Research librarian Ann Beckett has a talent for finding books — and, unfortunately, bodies. A cozy mystery series set in a quiet Blue Ridge mountain town where the shelves are orderly, the neighbors are nosy, and the secrets go back generations.
When research librarian Ann Beckett takes a job at the tiny Whitby public library, she thinks she's trading big-city stress for quiet shelves and quieter evenings. Then a body turns up in the stacks. Then another. Turns out Ann's knack for finding obscure facts makes her a natural at finding killers, too — with a little help from her orange-and-white library cat, Fitz.
Ann Beckett is Whitby's research librarian — quiet, sharp, and constitutionally unable to leave a mystery unsolved. She knows where everything is in the library. Including, unfortunately, the bodies.
Her partners in (solving) crime: Fitz, the library's orange-and-white cat with an uncanny instinct for trouble, and a tight-knit mountain community that turns out to have a remarkable number of secrets worth killing to protect.
Ann notices what other people miss. A name in a checkout log. A newspaper clipping. A letter pressed between pages. Pair her with a very opinionated cat and a small town full of secrets, and you have a mystery that reads like a long weekend at your favorite bookshop.
Best read in order — but every book is a standalone mystery. New readers usually start with Checked Out.
“A gentle, in-control main character who is a librarian! I can't resist checking out books with librarians and this series is one of the best. I bought this book as soon as I finished the first and bought the third book as soon as I finished this one.”
“The perfect mystery for fans of Miranda James, Victoria Gilbert, and Allison Brook.”
“I love the library setting, having grown up spending a lot of time in one… I could even picture it as a Hallmark mystery film.”
“I really can sink into it and just enjoy going where the mystery leads. This is a staple cozy series for me.”
The Village Library Mysteries are available on audiobook — narrated warmly by Romy Nordlinger, whose voice makes Ann's library feel like your own.
