Everyone loves tropes! They can be relied upon to orient a reader in a familiar genre, they can be exploited for new purposes, and they provide that sense of coziness so many 0f us look for, particularly in murder mysteries. It turns out, human readers aren't the only ones who enjoy neat endings and visiting with a savvy sleuth over and over again. Sherry is great at solving mysteries, which is lucky because she lives in Winesap, New York which has had way more than its fair share of ingenious murders. She begins to notice that things seem to work out in a way that allow her to solve the cases just a little too easily. When a murder finally strikes close to home, she unravels not only the whodunnit, but the reason so many murders are happening in the first place. This book is perfect for any one who has wondered why anyone would move to Cabot Cove when it seems like every other day Jessica Fletcher is tripping over corpses.

This was cute, quirky, and unique. The “Murder, She Wrote” aspect was creative, but the demon thing got as weird as expected. I enjoyed the story to some extent but felt torn on it in another. I’m not sure whether I’d recommend it - I think it would only be to open-minded people that are OK with offbeat books.

Thank you to the publisher - I received a complimentary eARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Teeny, tiny Winesap, New York might just be the murder capital of the whole, entire world, and from a certain perspective it’s all Librarian Sherry Pinkwhistle’s fault. And she wouldn’t have it any other way.

That sounds terrible, doesn’t it?

Which is exactly what Sherry realizes when the latest victim of the town’s absolutely-not-a-serial-killer crime spree is the gentleman she’s been seeing for several months now. (Sherry, as a woman of a certain age, has a difficult time thinking of him as her ‘boyfriend’ because that just sounds ridiculous – but it is the truth all the same.)

But Alan Thompson’s murder is the first death that has touched her personally, and it shakes her out of her waking daydream of being Winesap’s equivalent of Jessica Fletcher, assisting the police with their investigations no matter how much it embarrasses them.

After all, just like Jessica, Sherry is good at it, and the local police clearly need her help. Just as much as Sherry needs to feel useful and needed and smart and at the center of everything – something that she’s otherwise never been in her whole, entire life.

Alan’s death shakes Sherry and rattles her self-absorbed, contented little bubble. She doesn’t feel any compulsion to investigate Alan’s death – she just wants to grieve for the man who might have been the love of her life. If she’d let him.

Which is the point where the story switches from Murder, She Wrote to Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Not that there are any actual vampires around Winesap in need of slaying. But the town might be sitting on a Hellmouth all the same.

Because suddenly there are demons – or at least A demon – possessing random townspeople who all berate Sherry, at increasing volume and at all hours of the day and night, to stop crying over Alan and put on her big girl panties and investigate his murder – whether she wants to or not.

As far as all of those possessed townspeople are concerned – or at least as far as the demon possessing them is concerned – investigating murders is Sherry’s purpose in Winesap and she needs to get right to it.

So she asks herself, “What Would Buffy Do?” (not exactly but close enough) and puts together her very own Scooby Gang to figure out what’s really going on in Winesap and what she needs to do to set it right.

Even if it involves closing a Hellmouth. Or her own.

Escape Rating A-: Were you teased by that blurb description of Buffy the Vampire Slayer meets Murder, She Wrote?

I absolutely was, because that’s not exactly a combo that anyone would expect to see, pretty much ever. They absolutely are two great tastes – but whether they’d be great together is definitely an open question.

It turns out that it is, but not in the manner that you might expect. Just like it certainly is a cozy fantasy mystery, but likewise, not in the way that blurb might lead a reader to expect. And I definitely have quibbles about the description of it being “riotous” because that’s not true at all.

More like darkly snarky and filled with a lot of wry ruefulness – along with a bit of righteous fear and a whole heaping helping of pulling back the corners of a surprising amount of self-deception.

I think that the blurb description should be reversed, because at the opening it’s very much Murder, She Wrote, to the point where Sherry acknowledges that she often feels like she’s playing the part of Jessica Fletcher in a story for someone else’s entertainment, just as Angela Lansbury played Fletcher in the TV series.

What makes the story work AND descend into the creeping darkness of Buffy is that Sherry discovers that feeling is the literal truth. Winesap is a stage set where murder plays are acted out in order to entertain and amuse an epically bored demon.

Because immortality is both lonely AND boring, and this particular demon, like so many humans, has discovered the joys of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, particularly the stories of Agatha Christie, and is having a grand time watching Sherry and her fellow villagers play out ALL the parts for her.

Particularly as the demon doesn’t actually know how it will end. She claims she’s not forcing anyone to do anything – the increasing frequency and volume of her importuning of Sherry notwithstanding. The demon claims she’s only making suggestions and providing opportunities, that all of the murderers Sherry has ‘caught’ have acted of their own free will.

As has Sherry in her zeal for investigation.

All of which, if true – and it might not be, after all demons lie every bit as much as humans if not a bit more – makes the story a whole lot darker than it first seemed. And opens up the possibility of a sequel – which has the possibility of being even more fascinating as Sherry would have to enter into the thing with full self-awareness.

Along with the awareness that her cat, Lord Thomas Cromwell (the blurb infuriatingly misspells his name – and it MATTERS) really does contain the spirit of the actual historical figure, Lord Thomas Cromwell, the architect of Henry VIII’s infamous divorce, and that her cat is not only watching and judging her – as they all do – but has the ability to tell her all about herself whenever he damn well pleases. Or whenever the demon lets him. Pretty much the same thing.

I hope we’ll get to see them both again.

Thanks to NetGalley, Berkley Publishing, and Ace Books Publishing for this copy of "The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society."

Sherry is a 60ish librarian in upstate New York who helps the police solve murder cases. But why can't she remember how many cases there have been in this sleepy little town?

This book was fun and creative, especially when Sherry starts assembling her friends and the town priest to help uncover if there is something "wicked" involved in these murders.

This was a fun little cozy fantasy mystery with a librarian doing some mystery solving in a charming little village. I can see why this was billed as Buffy meets Murder She Wrote because it is like a fantasy Jessica Fletcher. I did think this was maybe a bit too long and maybe would have been better as a short novel of 250 pages or so because about halfway or so, my interest started to diminish. I did have a pretty good time up until that point though.

My favorite part was absolutely the possessed cat.

**Many thanks to Berkley and C.M. Waggoner for an ARC of this book provided via NetGalley!**

Of all things you'd think of when someone mentions Lord Thomas Cromwell, a talking cat who BECOMES a version of Lord Thomas Cromwell (via demonic possession....OBVIOUSLY) probably isn't one of them.

But here in Sherry Pinkwhistle's world...it's just another lovely, sunny, murder solving kind of day!

You see, rather than just the fastidious and stereotypical elderly librarian your mind's eye can conjure up in a split second, THIS slightly sassy, always inquisitive, and unfailingly kind lady has a special gift: she has a knack for solving murders in her tiny town of Winesap, NY (and as a side note, the author frequently mentions 'nearby' Albany, which is near and dear to her heart, and mine too, as a nearly life long New Yorker!) But when she ends up losing not-quite-a-boyfriend-but-more-than-a-friend Alan, Sherry realizes that maybe the murderer is trying to stop HER from intervening...or even worse, wants her to keep GOING...as the body count rises.

Sherry finally decides it is time to call in reinforcements....and now, enter the motley crew that becomes fondly known as the "Village Library Demon-Hunting Society", which consists of Sherry, her best friend, the local priest, and a few selected others. As Sherry encounters the demon more frequently (and let's face it, she never really got used to the CAT talking to her to begin with!) the stakes get higher, the suspect list grows, and time seems to be running out to get to the bottom of the mystery. And there's also the small fact that there is ONE name on the suspect list that wannabe Miss Marple herself can't quite reconcile...her own. Could the demon have targeted HER to take down her beau? Or is this particular demon relentless enough to make Winesap its PERMANENT home...where NO resident can ever truly feel safe again?

It's a bit strange to say, but if I'd jumped the gun and written a review for this book anywhere prior to about oh, halfway through, it would have been a pretty solid, glowing 4 star review. I liked the character of Sherry immediately, the setting felt cozy and familiar (I do love you, NY!) and there was plenty of humor and heart in the early pages. I truly felt for Sherry when she lost Alan, thought some of the ancillary characters were pretty accessible and lovable enough, and the introduction of Lord Thomas Cromwell was pretty hilarious in and of itself.

But as time wore on and references to Sherry's past murder investigations multiplied, the beautifully woven and intricate thread art of the first half started to look more like the back side of the cross stitch...you know, the part where all of the string looks like a knotted, jumbled mess.

At first, the mystery was sort of cheeky and fun, and I bought Sherry as a fairly thorough yet somewhat amateur investigator...sort of a Miss Marple meets Jessica Fletcher (which was pretty clearly the author's intention, as several references to Christie are made throughout) and I was pretty much on board, despite this being a bit outside the norm in terms of preferred genre for me. But when it got to the point where I was sort of praying that she would just GET to the conclusion already, the tide had most certainly turned. There's also the small fact that for a while, the demon is the MOST important part of the story (and Sherry sees it frequently) but then it sort of fades into the background until the very end of the third act. For a 'character' that was so important it is part of the TITLE of the book, I just wanted the demon to sort of maintain the same intensity throughout...and to be honest, it was a little bit bizarre that it didn't.

But the part that perhaps tripped me up the most along the way is the fact that this is book one in what seems likely to become a series...and yet, we were supposed to feel a level of familiarity and kinship with characters and a town, not to mention Sherry's crime-solving history, that just wasn't possible in the context of this one book. While these characters had the potential to be enchanting, quirky, and fun...I just didn't feel like I really got to KNOW them as well as I would have liked. Sherry ultimately gets so wrapped up in her neverending sleuthing quest that I started to forgot who SHE was too, outside of this 'hobby', and the sort of emotional gravitas I felt at the beginning over the loss of her beloved Alan was all but gone by story's end. There are plenty of quippy and silly moments in the opening sections, but these too petered out towards the end and just left me missing everything that had sort of 'hooked' me in the first place.

And while this author was aiming for to write something along the lines of a cozy mystery with a dose of demon hunting and a splash of "Murder, She Wrote"...I think instead Waggoner ended up inadvertently murdering most of what she wrote.

3 stars

“It was always strange to be in a room that conspicuously lacked a dead body.”

This delightful story begins as a cozy mystery but takes a sharp turn into the realm of paranormal fiction. Sherry is a fun character—a little off-the-rails at times, but still relatable. I appreciated her inner monologues and tangents as well as her methodical way of solving crimes. I also enjoyed the side characters. Despite all the murder (and possible demon problems), there’s also a lot of humor. I caught myself laughing aloud multiple times.

Perfect vibes for this spooky season. It felt like a mix of Buffy the Vampire Slayer and a cozy murder mystery. I love a small town detective living out their detective sleuth dreams. Super fun read with supernatural elements. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

A book about a librarian that's an amateur sleuth. that describes herself as Miss Marple and Jessica Fletcher from Murder She Wrote. Oh yeah and she hunts demons. I'm in. I love that I've been able to read a bunch of unique books this fall. Including this one. And I've finally read a book where the main character has my name.

I'm not sure where to categorize this. It's a little paranormal, a little cozy, a little fantasy and a whole lot of murder mystery.

I liked Sherry, who wouldn't when she's a mix of Miss Marple and Jessica Fletcher, and might I throw in a little Buffy. I liked the supporting characters including Lord Thomas Cromwell, that I first mistaken as a person. LOL and when he possessed and talking, beware.

This is a wild imaginative murder mystery that had no shortage of suspects and kept me guessing. A quirky alternative to the fall spooky reads.

It felt like this isn't the first book in the series as I was reading and that threw me a little. It describes Sherry's past cases almost like the author catching you up the in series past important issues. It was a weird moment for me at the beginning, but this is the first book in the series.

This was a fun inventive murder mystery that I hope becomes a sequel.

Cindy Pillar was a great choice as narrator. She sounded exactly as I thought Sherry should sound and flawlessly handles the antics that abound in this one.

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society was such a fun (and often silly) cozy mystery full of twists I didn’t see coming - and I usually do! Librarian Sherry has a penchant for solving murders, which is great considering how frequently bodies are found in her small town. When her boyfriend is the next to be murdered, Sherry doesn’t want to investigate what happened to him. But something soon appears to be off - her cat starts talking, the sheriff might be possessed, and suddenly people can’t seem to get in or out of town.

I really loved tagging along with Sherry as she tries to uncover who killed Alan. There are plenty of suspects along the way, and I liked seeing Sherry come out of her shell to accept help from her new friends. The supernatural element was a fun twist on the cozy mystery genre that I haven’t seen before. There were a few moments where I was confused, but the ending of this book ties things up nicely and sets up perfectly for a sequel (vampires!!). I hope this is the start of a new series because I can definitely see the potential for more.

Thank you to Berkley and the publishers for a review copy.

Sherry Pinkwhistle is the local librarian. Up in years, she has a male companion, Alan, and a cat, Lord Thomas Cromwell. On the side, she solves murders. In her small community, she is asked by the sheriff and the local priest to consult on some murders.
A bit Jessica Fletcher, a bit Miss Marple, a bit of the supernatural all combine to make a fun, cozy mystery. Sherry solves murders but is also possessed by a demon. She needs to conquer the demon and confront the murderer.
I think this may be the start of a series, based on its ending.
If you like cozy mysteries, and a bit of the supernatural, this is a fun book that combines both.

Sherry is a librarian who’s been saw solving mysteries in her small town. She now finds that all of these mysterious deaths might be connected to a demon. We now have Sherry and her cat and her friends who have formed a demon hunting Society. Try to solve the mystery of a murder as well as vanquish a demon and their small town. It’s delightful as a fantasy but also it’s a wonderful small town mystery at the same time. I enjoyed all of the characters and found this to be a fantastic book.

Sherry Pinkwhistle lives in the tiny town of Winesap, New York. She runs the local library, and in her spare time, solves all of the murders that the bumbling local sheriff just can’t seem to figure out. But when someone close to her gets killed, something jars loose in Sherry’s mind, and she suddenly realizes how utterly bizarre and wrong it is that this sleepy little town has a murder rate twenty times that of a large metropolis. And once she starts questioning things, and refusing to investigate the newest homicide in town, it quickly becomes clear that more weirdness is afoot in Winesap than just a high murder rate.

This book starts out like a cozy mystery but quickly morphs into something more complex. It still stays fairly cozy, there’s not much offensive about it, but it skewers and subverts some of the classic tropes and conceits of the typical cozy mystery series. It's also a lot more my speed than the last cozy I read. The prose is sharper and wittier, and the characters seem more fully formed. I liked Sherry as a character, she was well rounded. Also, she seemed like a real librarian, and the library seemed like a real library. As a librarian, I feel like I can accurately say that a lot of authors who write about libraries get things pretty badly wrong. But from the way this author describes it, I feel like she has actually worked in a library. Or at least talked to a librarian or two about what it’s actually like.

This book was a little goofy at times, but all in all an entertaining read. 3.5 stars, rounded up.

A supernatural take on Murder, She Wrote with a small town librarian at it's heart. Supporting characters are engaging and hopefully this author will flesh them out more in the next book, if there is one. Great start, lagged a little in the middle, and wrapped up quickly.

A cross between a cozy mystery and a paranormal fantasy story. Somehow it did not succeed well with either style. The village librarian works with the police (sort of) to solve crimes around town. Then her boyfriend is murdered, her cat, Lord Thomas Cromwell, becomes inhabited by a spirit which talks (down) to her and she's not sure what's going on. A multitude of characters, a time twist which throws the village back to pre-internet, pre-computer days. A priest with a bad boy twin brother - when the priest discovers his bad boy brother is impersonating him, the plot, as they say, thickens. It's all up to Sherry and her true blue friends to get to the bottom of this crime and return the village to its former bucolic state.

This was overall a cute read, and I enjoyed the premise. However the pace overall did not keep up for me and I felt some of my interest waning. I do think it’s a very clever story and think that the title and characters are so cozy and cute!

Huge thank you @berkleypub and @netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
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A cozy mystery with a spooky, fantasy spin. This is the perfect book for October! A librarian has just the knack for solving murders. Sherry keeps finding bodies but she also is solving the murders. When her cat just so happens to become possessed she knows it’s the unnatural haunting the town. A great group of side characters come together to form the society of demon hunters. This was a fun cozy mystery.

Sherry Pinklewhistle is a small town, upper New York State librarian with a knack for solving crimes. It seems like a whole lot of dead bodies and murders, when you think about it. She begins to believe that something just isn’t right. Her cat, Lord Thomas Cromwell suddenly starts talking to her, and tells her that an ancient demon demands that she keep solving crimes, and someone close to her becoming the next victim makes that an imperative. Can Sherry work with her small circle of friends, including the new, young, handsome priest, a newly widowed, cosmopolitan art gallery owner, and her skeptic therapist friend, figure out what exactly is plaguing their town?

This book is tailor-made for fans of cozy mysteries mixed with episodic, ensemble paranormal tv shows. There’s something very innovative about the feel of this story. While aspects feel familiar to fans of genre fiction in this niche, the execution feels very fresh. The pace is very leisurely, but things progress nicely towards the conclusion. The cast of potential suspects is diverse–with murky pasts and motives that make them quite morally questionable–bringing to mind British mystery and crime shows. While not overtly gruesome or bloody, the dark side of human nature is more than evident. Sherry’s own past ties very well into the overall story, as her compulsion to solve crimes relates to past trauma. When the demonic angle comes in, it makes for some well-written and nicely spooky scenes to remind readers that something very unnatural is going on in this town and with this situation. The humor is good, more on the wry and subtle side, fitting for this overall narrative. Small town life has its share of quirkiness and this is cleverly examined in the story. While initially, it was hard to figure out where things were headed, the destination is satisfying, leaving the door open for future paranormal sleuthing for Sherry and her friends.

This book is a fun, quirky mix of cozy mystery and supernatural elements. Sherry, a small-town librarian, finds herself investigating her boyfriend’s murder, with the help of a possessed cat and a group of amusing friends. The plot blends mystery, humor, and light supernatural vibes, giving off more of a Sabrina the Teenage Witch feel than anything scary. It’s a bit like "Murder, She Wrote" with demons—entertaining and easy to enjoy.

The characters are likable, especially Sherry with her amateur sleuthing skills, and the story keeps things lighthearted. While the supernatural bits feel a little out of place at first, they come together by the end, setting up for what could be a promising series. If you're into cozy mysteries with a twist, this is definitely worth checking out!

Jessica Fletcher meets Buffy the Vampire Slayer in this cozy mystery. A small-town librarian with a knack for solving murders realizes something supernatural is afoot. A quirky, fast-paced, fun read.