By Book or By Crook: 04/25/16

By Book or By Crook by Eva Gates is the start of the Lighthouse Library mystery series. Lucy has changed jobs, from working with rare books in Harvard's library, to being an assistant librarian at Bodie Island's public library, built in the old lighthouse.

This little lighthouse at the edge of the Atlantic Ocean is playing host to some rare editions of Jane Austen's works. On the night of the big reveal of this collection, one of the books goes missing and one of the guests ends up dead.

One of the oddest things about this series' set up is that Lucy lives above the library. It gives her access to the action, namely the person intent on stealing the Austen books. It also makes her a suspect. But I can find no real world example of a librarian, especially such a new employee, being allowed to live in an apartment that shares space with the library.

Ignoring the odd set up, the rest of the mystery reminds me of a caper version of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None. Although there is a murder victim, the disappearing books, in order of publication, remind me of the way the victims in the remote island estate die, one by one, in a predetermined order.

Five stars

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