Aside from reading, I am once again practicing crochet. For now, it is a red swatch of single crochet stitches and I don’t know what I plan to do with it. But I was happy that I could actually listen to an audiobook and crochet at the same time. There was a time years ago that I crocheted enough to do this, but it’s been a long time.
Today, I was listening to Chloe Neill’s Some Girls Bite, book one from the Chicago Vampire series. I’m enjoying it so far.
Thanks to a number of other bloggers, readers, friends and family, I have been adding books to my TBR left and right. I love finding new and interesting books, but it also nice to get to read them.
Here’s what I’ve been up to.
Whose Body in the Library (Lighthouse Library Mystery #13) by Eva Gates
If you are new to this series, it is set in the Outer Banks in North Carolina. The principal amateur sleuth has been Lucy McNeil, who was the library director of the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, where she also lived. However, she recently got married and had twins, so in this book we meet her replacement, Nichelle Gilchrest. On her first day at the library, she finds a dead body on the lighthouse steps, which turns out to be her father that she hadn’t seen in 38 years.
For me, this series is a total comfort read and the mystery is secondary. I love the setting and the characters. I visited this area with my husband and my brother on a birding trip, so it always reminds me of a wonderful we went on around Christmas time.
The mystery in this book was pretty good, but a bit heartbreaking.
Somce of the recurring characters: Charles the library cat, of course, always brings the happy feels. Who doesn’t like a library cat? Then there is Lucy, and now Nichelle, both of whom I like very much as characters. I’ve grown to like Louise Jane, who works at the library and always has a ghost story to tell and talks about the history of the Outer Banks. Then there is Theodore Kowalski, the rare book dealer, who loves to dress up like he’s older and distinguished, speak with a fake English accent, and douses himself in the scent of tobacco, even though he doesn’t smoke. I’m always happy when him and his mom show up. We didn’t see Bertie in this book but I can’t remember where the story left her in the previous book, so I’m hoping I didn’t forget something important about her.
I’m already looking forward to the next in this series (A Death at the Christmas Library), which unfortunately won’t be published until May 2027. I’d love to read it over the holidays this year, plus I’m already looking forward to learning more about Nichelle and seeing how life develops for Lucy, Connor and the twins.
Lye in Wait (Home Crafting Mystery, #1) by Cricket McRae
Sophie Mae Reynolds makes and sells beauty products out of the basement in the house she lives in with Meghan and Meghan’s daughter Erin. The mystery begins when their handyman Walter is found dead in Sophie’s workshop. Since he had ingested lye and Sophie uses that in her business, of couse she was a suspect. The mystery was pretty involved and required a bit to uncover what had happened. It didn’t help that the police originally thought Walter had committed suicide.
I loved the concept of the household which also included Meghan running a massage business there as well. I did like both Sophie and Meghan, but it took me longer to warm up to them than it usually does in this author’s work. I did like the daughter, Erin, a lot though. Smart, observant and all around great character.
I see that the focus on crafts is changing to preserves instead of beauty products, so I’m not sure how that happens or how it will affect the series. I do enjoy making my own pickled product sometimes, so I know I will find interesting. I’m also looking forward to see which of the characters continue on in the series. There were a few support characters that I enjoyed, so I’m hoping they will make a return.
Reading Challenge Updates
2026 Cruisin’ Thru the Cozies – Hosted by Socrates Book Reviews
These two books filled in #17 and #18 in the Your Choice (Freebie) section for this reading challenge. So I only have two more to complete in this particular section.
2026 Cravings for Cozies Challenge – Hosted by Escape with Dollycas #CravingCozies
These two books counted as books 30 and 31 for this challenge. I met my original goal of 26+, I’m continuing along to see if I can reach the next level (51+ cozies for the year), simply because I’m enjoying playing along with the others who are working on this challenge.
If you’re doing these challenges too, I’d love to get a link (below) to your tracking list. It’s always fun to see what other people are reading!
If you have suggestions for books or authors you love that will help me finish my challenges, I am always interested in book recommendations.
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