Member Reviews

This is the fourth book in the series and I have enjoyed each one. This story is set in Taylorsford in the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Amy Webber is the library directory. Her friend Sunny is running for mayor. A body is found on the grounds of Sunny’s grandparents.

I liked that the story addressed communes of the sixties and they thoughts prevalent about them. Free love, drugs, laziness. We find that’s not all true.

So, will the body impact the outcome of the election? Who is it, who killed the person and why?

I was kept engaged throughout the story. I recommend this book and the series.

I was given and advanced reader’s copy by Netgalley and Crooked Lane Books.
I am not required to leave a positive review.

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Although this wasn't my favorite in the series I still enjoyed reading the fourth book in the series.

Bound for Murder deals with the murder of a young man from a local commune in the 1960s. Drugs and jealousy are a heavy theme throughout. I am still a little unsure of Kurt's character. He just hits me the wrong way with always knowing Amy's every move.

I'm curious to see what scrapes Amy gets into in the next book. If you've not read this series before I suggest reading from the beginning to get all the background of the characters.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, through NetGalley. Any and all opinions in the above review are entirely my own.

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Victoria Gilbert writes entrancing and engrossing stories that pull you win and leave you wanting more!

Amy is being snowed under, but surprisingly NOT with work but with well meaning people giving advice on how to plan her wedding, as well as this her good friend Sunny is hoping to take a backseat at the library as she is running for the position of Mayor of Taylorsford (she would still work part time mind you) and then both of their worlds are turned upside down when a skeleton is found on the farm owned by Sunny's grandparents. It would appear that the skeleton has been there since the time the farm was a commune in the early '60s and the current Mayor is salivating at the thought that this will impact on Sunny's chances of winning, this would be bad enough but more ex commune members are turning up dead and there is a new man in town looking into the culture and disappearances of people from the commune days.

When the skeleton is identified as a commune member that had left, Sunny's Grandparents are in the spotlight and so Amy needs to dig deep into the library archives to find out the truth and hope that she isn't digging her own grave at the same time!

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I love this series and even if I found this instalment the weakest in the series it was and entertaining and engrossing read.
It was great to meet again the cast of characters and see what were the ongoing developments. They're likeable and well thought as usual.
The mystery was a bit weak and the ending seemed a bit rushed as everything happened in the last 4 characters and the culprit came a bit out of the blue.
This book could be read as a standalone but I strongly advise to read the rest of the series.
Recommended to this series fan.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine.

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It's the first time that i have read any books by this author and although this is the third book in a series, i decided to give it a try. I usually read the more gory murder books, but this cozy murder mystery made a welcome change. I rarely write what a story is about as i prefer one to read a book for themselves, but i would recommend giving this book a try, especially if you enjoy cozy murder mysteries. I hope to read the previous two books in this series.

My thanks to Netgalley and the Publishers for my copy. This is my honest review, which i have voluntarily given.

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The book opens with Amy Webber and Richard engaged and Amy’s friend Sunny Fields running for mayor. This is the fourth book in the Blue Ridge Library Mystery series. And you really will get along better with this book if you have read the others in order. Amy takes ribbing for solving previous mysteries and being in danger. She really does seem to end up in the wrong place at the wrong time and that leads her into danger and nearly deadly experiences.
A body is found when the county is dredging a stream on the border of Vista View Farm. The farm belongs to Sunny’s grandparents, who she calls “the Grands”. Vista View Farm was a commune for a few years in the 60s. The body turns out to be Jeremy Adams, a member of the commune and an up and coming musician back in the day. Another person from the commune is killed not too long after the body is found. It seems the past is not going to stay buried. There is the possibility that the drugs and drug dealers from that past may have been involved in Jeremy’s demise. Kurt Kendrick is there is there looking into things. After some warnings, Amy does try to back off from investigating.
One good thing is that Amy doesn’t spend time saying over and over that she isn’t going to investigate and then go on to investigate anyway. That has ruined more than one cozy mystery for me.
I like Amy, Richard, Sunny, Aunt Lydia, Zelda and Walt. Their characters work together to give the town and the story charm.

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Sunny Fields was Taylorsford’s library director Amy Webber’s best friend; she lived with her grandparents on their property, which was an organic farm but used to be a commune back in the 60s. Amy loved research and had helped the police before, so when a skeletal body was found at the farm, she was happy to assist. But with the death looking like murder, and Sunny’s bid for mayor becoming uncertain, Amy set about finding and interviewing the commune members to get some answers.

When Amy started receiving threatening messages, her fiancé Richard and Aunt Lydia along with the police chief warned her to be careful. But it wasn’t in Amy’s nature to take a back seat when her friends needed help. Would she get the results she needed before it was too late?

Bound for Murder is the 4th in the Blue Ridge Library Mystery series by Victoria Gilbert, and another light and entertaining romp among the books, with murder on the side. Amy is a strong, determined young woman, while Sunny is feisty – between the two of them they make a good team. The town of Taylorsford, Virginia is filled with the usual small-town residents – most good, some not so - which makes for an enjoyable mystery. I’m already looking forward to #5 and highly recommend this one and the series.

With thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my digital ARC to read in exchange for an honest review.

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This turned out to be a light, entertaining read and not affected at all by the fact that I have previously only read #1. There had been some character development in the two in between books but nothing that made any difference to my understanding of events.

The story was good although a little far fetched from time to time and Amy seems determined to get herself into trouble. I enjoyed the relationship between Amy and her boyfriend. I did not at all foresee the murderer, in fact the identity was a big surprise. Maybe I had not been concentrating enough and missed some clues.

Altogether a good read and one I would recommend especially to fans of the cosy genre.

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3.25 stars

The Blue Ridge Library Mystery series has been entertaining. I found this fourth entry slightly less so. There is a lot of background to these characters and their relationships, and if you hadn't read the others I think much of this book would be confusing so I can't really recommend it as a standalone.

On the plus side, librarian Amy Webber is an appealing character and her romance is mostly angst free, always a plus. On the minus side, much of this book feels dated. The basic plot is that a friend/employee of Amy's has two living grandparents who operated a commune back in the 60s. And unfortunately no 60s cliche is overlooked. There is a lot of Reefer Madness type drug talk going on. At any rate, a dead body is found on their organic farmland and it turns out it's one of the commune's former residents. The investigation turns over a lot of rocks. Amy is enlisted to "warn" the old communistas that they may be contacted by police. Not very believable.

I didn't think the plot hung together that well and I had a few head scratching moments. How could a librarian (a city employee) run for mayor and vow to keep working at their job?

If you're a fan of the series, it's fun to keep current and the writing is fun and nicely done, even if this isn't the strongest book in the series. Thanks to the publisher and to Net Galley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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As Amy and Richard plan their future together while dealing with his mother, events are heating up for Sunny Fields, Amy's assistant at the Taylorsford Library, as her run for mayor is threatened by the discovery of a decades old skeleton on her grandparents organic farm. The grands had a commune on the farm in the sixties where they lived the life of hippies. That means that many of the residents were into drugs. The skeleton turns out to be a former commune member, a young man who has been missing for years, and was apparently murdered.
Amy is asked by the grands to warn former commune members that the police may question them. Sheriff investigator Brad Tucker once again wants Amy to do research to help the investigation but to keep quiet about it. A couple of the members have been killed or died a suspicious death. Someone has something to hide and doesn't want Amy to meddle into the situation and she gets several close warnings. Of course, the current mayor and his wife are enjoying the negative atmosphere surrounding Sunny and her family. Things are very tense in Taylorsford until the mystery is solved with a surprising ending.
I received a complimentary ARC from Crooked Lane Books through NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine only.

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Bound for Murder is the fourth book in Victoria Gilbert's Blue Ridge Library Mysteries series. While I did read book 3, Past Due for Murder, it isn't necessary to have read previous books in this series as the story is pretty much self-contained.

A problem with reading a lot of cozy mysteries is that sometimes it is difficult to keep the series separate. There is very little recap at the beginning of the story so I spent the first chapter or so trying to figure out which series these characters belonged to. But once I got it straight in my head (I had to look it up on Goodreads), I really enjoyed the story.

When a body is found buried on a farm that had been a commune in the 1960s, no one in this small town wants to believe one of their own was capable of murder but there are definitely things about the commune that the residents don't want anyone to know.

The mystery is really good with a lot of potential suspects. The reader is definitely kept guessing as to who the culprit is.

I liked the characters a lot in this story. I like that there is a nice cross-section of ages, gender, and occupations so it really does feel like a town and community that you would encounter in real life.

If you are looking for a quick, easy read filled with fun characters and interesting plot, then Bound for Murder would be an excellent choice.

My review will be published at Girl Who Reads on Tuesday, January 7 - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2020/01/bound-for-murder-by-victoria-gilbert.html

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Nice quick read, lots of twists and turns, and a somewhat surprise ending...what more could you ask for.

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When bones are uncovered on her friend's grandparents' farm, Librarian Amy Webber is about to be caught up in another murder mystery. Perhaps the hippy commune they ran in the 1960s wasn't just peace and love...

Amy's life is going pretty well. We first met her back in A Murder for the Books, and this is the fourth book in the series. She's pretty incapable of not poking her nose into a mystery, but then, this time 'round it's to help best friend, Sunny, who's campaign to be elected town mayor can only be damaged by the scandal surrounding her grandparents.

The mystery element is built well, with various suspects as well as the suspense of who's bones have been discovered - and who is behind the attempts to scare Amy off the investigation.

Being a cosy mystery, this is as much about the characters' lives, and so we have continuing wedding plans and family dramas to contend with.

It's not high art, but it's a fun palette cleanser - easy to read, well written, albeit a bit on the fluffy side.

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Victoria Gilbert is a new author for me, and when I got this ARC and realized it was #4 in the series I needed to go back and read all the previous books first. This could be read as a standalone, but all the characters are introduced in the previous books and there is some backstory in them.

I loved this book! Twists and turns that I never saw coming. I didn't want to put it down, I read it as much as I was able because I needed to know what happened in the story. I can't wait to see if there are more books coming in this series!

This review is based on an ARC from NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher. All opinions are my own.

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This cozy mystery was a little slow in the beginning. I felt that there was too much talking, and not enough action. But as the story continued, the action heated up. I also felt that there was too many suspects and it became a little confusing. I loved the romantic subplot, it made the main character more personable. I received an Advanced Reader's Copy in exchange for my honest review.

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When the skeletal remains of Jeremy Adams are found on the land owned by Sunny's grandparents, all bets are off as to who did it. For one thing, while the land is now an organic farm, in the 1960s it was a commune. Sunny's running for Mayor of Taylorsford and she enlists Amy Webber, her friend and director of the library, in the effort to find out what happened and who did it. Amy uses her impressive research skills to track down the other members of the group. The problem, though, is that this means she delays her wedding to Richard (don't worry- am sure it's going to happen.). While this is the fourth in a series, it can easily be read as a standalone. It's got good characters, a nice setting in Taylorsford, and a mystery that reaches into the past (and has impact today). Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. I'm looking forward to the next one!

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This fourth book in the Blue Ridge Library cozy mystery series is, once again, a solid installment in the series, which features Amy Webber, recently-engaged small town library director. I typically love mysteries with a connection to the past, which this one does, specifically, to a 1960's commune run by the grandparents of her friend, Sunny.

I love this series for the interesting plots and the terrific cast of supporting characters.

A wonderfully done cozy which I'd definitely recommend.

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The fourth book in the Blue Ridge Library Mysteries series, Bound for Murder was an enjoyable cozy mystery.by Victoria Gilbert. Though this is the first book that I have read in this series, it could be a stand alone.

Amy Webber the director of of the Blue Ridge Library is has recently got engaged to her beau Richard Muri and will be planning her wedding soon. Amy's best friend Sunny is running for Mayor but it may be put on hold when a body is found on her grandparents property where they ran a commune in the 60's in Taylorsford, Virginia.

This story is well written developed with enough suspects, twists, and turns to keep readers guessing until the very end! This was a great story and I highly recommend this book.

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Local librarian, Amy, is planning her wedding to her fiancé, Richard, when a corpse is found buried in the fields of her assistant and friend, Sunny's grandparents place. Their farm was previously a commune in the 1960s and the body turns out to be one of the members who went missing years ago. Amy puts aside her wedding planning to help solve the murder, as more bodies appear, so that Sunny, who is running for mayor can focus on her campaign. Will she solve it before anyone else or even she loses their life?

Bound for Murder is an easy to read cozy mystery. The writing is clean, fun and entertaining. It is the forth in a series, but I felt a little lost not having read the previous three, with some of the backstory missing or confusing. I did have a hard time guessing who the murderer was, so the suspense was done very well.

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this is a wonderful suspense story, it is a page turner can she help solve a murder that goes back to the 60"s? will she get the wedding she wants and who is after her friend Sunny and her grandparents. if you like suspense stories and romance you will want to read the book I was given a copy of the book by netgalley but this is an honest review

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