A Death Long Overdue: A Lighthouse Library Mystery

Early in Gates’s exceptional seventh Lighthouse Library mystery (after 2019’s Read and Buried), Lucy Richardson, the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library assistant director, hosts a reception for the director’s 40th college reunion at the library in Nags Head, N.C. An unwelcome guest is disgruntled, demanding Helena Sanchez, a former director of the library, who becomes upset after examining the withdrawal slip inside an old book that’s part of a display of library artifacts. After the reception, Lucy, Helena, and a few others go out for a walk along the shore. Helena disappears in the dark, and a short time later the others find her body floating in the water beneath a pier. Unwilling to leave a murder connected to her beloved library to just the authorities, headstrong Lucy sets out to discover who killed Helena. Lucy and her clever cat, Charles, form an amusing sleuthing team, and the lively and endearing supporting characters add to the fun. Cozy queen Gates (a pen name of Vicki Delany) is at the top of her game. Agent: Kim Lionetti, BookEnds Literary. (Oct.)