When Charli Rae Warren decided to bring her dad breakfast, she
didn't expect to see Ava James coming out of his house; were
they having an affair? Maybe things had changed more that
Charli had thought in the twelve years she had been away from
Hazel Rock, Texas. However Charli's dad, Bobby Rae Warren, and
Judge Sperry weren't getting along any better than before, but
Charli was crestfallen when she heard that Sperry's wife Isla,
whom Charli adored, thought the judge was also having an affair
with Ava! Ava, who had a live-in boyfriend? When Ava is
murdered, Charli needs to prove her dad's innocence, but it
won't be easy as the sheriff is Charli's boyfriend!
Judging by the cover and the blurb, I expected LETHAL
LITERATURE to be an entertaining little piece of fluff with
some romance, talk about the literacy book drive, and a little
easy-to-solve murder thrown in, but wow! LETHAL LITERATURE
turned out to be a hugely pleasant surprise! The plot is very
intricate and while Charli is investigating discreetly -- yes,
she does! She doesn't bulldoze her way around! -- so many
little
and big secrets rise to the surface. LETHAL LITERATURE is
a murder investigation, but also about a small town's whose
skeletons are rapidly coming out of its closets. While LETHAL
LITERATURE is book four in the Book
Barn Mystery series,
I felt comfortable as if I had known the characters since the
beginning.
Kym Roberts is a very eloquent writer, especially with regards
to Oak Grove Manor -- the home where Isla, who has Alzheimer's,
resides. I like the author's realistic grasp of the small town
atmosphere. Everybody knows everybody, but I didn't get the
feeling that they were living in each other's pockets, as it
often is the case, and the characters are colorful individuals
without being over the top. The cozy part involves some
mischief perpetrated by Charli with the help of her best friend
the beautiful Scarlet -- whom I loved. Mateo, Charli's
boyfriend and sheriff, is a darling and competent to boot!
That's another thing I enjoyed about LETHAL LITERATURE, the
police are actively investigating the murder! How novel! I was
in a dreadful reading slump, I was at the point where I was
wondering if I was systematically hating everything I was
reading, but LETHAL LITERATURE proved me wrong. I am now cured
of my reading slump! Thank you, Kym Roberts for a fabulous,
smart, and clever story (and series, it would appear!)!
Running an independent bookstore in small-town Hazel Rock, Texas, doesn't sound like a high-risk pursuit. But when a fundraiser reveals a story with a truly killer ending, Charli Rae Warren will need to scramble to sort out the deadly plot… Sponsoring the literacy drive to benefit the foster care system should be a feel-good endeavor, but one of Charli's helpers is definitely on another page. Charli's dad is distracted and keeping something secret, which Charli suspects is a harmless flirtation with an attractive county clerk who offered to lend them a hand. It's nothing to worry about—until the same clerk winds up dead… When nosy locals begin pointing fingers, Charli finds herself entangled in a race to uncover the killer's identity—and to get to the bottom of a shattering family secret that could rewrite her history in alarming ways. Suddenly Charli is facing her worst fears and her childhood nemesis in order to unmask a murderer—before he silences her for good…