The Cypress Arete Society is one of the town’s oldest and most exclusive clubs. When assistant librarian Trudell Becket is invited to speak to the group about the library, its modernization, and her efforts to bring printed books to the reading public, her friend Flossie invites herself along. Flossie has been on the book club’s waiting list for five years, and she’s determined to find out why she’s never received an invitation to join.Â
But not long after Tru and Flossie arrive for the meeting, they’re shocked to find the club’s president, Rebecca White, dead in the kitchen. Rebecca was a former TV actress and local celebrity, but was not known for being patient or pleasant. She’d been particularly unkind to the book club’s host for the evening, who also happens to be the mother of Detective Jace Bailey, Tru’s boyfriend. And Rebecca had made it clear that she didn’t think Flossie was book club material.
With her boyfriend and one of her best friends wrapped up in a murder, Tru has to work fast to figure out who cut Rebecca’s story short before the killer takes another victim out of circulation….
Release Date: Nov 1, 2022
Series:Â AÂ Beloved Bookroom Mystery
Book: 3
Publisher:Â Penguin Group
Imprint:Â Berkley
Price: $14.99
Trudell “Tru” Becket is an assistant librarian at the Cypress, South Carolina library. This library has been modernized into a bookless technological center in hopes of attracting high-tech industries to town. Tru created an unauthorized reading room in the basement of the library with the books that were going to be discarded, but only a select amount of people are in on the secret. Tru is invited to speak at the town’s most prestigious book club meeting and is worried the secret will somehow come out. Tru ends up facing bigger problems, though. Before the meeting starts, Tru and her friend, Flossie, discover the dead body of the book club president in the hostess’s kitchen. Now it’s up to Tru to figure out who the killer really is before the wrong person goes to prison for the murder.
A library without books is a unique premise for a cozy mystery. This is the third book in the Beloved Bookworm series, but the author does a good job of catching new readers on the premise of the series and who the main characters are. It is the first I’ve read in the series, but I quickly got to know the characters, even if I didn’t like all of them. I didn’t fully connect with Tru, who seems very immature for a woman nearly forty years old. She lets her mom bully her and makes strange decisions, like bringing her cat to work with her every day and then having to hide him in the secret reading room before her boss sees him.
Tru is good at finding clues in the murder, though. Her boyfriend, Jace, is a police officer but was removed from the case since his mother is one of the prime suspects. It is refreshing that he asks her to look for evidence that would clear his mother since he isn’t allowed to get officially involved in the investigation. The victim, Rebecca, could be a bully, trying to run the lives and reading habits of book club members both in and outside of their meetings. Tru was able to ask questions of her acquaintance and friends to find plenty of suspects in Rebecca’s murder.
I enjoyed the side plot about Tru’s elderly friend Flossie and the way it played out. It’s known that Flossie writes bestselling books, but nobody knows what her pen name is. However, I didn’t understand why the likable, well-read, well-traveled Flossie was so interested in joining a book club that only allowed its members to read approved books at any time, not just for the club’s discussions. The story includes some clever red herrings, but I was able to figure out the identity of the murderer and solve another mystery involving Tru fairly easily. The book has several good points, but not connecting with the main character limited my enjoyment of it.
~ Christine
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