Eva Gates

Read and Buried by Eva Gates – Guest Post & Giveaway

~ Erika K ~ 5 Comments

Synopsis:

Librarian Lucy Richardson unearths a mysterious map dating back to the Civil War. But if she can’t crack its code, she may end up read and buried. 

The Bodie Island Lighthouse Library Classic Novel Book Club is reading Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne while workers dig into the earth to repair the Lighthouse Library’s foundations. The digging halts when Lucy pulls a battered tin box containing a Civil War-era diary from the pit. Tucked inside is a hand-drawn map of the Outer Banks accompanied by a page written in an indecipherable code. 

The library is overrun by people clamoring to see the artifact. Later that night, Lucy and Connor McNeil find the body of historical society member Jeremy Hughes inside the library. Clearly Jeremy was not the only one who broke into the library–the map and the coded page are missing. 

Lucy’s nemesis, Louise Jane McKaughnan, confesses to entering the library after closing to sneak a peek but denies seeing Jeremy–or his killer. When Lucy discovers that fellow-librarian Charlene had a past with Jeremy, she’s forced to do what she vowed not to do–get involved in the case. Meanwhile, the entire library staff and community become obsessed with trying to decode the page. But when the library has a second break in, it becomes clear that someone is determined to solve that code.

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The Spook in the Stacks by Eva Gates – Blog Tour and Giveaway

~ Erika K ~ 11 Comments

Halloween in North Carolina’s Outer Banks becomes seriously tricky when librarian Lucy Richardson stumbles across something extra unusual in the rare books section: a dead body.

Wealthy businessman Jay Ruddle is considering donating his extensive collection of North Carolina historical documents to the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, but the competition for the collection is fierce. Unfortunately, while the library is hosting a lecture on ghostly legends, Jay becomes one of the dearly departed in the rare books section. Now, it’s up to Lucy Richardson and her fellow librarians to bone up on their detective skills and discover who is responsible for this wicked Halloween homicide.

Meanwhile, very strange things are happening at the library―haunted horses are materializing in the marsh, the lights seem to have an eerie life of their own, and the tiny crew of a model ship appears to move around when no one is watching. Is Lucy at her wit’s end? Or can it be that the Bodie Island Lighthouse really is haunted?

With The Legend of Sleepy Hollow on everyone’s minds and ghoulish gossip on everyone’s lips, Lucy will need to separate the clues from the boos if she wants to crack this case without losing her head in The Spook in the Stacks, the delightful fourth in national bestseller Eva Gates’ Lighthouse Library mysteries.

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Cozy Review – Reading Up a Storm by Eva Gates

~ Erika K ~ 4 Comments

Reading Up a Storm (Lighthouse Library Mystery #3) Misfortune blows into North Carolina’s Outer Banks when a dead body in a boat on the shore leaves local librarian Lucy Richardson racing to solve a strange new mystery….

After a successful party at Bodie Island’s Lighthouse Library, librarian Lucy Richardson is ready to curl up with her cat, Charles, and a good book. But her R and R is cut short when she notices some mysterious lights leading a small boat to crash into the coast.

The two shipwrecked seafarers survive the ordeal—but one of them shows up dead ashore a few days later. Lucy finds herself again roped into a murder investigation and navigating a sea of suspects, all of whom had motives to deep-six the deceased. And this time, she has a sinking feeling that finding the real killer won’t be so easy…

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Reading Up a Storm by Eva Gates – WAYRW

~ Erika K ~ 2 Comments

whatareyoureadingwed

What Are You Reading Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by It’s A Reading Thing. To participate, open the book you are currently reading to page 34 (or 34% in your ebook) and answer these three questions.

The Questions are:
1. What’s the name of your current read?

2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a complete sentence. (or two!)

3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

Now for my answers this week…

1. Reading Up a Storm by Eva Gates (Read my recent interview with her here)
Reading Up a Storm (Lighthouse Library Mystery #3)
Lighthouse Library Mystery #3

2. “Forgot about the differences between common sense an a darn fool, sounds like,” Josie whispered to me. I kept my face impassive. That they could have been killed, and that the coast guard rescuing them were putting themselves in danger, seemed not to matter to Marlene.

3. Cheating a little – I already answered this question when I featured Booked for Trouble (book # 2) on WAYRW! My answer then – “Definitely – the Bodie Island Lighthouse sounds like a beautiful place to work (and live).” I still agree with that assessment.

 

Top Ten Tuesday – Favorite Books Read in 2015

~ Erika K ~ 39 Comments

Top Ten Tuesday is hosted by The Broke and the Bookish. Every Tuesday they post a new Top Ten list prompt. This week’s theme is Top Ten Best Books I Read In 2015. You’ll see some overlap with last week’s Top Ten Authors Discovered in 2015 list. It was very hard to narrow it down to 10!! I have read some great books this year. 🙂

Be sure to leave a link to your own post or a comment to let me know what some of your favorites were this year.

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Audiobook Review – By Book or by Crook by Eva Gates

~ Erika K ~ 6 Comments

By Book or by Crook – Eva Gates
Read by Elise Arsenault
By Book or By Crook (Lighthouse Library Mystery #1)
Lighthouse Library #1

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Rating: **** (4 of 5 stars)

I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy of book #2 in this series (Booked for Trouble) to review a while ago. I enjoyed the book, so I decided to go back to the beginning while the series is still young!

In By Book or By Crook, we meet Lucy Richardson, a librarian who has moved from Boston to the Outer Banks area to escape both her mother and a relationship that she doesn’t see a future in. She has family, an aunt, uncle, and cousins, in the area, and her aunt introduces her to the head librarian at the Bodie Island public library. Soon Lucy has a new job and a new home – an apartment on the top floor of the lighthouse in which the library resides.

At a reception to celebrate the arrival of a collection of first edition Jane Austen novels for display at the library, a member of the board is found dead in the rare books room. Soon afterwards, the first editions begin disappearing one-by-one from their display case. With Bertie, the head librarian, suspected of the crimes, Lucy and the rest of the library staff do some investigating on their own to clear Bertie’s name and protect the remainder of the Jane Austen novels.

I enjoyed this book, but I had to keep reminding myself that this story took place before Booked for Trouble. There is a bit of a love triangle (one of my least favorite tropes, but not too bad yet) going on in book number two that is just developing in this first book. It was fun to go back and see how Lucy met all of the recurring characters from the second story, and to see that her sense of justice has been there right from the beginning. I will definitely be reading Lucy’s future adventures.

While the narrator does a good job with her not-too-Southern accent throughout, I wasn’t thrilled with her pacing while reading. If you’re thinking of giving this series a try, print would be the way to go.

Cozy Review – Booked for Trouble by Eva Gates

~ Erika K ~ 5 Comments

Booked for Trouble by Eva Gates
Booked for Trouble (Lighthouse Library Mystery #2)
Lighthouse Library Mystery #2

Available 9/1/15 from NAL

Genre: Cozy Mystery
Rating **** (4 of 5 stars)

Lucy Richardson lives in and works at a lighthouse that has been converted into the Bodie Island local library. When her mother comes for a visit and tries to get Lucy to move back home to Boston, she has her hands full trying to convince her mother that she is not going to go back and marry her old sweetheart. Then one of her mother’s old high school classmates is murdered after a book club meeting at the library, and Mom becomes suspect number one. Lucy takes it upon herself to investigate in order to clear her mother’s name, and to make sure her mother will be allowed to leave town soon!

This is the second book in the Lighthouse Library Mystery series, but you can jump right in without feeling like you have missed anything. I loved the lighthouse / library setting – it feels cozy and calm, at least until a murder takes place right outside. I also liked the cast of characters in this one. Lucy has believable problems, and the supporting cast are a likable bunch. The mystery itself was fast paced and not too obvious. I will definitely go back and read number one in the series.

With a home perched above a library full of books, a lighthouse, a murder, and a library cat – this was a perfect cozy read!

***NOTE: I received an advanced review copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review***

What are you reading Wednesday – 7/15/15

~ Erika K ~ 10 Comments

What are you reading Wednesday – 7/15/15

whatareyoureadingwed
What Are You Reading Wednesdays is a weekly meme hosted by Its A Reading Thing. To participate, open the book you are currently reading to page 34 (or 34% in your ebook) and answer these three questions. Feel free to leave your answers or a link to your blog post in the comments.

The Questions are:
1. What’s the name of your current read?

2. Go to page 34 in your book or 34% in your eBook and share a complete sentence. (or two!)

3. Would you like to live in the world that exists within your book? Why or why not?

My answers for this week:
1. Booked for Trouble by Eva Gates
Booked for Trouble (Lighthouse Library Mystery #2)
Lighthouse Library Mystery #2 – Available 9/1/15 from NAL (I received an ARC from the author)

2. I’d been warned the day I started working here that Theodore has what Bertie called “wandering hands”, meaning books would sometimes find themselves in his coat pockets, or make their way to the shelves in his home.

3. Definitely – the Bodie Island Lighthouse sounds like a beautiful place to work (and live).