Killer Research
4 Stars

The campaign for mayor of Briarcreek is heating up when a body is found in Miss Cole's car. As rumors about the prim and proper librarian's rebellious youth begin circulating, Lindsay Norris quickly comes to her employee's aid, and is determined to discover who is trying to frame Miss Cole for murder.

Another solid addition to the series although, as with most of the other books, it is pretty easy to guess the culprit even as the motive is more obscure mainly due to a lack of foundation and development.

Nevertheless, it is fun catching up with the various residents of Briarcreek. Here, readers are given more information on Miss Cole's past, and the details go a long way to understanding her prickly personality at the beginning of the series. It is also very satisfying that the self-aggrandizing, lazy, and misogynistic Mayor Henson is about to find himself out of office. His behavior in the last few installments has been particularly egregious. Finally, the manner in which the crafternooners band together to offer encouragement and support to one another is a highlight.

All in all, a quick and entertaining listen. ( )

Ms. Cole is running for mayor and the current person in the position isn't too happy about not running unopposed. So when the dead body of Ms. Cole's old flame shows up in the trunk of her car, the current mayor makes full use of the situation to try to discredit her as a candidate. Could the straightlaced librarian really have committed murder? Or is Mayor Henson the culprit in an attempt to frame his opponent? Library director Lindsey has her hands full trying to clear her colleague and friend's name while trying to find out who the real killer is.

I love visiting Briar Creek and its library, despite the ridiculously high murder rate. The characters feel like old friends and the cozy series is still going strong. ( )

While Library Director Lindsey Norris has to stay neutral during working hours, in her off-time she does everything she can to support fellow librarian Ms. Cole’s candidacy for mayor. It is not easy – the current mayor wants desperately to keep his job and he is willing to play dirty in order to do so. As if that isn’t bad enough, when the body of a murder victim turns up in the trunk of Ms. Cole’s car, many people wonder if she killed him especially as details of her past are revealed. Lindsey knows that Ms. Cole is not a killer and sets out to clear her name.

“Killer Research” is the nicely done twelfth book in Jenn McKlinlay’s Library Lover’s cozy mystery series. While I have enjoyed all the books in the series, this may be my favorite one yet, primary because of Ms. Cole. She has gone from a sour, unfriendly coworker knows as The Lemon to a valuable coworker, candidate for mayor who has a nice sense of humor, and can respond gracefully to pressure (although she’ll probably always be called Ms. Cole rather than by her first name!). It is fun, interesting to read, and at times a bit sad as we learn more about Ms. Cole’s background. Present day Ms. Cole is just as interesting as she admirably handles anything the mayor and press throw her way. The mystery is well plotted with plenty of surprises (including the murder victim’s past with Ms. Cole). I did try to figure out who the killer was but I was not able to.

“Killer Research” is a nicely done cozy mystery. ( )

The mayoral race is heating up and the library staff is especially interested in it, since one of their own is running against the incumbent mayor. Ms. Cole, AKA The Lemon, is their candidate of choice, but things go haywire when a body is found in the trunk of her car. It will take some fancy footwork to figure out who the killer is, and even though Ms. Cole is undoubtedly innocent, it may be enough to derail her run for mayor. Most of the story deals with the politics of the town, and solving the murder. Beth is quite pregnant, so the next book may deal more with the relationships of the characters and the new arrival. This series always is interesting, entertaining, and well written. ( )

I like the characters and the writing my only criticism is that it was very short took me less then 3 hours to read. ( )