The Stranger in the Library is the 11th book in the Lighthouse Library Mystery series. It takes place in Nags Head. Lucy O'Neil is the main character who works as an assistant director at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, She and her husband, Connor who is also mayor, have just come back from their honeymoon. Lucy, Bertie James, library director, Denise Roberts, academic librarian, Ronald Burkowski, children's librarian and Louise Jane McKaughnan, volunteer are having an openhouse cocktail party for their showing of reproduction artwork. It is the night before the historical society's invitation only cocktail party of original artwork. Lucy's cousin, Josie Greenblatt is catering both parties. She owns Josie's Cozy Bakery.

Louise Jane's family is an old family in Nag's Head and are showing their reproduction painting. Stormy Seas that her uncle George did of his brother, Robert O'Callagham's original. Robert was a prominant artist from Nags Head. Tom Reilly is a collector and art dealer is very interested in the painting.

The next day after the party Lucy gets to the library and finds that the picture is not hanging on the wall. She calls the police and reports it missing. It is later returned with the back paper sliced. What was the person looking for?

CeeCee Watson is incharge of the the invitation only artwork showing. All important people were attending. Mark Farrago's company is putting on the coctail party and art show. Ethan Livingston is Mark's assistant. Lisa McMaham, a volunteer is also there. Everyone is waiting for Mark as he is late. Later in the evening, Josie, Lucy and Louise Jane go the garden and find Mark dead in the fish pond. They notify the police.

This is where the story takes off. There is so much going on in the story that I will leave it to the reader to enjoy to the surprising ending,

I have read this series from the beginning and have enjoyed it. I look forward to the next adventure that Lucy and her friends get themselves into.

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC.

This is a good addition to the Lighthouse Library Mystery series. This time around, Lucy has to deal with art theft and possible forgeries. It seems like this series might be coming to an end soon since the characters seem to be settling down and going in their different directions.

The Stranger in the Library is the 11th book in the lighthouse Library mysteries. Lucy organizes an art and history show at the library to coincide with the traveling Art show in town. Unlike the show at the library, this show features some very pricey paintings and has plenty of security as a safeguard. There is lots of tension between the event organizers, a mysterious man interested in Louise Jane, and an angry local artist. Despite all the security, a man is murdered in a shallow fish pond on the grounds. Lucy agrees to help the short staffed police with their investigation. I enjoyed this book, even the larger role of Louise Jane who seemed more likeable than usual. My thanks to the publisher and netgalley for sharing this book with me.
5/5 STARS!!!

This was the first book that I've read in this series - this is Book #11! I have a lot of books to catch up on but it was easy to read and to understand the characters, even though I've never read a book in the series.

Louise Jane (LJ) has always been a friend/enemy of Lucy's, the MFC. But they have had to work together in this book. I loved the different tangents the plot went down.....always kept me guessing with all the red herrings! I also enjoyed that the police are working with Lucy - most cozy mysteries they want the amateurs far away from the investigation.

Looking forward to reading more in this series. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

#TheStrangerintheLibrary #NetGalley begins with Lucy and her husband, Connor, settling into married life while Lucy prepares for the traveling show of impressionist art coming to their Nags Head lighthouse library.
Lucy and the staff at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library are inspired to create an educational display about art history. Their display is a huge success, but the morning after, they discover that the piece by a distant relative of Louise Jane has disappeared.
The painting isn't valuable, but its sentimental, and Lucy teams up with Louise Jane to locate it.
Whenever Lucy finds herself wrapped up in an investigation, a dead body is never far behind, so it came as no surprise to find out someone has secrets they want to keep hidden, even if murder is the only option to keep the silence.
I liked this story, it was nice to see Lucy and Louise Jane getting along, and even nicer to see a more gentle side to LJ.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of the book.

Lucy and her friends …Nags Head, NC…fun realistic characters and a cool fun setting…cool as in great not cool as in cold…a place to enjoy…a library…best place…a stranger…all of this adds up to a recipe for mayhem with a cast of quirky characters. This talented author has written a page turner. Thanks Netgalley.

This was a cozy read! The characters were likable, the writing was fun, and it held my attention! I’m excited for the release date to purchase the tangible copy!

This series is one of the first cozy mystery series I really enjoyed and 11 books in I'm still really enjoying it. Louise Jane has always been a frenmey of Lucy's but I've always enjoyed her and her ghost. She plays a larger role in this book and I really enjoyed it. There is a lot of investigating in this book that takes Lucy away from her library in this story and I was okay with that. The mystery was quite solid. I didn't guess the who or why and I liked that the police are working with Lucy very actively in this book after the events of the previous book. Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

"Stranger in the Library (Lighthouse Library Mystery#11)" by Eva Gates aka Vicki Delany explores the art world. When a painting with seemingly no value (other than sentimental) goes missing and a guest of honor is found dead, Lucy gets pulled into figuring out what is going on. She teams up with Louise Jane quite a bit in this one, since it's her family's painting. It was nice to seem them really getting along and more friendly of a banter rather than Louis Jane being overly competitive or bragging.

The mystery was a bit different. Lucy did more digital leg work this time it seemed. It was more a happenstance that they finally figured out who the murderer was. With that, I did kinda suspect at least one part of what happened but it didn't quite happen like I was thinking.

This series is kinda starting to feel like it's reaching an end. It could keep going for a while, but more characters seem to be reaching a "happily ever after" moment.