Friday, January 17, 2020

Book Review and Giveaway - Bound for Murder: A Blue Ridge Library Mystery by Victoria Gilbert

Book Synopsis
Blue Ridge library director Amy Webber learns it wasn’t all peace and love among the “flower children” when a corpse is unearthed on the grounds of a 1960s commune.
 
Taylorsford Public Library director Amy Webber’s friend “Sunny” Fields is running for mayor. But nothing puts a damper on a campaign like an actual skeleton in a candidate’s closet. Sunny’s grandparents ran a commune back in the 1960s on their organic farm. But these former hippies face criminal charges when human remains are found in their fields–and a forensic examination reveals that the death was neither natural nor accidental.

With Sunny’s mayoral hopes fading, Amy sets her wedding plans aside, says “not yet” to the dress, and uses her research skills to clear her best friend’s family. Any of the now-elderly commune members could have been the culprit. As former hippies perish one by one, Amy and her friends Richard, Aunt Lydia, and Hugh Chen pursue every lead. But if Amy can’t find whoever killed these “flower children,” someone may soon be placing flowers on her grave. 

My Review
In Bound for Murder, Blue Ridge library director Amy Webber becomes involved in some amateur detective work when a skeleton is found at the farm that belongs to her best friend's grandparents. In the 1960's the farm was a commune, and a promising young musician went missing.  As Amy investigates what happened, more murders occur, and she herself is in jeopardy.

This is the fourth book in the Blue Ridge Library Mystery series. There are continuing characters from earlier books, including Amy, of course, her fiance Richard, her Aunt Lydia, and her best friend Sunny.  I enjoy this series.  I love the Blue Ridge background and the library setting.

The author has a gift for setting the scene with descriptions like:

"Saturday was one of those lovely September days where everything appeared to be rimmed in crystal. The sky was blue as a fine piece of Wedgwood, and the leaves, still green, were outlined with gold by the bright sunlight. I paused for a moment at Kurt Kendrick’s forest-green front door and inhaled a deep breath, enjoying the scent of the late-season roses that filled his cottage garden" (Kindle location 2502).


Because this mystery takes place in present day with many references to the 1960's, there is an unusually large cast of characters that is at times a bit hard to keep up with.  I found this also made the first few chapters move a  bit slowly, but once I got into the story I was thoroughly engrossed.

I figured the murderer early on but enjoyed reading Amy's detection process.  I liked the sweep of the mystery from the library to points around town, including the farm (old commune) and the county fair.

This is an enjoyable series and I recommend Bound for Murder and the entire series to other readers who also like cozy mysteries with small town venues and library settings.


Author Bio
Victoria Gilbert, raised in the shadow of the Blue Ridge Mountains, turned her early obsession with reading into a dual career as an author and librarian. Victoria has worked as a reference librarian, research librarian, and library director. When not writing or reading, she likes to spend her time watching films, gardening, or traveling. She is a member of Sisters in Crime and International Thriller Writers and lives in North Carolina. This is her fourth Blue Ridge Library mystery.

Author Links:
Website/blog: http://victoriagilbertmysteries.com/
Facebook author page:  https://www.facebook.com/VictoriaGilbertMysteryAuthor/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/VGilbertauthor
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/VictoriaGilbert
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoriagilbertauthor/
YouTube:  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4J0jvZ-D0NVF9Qv7H2ua8Q

Purchase Links:
Amazon     B&N    Kobo    Indie Bound   

BUY LINKS: 
A MURDER FOR THE BOOKS: http://www.crookedlanebooks.com/titles/a-murder-for-the-books/
SHELVED UNDER MURDER: http://www.crookedlanebooks.com/titles/shelved-under-murder/
PAST DUE FOR MURDER: http://www.crookedlanebooks.com/titles/past-due-for-murder/
BOUND FOR MURDER (preorder): https://www.amazon.com/Bound-Murder-Ridge-Library-Mystery-ebook/dp/B07QGNNNXP/
BOOKED FOR DEATH (preorder): https://www.amazon.com/Booked-Death-Book-Lovers-Mystery/dp/1643853074/

Giveaway
a Rafflecopter giveaway
 

2 comments:

Victoria Gilbert said...

Thanks so much for participating in my blog tour and for the lovely review!

Kay Garrett said...

Thank you for your review on "Bound for Murder" by Victoria Gilbert and for being part of the book tour.

Sounds like a wonderful book and one that I would love the opportunity to read. It is on my TBR list.
2clowns at arkansas dot net