A cozy mystery with Amy and Richard and the murder of a dancer that also happens to be Richard ex.
Good suspense.characters,drama and twists.
Good read.
Voluntarily reviewed.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC for an exchange for an honest review .

This is the one to read if you enjoy cozy mysteries.

Amy, a library director, is dragged into a case of backstage betrayal - Meredith, a dancer and Amy's husband's (Richard) ex-fiancé, is found dead.
This cozy mystery is book 7 of the Blue Ridge Library Mysteries series, but the first one I read, and now that I have read this one, I will definitely go back to the beginning of the series. It has plenty of red herrings that keep you guessing and likeable characters, with a touch of romance.
I received an advance review copy for free and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A lighthearted, fast, enjoyable read with dancing, murder, family friends and more. A fun trip to Virginia with a good cozy.

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ Thanks for the ARC. What a fun cozy mystery!! What can I say? I did not want to put this book down once I started reading it. I did but could not wait to get back to reading it. Love the cover! Will recommend!

I am loving these Cosy Mystery style reads and I again really enjoyed this one. Although I have only read one other of this series I don't feel I have missed anything but do want to go find all the other books in this series and start from number 1.

This is a fairly fast paced read, not overly long and has all the excited and intrigue you want from a good cosy! Of course there is a murder and then there is Amy and her new husband Richard and there are lies, secrets and an innocent suspect (or is he!).

Of course Amy is brought in to help in the investigation and so the questions begin. Who dunnit? Who knows as there are plenty of people who disliked the victim (Meredith) so it is now a process of elimination.

Great characters, a great plot, a great story and a fun read. I'm off to the library now to get the series from book one!

Hello, Crooked Lane Books and Netgalley.

The file that came into my Kindle has all of the paragraphs without indentions. Thus, the reading process of this arc is not easy on the eyes or enjoyable.

Unfortunately, I found this poor formatting with several of the cozy mystery tiles from Crooked Lane books.

The only two that were formatted correctly and readable were A Christmas Candy Killing and A Good Day To Pie, both of which I loved. I will post reviews for those books later this Fall on my blog and include the links.

List of Crooked Lane Books that are incorrectly formatted are;

Death by Margins
Dead Men Don’t Decorate
The Game Is A Footnote
Calypso, Corpses, and Cooking
Streetcar Named Murder
Snuffed Out
Hidden in the Pines
Canter With A Killer

I love love love books about books, libraries, bookstores and bookish people! And I love cozy mysteries! They're much more fun to read than thrillers for me and this did not disappoint!

Death in the Margins is a lighthearted, engaging cozy mystery. It was fast-paced, however very predictable at times, but an enjoyable read nonetheless.

Amy's become a dance widow, holding down the fort at home while her new hubby, Richard, plans and executes a massive dance performance involving professional, university, and amateur dancers of all ages. In support of Richard's efforts, Amy delivers food for Richard and his partner Karla and.... you guessed it. Amy stumbles upon the dead body of one of the professional dancers, Richard's ex-fiancee, Meredith. Meredith made plenty of enemies in the dance world so there's no shortage of suspects but the one person Amy knows didn't kill the woman is the young man who was found standing over her body, clutching the bloody knife in his hands.

This series is reliably good and has become more so over the course of time. Though it's not one of my favorite series, it's one I do keep up with. One thing that's bothered me about both of Gilberts' series is that they tend to rely heavily on characters who are spies or who have connections in the underworld, which often gives the MCs the answers to their questions in a way too convenient and timely manner. That was almost completely absent in this book, which I really appreciated. Amy did her own investigating and uncovered the perpetrator using her own wits, with a little help from the perpetrator themselves.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

I adore this series. While I somehow seem to have missed the book covering the wedding between Amy and Richard, this one works nicely as a stand-alone. The characters are introduced in an efficient manner and brought to life, including the resident cats Loie and Fosse. As Fosse's name might hint to you, Richard is a dancer and dance coach/trainer/mentor, and it's his dance production that serves as the center of "Death in the Margins". Librarian Amy doesn't exactly discover the body of Richard's former girlfriend Meredith but she arrives on the scene just in time to see Conner, one of the young dancers in the show, holding a bloody knife beside the body. Conner is arrested on the scene but Amy, Richard, and several others question the teenager's ability to have done it. Although friend and sheriff Brad isn't the lead investigator this go round, Amy quickly becomes invested in "researching" the case, putting herself in danger. Oh, and horses are involved. No, they don't dance. Laugh.

Who killed the arrogant, not-very-nice Meredith. Besides Conner, several other suspects emerge. Was it her ex-husband? He was spied in the parking lot. How about the mother of the autistic and easily overwhelmed child that Meredith degraded in public? Or any of the other dance parents? Meredith wasn't a nice person, to be honest, although nice-guy Richard was trying to help her out by giving her the dance job in "The Folklore Suite" production. Even his partner, Karla, is harshly belittled by Meredith. Heck, she isn't even very nice to Amy. And, what's the pianist's connection to her? And, back to the horses, what was Meredith's connection to an odd illness that took the lives of some valuable show horses some four years ago? Or, was there even one? Could Amy be chasing red herrings with that bit of information? Who is keeping secrets? Or, oh, never mind. Enough teasers. I loved this book/series and am betting cozy mystery lovers who like their mysteries with a bit of romance will too.

Thanks #NetGalley and #CrppledLaneBooks for inviting me to witness the birth of Richard's "Folklore Suite". Kudoes to Karla (and obviously author #VictoriaGilbert ) for emphasizing Richard and Karla's efforts to be inclusive and work with children.

The 7 th installment of Victoria Gilbert’s Blue Ridge mystery series Murder Takes center stage . .

Town library director Amy Muir’s husband Richard and his dance partner Karla are rehearsing and planning their summer dance recital when their lead dancer and diva Meredith Fox is found dead . Amy is not convinced that the young dancer accused of her murder is guilty, so she sets out to find the real murderer before it is curtains for her husband’s play .

I loved this book . I haven’t read the other books in the series but you didn’t have too . The author provides enough background so that this book can stand alone . The characters are engaging and likable. On a personal note - cat parents will love the references to Amy and Richard’s two feline children Loie and Fosse . I will definitely be reading the other books in this series .

This was a fun, cute cozy mystery! I love the theme throughout, and I will definitely be continuing with the series.

This is a fast paced cozy mystery that I have enjoyed reading.
Amy and her new husband Richard seem to be settling married life, but we know a murder was going to happen.
This time Amy has a lot to think about while she's investigating and I was thrilled for her and Richard at the end.
I'm excited to see where the next book takes us.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for selecting me to read an advanced copy of this book.
#DeathintheMargins #NetGalley

Death in the Margins is part of Victoria Gilbert's Blue Ridge Library mystery series. This is the first one I read and I didn't feel lost having missed the others.

Richard and his wife Amy have created a show for the town using a lot of folklore and history from the Blue Ridge area. This is nice as it gives the reader a nice feel for the atmosphere.
Richard hired Karla to be his dance partner as she is quite talented. Unfortunately, she is also a diva and has nasty run ins with quite a few people. She is found stabbed in her dressing room - and a young student is standing over her.
Amy, an amateur sleuth, does not think that the student was the murdered. There are a lot of suspects with a reason to have wanted Karla gone.
It is up to Amy to discover the real killer.

Death in the Margins is the 7th book in the Blue Ridge Library series. I have read all of them. Amy Moore Muir is the main character. She is the Director of the Taylorsford Public Library, She is married to Richard Muir a contemporary dancer and choreographer who taught at Clarion University. Karla Tansen is Richard's long time dance partner who runs a dance school. Lydia Moore is Amy's aunt who lives next door in their family home,

Amy told Richard she would do a dinner picnic for him and Karla as they were at rehearsals for their dance program called Forklore Suite. When arriving at the theatre Amy sees Meredith, Richard's ex fiancé arguing with Janelle DeFranzo about her daughter, Quinn who is autistic and easily overwhelmed by new experiences . Meredith finds her presence distracting. Karla had told she was including some of her disabled students in the production. Amy also meets Riley Irwin who plays the piano and also works at the college, Davonte Julian and Tamera Hardy professional dancers. Connor Vogler is a student who Richard feels has a lot of potential. They have all had run-ins with Meredith.

Meredith has words with Karla. Richard interferes and tells Meredith the project is Karla's and his. They will make the decisions. He hired her and can fire her. She tells him that he couldn't fire her as they could not train anyone to do her dance in that short of a time. Meredith became bitter and mean-spirited until her disastrous ,marriage to Nate Broyhill. When taking the cooler out of her car she sees a maroon SUV and a blue sedan in the parking lot. The man in the SUV is Meredith's ex-husband, Nate. When back in the theatre Amy watches the student dancers as well as Richard and Karla'. Richard asks Amy if she can go downstairs to the rooms to get Karla's choreographic notes she left there. When going into a dressing room she finds Connor Yogler standing over the body of Meredith dead with a knife. He states that he was only trying to help her as there was so much blood. Amy calls 911 and the police come including her friend chief deputy Brad Tucker. Conner is handcuffed and taken from the theatre.

This is where the story takes off with Amy not believing that Connor killed Meredith and decides to help her friend Brad find out who did kill her. The reader is taken on an adventure of Amy interviewing the supporting characters to the build-up of the ending to the reader. Also at the end after the murderer is caught Amy tells Richard that she is pregnant which is the end of the story.

I have enjoyed this series and look forward to what is next for Amy and Richard along with their friends.

Thank you NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for this ARC.

I absolutely love a great cozy mystery and this one hit the nail on the head. Another wonderful addition to the genre.

A cute cozy mystery that will sure keep your reading and guessing until the end. Can't wait to read more by this author!

When Richard’s ex fiancé is found dead, Amy steps in to help Brad and teach figure out who wanted the woman dead, well enough to actually do it. With plenty of red herrings, you’ll be changing your guess as to whodunit until the end.

Having been a Virginia girl for many years, I love this series, it makes me feel like I’m taking a trip back East to the old haunting grounds. Having a librarian as the protagonist in this cozy series is an added plus. The series is well written and Victoria Gilbert is one of my favorite cozy authors. She’s one my list of must read authors that I track for new releases. A must read author if you love cozies and haven’t yet read her work!

amateur-sleuth, dance, family, family-dynamics, friction, friendship, instructor, law-enforcement, librarian, library, murder, murder-investigation, read, suspense, Virginia****

You just feel that the murder victim was no loss and the student holding the bloody knife was the last person to have done the deed. There is no lack of suspects/motives but there are many well developed characters. Also, the library itself is not the focus of the action, but a dance studio being utilized by the librarian's professional dance instructor husband. All of the other regulars work together to keep the librarian safe and flush out the real killer. A very good read.
I requested and received a free e-book copy from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. Thank you!