Cozy Monday

Better Late Than Never (Library Lover's Mystery #7) by Jenn McKinlay (Berkley Prime Crime hardcover, 1 November 2016). 

It's wonderful to visit Lindsey Norris, director of the Briar Creek Public Library, again.  

We arrive at the library just in time to witness Briar Creek's very first library amnesty day, 24 hours during which library patrons can return overdue books with no fines being charged. Lindsey and her staHff are overwhelmed by the sheer volume of books returned; it's necessary to empty the overflowing bookdrop several times, and all of the book trucks are filled.

To reward her staff for all the work the've been saddled with, Lindsey is running a contest: the person who finds the most overdue item gets a free pizza.  Paula Turner, a recenly hired clerk, comes across a copy of The Catcher in the Rye that is twenty years late.

Out of curiosity, Lindsey searches the library's records (of course they go back that far!) and finds that the peron who'd checked out the book was a local high school teacher named Candice Whitley.  

She's shocked to learn that Candice was murdered, and on the very day that the book was checked out.  Certain that the book can help to identify the killer, Lindsey turns it in to the police chief.

But the small Briar Creek police force is strained to the limit by a spate of burglaries, and Lindsey knows that a late library book will certainly be given little attention, so she decides to ask a few questions herself.

But there's plenty going on in the small town besides murder and robbery investigations. New babies, new friends, new romances... it's astounding!

The back of the book contains craft ideas, recipes, and an excerpt from the fifth

 book in Ms. McKinlay's Hat Shop mystery series, Assault and Beret, due in January.

The publisher has generously offered a copy of Better Late Than Never to one of my readers.  Please comment below before 12:01 a.m. on Monday, November 14th.  Entries from the US only, please.  
Please don't forget to include an email address where I can contact you if you win!

FTC Full Disclosure:  Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a review copy of this book.