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The Plot and the Pendulum (A Library Lover's Mystery, Band 13) - Softcover

Buch 13 von 16: Library Lover's Mysteries

McKinlay, Jenn

 
9780593101810: The Plot and the Pendulum (A Library Lover's Mystery, Band 13)
Softcover
ISBN 10: 0593101812 ISBN 13: 9780593101810
Verlag: Penguin Publishing Group, 2024

Inhaltsangabe

Halloween is approaching in Briar Creek, and things get spooky when a skeleton is found and connected to a decades-old cold case in the newest Library Lover's Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Killer Research.

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.

Lindsey does a quick check of missing persons, using the distinctive eighties-era clothing worn by the deceased 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.

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Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Jenn McKinlay is the award-winning, New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of several mystery and romance series. Her work has been translated into multiple languages in countries all over the world. She lives in sunny Arizona in a house that is overrun with kids, pets, and her husband's guitars.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

1

Lindsey Norris, director of the Briar Creek Public Library, was seated at the reference desk gazing out the window overlooking the bay and the archipelago called the Thumb Islands. The large maple tree on the front lawn of the library was in its final stages of autumn vibrancy, and the leaves were dropping like colorful confetti every time the breeze coming in from the ocean stirred the tree's limbs.

October was here, which indicated that shorter days were coming and winter would follow soon with fires in the fireplace and days spent reading while the snow piled up outside. Lindsey was more than ready for some quality binge reading. Bring it on.

She glanced around the library, watching the comings and goings of the patrons and staff. She liked to pause every now and then and try to see the library from a visitor's perspective. Was the interior engaging? Did it invite people to linger? Were there plenty of the most in-demand items? How comfortable were the chairs? Lindsey considered all of it.

Colorful displays of books greeted patrons when they first arrived, and seasonal ephemera decorated the windows. The library staff changed them out regularly to keep them interesting. Was the building clean? Yes, the town had an amazing cleaning crew, and the staff made it a practice to sweep through and gather materials left on the study tables several times per day. Was it friendly? Lindsey glanced at the first point of contact for patrons. The circulation desk.

Ms. Cole, the head of circulation, was stationed at the desk. She was wearing a white blouse with navy slacks, which was a shocking departure from her usual monochromatic style consisting only of shades of blue, whether they were complementary or not. Formerly, Ms. Cole had been nicknamed "the lemon" for her puckered personality, but she'd mellowed over the past few years and was presently running unopposed in next month's mayoral election.

Lindsey was resigned to losing Ms. Cole to her governmental duties, and despite the many ups and downs their relationship had endured since Lindsey's arrival, she knew she would miss Ms. Cole and her pragmatic ways. There was a steadfastness about her that was rare in employees these days. Still, as a lifelong resident of the town, with an unparalleled institutional memory, Eugenia Cole was going to make a fantastic mayor.

Before Lindsey could get too maudlin, a scarecrow wandered past her desk, leaving a trail of paper leaves in his wake as a pack of children followed, collecting the maple, oak, and birch leaves with the excitement only a group of toddlers could bring to such an activity. Lindsey met the scarecrow's gaze, and he winked at her over the heads of the children.

Aidan Barker, the library's temporary story time person, was dressed in patched overalls that sported big, brightly colored felt pockets sewn over the knees and bib, a flannel shirt, and a straw hat that perched on his head just off center enough to make him look friendly. The kids gathered the leaves and raced back to him, stuffing his felt pockets until they were bursting.

A young boy who looked to be about three shoved a handful of leaves into one of the pockets on Aidan's knees, patted the flannel and said, "Here's your insides, Mr. Scarecrow."

"Thank you, young man," Aidan replied. Then he did a little jig as if adjusting his leaves. The boy laughed and scampered off to find more.

The child's mother smiled, carrying a sleeping baby in her arms, and said, "This is brilliant. Maybe I can get him to do some leaf pickup in our yard when we get home."

The scarecrow tipped his hat to her as she chased after her son.

Lindsey smiled and said, "Wild guess here. You're reading about scarecrows in story time?"

Aidan said, "Correct. We're reading The Scarecrow's Hat, Scaredycrow and Barn Dance!"

"The kids will love it," she said. She gestured to the big maple outside the window. "Perfect timing, really."

"I hope so," he said. "My wife is a tough act to follow."

Aidan was the husband of Beth Barker, the library's regular children's librarian who was out on an extended maternity leave with their newborn daughter Beverly, named for the beloved children's book author Beverly Cleary, who had recently passed. During Beth's final stages of delivery, there had been some labor-induced talk of naming the baby Ramona or Beezus, but Aidan had prevailed and Beverly won out.

"How are Beth and baby Bee today?" Lindsey asked. In addition to being her children's librarian, Beth was also Lindsey's best friend, and while they talked often, Lindsey had been giving the new mother some space, mostly to rest around the rigorous nursing and diaper-changing schedule she'd been maintaining for the past few months.

"Amazing," he said. "They're both just amazing." His voice held a note of awe. "But Beth is ready to get back to the library. I think she needs to talk to some grown-ups, use her creativity, and get away from the constant cycle of nurse, nap, poop, rinse, repeat."

"We can't wait to have her back," Lindsey said. "Not that you haven't been wonderful, but . . ."

"No, I understand completely," he said. "This is definitely Beth's space, and I am just a placeholder. Thank you for arranging a job share so she can come back part-time. I don't think she'd be willing to leave Bee otherwise, and this will give me a chance to be home with the baby while she works. I expect to level up my bottle-feeding and rocking-to-sleep skills."

"I'm glad it worked out. And thank you for filling in for her story times. I don't think she'd trust anyone else," Lindsey said.

"It helped that my library director is a new parent, too," Aidan said. "She gets it."

Aidan was a children's librarian in a neighboring town, and he and Beth had met while performing dueling story times. When Beth went on maternity leave, Aidan's library director agreed to lend him out for the story times in Briar Creek until Beth was ready to come back.

"Is there any chance we'll see Beth today for crafternoon?" Lindsey asked.

"I know she read this week's book The Code of the Woosters by P. G. Wodehouse," he said. "So, she's planning to attend, but it's really up to baby Bee and the sort of day she's having."

Lindsey nodded. "Understood."

"Mr. Scarecrow, can we have stories now?" a little girl asked. Her hair was twisted into tight spirals on top of her head and held in place by hairbands sporting brightly colored flowers. She was trailing a very grubby and clearly well-loved blanket behind her. Lindsey squinted at it. She thought it might have been a nice shade of lavender at one time, but now it was a tired hue of pale gray. The girl's father followed her, carrying a bag that was already full to bursting with picture books.

"Of course, let's go get started," Aidan said.

Lindsey didn't think she imagined the relieved look on the father's face. He barely suppressed a grunt when he picked up the bag of books and hurried after his daughter, who was skipping toward the story time room.

Aidan clapped his hands in a short pattern, and the children stopped what they were doing and clapped back. And just like that, they had gathered the last of the leaves and exited the main area of the library, leaving sweet silence in their wake.

The quiet that followed their departure was short lived.

"Hot dish. Hot dish. Coming through," a voice announced to no one in particular.

Lindsey swiveled on her chair and saw Paula Turner walking through the main room of the library. She had two oven mitts on her hands and was cradling a casserole dish that was giving off steam. She was headed toward the meeting room where they held their weekly crafternoon sessions.

"Go ahead, boss," Ann Marie Martin said as she joined...

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Verlag
Penguin Publishing Group
Erscheinungsdatum
2024
Sprache
Englisch
ISBN 10 
0593101812
ISBN 13 
9780593101810
Einband
Taschenbuch
Anzahl der Seiten
304
Kontakt zum Hersteller
Nicht verfügbar
Verantwortliche Person
GPSR Kontakt
gpsr@libri.de

Europaallee 1
Bad Hersfeld
36244
Deutschland

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