TROUBLE ON THE BOOKS

A newly minted bookseller discovers a body.

Shelby Cox, born in the lovely upstate New York town of
Alexandria Bay and raised from an early age by her father in Boston, is back
helping her Aunt Edie, who’s recovering from knee surgery, run her seasonal
bookstore in a castle on Blye Island. Blye Castle is less well-known than the
Thousand Islands’ Boldt Castle but just as fascinating in a smaller package.
The only fly in the ointment is Loreena Swan, the pushy dragon who thinks she
runs the Alexandria Bay Heritage Society. While enjoying the beauty of the
island gardens, which are kept in top shape by caretaker Matthew Kessler,
Shelby comes upon the body of Loreena floating in the waters of the Blye Grotto.
Her screams bring Matthew and then the police to the scene. The local police
chief immediately suspects Matthew, a true-crime writer who was investigated
but never charged for the unsolved murder of his wife. Aunt Edie, who has a
soft spot for Matthew, asks Shelby to do a little snooping, a request that
doesn’t go over well with the authorities, including good-looking Special Agent
Zack Griffin of the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service. The involvement of
the Coast Guard encourages Shelby to ponder the history of Blye Castle, which
was once used as a smuggling base. Despite her uneasiness around the police,
Shelby can’t stop asking questions, some of which are dear to her heart. Her
father never talked about her mother, who died when Shelby was 3. Now she’s
actually meeting people who knew her mother. Shocked and dismayed when her aunt
blows off her questions, Shelby realizes she has two mysteries to solve.

Lang’s debut features a naturally beautiful area and some
promising characters. But the pace is too slow to give it the dramatic tension
that might raise it above other bookstore-based cozies.