Cover Image: Read to Death at the Lakeside Library

Read to Death at the Lakeside Library

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Member Reviews

Thank you to Netgally, the publishers, and Holly Danvers

When I requested this book I was unaware that it was apart of a series, one that requires you to read the previous books for this one to make sense. I am unable to read all the previous books along with this one before the publish date. Therefore, I will rate this a fair 3/5 stars and will adjust the rating and review when I am able to read all the books in the series along with this one.

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This was fine, but pretty unremarkable. I definitely won’t be able to remember much about it. It was a quick easy read.

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Summertime in Lofty Pines, Wisconsin brings tourists and a resurgence of the summer book club at the Lakeside Library. After the first meeting, Lily Redlin, one of the club’s members is found dead in her home. The death resembles the book discussed by the club, Sparkling Cyanide, and Rain and her sidekicks
need to determine who would kill Lily, and more importantly, why?
As they investigate they discover a story filled with twists and turns. Is the murder related to the long ago death of a classmate? Is it related to a manuscript supposedly written by Laura Ingalls Wilder? The ladies have a long list of suspects, and many of them are members of the book club. Rain decides to reenact the book club meeting that preceded Lily’s death in the hope that the killer will be found.
This is the third book in the Lakeside Library Mystery series and it did not disappoint. The characters are well-developed and realistic. The setting is easy to picture as you read the story. This story was engaging from beginning to end and moved at a steady pace. I recommend this book!

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Fun , cozy mystery with likeable characters. I would suggest starting the series with the first book so you really get to know the characters and town. . This is the first book I read in the series and I need to go back and read the previous ones -- I'm sure things will be more focused for me once I read those books

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Cozy mysteries are my favorite, they are so easy to read.
Cozy mysteries are my favorite, especially when the male lead is in law enforcement, ILL EAT IT UP.
Cozy mysteries are my favorite, especially when they same how related to you brother or bestfriend OR ITS YOU RIVAL WHOS BEEN IN LOVE WITH YOU FOREVER. ILL IT EAT IT UP ALWAYS.

this book did not eat

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"Read to Death at the Lakeside Library" by Holly Danvers is a cozy mystery that combines the charm of a small Northwoods town with the intrigue of a murder investigation. The author weaves an engaging tale centered around Rain Wilmot, the owner of Lakeside Library, and her attempt to revive her mother's summer book club. The story takes an unexpected turn when one of the club members, Lily Redlin, is found dead in her home.

The premise, inspired by Agatha Christie's Sparkling Cyanide, adds an interesting layer to the narrative. However, as Rain delves deeper into the mystery, the plot becomes convoluted and at times confusing. The numerous subplots involving an old classmate's tragic accident, a priceless manuscript, and a mysterious letter from a long-lost relative create a web of complexity that can be overwhelming.

While the characters, including Rain and her sidekick Julia Reynolds, are well-developed and the setting is charming, the pacing of the story feels uneven. The attempt to emulate Agatha Christie's style with a reenactment of the book club's first meeting adds a unique touch but may not resonate with readers looking for a more straightforward mystery.

Overall, "Read to Death at the Lakeside Library" is a decent addition to the cozy mystery genre. The intricate plot may appeal to those who enjoy unraveling multiple threads, but readers seeking a more streamlined narrative might find the complexity a bit much. Holly Danvers delivers a satisfactory mystery, but it falls short of achieving a truly compelling and cohesive storytelling experience.

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This is a fun installment when Rain starts a book club @ the library! I love Wisconsin for a cozy location, the mystery was fast paced, and left me guessing. I recommend this book to cozy mystery lovers!
I would like to thank netgalley, the author Holly Danvers and the publisher for the opportunity to review this book!

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Read to Death at the Lakeside Library by Holly Danvers takes us back to Lofty Pines, Wisconsin where Rain Wilmot is getting ready to host her first book club discussion. The group will be discussing Agatha Christie’s Sparkling Cyanide. I like how the author tied Sparkling Cyanide into the story. Lofty Pines is a charming town with friendly residents (well, most of them). It is summer and the weather is perfect for spending time on the lake. Rain and her best friend, Julia, do not miss an opportunity to take a dip in the lake. The library is busy as people stop by to pick up books to read while lounging by the lake (or to read after dinner while relaxing on their deck). The mystery begins at the book club meeting where the group has a lively discussion about Sparkling Cyanide. Lily Redlin, who got a little hot under the collar at the meeting, is found dead in her home the next day. After the book club meeting, I knew who would die and how. I soon identified the guilty party. The why took longer to discover. Rain and Julia are eager to dig into the crime. The pair come up with justifications for why they should not turn over the information they have uncovered to the police (aka Julia’s brother, Jace). The case details are repeated way too many times (preliminary details repeated three or four times before Julia and Rain begin sleuthing). The case is neatly wrapped up at the end. Rain, who thinks about her deceased husband, Max often, is ready to date (seems too soon since she often recalls Max and how much she loved him). Rain is attracted to Julia’s brother, Jace Lowe (and it is obvious to everyone). I wish there had been less time devoted to romance. I lost track of how many times Rain admires Jace’s attributes or thinks about him. I did like the addition of Bento. He is a Siberian Husky that Rain adopts. I am a fan of Siberian Huskies. They are loving and intelligent dogs. While Read to Death at the Lakeside Library is the third A Lakeside Library Mystery, it can be read as a standalone. The needed background information on the characters is provided. I want to like A Lakeside Library Mysteries, but they are not a good fit for me. It is an easy-to-read story with likeable characters and a quaint area. I like that the library is in a log cabin. The author also incorporated information about the state and creation of the Wisconsin Old-Fashioned Cocktail (recipe at the end of the book). Read to Death at the Lakeside Library is lighthearted tale with an energetic book club discussion, lounging by the lake, a Wisconsin cocktail, an unexpected death, an adorable dog, and a romantic prospect.

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Read to Death is a fun little cozy mystery set at a private library and revolving around a book discussion group. It is set on a lake in Wisconsin where the librarians there tend to get involved in local mysteries and have to solve them. It was cute and was inspired by an Agatha Christie mystery. I enjoyed this one a lot.

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*I received a free copy of this novel from NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for my honest review.*

Rain is starting a book club at the library and the first meeting is full of ladies who are very interesting characters. When one of the attendees winds up dead, Rain and Julia investigate because all of the members of the book club have a motive, it seems. Eventually the only way to solve it is to hold another book club meeting.

This is a very, very light cozy mystery series. I enjoy the unique characters and the very small town setting with the lake. Good for a very quick read and a little mystery to boot!

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Rain and Julia are starting a book club and tonight is the first meeting! Everything seems to be going well until it’s discovered that one of the members didn’t actually read the book and watched the movie instead. This gets some people kinda heated. But it all ends well and everyone goes their separate ways. The next day, Rain and Julia are visiting one of the book club members and discovers that she has died! Was it suicide or was it murder? If it was murder, who could have done this? So Rain and Julia decide to solve this mystery themselves!

This series is super cute and a quick read! Rain and Julia are such good friends and they kinda play off each other! I think it’s funny that they’re not afraid to solve the murder and they let Julia’s brother, who’s a cop, know that they’re gonna stick their noses into the investigation! I love the small town feel of this book as well. And a new character is introduced in this book and it’s a dog!! Give me all the dogs! I definitely recommend this series for anyone that loves cozy mysteries!

Thank you to Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for an honest review!

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Most of the suspects are members of the book club, but there are a few red herrings to keep readers guessing the killer's identity. Unfortunately, I knew almost immediately who the culprit was, but this did not distract from my enjoyment in reading the entire book.

This new addition to the series has characters growing emotionally, with Rain and Jace, Julia’s brother and Rain’s love interest, becoming more than just childhood friends. We also get the experience of Rain and her new furry companion learning how to live with each other.

Rain has a way of investigating that can irritate suspects and sometimes readers, but her heart is in the right place. The killer is found, but not before Rain and Julia find themselves in danger once again. Overall, this is an interesting and enjoyable read that fans will appreciate.

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I loved this book so much. I am new to Holly Danvers, but I am a fan! I can't wait for the next book.

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Working on taking over her mom’s duties at the Lakeside Library, Rain is trying to adjust to her new role while trying to figure out her cooled off love life. As one of her first programs, she introduces a book club to the community’s patrons. Choosing an Agatha Christie novel as their first book, tensions among the book club attendees when one member admits they’ve only ever seen the movie. Soon a book club member is found murdered in the same manner as mentioned in Agatha Christie’s novel. To make matters worse, Jace, the police officer Rain is pursuing, considers her a potential suspect. Who killed the book club member? Can Rain solve the mystery before it’s too late? Can she get her love life in order?

The plot is well written, engaging, and keeps the reader wanting to turn the page. The characters are well developed and draw the readers into the story. Readers who enjoy cozy mysteries, Agatha Christie, and a touch of romance will want to pick this one up.

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What a delightful cozy mystery, This book has all my favourite troops of cozy mysteries. Lakeside, small town, book related,
The book follows lakeside library owner Rain and her friend Julia. This time they have to find a novel solution in order to catch another killer before her book club members are picked off one by one.
If you are mystery book reader, specifically if you like Agatha Christie, you will definitely enjoy this book. I can’t believe I haven’t read Parkling Cyanide. And I have to pick it up. And maybe revisit lakeside library.
4.5 stars.
Thanks to crooked lane books, NetGalley and Holly Danvers give me the opportunity to read 5is book.

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The library plays host to a book club.
I was able to deduce the whodunit but not the why. A very complicated cast of characters/suspects but Ms. Danvers does a great job with enough backstory to keep you in the loop making this an enjoyable stand-alone cozy.

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I love the 'up north' Wisconsin setting. Rain is excited to revive the book club as the library opens up for the season. The first book for the group is fittingly enough, an Agatha Christie novel. Several members are new faces to Lofty Pines, WI. One will wind up dead and one a murderer. Rain and her friend Julia put their heads together and try to recreate the setting of their book club meeting to help them find clues to apprehend the culprit.

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Read to Death at the Lakeside Library
By Holly Danvers
Crooked Lane
2023

Review by Cynthia Chow

While her parents burn up frequent flyer miles touring the world, Rain Wilmot is staying in Lofty Pines, Wisconsin and fully taking over her mother’s duties at the town’s Lakeside Library. Rain has also decided to resume their summer Book Club, with the first pick of the season being Agatha Christie’s “Sparkling Cyanide.” The meeting gets a little fractious what with the wine drinking taking precedence along with those who only watched the movie version, but it’s the death of one of the members not long after that has Rain truly alarmed. Worried that her selection of the book may have inspired a murder by poisoning, Rain and her frequent accomplice Julia Reynolds begin investigating those who may have wanted Lily Redlin dead. As it turns out, it may have been a book club member and not Agatha Christie who gave the killer a means for murder, which is why Rain and Julia feel obligated to break into their neighbors home, steal evidence, and possibly obstruct justice. It’s a good thing that Julia’s brother and Rain’s maybe-something Jace Lowe is a police officer, as despite his exasperation with them he does provide them with a few tidbits of authorized information. A temporary closure of the library due to possible poison concerns allows the staff to fully engage as investigators, looking not only into Lily’s death but a connected one from the past. Taking a lead from Agatha Christie, Rain even gathers together the suspects for a Book Club reenactment in the hopes of revealing the culprit. Whether or not this results in a solution using her little grey cells or only places herself as next in line as a victim, it will at least make for a lively next meeting.

This third in the series combines classic mystery tropes, romance, and a lot of suspense for cozy mystery fans. A sudden shift in romantic prospects has Rain reassessing her relationship with Jace, whose frequent visits to the library may be related to more than its proximity to the police station. Rain and Julia have a lot of leeway in their efforts to investigate, as they definitely push the limits of legality in their endeavors. A more somber note that is left open for more exploration is the concern over Rain’s fellow library staff member Marge Duncan, who attributes her moments of forgetfulness to simple old age and not something far more serious. There are an assortment of lively canine companions to keep things upbeat, from Marge’s cocker spaniel to Jace’s gorgeous Siberian husky. Now that she’s more settled in her life Rain might be ready to adopt a pooch herself, making her life an enviable one full of books and constant canine love. This is a very light-hearted cozy mystery sure to please those looking for exuberant characters and a mystery filled with Agatha Christie lore.

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An atmospheric cozy mystery that will keep you guessing the motive and whodunit. I enjoyed the characters, the plot, and the setting of the Northwoods.
Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

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I'm not sure I've ever stopped reading a book for a reason as possibly nutty as this one. I'm not sure what I'm referring to, myself or the plot.

The setting for this series is great. A cabin library found on a lakeside resort is more than most could ask. Almost anyone could dream that picture up in their minds. The cozy is basically ok. It starts out with a book club, a mystery, and a person murdered in a manner that came up in the book discussion. Fun huh?

Suddenly, someone leaves a note on the library door about the murder and one amateur sleuth talks the other into not showing it to her brother the cop lest he close the library for the summer. This just struck me as nuts. It’s as if the author needed to fit in a clue but didn’t know what to do if the police officers saw it. I stopped reading then and there. Just struck me as ludicrous.

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