Larkspur Library Mysteries: Book 3
Publication Date: December 3, 2024
A librarian’s rule for Better to be bookish than brash!
Spring has sprung, and with it, a full line-up of programming at Larkspur Community Library. Director Greta Plank is preparing to host the Wisconsin Library Organization’s annual conference—and dreading the arrival of her ex-boyfriend—while also helping a local treasure-hunting club coordinate a showcase highlighting Northern Wisconsin’s gangster trail and the nearby hideouts of the notorious criminals of the early twentieth century.
When Greta overhears the library board president and a larger-than-life member of the treasure-hunting club arguing about a secret discovery, her curiosity is piqued—even more so when one of the women leaves a book with a sequence of strange markings on its pages in the library book return bin. Before Greta can ask about the marginalia, the book’s outspoken owner turns up dead.
At the request of the police—though against the better judgment of her new beau, Detective Mark McHenry—Greta sets to work trying to decipher the peculiar notations, and she quickly hypothesizes that there’s more to the story. Was something sketchy going on at the deceased’s jewelry shop? Did her death have anything to do with the gangster trail event she was helping to plan and the personal research she was bragging about? Greta must work against the clock to decode the dead woman’s book code. What she finds is someone willing to go to great lengths to keep a secret buried in the stacks—and the past—even if it means killing again.
When I saw there was a new release in Leah Dobrinska’s Larkspur Library series, I knew I had to get my hands on A Killer Hold. I absolutely love this series.
This series follows Greta, a librarian in a small Wisconsin town. Her two best friends are her sidekicks, and she’s in a relationship with one of the town’s cops. Honestly, this series feels like a love letter to Nancy Drew, and I’ve even read somewhere that Nancy is a big inspiration for the series. And I’m here for it.
In A Killer Hold, Greta’s library is co-hosting the state’s annual library conference alongside the neighboring town’s library. During the first day of the conference, a local is killed outside a bar where the librarians are gathering. And while Greta initially tries to stay out of it, she ends up juggling investigating and attending the conference.
I’ll be the first to admit that this book has a lot going on. There is a lot of history about gangsters in Wisconsin and a mystery around a possible treasure left behind. Then there is all the conference stuff, and Greta has to deal with her ex, a fellow librarian in attendance. Add in the murder and a host of suspects. But in the end, Ms. Dobrinska was able to tie it all together, and, for me, it was a satisfying mystery and conclusion.
While the mystery was quite good, the main characters are the best part of this book (and the series). I find Greta very likable. I enjoy her relationship with McHenry and her friendship with Josie and Iris. Greta’s interactions with these three, while sleuthing or not, round out the book and keep me coming back.
I’m enjoying the development of the characters, their relationships, and their growth as sleuths. I found this mystery complex yet well-rounded, and I figured out the solution right before the reveal, which is always nice.
A Killer Hold is my favorite book of this series to this point. I recommend this series to fans of Nancy Drew or anyone who loves a good, cozy mystery.
Leah Dobrinska is the author of the Larkspur Library Mysteries, a cozy mystery series set in the Wisconsin Northwoods, and the Mapleton novels, a series of standalone small-town romances. She earned her degree in English Literature from UW-Madison and has since worked as a freelance writer, editor, and content marketer. As a kid, she hoped to grow up to be either Nancy Drew or Elizabeth Bennet. Now, she fulfills that dream by writing mysteries and love stories. Death Checked Out is her debut cozy mystery.
A sucker for a good sentence, a happy ending, and the smell of books—both old and new—Leah lives out her very own happily ever after in a small Wisconsin town with her husband and their gaggle of kids. When she’s not writing, handing out snacks, or visiting local parks, Leah enjoys reading and running.
