DEADLY EVER AFTER is the eighth book in the “Lighthouse Library” cozy mystery series by Eva Gates. I always find it interesting when a story centers around people from a favorite character’s past resurfacing to cause problems in the present. DEADLY EVER AFTER is that kind of a story. When intrepid amateur sleuth and librarian Lucy Richardson is celebrating her engagement to mayor Connor McNeil, her ex’s family wanders up to the festivities even though uninvited and unwanted. And when a murder occurs, the potential suspects include Lucy’s ex – (Ricky), his overbearing and flamboyant mother, and even those nearer and dear to her.

I like when the amateur sleuth has a good reason to get involved in a murder investigation. In DEADLY EVER AFTER, so many of the suspects are people that Lucy has, or had, a close personal relationship with. With Lucy’s wedding on the horizon, this is a way of adding some closure to her past. Sometimes a victim will have a host of enemies, thus making narrowing it down to the guilty party difficult. This was not the case in DEADLY EVER AFTER. Solving this mystery proves challenging because, while the victim’s identity is immediately known, the circumstances surrounding why he’s in town and what motive somebody had for killing him is not as clear. Lucy must wade through a sea of lies to get to the truth. At one point Lucy has a small dog as a temporary houseguest. Fluffy and his doggie cuteness balance out some seriously scary scenes. DEADLY EVER AFTER has plenty of the cozy goodness readers have come to expect with this series, but Lucy has some close calls with her safety that had me on the edge of my seat.

DEADLY EVER AFTER has family connections that turn fatal and an amateur sleuth who combines wedding planning with solving a murder. Lucy’s friends and colleagues offer help and occasionally protection as she hunts down clues and ruffles feathers. I like how the relationships between Lucy and the local police are friendly rather than adversarial like in some other cozy mysteries. As with all the previous books in this series, there are parallels between current events in Lucy’s life and the current Bodie Island Lighthouse Library book club selection. This featured novel in DEADLY EVER AFTER is Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s classic mystery THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES. I can’t wait to read the next “Lighthouse Library” mystery!