Death Checked Out by Leah Dobrinska (Book Beginnings & Friday 56)

 

Title: Death Checked Out

Author:Leah Dobrinska

Publication: 6 December 2022

Format: Kindle eARC via NetGalley & Level Best Books

Amazon Description

When in doubt, go to the library…and solve the murder mystery!

Greta Plank, library director in the small, lakeside town of Larkspur, Wisconsin, prefers her rose-tinted glasses extra rosy, thank you very much. It’s how she copes with the hard stuff in life…like her sister’s death and her ex-boyfriend’s deception. But Greta’s cheery resolve takes a hit when she stumbles upon a dead body on her way home from work. What she assumes is a terrible accident Greta soon learns is something more sinister, and to make matters worse, a new-to-town detective cites her as not only his primary source for the case, but his top suspect.

To clear her name and save her reputation, Greta decides to do some off-the-books clue cataloging of her own. After all, asking questions is what she does best. With the help of her fellow librarians and her lawyer mom, Greta flips through the pages of the murder, uncovering details about Larkspur’s real estate market and the deceased’s rare book collection as she tries to understand why anyone would have authored his death.

With friends and neighbors stacking up as both victims and suspects, Greta must cross reference the facts and put a hold on her idyllic worldview if she wants to get the full story without paying the fine of her life.

Ramble-y Teaserish Stuff

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"For heaven's sake! This is Larkspur, Wisconsin. No one here would want anyone else dead."

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Ohhhhhh Greta. Poor sweet annoyingly chipper Greta.

To be fair, this may not have been the best time to for me to read anything with a main character that has a "cheery resolve" and "idyllic worldview" ... but I'm trying to catch up on my neglected NetGalley shelf and this was next on the list (besides those way overdue for reviewing). Luckily, her finding a friend dead and being the only suspect the detective in charge is looking at means that not everything is perky-perky-perky and I could actually read the book without wanting to smack the cheeriness out of her ... much.

 

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"Miss Plank, one more thing."

Greta spun around too see Detective McHenry slip into the hallway behind her.

"What?" Her snappish tone was out of character, but she'd never been accused of murder before, so all bets were off.

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Sometimes "out of character" is exactly what's needed to make a character likeable ... and a book readable. It's almost as though Leah Dobrinska knew what she was doing when she was writing this. Greta's out of character moments and the amazing set of secondary characters (particularly Detective McHottie) has pretty much guaranteed that this is a series I will want to continue.

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She'd never seen the man show any shred of emotion beyond stoic, indifferent, and accusatory. His face completely transformed when he wasn't scowling, and Greta didn't hate it.

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Of course, if you've been around for a while you know how bad I am at finishing series ... or continuing series ... or remembering to ramble and share ... or .....

2023 will be better. Hopefully. In a lot of ways.

(I think the "56" was technically 57% ... hence the "ish")

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Friday 56 (share a blurb from the 56th page or 56% mark) is hosted at Freda's Voice 

& Book Beginnings (share the first few sentences) is at Rose City Reader