pie and papercuts

Boy oh boy, this should have been right up my alley. A book about books? About a library/librarian? Mystery!? I mean, it seemed like something I should devour and then want to immediately reread. And I did devour it, I guess. It was a quick, easy read. About a librarian, who solves mysteries.

My issue came in the characterization. Everyone was so super over dramatic. Bit characters. The sourpuss Ms. Cole who nearly faints at the mention of a name, the British actor who claims to be head-over-heals for Lindsey and falls down with a 'broken heart' in the middle of the library when she rejects him, and so on. It's very cartoony feeling. And leads to scenes that don't really progress the mystery at all, but rather fill up space.

I loved the concept, a super overdue book belonging to a murder victim mysteriously showing back up 20 years later. But the mystery part just seemed to play second fiddler to all the personal drama of the main characters. As this is the 7th book of the series, it sparked my interest enough to check out at least the first book of the series.

*I received a copy of this book from First To Read in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.