Nora Page

70-something librarian Cleo Watkins is celebrating 50 years of librarianship. The library's renovations near completion in this installment, but the bookmobile continues to provide books to patrons. However, everything is threatened when Belle moves back to the area and begins her own "bookmobile" that contains almost no books. Belle charms people, including the library board president, and tries to get them to adapt new ways. Cleo and her assistant know Belle does not like books. Then a real estate agent with the library's oldest overdue book dies via a means that shows the perpetrator's familiarity with the victim. General and specific threats in the form of paper coffins begin appearing around town. Suspects abound. Cleo can't resist a little sleuthing on the side, and she feeds her info to her neighbor, Officer "Gabby." This one went on a little too long for me. It seemed to bog down in multiple places. The plot is not very believable. I do like some of the characters, particularly the up-and-coming librarian who works for Cleo and Officer Gabby, and I'll probably continue to occasionally throw one of these in my reading, but I won't rush to read the rest of the series.… (meer)

I loved the bookmobile, and that Cleo was older and spunky and fighting for her library. The small town setting was drawn nicely and many of the characters were enjoyable. There were a LOT of characters introduced in this book, however, and and at times I confused them. The story was good, with a twist or two I didn't see coming.

However, the start was slow, and it took me until I was a good third of the way through before I really got drawn into the story. In theory, I should have loved Cleo but I felt like I still didn't really know as much about her as I would have liked to, and hopefully this will be sorted as the series continues (and I hope it does). I love the idea of her character, so I hope to see her developed a little more fully in the next story.

Some of the characters in the book - the mayor and sheriff, in particular - who I assume will be recurring thorns in Cleo's side, felt cartoonish. The rest of the characters were interesting and I look forward to learning more about them as the series continues. She had some fun twists with several of the characters that I was not expecting!

I look forward to learning more about Cleo and hopefully seeing the library in repair in author Page's next novel.

Many thanks to Goodreads for providing a copy of the book. All opinions are my own.… (meer)

3 notes & 4 highlights (Some visible)

I was so excited to view that there is a new mystery series that would involve a bookmobile. I love "A Bookmobile Cat Mystery Series" by Laurie Cass and I'm so delighted to confirm there's a new treat to enjoy as created by Nora Page. I have many fond memories of climbing aboard the local bookmobile that visited my neighborhood when I was a child. As we were a one-car family at the time it was especially magical to have one of the bookmobile stops be only a few steps from home.

Catalpa Springs is located in South Georgia and septuagenarian librarian Cleo Watkins is a hoot! Cleo is a ball of energy and there's always a whirlwind of activity around her regardless of her location. Cleo is delightfully accompanied by her cat Rhett Butler who has quite a personality too. Rhett's favorite lounging locations are either draped over Cleo's shoulders, nuzzling her ear and purring to express his feelings or lounging on the hood of the bookmobile at each scheduled stop or while Cleo is doing a special delivery.

I also love two of the characters joining Cleo as the new trio sleuthing team when there's a murder to solve in their small town. Leanna is one of the young library workers that is saving up money from part-time jobs to pursue her dream of becoming a librarian too. There's also Henry Lafayette, owner of The Gilded Page Antiquarian and Rare Bookshop. I have to say I absolutely adore his posted store hours as follows: "Monday through Friday—when open. Weekends and holidays, nights, special occasions, and inclement weather—at whim." It's almost as though Henry had been preparing for the needed flexibility of being Cleo's sidekick for investigations all along. As I was reading I thought to myself, "Henry, dear man, you've got style!"

I don't recall another series about libraries where there is a young person highlighted with a dream of becoming a librarian. The usual characters whether primary or secondary to the storyline are established librarians. The friendship between Cleo, Henry, and Leanna not only offers a multi-generational interest to the series but highlights the mentoring of an established librarian passing on the love of her profession.

I can only hope that I've in some small way helped to encourage new readers to enjoy this series! Book One is the opening treasure of the series and I'm so happy to be along for the ride!… (meer)