I love this series. It's always been on of my favorites. I love Connor and Lucy and even Louse Jane is growing on me. I love when books connect the present with something that happened in the past and that was this book. Very entertaining and hard to put down!

Thank you to Crooked Lane Books and NetGalley for the gifted ebook of Death by Beach Read! All opinions in this review are my own.

Despite Death by Beach Read being the ninth book in the series, it is the first one that I read. I love the town it is set in and the people that populate it!

For a cozy mystery, Death by Beach Read is pretty spooky! I really liked the mystery in this novel and how much action happens in it. I feel like Death by Beach Read really blurs the line between cozy mystery and thriller!

This is a Cozy Mystery, and this is the 9th book in the Lighthouse Library Mystery Series. I love this series, and I have read the other books in this book series before picking up this book. I love the characters in this book. I loved the mystery/suspense in this book, but I did miss her living in the lighthouse. I hope the next book in this book series will have more of the lighthouse library in it. I am glad she has Charles the library cat at her new house. I cannot wait for her wedding. I did enjoy getting to know Connor's father. I did not guess the killer or who was messing with Lucy's house. Great Fun Read. I was kindly provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher (Crooked Lane Books) or author (Eva Gates) via NetGalley, so I can give an honest review about how I feel about this book. I want to send a big Thank you to them for that.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest and personal review. I really enjoy the writing of Eva Gates (also known as Vicki Delany). She draws you in and makes you feel like these characters are old friends. Lucy Richardson is a small town librarian to a library located in a lighthouse. She is engaged to Connor McNeil, the town mayor, and she takes care of the library cat Charles. Lucy and Connor are moving into a new home and one night when they return, a body is found on the floor. It's up to Lucy (with some help) to untangle to the mystery and solve the murder. Another enjoyable addition to this series, can't wait for the next one!

I really enjoyed this book. I don't think I have read any other book by this author but was able to follow along with the story line and not feel the least bit left out or confused. So if you are new to the series it doesn't matter you will still enjoy the book.

Charles., I think, was my favorite character in the story. He is Lucy's cat and he is a good judge of character. He also alerts Lucy if there is danger. Which seems to follow her wherever she goes. I enjoyed Connor and the other cast of characters and think you will too.

Check out the book you will be glad that you do. I am thinking I need to read the other books in the series because I really enjoyed this one.

Death By Beach Read by Eva Gates is an ode to book lovers and cozy mystery fans. I read and listened to this 9th stand alone book in the Lighthouse Library Mystery.


Newlywed librarian Lucy's new beach house is perfect until she finds a dead body in it. Some think it's haunted but Charlie the library cat knows it's human foul play.

Narrator Elise Arsenault.actor is a fun storyteller making Lucy as endearing as any Hallmark Mystery Movie heroine. This series needs to be on their channel.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from Dreamscape Media via #netgalley for a fair and honest review. All opinions are my own

I really enjoyed this one! The mystery was very good, I liked the ties to mysterious events of fortyish years prior and how it figured into the present day murder. The reveal of the killer was satisfying and a fun twist. Fantastic!

After several really good reads in this series, I was sad when this one just fell sort of flat for me. I don't know if it is because they are away from the Library [where the action usually takes place], or because of all of the unlikeable characters [though for the first time, Louise Jane did not make me wish she was the corpse, so that is a HUGE win for me in this series], I just wasn't in love with this one. As soon as one character shows up, I knew they were the killer [though I didn't know the why so that is another point in the books favor], and there were moments where Lucy made me just want to stand up and yell [though there was a moment where I wanted to PARTY at something Lucy did that she has never done before so there is that too]. The bestie read this before me and she really liked it so I think it was just me this time.

The story is an interesting one; whenever someone gets/buys an old house, there is an undercurrent of excitement that something fun or rare or whatever will be found and that is the set-up here. Connor and Lucy are finally at the point they can live there as they continue the renovations and at once point come home to find a dead body in what they thought was their locked house. What ensues is a combination of anger, revenge, shenanigans and fear. Which is another reason that this might have been just average for me - there just seemed to be too much and after awhile, I just stopped being interested.

I would absolutely still read another one; I am invested in these characters and I need to see what happens when Connor and Lucy FINALLY get married. I am sure that a dead body will show up there too. LOL

I was also given a audiobook ARC for this and it was weird listening to this series again - while not a huge fan of this particular narrator, it was helpful to have the narration and not just have to read read it [I am sure it would have taken me a long time to finish this without it] and by the end I had settled in and would absolutely listen to an audiobook of this series and narrator again.

Thank you to NetGalley, Eva Gates, Elise Arsenault - Narrator, Crooked Lane Books, and Dreamscape Media for providing this ARC and audiobook ARC in exchange for an honest review.

“Death by Beach Read” is Lucy Richardson’s story, her first person narrative. Until recently she lived in a cozy home on the fourth floor of the lighthouse where she is the Assistant Director of the library housed there. She has always loved books, and as a child she imagined that the characters in books came out at night to chat with each other. She was destined to be a librarian.

Lucy is soon to be married to Connor McNeal, and the couple has just moved into their “dream” house. At least it will be their dream house when Conner and his dad finish the remodeling. It is a classic old beach house built partially on stilts, and even has sliding boards to allow them a view of the water at high tide. They both love that old house; they just hope that the house will love them back since rumor has it that the house is haunted. Lucy was even warned that she should not marry Connor and should not move into that house. She thinks all that “stuff” is just nonsense and that the house is just an old house. That is, until she finds a dead body on her new kitchen floor.

“Death by Beach Read” is book nine in the “Lighthouse Library Mystery” series, but as a first time reader, I had no trouble following along. There are a few references to past events, but needed information is seamlessly included as part of the current narrative. The characters are genuine and likable. Their words and deeds smoothly move the story along; they make things happen.

I also listened to the audio version of “Death by Beach Read” narrated by Elise Arsenault who has a multi-dimensional voice that creates an atmosphere that is at various times is melodic, reassuring, and matter of fact. At other times there is urgency in the narration, a tone of anticipation and yet dread of what is to come. Voices of the characters are distinct with the appropriate emotion and accent, although male voices are somewhat of a challenge. The narrative flows nicely with fluid dialogue transitions.
I received print and audio review copies of “Death by Beach Read” from Eva Gates, Crooked Lane Books, and Dreamscape Media. The book is quick to read with a little mystery, a little suspense, and a lot of fun. It is a simple story told simply well. The audio version provides a different experience, with the narrator perhaps supplying a little more absorbing involvement for the reader. Both versions are filled with compelling personalities as well as some mystery and suspense.

“Death by Beach Read” is now available in print, as an eBook, and as an audiobook from independent bookstores, online booksellers, retail stores, public libraries and anywhere you get your books.

Dollycas’s Thoughts

Spring has sprung in the Outer Banks and Lucy has a lot on her plate. Working at the library, planning her wedding to Connor, and decorating the new historic home on the beach she and Connor have purchased and moved into. Connor and his dad have already done tons of work on the place. Not handy with tools whatsoever Lucy is looking forward to painting and buying furniture to make the house feel like home.

Charles the library cat now comes home with Lucy every day as Louise Jane has now been formally hired by the library and installed herself in Lucy’s Lighthouse Aerie. Connor is away at a conference so Lucy and Charles are spending their first night alone in their new home. They are awakened by sounds that have nothing to do with the wind outside or the house settling. When Lucy investigates she finds the patio door open and footprints in the sawdust.

The noises continue after Connor returns, along with some spooky shadows, and then one night they find a dead body in their kitchen. They do not recognize him at all but later find out he does have an old connection to their new home.

Before they find out who killed the man and why, Connor and Lucy find a hidden entrance to their home, some interesting things in the attic, and someone lights their brand new deck on fire.

The Classic Novels Reading Club is reading Nathanial Hawthorne’s The House of the Seven Gables. That draws some interesting visitors to the group. Also, Lucy starts to find similarities between that house full of secrets and her new cottage on the beach. Will it help her solve the case before someone else is killed?

I love this series!

This time most of the story takes place away from the wonderful and amazing Bodie Island Lighthouse Library with Lucy and Connor settling in and working on their new home but that just added to my enjoyment of this series. These characters and all of the supporting cast have grown so much over the course of this series in very natural ways that it is a pure joy to visit them wherever they are.

There have been some staff changes at the library. I think it is fun that Louise Jane is now truly working there and living in Lucy’s old space but that hasn’t tempered her love of spreading her ghostly tales any chance she gets. She does get along well with the other new hire, Denise Robarts. Surprisingly even Lucy is getting along better with Louise Jane too, at least in small doses. I did love that Lucy was very confident about her place in the scheme of things and was stronger in dealing with people who had a tendency to push her too far than she had been before. Charles, the library cat, branched out in this story too. Traveling back and forth between Lucy’s home and the library is a big step for him. Some of his actions and reactions are quite comical and I love that he plays a key role in the story.

Again Ms. Delany had put forth one heck of a mystery. Finding a body at Lucy’s new home was a great way to introduce the place to readers, especially its history and secrets it may hold. It also gave way to introduce some very interesting new characters and their ties to the community and some of its residents. A character I had thought was gone from the area for good also returns with what appears to be a clear agenda. Putting all this together you have a marvelously plotted mystery with some terrific twists. The author delivered a robust mystery that kept me guessing almost to the very end and rapidly flipping those pages.

As always the setting for this story was heavenly. How wonderful to step out your back door and be right on the beach. The window views are fantastic as well. I would call the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library my literary happy place and now Lucy and Connor’s cottage on the beach is a close second even with the renovations not being quite complete. Sitting on that deck with a book in my hand enjoying the ocean’s sounds and breezes sounds absolutely idyllic to me.

Death by Beach Read was a fun and entertaining book that took me on a great virtual vacation. I can’t wait to return to the Outer Banks hopefully in time for Lucy and Connor’s wedding and all the other happenings Ms. Delany has in store for us.

I would like to know if we readers will be invited to Lucy and Connor's wedding. That is an event I would love to attend!
I've only read two books in this series, but I feel like I know her characters, that's how well the author has developed them. Her writing style flows seamlessly, sometimes in a line where the reader thinks they have the answers and other times in spirals with twists and turns that surprise the reader.
In Death by Beach Read, our beloved couple moves into an old beach house, in which a paranormal event supposedly happened many years ago: a teenage girl is exiled from her home by the ghost of her grandfather. After many years of being uninhabited, Lucy and Connor begin to remodel the house and from this moment on, the story begins to pick up speed and does not stop until it reaches an ending that, at least for me, left me surprised.
Lucy, Connor, and especially Charles are now part of my literary family, and I look forward to reading many more of their adventures.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: Eva Gates has a new fan!

Death by Beach Read by Eva Gates is a Lighthouse Library Mystery featuring Lucy and her fiancé, Connor, who have just purchased a fine old house from Ralph Harper. It had been his grandparent's house and had sat empty for 15 years, since the death of his mother. He had been waiting for the right person and so had sold it to them for much less than its value. Conner and his dad, Fred, had been working in all their spare time to modernize it and repair things that just need a little TLC. It was coming along nicely and was beautiful. She and Connor had just moved in a week ago and tonight was to be her first night alone, as Connor was at a dental convention. She awoke in the middle of the night to a squeaky floorboard. She got up and wandered through the house, turning on lights as she went, finding nothing out of place. The same thing happened the next night but she found Charles, the cat, outside on the deck, having escaped through a sliding door that was open part way. She knew she had closed it, but she squeezed through and retrieved the cat and tried to sleep. Thankfully Connor was back the next day. All was good until they came home to find a dead man's body on the kitchen floor. And Detective Watson discovered a trap door opening leading to the outside in the pantry. What in the world?

Lucy is a terrific character, the assistant librarian at the library in the refurbished lighthouse. Connor is the mayor for their small town and works part time at his dental practice, as he knew he would be returning when his time as mayor was over. Ralph Harper was a lovely older captain of what was now a tour boat, but had been, for many years, a fishing boat. He lived with his sister, who was something of a recluse after a traumatic experience in the house and had never gone back. They are all excellent characters as are all the others that make up this small town experience. The library is the perfect backdrop for murder as so many members of the community circulate through the doors. This was a good mystery, rooted in the past, as well as in the current day. It's an enjoyable marriage of place and personality. I recommend it.

I was invited to read a free e-ARC of Death by Beach Read by Crooked Lane, through Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are mine. #netgalley #crookedlane #evagates #deathbybeachread

I listened to part of this book and read some of it on my Kindle. I loved the narrator of the audio book. Eva Gates has created a wonderful cast of characters in this series and each time I read one it is like catching up with old friends. The Outer Banks setting and the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library add to the delight of this series. The mystery involved both the present and the past and was well plotted throughout the book. I enjoyed going along with Lucy as she tried to put the pieces of the mystery together. This is a great book to read if you're at the beach or just wish you were.

I received a complimentary copy of this audio book from Dreamscape Media and the ebook from Crooked Lane Books through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Eva Gates(aka Vicki Delany) is consistently good with her cozy mysteries. Setting, plot lines, characters are all interesting and plausible. I always look forward to her books and am never disappointed. This one in particular is a favorite series. Thanks to #NetGalley and #DeathByBeachRead for advanced digital copy.

Death By Beach Read

A Lighthouse Library Mystery

By: Eva Gates

Crooked Lane Books

Publish Date 7 June 2022

Mystery & Thriller

#DeathbyBeachRead#NetGalley

100 Book ReviewsProfessional Reader

I would like to first thank both NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for allowing me to read and review this book.

Good Reads Synopsis:

Librarian Lucy’s new historic house comes with a lot of baggage and family secrets. Can she put them to rest or will a killer bring Lucy’s family to their downfall, in the 9th Lighthouse Library mystery.

It’s spring in the Outer Banks of North Carolina, and Lucy and Connor have moved into their new home at last, a historic cottage on the Nags Head Beach. The house needs a lot of renovations, but they worked hard over the winter to get it ready. Lucy is now happily immersed in her work at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, planning her wedding, and decorating the house. That is, until a dead body disrupts their peaceful new abode.

The first night Lucy’s alone in the house, with the company of Charles the library cat, she hears sounds. Investigating they see footsteps in the dust of the unfinished living room, and the door to the outside is open. Lucy’s reminded that the house is said to be haunted: forty years ago the teenage daughter of the owners fled in the night, and never again stepped foot inside her family home.

But the sounds have an all-too-human origin and one evening Lucy and Connor find the dead body of a man they don’t even recognize in their kitchen. They soon realize he has a long-time connection to their house. Lucy’s forced to find out what happened all those years ago and why it’s threatening her happiness today.

Meanwhile, the Classic Novel Reading Club is reading The House of the Seven Gables by Nathanial Hawthorne, a book about another old house full of secrets. Can Lucy find parallels to her own situation in Hawthorne’s fiction before the killer strikes again?

Book Review:

This is book nine in the Lighthouse Library series. The story was great, and you get to know the characters in this story, but I would recommend that you start with the first book. There were a few gaps that you should know so you can follow the story line better. With that being said I really enjoyed the story.

Lucy and Connor have a bought a house together to start their lives together. Connor and his dad are fixing it up. The changes are great and trying to keep the historical value to the old home. While Connor is gone for a couple of days Lucy is home alone with her cat Charles. One night Charles wakes her up and she notices footprints in a room that is being fixed up. The Sliding door is slightly open and so Lucy goes to investigate some more. She doesn’t notice anything else so decides it was Connor’s or his dad’s footprints.

When Connor comes home, she asks him about it and says no the prints aren’t any of theirs’s. He goes and changes the locks and fixes the sliding door. Things continue on for a few days and then one day after an evening out with Connors parents they come home and find a body in their kitchen. How he got there they don’t know, nor do they know who he is.

They call the police, and they notice a resemblance to someone they know. They call this person, and he is able to tell them who he is and how he got into the house. The person they called is the previous homeowner and the body was his twin brother. The previous owner showed them a secret passageway under the pantry floor.

The passageway was his grandfather’s entrance to boot legging back in the days of prohibition. Connor of course quickly brocaded it. Why was the twin brother in their house we don’t know until later in the book? Who killed him and why?

You will have to read the book to find out. I love the relationship between Connor and Lucy. They know each other well and get along great. There is a lot of back stories in this book, and it was very intriguing to learn about.

I loved this fabulous new episode in the series! There are two big changes from the earlier novels that made this even better! I could visit the Bodie Island Lighthouse any time of year and enjoy it, especially the author’s version with a library in the lighthouse. The ocean, the famed Outer Banks, books, history, Charles (the library cat), and Lucy and her friends make this a favorite cozy series in which to escape. I always intend to savor each one but find myself racing to find what happens next.

Lucy, assistant director at the library, has moved out of her beloved Lighthouse Aerie into the home that she and her fiancé, Connor have purchased. Lucy is making plans for their wedding, one that I look forward to. Connor and his father are renovating the historic ‘unpainted aristocracy’ home they bought at an incredible price from Ralph, grandson of the original owner.

Connor is the mayor of Nags Head and a dentist. While he is the mayor, he only takes a few appointments and will return to it full time when his term is up. He was away for a few days for a convention, leaving Lucy home alone overnight in it for the first time. Charles, a very alert and intelligent cat, was upset at noises he heard, especially those coming from the second floor that is barricaded off until they are ready to work upstairs. Lucy was shocked to find the sliding door from the living room to the deck partially open. She tried to take photos of the boot prints in the living room. The second floor was still securely barricaded. Those prints could have been left by deliverymen during the day. The house is rumored to be haunted; his sister Jo has refused to return after an encounter many years ago.

A couple nights later, Connor and Lucy returned home after dinner to find Charles alerting them to the kitchen where Lucy finds a murdered man they didn’t recognize. He was Ralph’s twin brother, Jimmy, who had not been heard from for many years.

Since moving to town a couple years ago, Lucy has helped the local police solve several murders and is on a first-name basis with the detective who had once pegged her as a suspect. She planned to stay out of this case as the dead man isn’t anyone they knew, and there are no suspects among her family or friends. When what seems like an attack on their lives occurs, however, she’s all in. A woman claiming to be his wife said Jimmy went into the house to find a treasure his grandfather left him.

The more Lucy searches for Jimmy’s killer and the person trying to drive away or kill her and Connor, the more suspects she finds. Jimmy’s friends were a mostly unsavory lot who might do almost anything to get the treasure he talked about. The real whodunit was a complete surprise! It is a perfect mystery for someone like me as I like puzzles – and this one certainly kept me puzzled! I was satisfied with the ending, and there were no loose ends. And I am even starting to like the eccentric Louise Jane! I highly recommend this mystery and series!

From a thankful heart: I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley, and this is my honest review.

Death by Beach Read is book 9 of this series and I wish I had started this series from the beginning to truly get to know the characters. This story does have everything I enjoy including the beach, a library, a murder solved by a plucky heroine, and a sassy cat. I liked this book but I didn't love it, probably because it's part of a series and I didn't get all the background of the characters.

This is the ninth of the Lighthouse Library Mystery series and what a fun series it is! I have enjoyed reading them and always look forward to a new one. Afterall, what an imaginative and great idea to combine a library with a lighthouse, especially on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. In this addition, Lucy and Connor are living in their new house and renovating it in pieces. When a body is found in their kitchen, it brings back some old memories for residents and not good ones. Someone is trying to frighten Lucy by appearing at moments at night and during storms. The person whodunit is a surprise that I didn't see coming until it is almost revealed. This is a great mystery to watch unravel with recurring interesting and quaint characters in a lovely setting. I highly recommend for those who enjoy cozy mysteries in a coastal setting. Great summer read.
I received a complimentary copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts are mine only.

As a lover of cozy mysteries, I knew I would be on to a winner with this 9th book in ‘A Lighthouse Library Mystery’ series! Death By Beach Read ticked all the right boxes before I had even started reading and the setting of a library in a lighthouse is incredibly alluring.

Eva Gates has drawn a lot of fun characters in this fabulous mystery. Likeable Lucy Richardson is a librarian who moved to the Outer Banks, North Carolina and she has a lot going on in this book. She is engaged to Connor McNeil and the two are now living together in an old house on the beach in southern Nags Head, that was in disrepair but is now being renovated by them. When Lucy hears noises during the night, she gets up to see what's happening but only finds dusty footprints. A few nights later, Lucy and Connor arrive home and there's a dead body on the kitchen floor.

It was great to be back with protagonist Lucy who possesses the necessary attributes of any great sleuth – intelligence, curiosity and keenness. There is a good number of characters in Death By Beach Read and Charles the cat is, of course, an ever-present favourite. The fluidity of the author's writing continues to impress, the details of the plot are very well executed and every chapter left me with a compelling need to read on. The author did a brilliant job of setting the scene and dropping clues whilst still making identifying the perpetrator challenging. I very much look forward to returning to the Outer Banks with Lucy in book #10 and reading the earlier books in the series that I've missed, too! So entertaining and engaging, Death By Beach Read is definitely well worth the time invested.

I received a complimentary copy of this novel at my request from Crooked Lane via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

Eva Gates continues to charm and intrigue in her newest addition to the Lighthouse Library mystery series.
Death by Beach Read is the ninth book in the series and we join Lucy as she renovates her newly purchased home with her fiancee Connor. The historic cottage on the Nags Head Beach is rumored to be haunted and has been empty for years. When Lucy and Connor discover a dead body, Lucy once again finds herself drawn in to the investigation.
We are treated to the usual cast of characters and beautiful seaside atmosphere of the Outer Banks, North Carolina. Lucy is busy with wedding plans and her work at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, including her book club and its current read The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne.
I was disappointed when I realized Lucy would no longer be living in the Lighthouse, but I did enjoy the new beach house. The descriptions felt very vivid and cozy, and I will just have to adjust to the idea of Louise Jane occupying the Lighthouse eyrie above the Library.
I find the eccentric Louise Jane amusing, and it was fun to see her finally achieve her dream of working and living in the library.
I thought the mystery was solid and enjoyed following the investigation.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for an advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.