Library Mysteries

Twenty million dollars' worth of missing gems bring Carrie Singleton's long-lost and larcenous dad back into her life, and it's up to Carrie to clear his name.

Fall is beautiful in the small mountain village of Whitby, North Carolina. The leaves are changing color on the mountainsides, the sky is a bright blue, and the air is crisp. Librarian Ann Beckett's friend and coworker, Luna, has persuaded her to take a break from the library and attend a house party on the lake with her. The modest house Ann was expecting is more of a mansion with amazing mountain and lake views and an indoor swimming pool. When one of the guests is later found murdered in the pool, Ann works through the puzzle since now someone else is on borrowed time.

Briar Creek Library director Lindsey Norris and her husband, Sully, are at a popular library conference in Chicago to hear book restoration specialist Brooklyn Wainwright give a keynote address. After the lecture, Lindsey looks under her seat and finds a tote bag containing a first edition of Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, inscribed to Alfred Hitchcock. Brooklyn determines the novel is one of a kind and quite valuable, so Lindsey and Sully return the book to the conference director, not wanting to stir up any trouble.

In the six volumes of the Library of the World’s Best Mystery and Detective Stories, Julian Hawthorne presents us thrilling and mysterious short stories from all corners of the world. Some of the stories appeared in this 1907 collection for the first time translated into English, and many of them come from unexpected sources, such as the letters of Pliny the Younger, or a Tibetan manuscript. In the first volume, we find stories written by American authors.

In winter, the Haunted Library is a refuge for homeless townspeople. When a group purchases a vacant house to establish a daytime haven for the homeless, Carrie offers the library as a meeting place for the Haven House committee, but quickly learns that it may be used for illegal activities. As the new Sunshine Delegate, Carrie heads to the hospital to visit her colleague, Dorothy, who had fallen outside the local supermarket. She tells Carrie that her husband tried to kill her - and that he murdered her Aunt Evelyn, the library's resident ghost, six years earlier.

Carmen King is a busy woman. Not only does she sit on the library board and dabble in the Friends of the Library, but she juggles quite a few relationships at once. Apparently, this doesn't go over well with at least one of her boyfriends—Carmen is found dead at the bottom of the library staircase. Librarian Ann Beckett not only finds Carmen's body, but finds herself entangled in Carmen's mysterious death as she sets out to learn why Carmen's death, from the killer's perspective, was overdue.

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 staff 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.

After a successful party at Bodie Island's Lighthouse Library, librarian Lucy Richardson is ready to curl up with her cat, Charles, and a good book. But her R and R is cut short when she notices some mysterious lights leading a small boat to crash into the coast. The two shipwrecked seafarers survive the ordeal - but one of them shows up dead ashore a few days later.

The Bodie Island Lighthouse Library Classic Novel Book Club is reading Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne while workers dig into the earth to repair the Lighthouse Library’s foundations. The digging halts when Lucy pulls a battered tin box containing a Civil War-era diary from the pit. Tucked inside is a hand-drawn map of the Outer Banks, accompanied by a page written in an indecipherable code.

It's time for one last fantabulous challenge with Mr. Lemoncello—the world's most famous gamemaker! This time everything is on the line—literally! Mr. Lemoncello has invited thirteen lucky 13 year-olds—including his biggest fan, Kyle Keeley—to compete in the final games. The winner of these games will become the new owner of Mr. Lemoncello's ENTIRE GAME MAKING EMPIRE!!! But uh-oh—someone is trying to destroy Mr. Lemoncello empire and all it stands for: imagination, games, books . . . knowledge! Can Kyle Keeley stop them and make his dreams come true?

Wealthy businessman Jay Ruddle is considering donating his extensive collection of North Carolina historical documents to the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, but the competition for the collection is fierce. Unfortunately, while the library is hosting a lecture on ghostly legends, Jay becomes one of the dearly departed in the rare books section. Now, it's up to Lucy Richardson and her fellow librarians to bone up on their detective skills and discover who is responsible for this wicked Halloween homicide.

The Fenway Foul-Up: Mike Walsh and Kate Hopkins are super-lucky. They have tickets to the Boston Red Sox game and all-access passes to Fenway Park. But during batting practice, the lucky bat that belongs to Big D, the star slugger of the Red Sox, is stolen! The Pinstripe Ghost: Mike and Kate are waiting for Kate's mom at a boring press conference in Yankee Stadium when the team official says something that makes Mike perk up his ears. There are rumors that the ghost of Babe Ruth is haunting the new stadium!

Francie Vespertine has lived all her life in a supernatural town full of powerful witches, but her own magic is lackluster at best. The only place she fits in is the Magical Archives. Head librarian (and bookworm extraordinaire) might be a boring job . . . if it wasn't for the ghosts of fictional characters haunting the shelves.

Help Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose solve mysteries from A to Z! This collection includes Detective Camp, Mayflower Treasure Hunt, White House White-Out, and Sleepy Hollow Sleepover.

Everyone's favorite game maker, Mr. Lemoncello, is testing out his new Fabulous Fact-Finding Frenzy game! If Kyle can make it through the first round, he and the other lucky finalists will go on a great race - by bicycle, bookmobile, and even Mr. Lemoncello's corporate banana jet - to find fascinating facts about famous Americans. The first to bring their facts back to the library will win spectacular prizes! But when a few surprising "facts" surface about Mr. Lemoncello, it might be go to jail and lose a turn all at once!

Charming, devilishly handsome, and talented, Vincent teases the crowd with a reading from his forthcoming novel. Set in a village bearing strange similarities to Berrywick, with characters the audience start to recognize, Vincent hints of dark secrets to be revealed, to gasps of outrage from the room. The meeting ends in uproar, and, just hours later, Vincent’s dead body is discovered behind the bookshelves....

One mystery, one romance, and a fire-belching bulldog. In the heart of Singsong City, a retired assassin seeks refuge among the shelves of her beloved library. But when a familiar face from her past resurfaces, she is drawn back into a world of danger and deceit. With the help of an unlikely ally, she must unravel the mysteries of her own past before they consume her future. Will she find peace in the quiet of the stacks, or will the shadows of her past drag her back into the fray? Vampires Don’t Suck is the first book in the Singsong City series. It is a standalone paranormal romantic ...

"Suspenseful cold case investigation by a detective on maternity leave and her husband, helped by community members — and their adorable dogs." “Achieves the old-school psychological distance and neat plotting of Golden Age Detection.”Fifty years ago, nine people sat atop a disabled Ferris wheel while in the crowds below their dangling feet, an eleven-year-old girl disappeared. She remains missing. But the gears of justice never stop turning, and a lost piece of evidence has surfaced. There is still time for it to reach those with the dedication and intelligence needed to unlock a ...

When librarian Ann Beckett finally reluctantly agrees to being set-up on a blind date by one of her over-eager patrons, she figures the worst that could happen would be the two of them wouldn't hit it off. Little did she know that she'd be stood up . . . because her date was murdered. With help from her patrons, Ann tries to find out who might be responsible in the small town of Whitby before more residents are permanently checked out.

Help Dink, Josh, and Ruth Rose solve mysteries from A to Z! This collection includes April Fools' Fiasco, Colossal Fossil, Grand Canyon Grab, and Space Shuttle Scam.