The Plot and the Pendulum
Library director Lindsey Norris is happy to learn the Briar Creek Public Library is the beneficiary of the Dorchester family’s vast book collection. However, when Lindsey and the library and crafternoon crew arrive at the old Victorian estate to gather the books, things take a sinister turn. One of the bookcases reveals a secret passage leading to a room where a skeleton is found, clutching an old copy of The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe.
Lindsey does a quick check of missing persons, using the distinctive 80s-era clothing worn by the skeleton to determine a time frame, and discovers that Briar Creek has an unsolved missing person case from 1989. A runaway bride went missing just weeks after her wedding. No suspects were ever arrested, and the cold case remains unsolved. Lindsey and the crafternoon crew decide that justice is overdue and set about solving the old murder mystery, using some novel ideas to crack the case.
The Details
Series: A Library Lover’s Mystery – Book #13
Author: Jenn McKinlay
Genre/Category: Cozy – Amateur Sleuth/Library
Publisher: Berkley
ISBN: 0593101804
Page Count: 304
Rating: 
The Review
It isn’t every day that a library gets a big book collection donation; even less often do they find a skeleton hidden in the benefactor’s home. The crafternoon crew has their work cut out for them when the skeleton turns out to be a run-a-way bride who didn’t run-a-way at all. Who would murder someone in such a cruel fashion and do they still live in Briar Creek?
The Plot and the Pendulum is a thrilling ride of ups and downs, mystery and suspense, murder and mayhem. The crafternoon crew isn’t used to investigating a murder that no one knew happened, but finding a young woman’s skeleton in a hidden passageway in a mansion makes them rethink everything they thought they knew. Town gossip turns into motives, people who appear to be generous become suspects, and finding out the truth becomes a lesson in fear.
Suspects are few; the skeleton’s husband at the time of her disappearance and a former lover, whose mother wouldn’t accept her, become the primary focus. But is there more to this murder than the crafternoon crew can find? It doesn’t take long for them to realize that the case is more complex than they thought, and when things turn sour, there is only one suspect who rises above the others. Evidence is hidden but glaring once readers get an idea of what really happened to the victim. The characters in this series are easy to like, and even though this can be a stand-alone book, it is best if readers start at the beginning for clarity.
It isn’t difficult to find the killer; I knew quickly who it was, and even the motive was easy to understand. But there are enough twists to make readers think twice and turn every page until they come to the end. The crafternoon crew plays a good part in The Plot and the Pendulum. The skeleton is the main character; you get a genuine sense of who she was even though she never speaks. This series has a long history, but it is still one of the best ones around if readers want a pure cozy with noble characters and delightful murders. I can’t wait to read the next one!
The Author
Jenn is the New York Times, USA Today, and Publisher’s Weekly bestselling author of several mystery and romance series. She is also the winner of the RT Reviewer’s Choice Award for romantic comedy and the Fresh Fiction award for best cozy mystery. A TEDx speaker, she is always happy to talk about books, writing, reading, and the creative process to anyone who cares to listen. She lives in sunny Arizona in a house that is overrun with kids, pets, and her husband’s guitars.
For another book from the “Library Lover’s Mystery” series readers will enjoy, I recommend, Hitting the Books or one of Jenn’s other series such as the “Cupcake Bakery Mystery” series, For Batter or Worse.
Represented by: Jane Rotrosen Agency
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