I expected more demon hunting. Really, there was no demon hunting at all. Just, doing what the demon wanted and then suddenly defeating it within three paragraphs. There really wasn't much of a society either. A better title may have set my expectations up more accordingly. I can admit having an older protagonist was a little different; it just wasn't interesting enough to really keep me reading.

(3.5⭐️) I love a cozy mystery, and this was a great one to ease into spooky season with!

There was a lot to like in this book. The small town setting felt perfect for this kind of story. The paranormal elements made things *just* interesting enough without being scary at all - which can sometimes be a nice vibe if you want a “spooky season” book that’s light on the “spooky”.

The quirky cast of characters was really fun and I enjoyed how much they all brought to the story, though it was sometimes hard to remember who was who for the minor characters. Sherry was an easy MC to get behind, and I liked her attitude towards figuring out what was happening in her town. The plot slowed a bit in some spots, and there were a few things that felt harder to believe/follow in the story, but they were easy to overlook.

Overall this was lighthearted and a good seasonal read, and I loved the setup for the sequel at the end!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher, Berkeley Publishing Group, for an ARC of this book.

Honestly, this was a DNF for me. I made it about 25 percent through before I called it quits. Did a high school student write this? The writing was clunky, immature, and downright unreadable. The premise sounded promising, but the atrocious writing was more than I could endure.

Well, this is an absolutely delightful book with the demons popping up in a completely unexpected way and the protagonist I’ve always wanted to see helm a fantasy novel.

The plot is perfect, the pace is excellent, the humor is delectably snarky, and the characters, while they fit paranormal and mystery tropes, go beyond the typical “settings” to become very much their own stand-out personalities who speak with fantastic, memorable voices.

Perfect for anytime of year, but especially fall and especially charming to this upstate New Yorker who remembers those April blizzards well.

3.5 stars
This was an ok cozy mystery/fantasy. I'm not sure if I've read a crossover of a cozy mystery and cozy fantasy, but I was here for it. I can definitely see why it is marketed as Murder, She Wrote and Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Our main character Sherry has someone been able to easily figure out a string of murders in her small upstate New York town. She just accepts the unusually high body count, until her boyfriend becomes a victim. When her cat becomes possessed and tells her a demon might be responsible for the murders, she realizes she might be in deeper than she thought.
The characters were all ok, none of them really stood out to me. Sherry was very Jessica Fletcher to me. She was older, involved in town things and seemed to know everyone. She wasn't afraid to get her questions answered and she was very resourceful.
The plot was a little slow at times, but came around to a good conclusion. We met a lot of people, so there was a large pool of suspects to choose from and follow. The clues added up nicely and the story was resolved well.
The intrigue just wasn't all the way there for me. My mind wandered a lot and I know there were things I missed out on.
I don't know if this is a series, as Goodreads does not indicate it is, but it ended where a sequel would be easy to jump into and I think I would continue on if it does end up being a series!

This book was just okay for me. I feel like the author wanted to write a cozy mystery but HAD to had some supernatural in it. It wasn't a cohesive mix.

Thank you NetGalley and Ace for the ARC! The Village Demon-Hunting Society follows librarian Sherry Pinkwhistle, who just so happens to solve what seems to be a large amount of murders for her small upstate New York town. But when her cat, Thomas Cromwell, starts talking to her, Sherry realizes things are definitely strange. There is a demon lose in town, orchestrating events to keep Sherry solving crimes and the demon entertained. Can Sherry, the new priest, and a cohort of other village friends solve their demon problem before any more residents die? Fun with a delightful paranormal twist, The Village Demon-Hunting Society is sure to please mystery fans who want a new twist to their sleuths.

Sherry is content with her quiet life as a village librarian. The fact that her little hamlet has the world's highest per capita murder rate is perfectly fine: it's only unpleasant people who die, and Sherry is always on hand to solve the case for the sheriff. Then someone dies who Sherry actually cares about and she realizes that her town is being puppeteered by malevolent forces. Sherry and her motley crew of allies (a widowed art dealer, a therapist, a priest, and a possessed cat) must break free of the cozy mystery tropes enslaving their town. Lovingly upends the genre.

I picked this book up purely because it sounded like cozy fun, but I did not expect to completely love it! This is one of those rare books that I really didn’t want to put down not only because it had an engaging mystery plot, but I really loved the characters.

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society stars Sherry Pinkwhistle, a librarian in the small upstate New York town of Winesap. Though Winesap is charming and quaint, it has had an alarming number of murders recently and Sherry has assisted in solving each and every one of them. The story begins with the murder of an art gallery owner and of course his wife is the primary suspect, but Sherry knows Charlotte couldn’t have done it. What unfolds is a whirlwind investigation where it becomes clear that something isn’t quite right. Sherry has unusual slips of memory and then, rather startlingly, her cat Lord Thomas Cresswell speaks to her. Her cat is possessed by its namesake, who is actually trying to help Sherry because the demon orchestrating all the murders isn’t on his good side.

I will stop going on about the plot details, because any further than what I’ve described gets into major spoiler territory and that’s just no fun. Sherry is an absolute delight of a character and she’s so easy to like even though it’s clear she might not have the saintliest of pasts herself. Father Barry, the brand new and surprisingly young and handsome Catholic priest, along with Janine, and Charlotte help Sherry out in her investigations. The secondary characters, while not as well defined as Sherry, are also a wonderful addition to the story overall. 

Despite this being about murder and demonic possession, it is actually a perfect cozy, atmospheric read and I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend it. I love finding a new surprise favorite story and The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society fits the bill. It has light action, humor, surprisingly emotional moments, and a well executed ending that left things open for a potential sequel, but it wraps up cleanly enough to make a great standalone as well.

DNF
I realize now that I’m not interested in cozy murder mysteries with a 60+ year old main character. Unfortunately I didn’t love the writing style in this book and I found myself bored.

A talking cat and an amateur sleuth who just happens to be a librarian, made this an enjoyable read. A bit more than a cozy mystery, it seems that something is very wrong in the town of Winesap in upstate New York. For such a small town, there seem to be quite a few murders. But have no fear, Sherry Pinkwhistle, the librarian, and amateur sleuth is on the job. Add a demon though, and things get complicated quickly.
This was a different take on a cozy mystery. Who wouldn’t love their cat to start talking. Well except for the demon part. After the murder was solved and I did not correctly guess the killer, there was still a bit more to the story. Not a cliffhanger, but perhaps the set up for another book?? I have to say I enjoyed how Sherry’s mind worked.

C.M. Waggoner wrote my favorite orc romance of all time (Unnatural Magic). This book proves that she can do something suuuper different, and so, so well!

When I picked this up, I didn't put it down again until I was finished. It's a cozy mystery that takes on the question of why cute little towns have an unfortunate/inordinate amount of murders that are solved not by law enforcement but by 60-something librarians. In this book, that crime-solving librarian is Sherry.

I laughed out loud several times reading this. Waggoner brings together a cast worthy of a Poirot novel ... but who eventually figure out they shouldn't really be this narratively perfect in real life. Sherry discovers that the town is being manipulated for the entertainment of a demon, and with the help of hot priest Father Barry, chic art gallery owner Charlotte, fellow "older lady" Janine, and the spirit of (maybe?) Lord Thomas Cromwell in the body of Sherry's marmalade cat, solve both the mystery and the demon infestation.

If you like cozy mystery or cozy fantasy, this is a perfect blend of the two. Plus, like I said, it's hilarious. I will read anything Waggoner writes, but it's always a pleasure when your favorite authors write really good stuff!

This objective review is based on a complimentary copy of the novel.

The Village Library Demon Hunting Society is what happens when you binge watch Murder She Wrote and try to wrap your head around how all those people were murdered and noone wondered about the outrageous number dying around Jessica Fletcher (per the author's claim)! This book was so much fun, at least when the demon finally showed up. I found it slow going in the beginning. By the end it was unputdownable for me. Elements of Christie, Murder She Wrote, and Poirot. Being a librarian myself, I loved imagining myself as Sherry.
The whole story felt like the tv show Evil met Aurora Teagarden, with a splash of Sabrina. I can't wait for the next book in the series!
For fans of Rachel Harrison and The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix.

An engaging twist on the librarian-as-detective trope. Adding demons to the mix certainly enhances the fun!

Librarian, and part-time sleuth, Sherry Pinkwhistle is a skilled homicide detective with quite a few solved cases under her belt (much to the chagrin of the actual sheriff). But…. isn’t it strange that a town so small has a murder rate comparable to a major metropolitan area? The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society settles you in, with a blanket and tea, for a cozy, small-town Miss Marple mystery before turning its heels and walking straight into the supernatural.

This book is downright clever. The writing itself is lush and jovial. There is so much satisfying foreshadowing woven in that I felt like I was playing detective right alongside Sherry. Something that I really loved was the characters’ sense of narrative throughout the whole story — how Sherry commented that certain things felt out of place for the scene she was in or the genre overall. It really tied everything together for me.

It was a real treat to live inside of Sherry’s head for the duration of this story. A self-described snoop and gossip-monger, Sherry is witty and creative. One minute she leverages her status as a kindly, old librarian to get the information she needs, the next she’s breaking and entering to gather evidence. Her internal (and external!) monologue is constantly hilarious — I’ll save my favorite quips for my Kindle highlights, but she has lots to say about Unitarian exorcists and republican governors… and a pinch of threatening her talking cat with the violence of running the vacuum cleaner.

If you like classic mysteries, cozy tales, and light fantasy, this is the book for you! Especially when we’re all creating our fall TBRs.

And lastly, the fantasy isn’t in the demons, spirits, or Sherry’s talking cat. It’s that this story takes place in a walkable town.

This was a cute, cozy, who did it mystery. I enjoyed the older character and her sass throughout the book. I wanted nothing more than to curl up and have a cup of coffee with her. Great read for fans of clean, cozy, mysteries!

I thought this book was okay. It had the mood and the themes, but not the characters or the plot. It just wasn't my favorite. Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

If you like cozy mysteries but can also acknowledge that the genre can be a little silly, this might be the book for you. Slightly self-aware and supernatural, I really enjoyed this book. There are some parts that seem a bit clunky and lacking explanation, but it didn’t bother me much. I really enjoyed the characters and the friendships that sprout up in the strange little possessed town. The talking cat was a plus too.

Murder She Wrote with a splash of the supernatural. Our main character Sherry, a librarian, finds herself, or rather inserts herself, into the middle of a murder investigation. She loves solving murders and making suspect lists. After her cat becomes possessed by a (friendly?) ancient demon, she starts to wonder if something supernaturally foul is afoot. She creates a “Demon Hunting Society” with fellow friends and locals and attempts to solve the mystery.

The supernatural element felt a bit unnecessary and I found myself asking why, but my question was answered towards the end of the book, and I chuckled at the reasoning. At the end of the day, the supernatural element was fun and added a bit of pizzazz. The final chapter hints at a sequel with additional supernatural intrigue. I liked our main character and following her about as she disarms and charms people with her unassuming elderly librarian ways. I look forward to reading the next adventure.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advance copy of this in exchange for an honest review.

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society was a fun and unique read. It combines a bit of cozy mystery fun with paranormal elements in an unexpected way. Our main character Sherry Pinkwhistle is a librarian who has, after relocating to the village, solved several murders. She is very good at it with her eye for detail. But after the most recent murder, Sherry realizes that this tranquil town has had an alarming number of murders. As she comes to believe something else must be at play, her beloved cat Lord Thomas begins talking to her and he seems to be possessed by a demon. With the help of some friends, Sherry needs to solve not just the most recent murder, but also figure out how to rid the town of the demon who has moved in.

I found the story to be very engaging and it held my interest all the way through. There are several unexpected twists and learning about Sherry's backstory added another layer. I wanted to understand how it all fit together and the author kept me guessing until the end. As with many cozy mysteries, there are plenty of potential suspects for murder and opportunities for red herrings. This is an entertaining story and one I will be recommending this fall.

Thank you NetGalley and Berkley for the advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.