DNF--I was bored and the characters didn't pull me in, despite the main character being a librarian! 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.

A LIBRARY MURDER MYSTERY!!!

I am OBSESSED! with this unique and cozy mystery book. Its dark academia meets cottage core in the most perfect setting. The setting is captured perfectly in the beautiful writing by Leah Dobrinska. Descriptions, images and characters are all so well written with depth.

The cover was what initially caught my attention. it is goregus and i know its gonna be popular with the booktok girlies!

I cant wait to follow this series and explorer more of the authors writings.

The story begins very well. It starts with a very beautiful description of Larkspur. The imagery is so beautiful that you can feel being transported to the beach and the quiet Avenue. It's really a picture painted with words. A town described to be a small illustration to the quiet in nature during the season of fall.


Now go ahead and imagine having a murder happen in such a quiet and small town where everybody knows everyone and people know the routine of everybody else like you know your neighbour's whole schedule, it is that small of a town.


And this is exactly what the protagonist Greta Plank sees. Now Greta Plank is a librarian, and in the beginning there is a hint of her having a mysterious past that caused her to shift her location and come to this small town of Larkspur. This mystery will unfold as the novel progresses.


Coming back to the story, it is, as the name suggest, a murder mystery and it has all the essential elements of making it actually a gripping story. You are not given any idea as to who the murderer can be because everything around the whole scene of the murder is very suspicious. It can be an accident, it can be a murder and it can be anything to highlight the possibility without giving away any hasty clues and hints. Thus it is indeed a very realistic setting.


So in a way, you are actually working alongside the protagonist and the detective in the story to uncover the clues and track down the cause of the death and highlight whether it is a murder or an accident. It is actually a very gripping read and it can be read in one sitting. 


But the issue lies in the way the story is written. At times there is way too much explaining done and at times things are over simplified. While it can be chalked down to being written in a narrative way and readers are not led in to start their own investigation, for fans of Christie and Hitchcock, this can be a bummer. 


That said, I am a fan of Agatha Christie and Alfred Hitchcock, and I do like to have a story where clues are sprinkled all over for the reader to latch upon and have an idea that perhaps this is a murder and these maybe the suspects and this kind of writing where you are clueless till the end with nothing but a few leads is also a great way to stick around till the end and scratch your head for the answers.


All in all I think I would give this book a four out of five because it does have all the elements which would make it a good mystery plot. Moreover the length of the book gives the reader the freedom to complete the entire mystery in one sitting.

This is a very cozy mystery set in Larkspur, WI - a small town where everyone gets along, and nothing bad happens. Until Franklin, an older gentleman who's a rare book collector and is wheelchair bound, is found dead at the bottom of his stairs by Greta, the new librarian. With a detective straight out of Chicago on the case, Greta finds herself at the center of this murder investiagtion - as a suspect, and must start her own investigation to clear her name.

I really enjoyed about 75% of this book - the plot was super cute, the small town characters were quirky as promised, and the mystery unfolded pretty smoothly. But I felt the chemistry between the new detective and Greta didn't build properly - there were barely sparks by the end, and sometimes Greta's character had way too much internal strife for past situations that weren't explained until well into the second half of the book. I think the other 25% of the book could have been edited down/cut completely and the story would have flowed much smoother.

I will keep my eye out for the next in this series, but I do hope it progresses a little more quickly than Death Checked Out did.

This was the first book I have read by Leah Fobrinska and I enjoyed it. Death Checks Out is a small town librarian mystery with a likable heroine and a fun, fast-moving plot. I’m a sucker for books about books or libraries, and I would read future books by this author or in this series. Thanks to Level Best Books and Net Galley for the ARC.

Many thanks for this ARC! Being a fan of cozy mystery genre and being attracted by the cover and description, I hoped I will like this book, However, I found it too predictable in the end, which may not be the case for someone who doesn't read as much as myself.

3.5/5

I have a confession and it is that this cheesy, romance, detective type genre is my guilty pleasure! I am happy to say that this one did not disappoint! I love the girl had something horrible/tough that happened in her past and she moves to a small town and makes a group of best friends and they all solve mysteries together. Any combination as long as its done well I just love it!

The first page of the book I was a little nervous when there were multiple book analogies on that page but thankfully there was only one other line in the book where they threw one. This was a very fun and easy read that kept me guessing the entire time.

Greta is a strong independent character who has had a tough experience in her past, we don't find out what it is other than it having something to do with a boy. I do wish we would have found out in this book because it leaves me with questions which I'm hoping it will be answered in the next one. Detective McHenry was one that I'm not to sure on, you can see from a mile away that they are going to have chemistry but he was such a poop at the beginning of the book! I will be looking forward to reading more about their relationship in future books as well!

Thank you Netgalley and Leah Dobrinska for gifting me an advanced copy of Death Checked out in return for my honest review.

Small town mystery, a library, and female friendships... sign me up. Death Checked Out was a delightful cozy mystery. Larkspur and the characters were quirky and fun. Being from a small town in the midwest, I felt very at home in this novel. This was a great opener to the Larkspur Library Mysteries and I am very much looking forward to the upcoming books in this series.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Greta Plank, library director in the small, lakeside town of Larkspur, Wisconsin, prefers her rose-tinted glasses extra rosy, thank you very much. It’s how she copes with the hard stuff in life…like her sister’s death and her ex-boyfriend’s deception. But Greta’s cheery resolve takes a hit when she stumbles upon a dead body on her way home from work. What she assumes is a terrible accident Greta soon learns is something more sinister, and to make matters worse, a new-to-town detective cites her as not only his primary source for the case, but his top suspect.

This was highly entertaining and the romance was too good!

Thank you NetGalley and publishers for the arc, in exchange for an honest review.

I really wanted to like this one more than I did. I was between 2 & 3 stars… I do think the characters were cute, but it felt too cheesy at points multiple points; think Hallmark movie with a murder mystery. Additionally, I know listen/watch too much true crime stories to suspend belief in how the case was solved…

This book is #1 of what will be at least a series of three books. I’m not sure I’d read the others… though I am curious to see if Greta & the detective get together.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

SPOILERS MAY BE INCLUDED IN THIS REVIEW

This was such a cute cozy mystery. Other than the Thursday Murder Club series I think this may be the only other cozy mystery I have read and it won’t be the last of this series. The plot follows Greta, a librarian who is fairly new to the small town of Larkspur. After finding one of her friends dead, the book takes us on an adventure of Greta trying to solve the case along with her two best friends Josie and Iris after being wrongfully accused. However, Greta may have made herself a target for getting too involved.

As a lover of books myself, I enjoyed that the book centred around a librarian and the scene was set extremely well. I wish we had more descriptions of the small town to really get into the mood and headset for the book.

When reading the summary of the book, I think the parts centred around Greta’s sister’s death and her ex boyfriend can be changed or removed as I depicted that these would be a much bigger part of the story than they were!

Greta and Josie- I loved them both! You could see how kind and caring they both were and valued their friendship completely. I find this a lot more appealing in books such as cozy mysteries like this that it is centred on friendship rather than a romantic encounter, although I did love the growing friendship between Greta and the detective.

Iris- I’m not sure whether iris was written to be portrayed as so unlikable. Her ‘best’ friend is being accused of a murder and all Iris cares about is ditching Greta and Josie all the time for her boyfriend that she hardly knows and hasn’t been with very long.

The twist- I really enjoyed the twist and the ending. I only guessed half of it in regards to who the person behind everything was but not the other twist and why these things were being done.

Overall I loved the book. It did take me around the 40% ish mark to really become hooked into the story once it got going and more exciting things started happening but it was enjoyable reading about the characters and setting the scene.
I think the story was really important in terms of highlighting the power and importance of friendship (new or existing), family, and not giving up for anything or anyone.

There are many things working for this book: cosy small town vibes, a librarian protagonist, a rare book collection, a surly detective who's new to town. However, it felt short of being a good cosy mystery novel. Solid 3 star read though.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for sending this book for review. All opinions are my own.

Death Checked Out by Leah Dobrinska, the first in the Larkspur Library Mystery series, is sure to be a runaway hit with cozy mystery readers. Greta is the library director in the idyllic lakeside town of Larkspur, Wisconsin. She looks for the best in everyone and every situation, working to win over the library patrons and making friends with town residents. Greta’s world is rocked when her reclusive friend is murdered and she becomes a suspect.

This book caught and held my interest from the very first page through the last. Not only was the setting charming and a perfect backdrop, I wanted to be friends with the supporting characters who were true-to-life and so relatable. The mystery was well constructed with clues and red herrings throughout. (I reviewed an advance reader copy and all opinions are my own.) I am already anticipating the next in this feel-good cozy series.

When I saw that author Leah Dobrinska was writing her first cozy mystery book and it centered around a Librarian and her two fellow librarian friends sleuthing out a crime I knew I had to give this one a read 😊. I mean that cover is just gorgeous 😍.
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Leah Dobrinska builds a cozy world in a small lakeside town in the Wisconsin Northwoods, adds a handsome new to town detective, a curious librarian with a few secrets in her past, two adorable and amazing friends, a mystery with an unexpected twist and bookish puns sprinkled in. I want to hang out at the cafe with these Librarians! 🙌🏻 Loved the mom homeschooling reference. As a homeschool mom libraries are also my go to! The descriptive writing flowed making it easy to picture what’s going on. As this is the first book there is set up for future books happening and I can’t wait to see how the stories develop in more books.
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Thank you @netgalley and @levelbestbooks for my ebook copy to read and review. All thoughts are my own.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review!

This was such a cute cozy small-town mystery. I liked the descriptions of the town it sounded quaint and cute. The main character was interesting, but I did find her perspective boring at times. I will say I did guess some of the plots, but I didn't guess the main one at the end! While some of the descriptions were overexplained, I did enjoy this! I will definitely be reading the next one in the series!

https://wellreadpiratequeen.blogspot.com/2022/12/death-checked-out-by-leah-dobrinska.html

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"For heaven's sake! This is Larkspur, Wisconsin. No one here would want anyone else dead."
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Ohhhhhh Greta. Poor sweet annoyingly chipper Greta.

To be fair, this may not have been the best time to for me to read anything with a main character that has a "cheery resolve" and "idyllic worldview" ... but I'm trying to catch up on my neglected NetGalley shelf and this was next on the list (besides those way overdue for reviewing). Luckily, her finding a friend dead and being the only suspect the detective in charge is looking at means that not everything is perky-perky-perky and I could actually read the book without wanting to smack the cheeriness out of her ... much.
 
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"Miss Plank, one more thing."
Greta spun around too see Detective McHenry slip into the hallway behind her.
"What?" Her snappish tone was out of character, but she'd never been accused of murder before, so all bets were off.
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Sometimes "out of character" is exactly what's needed to make a character likeable ... and a book readable. It's almost as though Leah Dobrinska knew what she was doing when she was writing this. Greta's out of character moments and the amazing set of secondary characters (particularly Detective McHottie) has pretty much guaranteed that this is a series I will want to continue.

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She'd never seen the man show any shred of emotion beyond stoic, indifferent, and accusatory. His face completely transformed when he wasn't scowling, and Greta didn't hate it.
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Of course, if you've been around for a while you know how bad I am at finishing series ... or continuing series ... or remembering to ramble and share ... or .....

2023 will be better. Hopefully. In a lot of ways.

Greta is the Librarian at the Larspur Community Library with Josie and Iris. When her next-door neighbor and rare book collector, Franklin, is murdered they step in to solve the murder. Detective McHenry is new in town, and he doesn't make a good first impression on Greta when he thinks she is his prime suspect. He ends up, begrudgingly, listening to Greta as she looks into Franklin and his rare book business. As a good librarian researcher, she discovers a few interesting things. I think McHenry is going to make a good love interest for Greta in upcoming books in this series, and I'm looking forward to reading them.

Overall I feel like it wasn’t cohesive enough for this to be a solid 3-star read. There were moments of emotional vulnerability in the book that felt like it was forced. If more groundwork was done earlier in the story, it would’ve been a lot more natural. That aside, the mystery itself was actually pretty interesting especially when it involves a rare book collection. I would’ve loved to see more of that elaborated in the story instead of it being passed around like a baton. Another thing that bugged me was the constant “casual” mention of how attractive the detective is, and how Greta’s friends tried to push her towards either the detective or Liam. That's heteronormativity at its peak if you ask me… that was so unnecessary.

And the ending? The big reveal felt like someone was doing a presentation but they were reading straight off the PowerPoint slides.

"i've never met a book i didn't like."

i picked this up through Netgalley, with thanks to the author and the publisher for gifting me this e-ARC

larkspur, a gorgeous idyllic town situated next to a stunning lake, cute quaint shops and greta, small town librarian gets caught up in an accident - its only an accident surely? but when big-time detective comes to town and starts pinning greta as the prime suspect in murder, and then even more accidents occur, joined by her best friends josie and iris, they start trying to clear their friends name and investigating the case, a few too many dots start to connect...

rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

my thoughts: wow. when i first heard of the cosy mystery genre, i did not think id enjoy it as much as i did this novel! greta plank is a loveable protagonist, having moved to larkspur for a fresh start and enjoying the small-town community feel - working with two best friends that may seem a little bit ditsy and gullible at times, specifically with them investigating a murder themselves, disturbing crime scenes and going after other possible suspects without even a thought as to how it would implicate themselves.

despite the clues throughout the book as to whodunnit, the twists also made sure to put you off course as to who you truly believed was behind it all, and the final resolution was extremely satisfying. the setting of the book with the descriptions of places throughout the book, including mugs & hugs coffee shop, made me want to join them for a coffee and cookie from allison!

if anything, this made me want to work as a librarian even more than i do currently! loved the writing style and can't wait to see where else the series goes (even if im a little confused as to where it will go as i don't want any more murders in this quaint town!

I really liked this mystery! I read more thrillers but this cozy mystery was great. I can't wait to read more by this author!