Borrowed Crime: 09/21/16

Borrowed Crime by Laurie Cass is the the third of the Bookmobile Cat Mysteries. The clock is ticking on the bookmobile and then the worst thing happens, her volunteer is killed while they are out on the road. Was it a hunting accident or murder?

I'm currently reading two library themed cozy series. This one and one set in a lighthouse. If I were to guess which one is written by someone who is (or has been) a librarian, I would guess the author of this series. Minnie as the second in command of the library wears so many hats and has so many opposing pressures to keep the library and bookmobile running the way she knows the guests want it to run. But those controlling the purse strings aren't as easily persuaded.

Add into the mix a rural area with poorly maintained roads, rough seasonal weather, and hunters with guns, and you have a setting that also works against the smooth running of a library where one is so desperately needed.

Here then there were two different plot threads that kept me glued to the book: was the murder a case of mistaken identity, and what was going to happen to the bookmobile? Now since I knew there were two more book in the series, I figured there had to be some sort of future for the bookmobile but it was still a nail-biter.

This volume also introduces the threat of the obsessed patron. That's an unfortunate part of working in public service. Libraries have to (and should be) open to everyone. Sometimes though there's one who finds the library their only go-to. Sometimes they become dangerously obsessed with an employee. It's rare but it does happen and it's certainly fodder for a cozy mystery.

Five stars

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