Friday, September 20, 2019

Dear Abby - Videos Abby Likes: Dachshund Plays Pinball

Dear Friends,

I have a short and sweet share for you today.  

I was surfing the Internet, as I sometimes do on a lazy afternoon, and I found a video of a dachshund playing pinball. Her name is Ellie and she gets very excited about the little silver, fast moving ball in the pinball machine.  I am pretty sure she thinks she will capture that ball for her own!   Ellie is a happy little dog with lots and lots of energy.  (I think she may still be a puppy.)   I showed this to my Momma and she liked it ... so I hope you do too.



This video made me happy and I hope it makes you smile too.

I'll be back next week.  Hope your weekend is wonderful!

Love,

Abby xoxoxo

Book Review and Giveaway - Buried in the Stacks: A Haunted Library Mystery by Allison Brook

Book Synopsis
Librarian Carrie Singleton is building a haven, but one of her neighbors is misbehavin’. Can resident spirit Evelyn help Carrie catch the culprit who made her a ghost?
 
In winter, the Haunted Library is a refuge for homeless townspeople. When a group purchases a vacant house to establish a daytime haven for the homeless, Carrie offers the library as a meeting place for the Haven House committee, but quickly learns that it may be used for illegal activities.

As the new Sunshine Delegate, Carrie heads to the hospital to visit her cantankerous colleague, Dorothy, who had fallen outside the local supermarket. She tells Carrie that her husband tried to kill her–and that he murdered her Aunt Evelyn, the library’s resident ghost, six years earlier.

And then Dorothy is murdered–run off the road as soon as she returns to work. Evelyn implores Carrie to find her niece’s killer, but that’s no easy task: Dorothy had made a hobby of blackmailing her neighbors and colleagues. Carrie, Evelyn, and Smoky Joe the cat are on the case, but are the library cards stacked against them?
 
My Review
Buried in the Stacks is set in small town Connecticut. Carrie Singleton works at a library haunted by a kindly librarian ghost, Evelyn, whom she has befriended.  In this cozy mystery, Carrie faces several issues at once.  The library suddenly has become a daytime refuge for homeless people in the community.  Several library patrons are upset about this and Carrie steps in to find a way to help the homeless people.  In the meantime, her longtime antagonist, Dorothy, the library's reference librarian, dies under mysterious circumstances.  Dorothy was the niece of Carrie's ghostly friend, Evelyn, and Carrie begins to investigate both their deaths -- Dorothy's recent passing and Evelyn's from some years ago.

This book is the third in the Haunted Library Mystery series.  I absolutely love this series of mysteries, and the third volume did not disappoint!

I admire Carrie's sensitivity and compassion as she works to not just solve mysteries but also help others.  Her friendship with the ghostly Evelyn continues to be a strong point in the books.

I also enjoy the small town setting and especially the library locale.  I like Carrie's friends, her boyfriend Dylan, and her cat Smoky Joe.

The mystery was well written and it kept me guessing.  The character development in this series is especially strong, and that makes the mysteries a bit more substantive to me.  The social issue of homelessness was handled with sensitivity in this novel.

I enthusiastically recommend Buried in the Stacks - and the Haunted Library Mystery series - to other cozy fans.  I am already looking forward to reading the next book in the series!

Author Bio
Allison Brook is the pseudonym for Marilyn Levinson, who writes mysteries, romantic suspense, and novels for kids. She lives on Long Island and enjoys traveling, reading, watching foreign films, doing Sudoku and dining out. She especially loves to visit with her grandchildren on FaceTime.

Author Links
Website: http://www.marilynlevinson.com
My Amazon page: http://amzn.to/K6Md1O
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/marilyn.levinson.10?ref=ts&fref=ts
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/161602.Marilyn_Levinson
Twitter: https://twitter.com/MarilynLevinson
Pinterest: http://www.pinterest.com/marilev/
Purchase Links – AmazonB&NKoboIndieBound


Giveaway
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