I absolutely adored the cover on this book. And I loved the concept of a small town librarian.

Greta Plank is the library director of a small town in Wisconsin. Her boundless optimism and faith in humanity is tested when her neighbor is killed, and the new police detective in town is looking at her as the main suspect.

I was really charmed by the setting. There was a lot of love for small town America in here, and the side characters were all distinct and intriguing. I really enjoyed Greta's relationship with her two coworkers and friends. Greta really shines in her interactions with her community and what she hopes to do for them. I'm glad the romance wasn't really the forefront, which would really give the relationship time to build for me.

The mystery kept me guessing, which I really appreciated. Although, i do feel that there could have been more clues dropped for teh final reveal. There was a particular reveal that almost felt like it was thought of 3/4 of the way through, and written from there.

I'd love to follow the adventures of Greta and her small town shenanigans in any follow up stories, especially if we get to see more of her relationships around the town.

My thanks to NetGalley and Level Best Books for this ARC.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the e-copy in exchange for review. I thoroughly enjoyed this small-town mystery although did feel our heroine stuck her nose where it didn’t belong far too often. I’d be interested in reading more in this series in future.

I absolutely loved this novel.
Such a great story with defined characters and a great plot.
What drew me in the most was how fleshed out the characters were
The writing style was fluid and relateable.
The cover was fascinating as well.
A reviting read overall
Definitely recommend adding this to your TBR!

Such a cozy mystery. It gave me Elle alexander vibes. She’s one of my favorite cozy mystery authors. I loved the audio of this novel. I felt like I was in the library with Greta in Larkspur.

I do love a cozy mystery and it made it even cozier because the MC worked at a library. I think the characters and setting were the perfect start to a cozy mystery series. Plus, the mystery part was fun! I'll be excited for the next book in the series.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the eARC.

Can you tell I'm ready for fall already? I've been on a cozy read kick, and Death Checked Out fits right into that category! It's a wonderful mix of books, slow (SLOW) burn romance (like nothing happens in this particular book), and whodunnit.

I really loved how this was a cozy mystery rather than one that just freaked me out. While I do love those kinds of thrillers, we're going to be spending the weekend in a wooded area and I'd rather not have to think about what's lurking in the dark.

I enjoyed Greta's character and the support system she's created in Larkspur. So many people are there to rally around her when she's grieving. And I loved how they all stuck up for her when Detective McHenry decided she was his prime suspect.

This was my first book by Leah Dobrinska, but it won't be my last. I'm already excited for the next book in this series. Although I don't think there's a date set yet. And while this book isn't on KindleUnlimited, I think all of her other books are, so I'll be checking those out as soon as I can!

Thanks to @whatleahwrote, @levelbestbooks, & @netgalley for a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book sounded amazing but when I got in to it the characters just didn’t delve lol and I lost interest

I really thought I would love this book, but it really didn’t do it for me. I didn’t enjoy any of the characters as they all felt very one dimensional and…unfortunately rather dull. I would have loved to have gotten to know the characters in order to root for them. There were a lot of characters and they all merged a little as every character felt one dimensional - toxically positive, grumpy, loved up etc. Who asks someone on a date at a funeral? You just met and exchanged maybe two sentences? I didn’t buy McHenry as a detective. Just bring the suspect into the house for a wee nosey, sure! Then let her parents come too. Ah it’s fine, just wear gloves This book quickly became infuriating and I wish I’d DNF’d but I did want to know who the murderer was…I called it quite early on and wanted to know if I was right. I was.

I don't read a lot of cozy mysteries however, so another reader might enjoy it very much so. Just not my cup of tea.

Cozy mysteries are a love of mine, and Death Checked Out was a fun addition to my growing pile of them! Greta is a realistic and plucky lead without coming on too strong, the twists were clever and the subtle undertones of a potential romance down the line were woven in quite seamlessly. Some of the dialogue did seem a little bit on the nose, but it was a solid start to a series and I’d be very interested to read more about Larkspur and its goings on.

Thank you soooooo much netgalley, the author and the publisher for the advanced review copy if this book💗


Really enjoyed the book!!!

When library director Greta stumbles on a dead body, she decides to do some “off the books” sleuthing to clear her name.

Of course, I had to request this cozy mystery set in a library when I saw it on NetGalley. I enjoyed this one, and I can’t wait to read more about Greta and her friends!

Greta Plank works in the local library and lives a perfectly simple life, but her cheery outlook takes a hit when she discovers a local dead. To top it off the new detective in town seems to think she’s the top suspect. Greta needs to clear her name and so takes on the role of detective herself, uncovering some hidden secrets along the way, will she be able to prove she’s innocent.

This a good little cosy mystery following Greta, I love when a main character takes on the role of detective and is racing to uncover clues before they get caught. Greta was a sweet character I just didn’t feel as pulled into the story as I hoped, I wanted to feel captured by the mystery. The ending was good and I liked how it was all wrapped up after the clues and red herrings along the way.

Thank you Level Best Books and NetGalley for the eARC of Death Checked Out! All opinions in this review are my own.

I was immediately drawn into this cozy mystery because of the murder victim. You are introduced to Greta's reserved but sweet neighbor Franklin, and then she finds him in his backyard a few chapters later! Having already been introduced to Franklin, made me more invested in solving the mystery. I felt like there was a good balance between real clues and red herrings so that the solution fit the story well.

Death Checked Out is the first in the Larkspur Library series and I look forward to the sequel!

This story was kind of hard to follow. There was spots where the story seemed to drag on . Characters and the story went in to many directions so I ended up not finishing the book

While I was surprised to see a mystery written in a library written by a non librarian, I was overall underwhelmed with the completed product. A third round purchase for libraries.

Overall, it was fine; it wasn't anything groundbreaking. For me, the writing was a bit juvenile at times and just really lacked depth and flavor. Everything seemed too generic and like it was following the script of other books before it. Readers looking for a clean read should enjoy it because there's no explicit content, and there were only 2 actual curse words used. I just wanted more from the story. It dragged and I wanted something super compelling to happen, but even when "exciting" things happened, it was very lackluster. It had all the elements that usually drive a story, like a small town setting, murder mystery, quirky main character, and a few twists and turns, but it all just didn't culminate into a truly compelling tale. I haven't read anything else from this author, so I don't know how this one compares to other works, but I don't plan on continuing the series.

First in a new library mystery, Death Checked Out was a well-written bookish mystery following Greta Plank, library director in the small town of Larkspur, Wisconsin. Forced into solving a murder to clear her name, Greta finds herself embroiled in something far more complicated that first thought. Overall, this was a really good read and complicated mystery. I recommend this book for anyone who loves bookish themed mysteries with characters who are starting a new journey.

This was a NetGalley Review.

Charming! The librarianship aspects were very sweet, as were the friendships. The love interest circumstance felt quite predictable and tropey (we know, earlier than when the detective directly says it, that he doesn't actually suspect our protagonist of murder, and he's channeling his attraction towards her into being aggravating--but our MC needs a motive to keep digging other than her investigative spirit, I suppose). It was fun and light, and I'd be curious to read a sequel.

I am struggling to write a review for this one but one thing is clear, I badly wanted to like to this book and it did not live up to any sensible expectations for me.

A single librarian who chose to look at the brighter side of things and sleuthing at the same time is a concept that held so much promise. What I got is a one dimensional and unrealistic characterization of the main lead, a cop out Nancy Drew story, over explanation of every tiny actions and thoughts, lame attempt to enemies to lovers theme and overall nonsensical plot line.

If only there were word building and realistic portrayal of events as well as characters, this could have made it more tolerable.

I usually don't review books this way as I understand not all books would be my go-to, however, the lack of transitions and attempts to just fill in the gaps in order to produce a book is just too much for me. I could've DFN'd this one to save me a some headache but I promised myself, I will only DNF 1 book per year

Death Checked Out was a another new cozy mystery series! It made me want to visit the town of Larkspur Wisc. . Even though Greta has only been in Larkspur for ashort time, she was able to obtain a job as Director of Larkspur Community Library.

When Gretta is suspected of killing her neighbor, she has to prove her innosence so she pulls in her friends who are also libraians to help. They all pinch in to help.

I am interested in reading further about whats next to happen in Larkspur.
Thank you Net Galley for introducing me to another series.