Murder Out of Character (Peach Coast Library Mysteries)
Author:
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genre: Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
Book Type: Paperback
I love Hallmark. I love the stores with cards and gifts to mark holidays and special occasions. I enjoy the rare opportunity to watch the movies - wholesome, formulaic, and predictable. And I enjoy the novels - like Hallmark movies in book form. I don't like how "white" most things Hallmark are. The company is getting better at including diversity in its products, but it has a long way to go. That's why I was excited by the chance to listen to Murder Out of Character by Patricia Sargeant (written using the pen name Olivia Matthews) a Black author. As a Hallmark mystery, this is the coziest of cozy mysteries.
At the kick-off event for a fundraising drive to benefit the Peach Coast, Georgia public library, Marvey Harris, Director of Community Engagement, discovers a random piece of paper with the names of four community members written on it. The people don't seem to have a strong connection to each other, and one of the names is Spencer Holt, her good friend.
Soon the first two people named on the paper are murdered, and Marvey is very concerned for her friend's safety, even though he, and the local police, don't take the note seriously. This (of course) leads Marvey, her friend Jo, and fellow librarians to investigate the murders.
As a former fundraiser, I related to the challenges and pressures of relying on community support to maintain programs. The audiobook narration by Janina Edwards perfectly personified Marvey as a young woman establishing her personal and professional relationships in a new city far from home.
I enjoyed all of the library talk and the main character's interactions with her parents. This is the second book in the series; clues in the prose filled in some information I missed by not reading the first installment. I rolled my eyes at the excessive descriptions of characters' clothing, accessories, and hair, and the mystery seemed to drag a bit in the middle.
Thank you to Dreamscape Media, Hallmark Publishing, and NetGalley for the review copy of this mystery.
At the kick-off event for a fundraising drive to benefit the Peach Coast, Georgia public library, Marvey Harris, Director of Community Engagement, discovers a random piece of paper with the names of four community members written on it. The people don't seem to have a strong connection to each other, and one of the names is Spencer Holt, her good friend.
Soon the first two people named on the paper are murdered, and Marvey is very concerned for her friend's safety, even though he, and the local police, don't take the note seriously. This (of course) leads Marvey, her friend Jo, and fellow librarians to investigate the murders.
As a former fundraiser, I related to the challenges and pressures of relying on community support to maintain programs. The audiobook narration by Janina Edwards perfectly personified Marvey as a young woman establishing her personal and professional relationships in a new city far from home.
I enjoyed all of the library talk and the main character's interactions with her parents. This is the second book in the series; clues in the prose filled in some information I missed by not reading the first installment. I rolled my eyes at the excessive descriptions of characters' clothing, accessories, and hair, and the mystery seemed to drag a bit in the middle.
Thank you to Dreamscape Media, Hallmark Publishing, and NetGalley for the review copy of this mystery.
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