I enjoyed this book and this series. I really like the main character Lucy and am happy at her good news. I liked the mystery although it gets slow around the middle. It was great that they found the necklace and the killer. I liked how they flushed the killer out. #ADeathLongOverdue #NetGalley

It’s summer time in the Outer Banks and the Bodie Lighthouse library is hosting the 40th college class reunion of director Bertie James and the entire library staff jumps in to ensure it’s success. All goes well until a former library director is found murdered and once again librarian and amateur sleuth, Lucy Richardson has a murder to solve.

I love this series and this book in particular. . It has everything you could want in a cozy mystery- a great setting, quirky characters and a really fun and clever who done it. This is another successful entry. These characters have become friends that I look forward to spending time with. And there is a library in a lighthouse!!!!! What’s not to love!

Thank you to Net Galley and Crooked Lane Publishing for providing me with an advanced reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

Lucy loves living and working at the Lighthouse Library, and she is happy to help her Director plan and host a 40th reunion of colleagues from library school. She is not so pleased when a former director the Lighthouse Library turns up dead in the marsh that same evening. Once again, Lucy is pulled in to a murder investigation that involves her beloved library, while trying to keep her own life on track. Fun characters and a great setting. Another winner to this series.

A Death Long Overdue by Eva Gates was both engaging and entertaining from the first page. I often wish when I read these books that I could visit the Bodie Lighthouse. I think that would be such a quaint little library. I would love to see if Charles would let me scratch his ears. The characters feel like real people which I love in a book. Lucy is a fun character who is always willing to stick her nose in where it doesn’t belong, and she doesn’t mind stepping on anyone’s toes. I have always loved Lucy and Connor’s relationship and seeing their relationship progress has been delightful. It was fun seeing the normally reserved Connor getting flustered, and Lucy is so much more comfortable with what they have.
This is the seventh book in the series. I am glad that I have kept reading it. This cozy mystery series is so much fun to read. Each book is like a reunion with friends.

This is one of my favorite series. Although this is part of a series, it can definitely be enjoyed as a stand-alone. This book grabbed my attention almost from the first page. The mystery is well-plotted with twists and turns to keep me guessing. The characters feel like they are old friends. They are likable, relatable, and realistic. The secondary story between Lucy and Conner was humorous as Conner's plans kept getting interrupted. The result of the secondary storyline gives me; even more, to look forward to in the next book.

All thoughts and opinions are my own, and in no way, I have been influenced by anyone.

This was another fun entry in this series. I really enjoy the setting of these books, and the characters, as well. I love Lucy, and how she's willing to stick her nose in things that are absolutely none of her business. I also like her relationship with Watson (ahh, missed opportunity there, Gates) and the other characters around her. There is tension that's believable, and also regard that's heartwarming.

I was a little surprised by the step Lucy takes at the end of the book, but I think it will be a fun dynamic.

There were some pretty believable red herrings in this book, and the mystery was well-crafted. All in all, this was a strong entry to the series.

I look forward to each installment of this series! I love the quirky characters and the beach setting!

Lucy Richardson is Assistant Library Director at the Lighthouse Library in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. She also lives on the very top floor along with her cat, Charles. The director, Bertie James, is meeting with several women of her college class, and Lucy, and another employee, Charlene, have been putting together a display of items to show how libraries have changed over the years.

When the women arrive everything seems to be going smoothly -- at least until the old director, Helena Sanchez, shows up and starts making snide comments. It's apparent some of the women don't like her, but no one tells why. While looking at the display, Helena sees an old card from a book pocket and gasps. Shaken, she won't say why. Then Bertie and some of the women -- courtesy of the fact that library volunteer Louise Jane has been telling "ghost stories" decide to take a walk down the pier. But when Lucy sees something in the water, and that something turns out to be Helena, suddenly things take a nasty turn.

When it's learned that Helena was murdered, the women involved are told they can't leave until the culprit is found. But then Lucy notices that the card is missing along with a letter opener, and tells her policeman friend Sam Watson, even though neither of them know what it means. After finding a major clue, Lucy gets curious, and starts asking questions. Questions that no one wants to answer...

This is the seventh book in the series, and I have to say that I'm glad I continued to read it. I was not impressed by the first, but they've been steadily improving, and this one might be the best of the lot. While I do enjoy the fact that Lucy's an intelligent woman who knows how to get things done, I do also wish she'd develop a bit of a backbone when it comes to Louise Jane.

And there's the rub: Louise Jane is probably the most unlikable character that I've ever come across. She's mean-spirited, lazy, and lies. Not someone you'd want to hang out with in real life. She's determined to live in Lucy's apartment (please, no) and in making Lucy's life miserable. What gets me is everyone just shrugs like 'what can you do?' around her. Hello! You can tell her where to get off, that's what. She might have been amusing if she weren't so nasty and accepted the fact she's not qualified to work nor live in the library, but no one will tell her that. She won't actually work in the library, either. She goes around telling her stories wanting to be the center of attention. I keep hoping that she'll be the next victim but I'm always disappointed. Oh, well...(actually, it's because I detest the 'evil nemesis' portion of any book, and maybe if she'd actually realize she's a horrible person...

Anyway, now that I'm off my rant...the mystery was a delight to read. It was well thought out and had just enough intrigue to make us want more. Finding the body made Lucy wonder who hated her enough to kill her, but when she finds the other clue, she starts to put it together slowly; piece by piece until she figures it out.

I actually had it figured out before Lucy did, although I enjoyed watching her thought process as she deciphered everything. She pretty much has a one-track mind and doesn't think of anything else around her while she's trying to help Sam solve a murder. Which comes to the next subplot, and one that was rather humorous. Since I can't tell you what it is because you'll probably be able to deduce it yourself the moment you read it, I hope that you will find the entire situation as entertaining as I myself did. Unfortunately, I can't even give you a clue. but let it suffice to say that it will be worth the wait.

Some of the secondary characters are interesting, those women that know Bertie, and others are downright sad in the way things have turned out for them. But then again, life doesn't always offer us everything we want, and we have to either deal with it or work harder to get it. Still, it was engrossing to watch the dynamics between them all -- much as I imagine old friends come to be to each other.

There is also a surprise concerning Helena that no one saw coming, and a secondary mystery that only adds to the story, bringing with it a little bit of suspense that eventually comes to a head when Lucy figures out how to trap a killer. All in all, a very nice read with a very nice ending and something to look forward to in the next in the series. Recommended.

I chose this as another new author to try for the cozy readers at my library. I really enjoyed the venue at a lighthouse. It was light but still an interesting murder mystery. I will read others in this series and suggest it to our patrons.

If you enjoy cozy mysteries about librarians, and over the top characters (including a detective named... Watson), you'll find this book an entertaining way to spend a few hours. Many thanks to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this novel.

What I Loved:

The Mystery. Sometimes, cozy mysteries are hit or miss – they are often either too easy to solve, too hard to solve and unrealistic when the heroine solves them, or kind of pointless to the overall plot. Here, Helena’s murder in the marshland was intriguing and the clues were laid out for the reader to follow and come up with your own conclusions in the end. The police were not bumbling or incompetent, just stumped, and Lucy and the gang were much more logical in solving it than normal.

Lucy and Connor. I have always loved Lucy and Connor’s relationship (old summer crushes to actual lovers), and seeing their relationship progress has been delightful. It was fun seeing the normally reserved Connor getting flustered, and Lucy is so much more comfortable with what they have.

The Setting. I am not familiar with the Outer Banks, but any beach setting is the place for me. Gates does a really good job of showing the reader the beaches, marshes, the Bodie Lighthouse, and the adorable town, so you can almost smell the marsh and feel the sea breeze while watching the light cut across the dark landscape.

What Doesn’t Work as Well:

Louise Jane McKaughan. For anyone unfamiliar with this series (I don’t recommend jumping into this book unless you are), Louis Jane is a woman from a long line of Outer Banks natives who wanted Lucy’s librarian job at the Bodie Head Lighthouse (despite not being a librarian), and who thinks her and her family are the definitive authority of all supernatural history and goings-on in the area. She is condescending and annoying, and regularly walks all over Lucy to get what she wants. In Death Long Overdue, Louise Jane is particularly insufferable, conducting late-night spirit calls in the marshes and interrupting Connor and Lucy’s plans. I wish Gates would send her away on a long vacation somewhere.

Honestly, that’s all the negative I have. I don’t normally love first person books, but have stuck with this series for this long (that should say something). There are some genre-specific problems that some readers may have an issue with (Why do the police never solve the murders themselves? Why is this sleepy little down a hotbed for murder?) but at the end of the day, if you like cozy mysteries, you will definitely love this series.

Conclusion:

If you love a good cozy mystery, anything by Eva Gates or Vicki Delany will be a solid bet for you. However, the Lighthouse Library series is even more on point, with its beautiful setting that is a book lover’s dream, a heroine who actually has a head on her shoulders, and a helpful and mischievous cat. Five stars out of five.

This was my first book by this author and the seventh in the series. But the fact that I didn't read the others didn't lessen my enjoyment of the story. When Lucy helps Bertie plan for a weekend reunion with her former classmates, no one expects the murder of Helena Sanchez, former head librarian of the Lighthouse Library to be part of the itinerary. Lucy is determined to find out who the culprit is and bring them to justice.

As with most cozies, not having read the previous books in the series didn't leave me lost in any way. The story was able to be picked up on, and the personalities of the secondary characters, as well as Lucy's opinions on the, were apparent without knocking you over the head. That said, some of them seem a little too much. I wasn't a fan of Louisa Jane, and while I realize I wasn't suppose to be I felt that Lucy put up with her too much considering her less than favorable feelings. I also found Lucy to be a bit dense in one certain aspect of the story that I won't go into because it's spoiler territory.

The descriptions of the scenery and the food were delightful, and made me want to go on a coast trip myself. I was surprised at the ending since I didn't foresee how it would all pan out. Fans of cozies will like this book and series since it has all the hallmarks of what makes cozies fantastic. I will definitely be going through the back list on this series and pick up more.

This is the seventh book Eva Gates' Lighthouse Library mystery series. I have read most of the other books in this series and I would recommend reading them before reading this installment. There are the usual reoccurring characters and reading other titles will definitely help understanding these characters, Louise Jane really out does herself in this one. There are many new characters as Bertie's old schoolmates descend on the Nag;s Head and the Bodie Lighthouse Library for am unofficial class reunion. Unfortunately, the former library director suffers a little mishap at the reunion and a cloud of suspicion lands on the shush of librarians (yes, shush is the collective noun for librarians according to google).
This book has a great plot (that dovetails very nicely with Bodie's library book club selection, I won't say more I don't want to give anything away) As with all Eva Gates books in this series there also , humor, heart, and great characters...especially Charles.

Bertie's having a class reunion with friends she hasn't seen in 20 years and the entire Lighthouse Library is jumping into action to make sure that she has a good time with her friends. However when the former librarian from the Lighthouse shows up, things go downhill in a hurry as once again Lucy stumbles over a body and gets drawn into an investigation that is as confusing as ever. I love the layered plot of the mystery as well as the personal lives of the characters becoming entwined. This book really made my heart sing, but you'll have to read to find out as I'll not reveal any spoilers. You don't have to read the entire series to enjoy this book, but you will be missing out on hours of entertainment, wit and backstory if you deny yourself the pleasure of the entire series! I absolutely can't wait for what comes next in this series!!!

Lucy's Library in the Bodie Lighthouse, is busy hosting a reunion for Bertie's friends.. One of the guests is murdered and she isn't everyone favorite person. The local police keep Lucy in the loop during the investigation. She solves this mystery and finds the answers using an exhibit she helped put together for Bertie and her friends. Another great adventure for the

I enjoyed diving back into this series and revisiting this cute little town and its characters. It can be read as a stand-alone, but it was fun to see how the characters have progressed. The mystery was also well-done.

A Death Long Overdue by Eva Gates is the seventh book in the Lighthouse Library series. This has us back at another mystery in the lighthouse and getting a little insight into Bertie's past. Lucy is once again on the case and is handsomely rewarded at the end. It was nice to have a few new characters in the story while being able to visit with some old favorites. I look forward to the big events sure to come in the next installment of this series! Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC e-book in exchange for an honest review. Unfortunately I was unable to finish reading this book it was a bit slow for me.

I loved this book. I laughed out loud at several scenes, cried at a scene, guessed wrong several times and enjoyed the twist on a class reunion. The story was believable, characters personable and I loved the ending. A lighthouse library will be on my bucket list to visit and read an Eva Gates book there.

The 7th in the Lighthouse Library Mystery series. A 40th college reunion in Outer Banks for Bertie and her classmates are in town and since former director Helen Sanchez is also in town, she also invites her to the events. The opening ceremony is at the Library Lighthouse and Helen is not exactly a hit as she is rude, and Helen has some history with some of Bertie’s former classmates. Later in the evening as Bertie and her friends decide to take a walk on the boardwalk, they discover the dead body of Helen. The death is ruled murder and Lucy is bound to get to the bottom of it and is convinced it is tied to a theft. Lucy and her friends make this series. Her relationship with the police is good as I guess they are used to her butting into their investigations. Definitely looking forward to the next installment in this series. I love the writing style as it just flows and keeps me engaged and engrossed and I totally lose track of time!