This was a quick cosy mystery read for me. I love the clever use of puns for the shop names and the quaint small town but other than that, I didn’t particularly enjoy this one.

The plot was there but I feel that the author over explained herself leaving no room for mystery and imagination and I also feel that the characters had little development which is a shame.

Although this wasn’t for me, if you are looking for an easy book to pass the afternoon without much thought, I would recommend this.

Thank you Netgalley and Level Best Books for the arc.

A gripping mystery novel that follows the investigation of a murder at a small-town library. The story is narrated by the library director, Angie, who finds herself at the center of the investigation and must use her wit and tenacity to solve the crime.

One of the strengths of this novel is the well-drawn characters, each with their own quirks and secrets. The author does an excellent job of creating a sense of community among the library staff and patrons, which adds depth and richness to the story. Angie herself is a relatable and likable protagonist, and the reader is easily drawn into her world and invested in her journey.

The plot is well-crafted, with plenty of twists and turns that keep the reader engaged and guessing. The investigation is complex, and the author does an excellent job of slowly unraveling the clues and building tension as the story progresses. The resolution is satisfying and unexpected, with a satisfying payoff for the reader.

Another strength of this novel is the author's use of humor and wit. The story is filled with clever one-liners and humorous observations, which add levity to the dark subject matter. The author also weaves in themes of love, loss, and family, which give the story emotional depth and resonance.

Overall, "Death Checked Out" is a well-written and engaging mystery novel with a strong sense of place and character. The plot is complex and satisfying, the characters are well-drawn and relatable, and the humor and wit add an enjoyable element to the story. I highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good mystery with a strong female protagonist.

Sweet mystery!

I loved the main character Greta. She's a librarian. And when a friend dies and she's the main suspect what's a girl to do but try and solve the murder?

I love the friendships in this book, and the relationship Greta has with her parents.

I totally didn't see the suspect coming until it was revealed, lol. And that's the best thing about a mystery.

Yet another that has a great premise and lacking execution! I love cozy mysteries and I loved what this sounded like, but the protagonist was mediocre and the story flat.

This took me awhile to get through because it just wasn’t that compelling to me. I love a cozy mystery, but this didn’t have a ton of depth to the story. The characters were okay, but I feel like I didn’t get to know them very well. A little too cheesy. I did love that it was set in Wisconsin, so I could relate to that! It was okay.

I really, really, really wanted to like this one. The cover is adorable, the plot sounds so intriguing, and everything about it is totally up my alley, but I just couldn’t get into this. It dragged on a bit too much for my liking, with a lot of repetitive dialogue and scenes that felt unimportant. I liked the main character a lot, but found her two best friends to be pretty annoying (especially the one who’s only personality trait was being in love with her boyfriend). Towards the middle of the book, it became VERY predictable. Needless to say, this was not my cup of tea, but I did really enjoy the warm, cozy vibes of the book and would consider picking up the next in the series!

If I could, I would give Death Checked Out 2.5 stars. It started out promising like any cozy mystery but lost its oomph somewhere along the line. I lost interest less than half way through but stuck it out in hopes of something making me say “wow!”.

*I received a copy of this book on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this opportunity.*

In DEATH CHECKED OUT, new-to-town Greta Plank truly believes she's found her happily ever after. The idyllic town of Larkspur, Wisconsin has embraced her with open arms as their new Library Director and, even though she's only lived there for four months, she has found herself a new community of friends. However, after tragedy strikes, Greta is forced to not only clear her name, but find out who's threatening her new home.

This book is the perfect example of a cozy mystery. It's never too violent, the plot twists aren't too twisty, and while everything is wrapped up in a nice bow-- there's room for growth from all the characters introduced in this first book.

However, all the things that make it a perfect cozy mystery, also cost it originality. DEATH CHECKED OUT lacked to grab my attention as a relatively seasoned Cozy Mystery Reader, but it would a perfect introductory read for anyone interested in exploring the genre.

It took a while to get into this book.

Greta Plank has moved to Larkspur less than six months ago, running away from an incident in another life. In that time she has made friends with her colleagues at the library and with her neighbour that doesn’t seem to be friendly with anyone else.

It’s this neighbour she finds dead on his back deck. The new in town detective quickly marks her as a prime suspect. Set on proving him wrong, Greta is determined to find out who really killed her friend. Meanly dodging suggestions from her friends that there is romance in her future with the detective.

About halfway in I found the book had much improved from it’s start. That was until about the 90% mark. Then Greta sets herself up to be alone at the library with the person she suspects to be the killer. And added to her stupidity, she sends the detective a rather cryptic text rather than a straight forward “he’s at the library”.

Thank you to Net Galley for my advanced copy of this book by Leah Dobrinska. This is the start of a new series called The Larkspur Library Mysteries!   
  
Well first up, I loved that the main setting in the book was a library, and loved all the little bookish puns and references throughout.   

This book was so easy to read, fast paced and fun too! The characters are so well written, and there’s quite a few of them too, that all get nicely developed and none get left behind. It’s a mystery story that was actually quite unpredictable, I was really happy with the ending.  
  
The main character Greta is really likeable, and she gives me heroine vibes. There’s an awkward but quite sweet chemistry between her and the Detective which never really unfolds in this book but I’m hoping we see more of as the series continues.  
  
With a lakeside setting, bookish related puns, and a small town mystery, this book is the perfect read to cosy up with which will leave you guessing all the way up to the final chapters.   
  
So I’ll finish with a quote I loved in the book which is absolutely so so true - “I maintain there is at least one decent line, one takeaway, if you will, in every book. That’s why I like them all. There’s something good somewhere in every book.”

I really struggled to connect and engage with this book. EVERYTHING is filled with over description or over description like if your writing is good you don't need to spoon feed the reader. I'm not a fan of characters who are there just to big up the main character cause they have no personality expect to help the main character and that was boring. I don't think the writing style and dialogue style was for me and was a bit much so fell flat. Tbh I just couldn't care what happened to the characters or where the plot went cause it was just boring and bland.

This was a fun mystery! I do feel that the beginning was a little rushed - I felt I barely got to meet the characters before the dead body. However, I did appreciate the focus the book took on the investigation and the newer characters we met at that point. While Greta did not make the most intelligent decisions all of the time, I do find her endearing and want to know what she’ll be up to next! I’m looking forward to the next book to see what else I can learn about these characters and what continues to happen in Larkspur! I got to read this book through NetGalley.

I absolutely loved this book. It hooked me and kept me turning pages until I was done. Finished it in two days! The character development was strong, and the premise was unique enough that it didn't feel like anything else I've read.

⭐⭐⭐⭐ -- Cute cover on this book!

I thought this was a thoroughly entertaining cozy. Lovely small town setting. Engaging plot that kept me guessing. It had a great cast of characters. I loved that the main characters were librarians and that the library is heavily featured in the story. I though Greta was very likable. I even liked the "smidge" of romance tension between Greta and the new sheriff. Was it perfect, no? But first books in series usually have some growing pains. I am definitely excited to see what this author has in store for us in the next installment. 🙌🏻

**ARC Via NetGalley**

This was a cute cozy mystery, though I prefer my cozy mysteries to be British. It was fun read, and as a book lover, I liked all the book talk. I'm not sure if I'll continue in this series, but it was worth finishing.

I typically do not read books of this overall genre (murder mystery-type fiction) but with the term 'cozy' and the details I learned of this new subgenre, I took a chance and got to it. In addition, it's fun to read books from those you "know" - even if it was so long ago (I met Leah as a fellow military family in Virginia over a decade ago now - it's probably been the same amount of time since I've seen her). Having recently gotten back into reading fiction, I am so glad I chose this book, as the first in her new Larkspur Library Mystery series. (Plus an absolutely gorgeous - cute!!! - cover!) It is very well written and fairly fast paced (yet not overwhelming), which made me want to read even faster than usual to keep up (plus with such relatable and enjoyable characters, its hard not to want to know-it-all-right-now)! A few things that I enjoyed - the north woods of Wisconsin setting, the community-family feel and history weaved between characters and the story, and the ongoing mystery written in such a way that you physically cannot put the book down because what if you miss something?! Since I'm just getting back into fiction more recently, it was also well paced and didn't have too many characters or sudden changes (or perhaps, wasn't written haphazardly) so it didn't keep me confused and wondering who this is, where this was, etc. I love how she created an entire, relatable, town within this book and the series to come. It truly is no small feat to do! Plus - the culprit - what a creative (read - greedy) way to wrap up the "story" of what happened to Greta's neighbor. I was curious of who could do something like that, jealous in ways of his own library and editions, and entertained by Detective McHenry's and Greta's picks at each other. Definitely recommend it - also thanks to Netgalley for the copy to review.

A library and a cozy mystery, what's not to love? This is a super cute book that makes me want to check out other books by this author and in this series. It was a bit typical at times, but what cozy mystery isn't? I'll be searching for more by this author.

At first I didn't like our main character much but as the story progresses (well past the halfway point), she grew on me. I got used to her and the story really started to pick up at that point. I was eagerly reading until I met the end of the story because I needed to know what happens next!

I couldn't really get into this and had to dnf it. I liked the premise and the idea of this book but for some reason I just wasn't getting on with the characters. A shame

This book was definitely a fun cozy mystery. I enjoyed it a lot. I loved the cover a lot too. It was definitely a good book for everyone to enjoy