The Grim Reader: 07/01/20

The Grim Reader by Kate Carlisle is the fourteenth book in the Bibliophile mystery series. Brooklyn and her husband are in Dharma for the first annual book festival, where the theme is centered on Little Women. Before the event can even begin, the event's treasurer is murdered and there are two hot headed suspects Brooklyn and Derek have to investigate.

It seems every time another one of these books visits Brooklyn's hippy home town, it becomes more and more gentrified. Now every sibling, it seems, and every minor character from a previous volume, has a thriving, kitschy store on the Lane. Brooklyn herself is now a multi-millionaire. And yet, she seems to be perpetually in her early to mid-thirties. How is that even possible?

Ignoring the series plot holes, this particular volume has a mediocre mystery. It falls back on plot and characterization of the early volumes, where there is at least one loudly rude character who will either be the victim or the main suspect (but won't have actually committed the crime). Meanwhile, the murderer will turn out to be the most forgettable character with the least page time.

Two things that keep me coming back to this series, are the mysteries are short, easy reads, and I like following Brooklyn's work in restoring the featured book. This time it's an altered first volume, first edition of Little Women.

Three stars

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