelda dropped out of soon after winning the finals against a neighboring group. To complicate things, it appears that a teenaged girl was killed in a car accident not long after, and Amy wants to know if this had anything to do with the competition.

Once found, Zelda won't talk about it and Lydia wants Amy to research who the woman was and why she was there. But Amy soon finds herself in trouble, but refuses to quit. Will she find a killer who seems to be targeting both Zelda and her? Or will this be her final trip to the library?

Let me first say that I love Victoria Gilbert's books. I have read all of them so far. But this one sorely disappointed me, and I found it to be the weakest in the series. Also, the formatting left out characters, so it was more difficult to read. There were 'if', 'ff', and 'th' missing from many of the words in the Kindle edition. I do not know if this has been fixed or not, but hopefully it has.

Saying that, the author needs to do her homework. Peanut allergies didn't begin until the 90's. In the time period mentioned, nearly everyone brought peanut butter/peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to school. They ate peanuts at ball games. I know people that grew up in that era, and not one of them had ever heard of peanut allergies. A little research would have verified this. So I really didn't find the rest of the book too believable after this.

Also, while others might not have mentioned it, no one really cares about Richard's dance troupe or his choreography. Dance is something that is visual, and it is no different than a film. Yes, you can read a screenplay, but it won't have the same effect as seeing the film on screen. Dance really needs to be viewed in the same manner. I found it tedious and it took away from the mystery and there was far too much of it. It was almost as if we were reading about Richard's career instead of a murder.

As to the mystery itself, it suffered because of all the talk about Richard's dancing. Where was Zelda in the beginning of the book? We read about her, but didn't learn anything until the latter half of the book. By then, it didn't matter. I had already lost interest because of what I mentioned above. I also didn't care for the author subtly throwing in her personal views, as this is supposed to be a novel, not a book on political science. I read to relax and unwind from the world, not have it follow me in my leisure time.

What I would like to have seen is Richard actually helping Amy in her investigations. Yes, I realize he thinks his dancing is so important, but it would be nice to see him be the one to rescue her once in a while. My favorite character is still Kurt; he's mysterious and has a dark past, but is there when you need him.

In the end, there was quite a bit going on in the climax, and yes, it was filled with action, so it had that redeeming quality going for it. But it was not tension-filled nor too exciting, although it did make sense of everything coming before it. Ms. Gilbert is a very talented author and I have always enjoyed her books, and the fact that she can bring words to life. Unfortunately, that didn't occur in this latest mystery.

I can't say this was my favorite in the series so far, but it was definitely a good mystery and fairly complicated (and admittedly slow in spots), so I just took the advice Brad always gives Amy (but she never follows lol) to let them take over solving it. I kinda just sat back and read wondering what was going to happen next. I never really had one person in mind. At one point, the person whodunit did cross my mind, but I never could come up with a good reason.

The showdown was really exciting though and had Zelda and Amy running around with a killer in an old building in the dark, wow talk about suspense! Everything ended great, and Kurt had a big hand in getting them some much needed help from the authorities. I loved the line he gave Brad when Brad gave his approval for Kurt helping out. But I won't spoil it. It's just typical Kurt, and I've honestly come to love his character a lot! I don't think I could've said that early on. Yep, he skirts the law, but I remember how everyone always loved ole JR Ewing every Friday night doing that same thing. This guy isn't much different lol! He's also very good to have as a friend rather than an enemy, lol.

I'm loving the married Amy and Richard! They're the cutest couple and despite having their normal share of disagreements, they always end each day on a good note and have lots of respects for each other. I'm definitely looking forward to more adventures in this series!

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

A nice blend of romance and mystery. Who killed the woman in Zelda's yard? Amy can't help herself from researching and nosing around to help the police find the answer. Why would Zelda be the main suspect? An entertaining cozy mystery I really enjoyed.

Amy Webber Muir is the library director in Taylorsford, Virginia. She is enjoying married life with her husband, Richard who is being with the upcoming arts festival. Aunt Lydia stops by and mentions that her best friend, Zelda Shoemaker has not been herself. Aunt Lydia gets a call for help from Zelda, and they rush over. They find a woman dead in Zelda’s gazebo, and she looks eerily like Zelda. The evidence mounts up against Zelda putting her at the top of Chief Deputy Brad Tucker’s suspect list. Amy must use her skills to help clear Zelda’s name before she ends up in the hoosegow. Renewed for Murder by Victoria Gilbert is the sixth A Blue Ridge Library Mystery. It can easily be read as a standalone for those new to the series. There is a diverse cast of characters in this series. They are developed and relatable. I have enjoyed getting to know the people of Taylorsford. It is a charming Southern town that appreciates books and the arts. The mystery was well plotted. There are several suspects in this whodunit that could have committed the murder. Amy is busy researching the background of each suspect in the hopes of finding a clue. She enlists help from her friends in obtaining information since the case seems to tie back to the 1970s. The whodunit is a bit convoluted, and I thought the reveal dragged on a little too long. There seemed to be no urgency to solve the crime. The pace of the story was languid (it needed an injection of action). There are clues to help readers solve the crime. You just need to pay attention and piece it all together. The mystery is completely resolved at the end. There are plenty of cozy moments with relatives and loved ones. It is good to see Richard and Amy happy together. Aunt Lydia is enjoying time with her beau as is Sunny. There might even be a special someone for Zelda if they can clear her of this pesky murder charge. Renewed for Murder ends on a high note with a lovely ending. Renewed for Murder is a charming whodunit with a bothered best friend, a dead doppelganger, curious clues, a choir congregation, a lovey dovey duo, a fun festival, and a mysterious murderer.

3.5★

Amy Webber (now Muir) had been married to Richard Muir for three months and she was happy. Her life in Taylorsford, Virginia had been fraught with danger as she came across dead bodies and set about finding murderers. But she was sure that was all changed – until her Aunt Lydia came into their house, pale and shaking, after a phone call from her good friend Zelda Shoemaker. As they all hurried over to her home, they were shocked to find a dead body in her backyard. Chief Deputy Brad Tucker arrived on the scene, and it wasn’t long before Zelda – distraught, pale, disoriented – was put on the Chief’s suspect list.

Would Amy, in her job as library director, be able to use her research skills to find answers to help Zelda? But Zelda wasn’t talking, which was making it much harder. As Amy discovered snippets of information, she filled Brad’s department in on what she found. But as usual, danger had its way of finding Amy. Blackmail, secrets, lies and revenge – what would be the outcome this time?

Renewed for Murder is the 6th in the Blue Ridge Library Mysteries by Victoria Gilbert, and it wasn’t quite as entertaining as the previous. But I enjoyed the characters - Amy, Richard, Aunt Lydia, Sunny, Kurt and the others – and it’s always interesting to see what the mystery is and how they’ll all go about solving it. Recommended.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.