When I spotted a Haunted Library Mystery I decided this might be just right. I tend to haunt libraries myself. Carrie Singleton lives in Clover Ridge, Connecticut and at the start of DEATH OVERDUE, she is offered a full-time librarian position. Carrie had only seen this as a short-term job and would really rather travel with her degree. But the pay is good, and she agrees to consider the offer.

Persuaded by a friendly ghost of a former librarian, which I must say the modern girl rather takes in her stride without asking about other people who have passed on, Carrie accepts. A speaking engagement is filled by a speaker who is a retired police officer, who is trying to resolve a cold case from his early career. Carrie enjoys putting on programming to engage the community, but not all her assistants like the fact that she was promoted over longstanding fellow workers. We can tell not everything will go smoothly.

Al Buckley thinks he has found new evidence in the death of Laura Foster, and he wants to write a book about the case, building on his former police career. But the deceased lady's family want this talk stopped. Someone goes too far in halting matters, and Carrie has a suspicious death on her hands.

I'm upset that a doctor just says a man who collapses has no pulse, and never starts CPR. Many heart attack victims have been resuscitated, especially if there is a defibrillator to hand. I recommend taking a first aid course, and should this happen, getting someone to phone the emergency services and carrying out CPR until the ambulance arrives. Anyone can do this, but in the story nobody does. This is not realistic.

Carrie is busy organising a Hallowe'en party as well as getting settled into her new job and finding a new place to live independently. But the townsfolk can't let a great piece of gossip slide, and everyone keeps harking back to the sad situation. If you enjoy a small town crime tale in which everyone knows all about what the earlier generation got up to, you'll want to shelve DEATH OVERDUE with the rest of your crime books. Allison Brook is a pseudonym for Marilyn Levinson who has also written the Twin Lakes mysteries. This is a fast-paced story with lots of twists. And a cat, making the library just perfect!