Amy Muir, director of the Blue Ridge Library, has long been concerned about the shady past surrounding art dealer Kurt Kendrick, a close family friend and godfather to her and her husband Richards's young twins. After a visitor to their town is found dead after accusing Kurt of committing a murder in their town several years before, Amy desperately sets out to prove his innocence but is faced with strong evidence of his guilt made known by his accuser before her sudden death.
As the details regarding the first murder are made public by those present in town at the time the murder occurred, the evidence against Kurt becomes stronger. Amy insists on continuing her investigation despite her busy schedule managing her household, the care of her children, and her husband's busy life with his newly formed dance company. As she continues her fight to prove his innocence, she soon finds that her own life is now in danger and she must find out the truth before the killer strikes again.

Guest author Maureen Dryden is in Taylorford to promote her next best seller concerning a cold case murder or disappearance of Eddie Jeffe.But its the name dropping that angers a few people including the sheriffs wife Alison Tucker . Maureen wants to talk to two people who might have info on the missing man. Delbert Frye and Kurt Klass. Delbert happens to be Alison's great uncle and boy is her blood boiling. And when Maureen ends up dead Alison is in the hot seat right along with Kurt ( who is now Kurt Kendrick) . Amy Muir just can't let this crime go unsolved but when she's warned to stay clear she has a tough choice to make. Proceed with her investigation or stand down and let a killer go free. Can she make the right choices and solve a cold case or will she become a "cold" case herself.

I highly recommend this book. Another murder is committed that is related to the library. Amy is asked to do research to catch the killer.

While I didn't like the previous book in this series, because it didn't feel the same. This one had the charm of the first books in the series. And reminded me why I fell in love with this series.

This ninth installment in the Blue Ridge Library series is another winner.

I love when a past crime intersects with the present day and this book tackles that admirably with a current day author in town to research a local cold case. As usual, Amy the library co-director aids the local police with research in an effort to learn more about the cold case and, perhaps, with the recent murder.

A great case of characters and a clever plot.

Highly recommended to cozy mystery fans.

NetGalley was kind enough to provide an advanced reader copy of this 9th book in the Blue Ridge Library Mysteries. This opinion is my own. While the storyline worked as a stand alone novel, the backstory of the characters was obviously not as developed as if I would have started the series at book 1. Amy Muir and her family are once again caught in a mystery that she works hard to solve. She juggles her job, the twins and her friends while helping figure out the crime. An enjoyable cozy in a beautiful setting.

This is the most recent installment in the Blue Ridge Library mysteries and I was excited to be back in the small town with librarian Amy, Richard, and all their friends. When a well-known visiting author is murdered while investigating a cold case from years ago, Amy is once again on hand to help with research and help solve the case.

At this point, there have been several books in the series and I think this one has made it clear that it might be time for it to end. The way Amy inserts herself into investigations has become excessive. The fact that her family all hates it is clear as is the fact that Amy doesn’t intend to stop. The interactions have become repetitive and Amy continues to suspect her closest friends and relatives despite claiming to trust them.

While I will likely read the next book in the series, I don’t think I will continue if it’s more of the same. I’m hoping we get the magic of the early books once again.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this early copy!

Death and the Librarian is the newest book in the Blue Ridge Library series, and it doesn't disappoint! Amy is caught up in another murder investigation when the sheriff asks her to use her research skills to help solve the recent murder of a true crime author. One of the suspects is an old family friend with a secretive past. Could this recent murder be connected to a murder in the past? This book was well paced and filled with intrigue and red herrings. An excellent cozy that will keep you up reading late into the night.

I had been waiting not so patiently for this book! I was totally caught up with the series and could not wait to dive back in with the Blue Ridge Library gang! It did not disappoint, the mystery was fun, and I did not guess who-done-it!

This cozy mystery is #9 in the Blue Ridge Library Series by Victoria Gilbert. Co-Library Director Amy Muir gets entangled in solving a decades old local murder, as well as the recent murder of an author who has written a book about the murder. In her book, the author accuses a close family friend of the murder at a library sponsored author talk. Those familiar with the series will have no trouble immediately falling back into the small Virginia town and remember the other primary residents. Those who enjoy a cozy mystery, but aren't familiar with this series, will immediately feel as if they have always lived there.

If you’ve been following along with the Blue Ridge Library Mysteries, you’ll know that there was a substantial time-jump between books seven and eight. In DEATH AND THE LIBRARIAN Amy is working part-time at the library, Richard is launching a brand-new touring dance company, and the pair have a pair of 6-year-old twins to wrangle.
At this stage in the series, I think readers know pretty much what to expect from Blue Ridge and it’s occupants, and Gilbert delvers another confident, strong instalment. For me, the key selling point of this series is always the characters, especially our main couple and Amy’s best-friend, Sunny. The characters in this series are really well-fleshed out, with complex personalities and opinions, even the recurring minor characters. I love that Richard’s (and his profession) aren’t relegated to the background as partners sometimes are in these types of stories, and we get something a little different from the usual ‘cop’-adjacent love interest to sink our teeth into.
I did have one gripe with this ninth instalment. As a rule, cozy protagonists are prone to throwing caution to the wind and stumbling into dangerous situations, and the suspension of disbelief is just part of the genre. Gilbert even contacts this flaw by having other characters point out Amy’s tendency to investigate when she should back out. In this one, despite investigating a murder involving a woman being drugged with rohypnol, Amy leaves her drink unsupervised at the bar then comes back and finishes it off. Guess what happens? It’s a minor thing, but stood out to me as a decision a modern-day woman in her thirties is unlikely to make. Maybe that’s just me, but it threw me out of the story a little.
Overall though, the Blue Ridge Library Mysteries continues to be a engaging series, with lovable characters I’m always excited to return to. DEATH AND THE LIBRARIAN is a fun addition.

suspensful, yet lighthearted murder mystery (its not like hide from your child thriller but a cozy murder mystery)
it reminded me of an agatha christie series *15 books* and thought it was funny that this was the 9th installment in this series
during summer time virginia, a murder happens at the annual arts festival and all fingers point to kurt kendrick a local art dealer and past suspect of another murder that took place years ago
library director amy muir doesn't believe kurt would murder anyone being a family friend and the godfather of her 6 year old twins
amy is contracted to help with the investigation as the library is the towns only record system, she slowly becomes involved more and it becomes a race against time to prove kurts innocence, find the true murder and possibly close a 30? year old cold case

We're back with Amy and her now 6 year old twins. Richard's dance troupe has a big opening set up, her parents are visiting, and there is a murderer on the loose. The story is a cozy mystery, the characters are likeable with the exception of the suspects. The usual Amy being asked to help the Sheriff despite always having her life in danger each time she "investigates". Cozy mystery again, as she is speaking openly on her phone in the library, where everyone can hear her, even the killer. She is saved at the last minute per usual. One thing that did bother me is that she is now asked to carry a huge secret from her family, including Richard. Bad enough she is always "just investigating", but adding in to lie/keep secrets? Hopefully in the next book she will share what she knows. I can't tell if the series should just finish up or keep going. Again, it's a cozy mystery, easy to read, not scary in any way. Thanks to NetGalley, Crooked Lane Books and Ms Gilbert for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Arts Festival Turns Fatal..
The ninth outing in the Blue Ridge Library Mystery series and the annual arts festival is about to turn fatal as the past comes to haunt the present. As bodies mount, Amy is under pressure to get to the truth before another corpse gets added to the pile. Another enjoyable and entertaining instalment to this series with a likeable protagonist, a colourful cast of characters populating a frothy plot and a well imagined backdrop.

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.