Death and the Librarian is the 9th book in the Blue Ridge Library mystery series. I have read this series from the beginning. It takes place in the town of Taylorsford, Virginia. Amy Webber Muir is the main character. She is the co-library director of the public library. Sunny Fields is the other c0-director and Amy's best friend. Her husband is Richard Muir a celebrated contempory dancer who along with his partner, Karla has formed a new business Tansen-Muir Company. Kurt Kendrick is a silent partner and a art collector. He is the godfather of their twins, Ella and Nicki. Lydia Talbot is Amy's aunt who lives in the family home next door to them. Nancy Nieman is the chair of Friends of the library. Everyone is getting ready for the Art Festival. The main speaker was not able to do it so Nancy got Maureen Dryden a true crime author. She wrote Deadly Desire on the unsolved death of an actress, Beverly Baron. Allen Cardullo also an actor was the main suspect who commited suicide without admiting quilt. aShe is now working on another book about Edward Jaffe who also disappeared years ago. He did odd jobs as well as was a drug dealer. When talking about her latest project she mentioned two people she was interested in talking to by the names of Delbert Frye and Karl Klass. Delbert was a recluse who lives in a cabin in the mountains. He is Alison's great uncle. Alison Tucker is the wife of Brad Tucker, sheriff. She is also a deputy but in another county. Karl Klass is really Kurt. He lived with his foster father, Paul Dassin but disappeared when 18 and came back to Taylorsford when an adult under another name. He lived in the house that Richard and Amy now lived. No one but a few know this. Kurt was Lydia's late husband, Andrew Talbot best childhood friend. Andrew was a renowned artist. Zelda Adams is Aunt Lydia's best friend and is married to her highschool sweetheart, Walt. It is a second marriage for both of them.

Other people who are in the series are Hugh Chen, aunt Lydia's boyfriend. He is an art expert who tracks down missing arft and antiquities and possible forgeries. Fred Nash is a former policeman who became a private detective. He is dating Sunny Fields boyfriend and works with Hugh.

Sean Gordon is Mrs. Dryden's assistant. Terrell Temkin is a podcast host along with his assistant, Mindy LaSalle are working with Mrs. Dryden on her new project. He will be doing some podcasts to support her new book. A collection of true crime stories rather than just one case. Mrs. Dryden had been given access to the library achives. She had sent Sean to speak to Amy as she is incharge of the archives. He mentioned that Alison was Delbert's relative. Did she know Karl Klass. Any said that she didn't.

Nancy called Amy at home late at night and told her that she was not sure if she locked the library's door. Asked her to go check it out. Amy went and found the door was locked. When getting back into her car a police car passed with their siren running. She decided to check it out. She followed to the inn to find out what was going on. She ran into Sunny who was there for a meeting with a company interested in distributing organic food to restaurants. Sunny along with her job at the librariy she manages Vista View her grandparents, Carol and PJ Fields organic farm. Sunny told Amy that she saw Maureen Dryden and her team in the bar along with Alison who was there without Brad. Alison had gotten into an argument with Maureen and left shortly after. She had also seen Kurt there. Sunny told Amyl that Maureen was dead. Amy told Sunny to come and stay with her for the night which she did.

The next day Amy went to the library and Brad was waiting for her. Questioned her about being at the inn. He told her that Maureen was suffocated with a pillow. She had been drugged. Something was slipped into her drink at the bar. Brad asked Amy to look into the Eddie Jaffe case. He also told her that he knew who Karl Klass was. Amy checked the archives to see if there was anything on Eddie but there was not much there. He didn't have family who lived in the area. She did find an article saying Sheryl Abernathy was Eddie's girlfriend. When she told Brad what she had found he asked her to go and speak to Sheryl who was not in a nursing home. Her sister, Diane, still lived in the area. Amy went to see Sheryl who told her that she had gone to the party with Eddie and didn't really know anyone there. She had been drinking and had some drugs. While there she had passed out and when awoken she found herself alone on the mountain. Eddie had disappeared and she never heard from him again. Going back down the mountain she had run into Delbert and while going further down she saw a young girl.

Amy took the children to the park and while there Kurt arrived from one of the trails. He asked her if she was looking into Eddie's case. She told him that Brad had asked her to look into it in the archives. He told her to leave it alone. Not to do anymore investigating. He threated her and she realized he could be dangerous.

This is where the book takes off. There is so much mystery, intrigue, secrets, etc. I will leave it to the reader to enjoy to the surprising ending .

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC.

I am happy that the author has continued this series for so long. I think it still remains interesting and fresh. This book explored an old mystery that has come back to haunt. An author is murdered because of her efforts to uncover that old mystery? The relationship between Amy and Kurt sees some bumps as the book progresses but you won't be disappointed at the ending.

4.25 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫
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A cozy mystery novel set in the small town of Taylorsville. This book follows Amy as she tries to uncover the mystery of a recent murder and an old cold case that was never solved. As Amy inches closer to finding the real killer, she uncovers some shocking revelations that lead her closer to danger. Will she find the killer before they find her?
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This was a really cute and cozy mystery. This is my first time encountering this author and my interest was peaked when I saw it takes place in Virginia which I don’t see a lot of. The book was well written and definitely left me wondering who was the real murderer. I enjoyed how the ending tied everything together and felt it was really thought out. I also felt that even though it is a work of fiction, that the way Taylorsville and the areas surrounding it was accurate to the area which added a sense of realism into it.
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Overall I am pleased with the novel and will definitely be on the lookout for some of Gilbert’s other novels!

A true crime author has come to town, looking into a 50+ year old missing person case. Her team consists of an assistant and a podcasting duo who will be interviewing her and including some of her work in their podcast. But all is not going swimmingly between the group and when the true crime author is murdered, the police department asks Amy to use her research skills to help them get to the bottom of things.

There were a lot of things I liked about this book. First and foremost, there was no secret spy network stuff, which has been included in some previous books and in my opinion kind of ruined the whole small-town cozy mystery vibe. I liked that there was a festival, Amy visited Sunny's farm, there was a dance recital, I got to see all my favorite Taylorsford places. The mystery was pretty good, somewhat predictable but with an interesting twist.

The one thing I really struggled with in this book and the last one is that we've lost so many years. At the end of book 7 there was a suggestion that Amy was pregnant and in book 8 she had 5-year-old twins. Now they're 6 and I still can't really deal with the fact that we were robbed of any part of Amy's pregnancy, the birth of the twins, their first words, first steps, etc. In a series I've read since the very beginning, I feel like I was shut out of the most important parts of the characters lives and it's made everything since then feel kind of distant. I suppose I probably inject myself into the books I read more than most readers do and maybe no one else would care about this, but I can't help but feel a bit offended.

Overall this is a good series, all the things I didn't care for were just my own personal preferences and things that other people might really be into. The author has done a great job of making Taylorsford feel very real and very cozy and I love almost all of the characters and I can mostly enjoy the characters I don't like as they play their own roles. I would recommend this to people who enjoy library-themed cozies.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

Enjoy a page-turning visit to a small town when a public library program speaker is killed and the librarian is caught up in the investigation. The twists and turns will keep you up late as you won't want to put this one down.

The annual arts festival is a summer staple in Taylorsford and for local library director Amy Muir, it's all very exciting. A bestselling true crime author is giving a lecture about her forthcoming book which includes a local cold case while, at the end of the celebrations Amy’s husband, Richard is about to present the very first performance by his new dance company. Everything starts well, but then a festival visitor is found dead with more than one well-known Taylorsford resident in the frame for murder!

Book nine in Victoria Gilbert's Blue Ridge Library Mysteries is a great read which crackles with action from the start but still has all the family scenes and relationships I've come to expect from this well written cosy series. There are two investigations that play out in a very easy to read manner while the ending is extremely satisfying.

I was able to read an advanced copy of this thanks to NetGalley and the publishers, Crooked Lane Books, but the opinions expressed are my own. I enjoyed this very much, and hope there will be more from the Blue Ridge Mountains very soon.

Another good story in the cozy mystery series. Liked this one, and kept my interest throughout. Would highly recommend this book, author and series.

An intriguing and charming cosy mystery- I enjoyed it. I love an amateur sleuth and our protagonist is a great one at that.

Library director and amateur investigaor, Amy Muir has always been wary of art dealer Kurt Kendrick, her family friend and godfather to her twins. When a true crime author visiting their historic Virginia town is found dead just after announcing she would like to speak to Kurt in connection with a decades-old murder, Amy is determined to find out the truth.

Are the two murders linked or is the past case just a red herring? Amy must find out before a killer strikes again.

I saw some of the twists coming but not them all which is a rarity!

Normally in cosy mysteries, characters are a bit one dimensional but this has an array of characters all of who are multi-dimensional and bring depth and believability to the story.

The only thing I didnt love - in some instances the text felt clunky and unnecessarily expounded. Which in a few areas made the story feel a little slow and the dialogue unnatural/unrealistic.

This is book 9 in the Blue Ridge Library Mysteries series - but the first book I have read of Victoria Gilbert's. I would definitely read more!

Thanks to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

#DeathandtheLibrarian #NetGalley is another great addition to the series. Amy can't resist getting involved in research when an author is killed, setting the scene for danger, lies, and secrets.
When her research puts her family in danger, she tries her best to protect her loved ones, putting herself in danger.
I love the family vibe of this series and it's always fun to reunite with old friends.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of this book.

A visit to the Blue Ridge Library is always a treat for any reader. Main character Amy Muir is co-director of the library as well as a wife and mother of twins. She has an insatiable curiosity, which makes her a great researcher and librarian, but gets her into some bit of trouble whenever there is a murder in the area. In Death and the Librarian a woman who was researching cold cases including one with local ties is murdered. Once Amy learns that people she knows and loves were around during the time of the local case she has to do some investigating.
What I liked about this book is that the setting is definitely an integral part of the story. Much of the action takes place near where Amy lives or works. The location is described in such a way that I can easily picture the area.
What I found a bit more challenging is Amy's relationship with some of the people that from past entries in the series I considered to be her friends, such as Allison and Kurt. Some of the interactions between her and those characters felt off. Maybe it is just that I would not have interacted with them in the same manner, such as meeting alone with someone I thought had been involved with a murder. Either way, our intrepid librarian kept researching and investigating until she had answers.
I did think the plot moved along. The dual timelines made it just complex enough to keep me wondering, was the murder in the present committed by the person who perpetrated the cold case or was that a red herring to keep the reader guessing. You'll just have to read the book to find out!
Thanks to NetGalley for allowing me access to read this ARC. My review is strictly my thoughts and feelings about this book.

A favorite author…cozy mystery…realistic characters…I really liked this book. It is a page turner…a library…a death…a story of intrigue…the quirky protagonist, a librarian, and her family and friends keep this story moving quickly…red herrings and secrets…even the title is mysterious. Curl up in a comfy chair…grab a steaming cup of herbal tea and a fluffy throw…become lost for an afternoon in this story. Thanks Netgalley.

It’s summertime in Virginia, but things are about to get out of hand when murder darkens the annual arts festival in this ninth installment of the critically acclaimed Blue Ridge Library mystery... Great cozy mystery! I usually don’t enjoy cozy mystery but this book was a fantastic read! It had suspense, intriguing, murder, mystery, a great who done it and a few crazy twists and turns! The story was interesting! I definitely recommend reading this book! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!