I enjoyed the previous books in the series but this one just didn’t do it for me.
The whodunit happened fairly late in the book and I just found in general that this book did not hold my attention.

Love the cover! It is so full of what the story ends of being about. The story was interesting the the guilty party was not obvious. I enjoyed the book.

PAST DUE MURDER by Victoria Gilbert is a mysterious, but yet magical book. When a professor is found dead, and her student has gone missing, Amy Webber, a local librarian, takes it upon herself to find the truth. She scrambles to discover who killed the professor and to find the missing student. Amy uses her researching skills to uncover the mystery with a little help from local legends and folklore magic. The story oozes not only a sense of mystery, but also a sense of magic. The characters are engaging and relatable. The story keeps the reader engaged and in suspense until the end.

Thanks Netgalley and the Publisher. This is the third book in the Blue Ridge Library series featuring amateur sleuth Amy Webber. While the mystery stands alone, there are frequent references to earlier books in the series which provide information about the experiences Amy has had solving earlier mysteries..

This is the third book in the Blue Ridge Library series. I highly recommend that you read the two prior books before this one!

Library director Amy Webber is helping to organize a research project and presentation by a local folklore expert. During a bonfire presentation
a university student inexplicably vanishes. The police start a search that leads them straight to Amy’s boyfriend/ neighbor Richard Muir. Not only is Richard the woman’s dance instructor, he also doesn’t have an alibi for the night the student vanished.

Thestudent turns up in the woods disoriented and with no memory of what happened. The even more disturbing part is the dead body found next to her. Can Amy help clear Richards name before it is to late?

I’m a big fan of this series. The characters are well done and the books are quick and fun reads.

Past Due For Murder is the third book in the series.
I did enjoy most of the book, but there were times I felt the story dragged on a bit.
Amy Webber is a library director and has a knack for solving mysteries. This story involves a missing person, a murder and some interesting folk lore.
The author does make references to the prior books, and though it can be read as a stand alone, the other books would shed light on some of the back story.
I would recommend this series to those readers who enjoy a light cozy mystery.
I volunteered to read and review an ARC of this book provided by the publisher and NetGalley.

This series is quite a joy to read. The author clearly understands what being a librarian at a small public library entails. The mysteries are always intriguing but not gritty. A wonderful weekend read. Great series for anyone who likes cozies!

this is a page turner of a story, Amy is a librarian her boyfriend is a dance teacher, at a college, an other teacher and a student go missing , then the teacher is found killed, who is the killer , this story does have some funny parts, and sad, love the scene with both sets of parents at dinner, oh and the adorable kitten that Richard takes in. then there is the past boyfriend and then his current girlfriend is hit by a car and left to die, so how killed who and why, if you like suspense and romance you will like the book, this is the first book I have read by this author but I will check out more of her work.

This book was not exactly a traditional mystery. While there were references to a hit and run accident from fairly early on, the main murder did not occur until at least one third of the way through the book and the subsequent chapters did not focus so much on the murder or clues as they did on the main character distracting herself from her relationships problems with pondering the possibilities surrounding the murder. The discovery of the murderer occurs and then another quarter of the book occurs, again focusing on the main characters relationships and town events. It was reasonably enjoyable, but not a book I would recommend to a serious mystery lover.

Past Due for Murder by Victoria Gilbert
The story plot is about a library Director whose name is Amy Webber. Amy has ahd an interesting year where trouble has followed her. Now the latest is a missing student. The most sing student was involved in a research program with Professor Mona Raymond. Raymond has had words with a local musician whose girlfriend died in an accident. Did Mona have something to hide? Finally the missing student is found but tragically Mona was dead. Now Amy must wonder what else will come her way in the form of tragedy. Gilbert has a way of writing that keeps the reader enthralled and intrigued. The first part of the book was more or less an introduction to the vast array of characters. There are slow places as well as fast ones so allow yourself a little extra time to get through some of the chapters. The mystery itself is fairly easy for the reader to figure out so that would be about the only thing I would change with this story. The ending is really interesting and pulls the story together perfectly.

Thank you to netgalley a well as the author for giving me the opportunity to read this novel in exchange for my honest review.

4 stars ⭐️ out of 5

I have enjoyed reading the Blue Ridge Library series, and was looking forward to this third book, but I am afraid Past Due for Murder may be the last for me. While I enjoy protagonists, like Amy Webber who are librarians or are from that world, I am at the end of my patience with this character. The acronym TSTL (too stupid to live) is applicable. She confronts suspects in lonely isolated places, she gets into a car with another suspect without letting anyone know where she is, she withholds evidence in the hopes of giving suspects a chance to confess in their own good time, etc. Why she isn't arrested herself several times over the course of the book for interfering with a police investigation and obstruction is beyond me.

Of course, cozies aren't known for their realism, but such blatant recklessness makes Amy hard to relate to or care about.

Full Disclosure--Net Gallery and the publisher provided me with a digital ARC of this book. This is my honest review.

This is sort of Murder She Wrote but in a library. The characters are well developed and interesting and the story is well plotted with a good wrap up at the end. But......it was highly predictable as many of these types of books are. Small town, disappearance, murder, heroine solves it. This one is the third in a series but can be read as a stand-alone. I’m not sure I will read more in this series but if you are looking for a pleasant, goreless mystery then this is a good one.

I received a free advanced digital copy of Past Due for Murder by Victoria Gilbert in exchange for an unbiased review. This is the third book in the Blue Ridge Library series featuring amateur sleuth Amy Webber. While the mystery stands alone, there are frequent references to earlier books in the series which provide information about the experiences Amy has had solving earlier mysteries. There are also secondary characters who seem to be regular characters in the series. It appears that to fully understand their relationships to Amy and their place in the world of the book, the reader would benefit from reading the books in order.

This novel has a strong thread of folk stories featuring the disappearance of two young girls decades ago and the tales that have arisen explaining their vanishing as a result of mountain fairies who are said to lure people away to live in the mountains as bits of light. These fairies, also referred to as “the folk” and information about them make up a strong secondary story involving a local college professor who is researching their existence.

Almost a third of the book is completed before the murder occurs, although there is a disappearance that is being explored from early on in the story. Much of the story is taken up explaining relationships between various individuals in the story and romantic relationship between Amy and her current boyfriend Richard with a strong reference to her failed relationship with former boyfriend, Charles. The storylines of relationships, love affairs, friendships, etc. are stronger than information about the murder and possible suspects, leading the novel to have a strong romance angle and at times comes through as stronger than the mystery itself.

Pacing is somewhat choppy, with the book shifting from slow in spots, to fast, tension creating chapters toward the end of the book. In many instances characters tend toward being two-dimensional with hints at the existence of more substance that isn’t detailed in this book. Rather than clues and red herrings forming a trail to the end of the novel, there is more emphasis on Amy’s thoughts and reasoning about what is happening both in this novel and what has happened in previous experiences. The solutions to the murder, as well as other happenings within the book are the result of information that is provided at the end of the novel with little opportunity for the reader to solve the mystery on their own.

While this novel may appeal to anyone who has a strong interest in mountain life and lore, it is tends more toward being a story with some mystery involved as opposed to a mystery puzzle for a reader to solve.

romance, cozy-mystery, murder, librarian, suspense

In a college town a whole lot happens below the surface, and this town's librarian seems to find herself in the middle of many things. She lives with her aunt as the family has lived there for several generations and her current love lives nearby and teaches at the college as does her former lover. Lots of integral characters populate this tale which centers around a missing student and an irascible professor who goes missing. Plenty of red herrings and plot twists to ratchet up the suspense before the missing are found and the danger targets the librarian. A very good read!
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley.

This is the third book in the series. Amy is the director of a small library, and has a knack for research and solving crimes. A college student goes missing, and Amy's boyfriend is a suspect because he was her dance teacher. The characters in this book are engaging and the plot is fast paced. I like that the author does not have an abrupt end. Gilbert leaves a couple chapters at the end to resolve what has happened to the culprit, but also what happens to secondary characters.

Title: Past Due For Murder



Author: Victoria Gilbert



Genre: Mystery, Fiction, Fairies, Library, Treasure Hunt, Sequel, Series



Plot: Library director Amy Webber has had a busy year landing herself in trouble with one thing after another. She's hoping that this spring things will finally settle down but unfortunately for her, things aren't going according to plan in that regard. Instead, a student mysteriously vanishes for several days following a bonfire and a folklore storytelling session which sparks a resurgence of interest in the local fairy stories. The missing student was involved in a library research program with passionate Professor Mona Raymond who has a beef with a local talented musician who recently lost his girlfriend in a tragic accident.



When the missing student is finally found beside the dead body of Mona Raymond, things get interesting and Amy finds herself involved in yet another murder mystery in her tiny quiet little town, along with boyfriend concerns and someone snooping through her meticulous archives looking for something. What else could possibly land on her plate before the week is out?



Likes/Dislikes: While the first two chapters were completely confusing and introduced a jumble of main characters in a very slap-dash way, the rest of the book was very intriguing. The pace flowed evenly and fairly quickly, the plot was expertly interwoven with town history, Amy's friends and personal life, and the two murder mysteries along with hints of other interesting happenings. While I would've definitely had more description in the first two chapters of all the important main characters and introduced them better than just flinging them at the reader and hoping we sort them out later, all in all I rather enjoyed this book and will definitely look up the prequels as all the hints of the previous mysteries sounded interesting.



Rating: PG-14 and up, mainly for reading level and content (annoying hints of pro-gay and bi characters, murders, some hints at romance but nothing beyond kisses shown).



Date Review Written: August 24th, 2018



I received a copy of this book courtesy of Netgalley for my honest opinion. I wasn't required to write a positive review and the opinions expressed in the above review are my own.

There are several mysteries woven through this cozy novel. I enjoyed spending more time with the characters, though enough backstory is given that you could read this book without reading the first two in the series.

There were quite a few mysteries interwoven in Past Due For Murder making for an interesting read. You do need to pay attention, though, so you don't lose any of the clues and to keep the plot straight as there were quite a few characters. It did seem to take a long time to get to the end, however (maybe that was due to the various sub-storylines) and some of the reasoning behind the main murders seemed to stretch the imagination. I did like the storyline about the mountain lights and the 1879 disappearances. I also enjoyed the town and library setting and the characters. Ms. Gilbert did a good job keeping me on my toes and guessing who the killer(s) could be until the very end. I would read more of the Blue Ridge Library Mystery series and books from Victoria Gilbert.

Thank you, NetGalley for the advance copy of this book. I received a free copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

Past Due for Murder is the third in the Blue Ridge Library Mysteries series. A female student from the local university has gone missing. She is later found next to a dead body, but the student has no recollection of the events that brought her to where she was found. Suspicion is cast on Amy’s former love interest (Charles) and Amy’s current love interest (Richard). Could one of them harbor a sinister side? Although the book started off slow for me, it happily picked up the pace and I was engrossed. The twists and turns were delightful. This is an enjoyable series.

I received an advance reader copy of this book but that in no way has any bearing on my review of this book. This is the first book that I have read by this author and I have to say that I really enjoyed it. Liked the interaction between the characters and that the real culprit was discovered and will be punished. Looking forward to reading the other books in this series.