Library director Lindsey Norris and her fellow librarians are ready for the holidays. The children’s librarian is going to have the kids make snowflakes to put in the windows. The afternoon crafternoon group, a group of local women who get together once a week for a book club/craft session, are making bookish ornaments that can decorate the library. The library even has a float in the Christmas Eve parade.

But Lindsey gets nothing but a cold shoulder when she tries to get their writer in residence involved in the festivities. Helen Monroe wrote the popular Mallory Quest thrillers before she tired of them and killed her protagonist, much to the chagrin of her fans. She accepted the chance to write in the library to work on a new series. And while the writer shows up every day to work and conducts a weekly writing seminar, she’s distinctly anti-social otherwise.

So when another woman shows up at the library, calling herself Jackie and explaining that she is an old friend of Helen’s, and Lindsey immediately gets a bad feeling in her gut, she struggles with whether or not to tell Helen. Lindsey takes the question to the crafternooners, and she about half saying to tell her and the other half saying to leave it alone. Lindsey has no evidence of wrongdoing, just a bad feeling, and she doesn’t know where Helen is staying in town, since it was the Friends of the Library who had taken care of those details. So she comes up with a new idea.

When Jackie had stopped by the library, she had let them know that she was staying at a local bed and breakfast, so Lindsey came up with a reason to go there and get more information about the potential stalker. As it turns out, Jackie Lewis is also a writer. And she’s planning on going to the ugly Christmas sweater contest that the Friends of the Library is having. The one were Helen will be one of the judges. And when she does show up and makes a scene, Helen admits that they used to be friends. Now, she accuses Helen of stealing her ideas for her popular series before the sheriff escorts her from the party

But when Jackie is found later, apparently electrocuted by Christmas lights in the city’s gazebo, Helen is the primary suspect. And Lindsey wants to step in to help clear her, as Helen is their first writer in residence, and she wants there to be more. But as more suspects come are uncovered, it seems that Jackie’s death may have been an accident. It may have been Helen who was the original target for the killer, so Lindsey needs to work even faster to uncover the truth before they succeed at killing off the author.

A Merry Little Murder Plot is book 15 in Jenn McKinlay’s popular Library Lover’s Mystery Series. The small town of Briar Creek, Connecticut comes to life in these books, as the librarians and its patrons uncover secrets and lies, stalkers and killers. Filled with lots of book talk and the warmth of family and good friends, these mysteries also feature humor, small town camaraderie, and some fun surprises. This one also includes a Christmas ornament craft, a couple of recipes, including Fruitcake Cookies, and discussion questions for the Christmas book the crafternooners read, Truman Capote’s A Christmas Memory.

I really enjoyed A Merry Little Murder Plot. Lindsey’s friend Robbie brought extra humor to the story, and I loved the writer in residence story line. I also appreciated the way the librarians handled the woman who was talking about banning books at the public library as well as the high school library, as that is a timely and important topic. I thought author Jenn McKinlay had her characters handle that with grace and strength, and it added an interesting texture to the mystery. I like McKinlay’s mysteries a lot. My only real grievance with this one is that it is not very inclusive. It’s for those who celebrate Christmas and doesn’t mention any alternate holidays, but if you are a Christmas person (which I am), then this fun, book-filled holiday murder mystery is a gift.

Egalleys for A Merry Little Murder Plot were provided by Berkley through NetGalley, with many thanks.

A Merry Little Murder Plot by Jenn McKinlay returns readers to Briar Creek during the holiday season. It was great to catch up with Lindsey Norris, Seth, Beth, and the rest of the Crafternoon Club. I always look forward to hearing about Beth’s latest costume for reading time with the kids. Beth certainly loves her job, and she is creative. I like that the character’s continue to develop and relationships change as the series progresses. The new writer in residence position at the library causes some dissention and later a murder. Lindsey, naturally, is curious. She asks questions and searches for clues (everybody expects it by now). This was an interesting mystery with several red herrings. I knew who, but I did not know why until later in the story. A Merry Little Murder Plot is the fifteenth A Library Lover’s Mystery. While the book can be read as a standalone, I recommend reading this charming series in order. I enjoyed the books mentioned in the story. A couple of my favorites were included. I am looking forward to my next visit to Briar Creek. A Merry Little Murder Plot is a Christmas cozy with a writer in residence, snowman stories, a dead dissenter, constructing ornaments, tree lighting, an exasperating president, and a very Happy Holiday!

It's Christmas time in Briar Creek which means there are tons of festivies, there's a new writer in residence program going on in the libary, and a bit of drama going on with the politics of the Friends of the Library. And of course there's a murder.

I always enjoy a visit to this series. Lindsey and Sully and all of their friends are front and center and I am especially glad to see Robbie have some page time. I really liked Helen. She's a bit standoffish and direct but she reads as an authentically introverted person who is happiest in her own company. Jackie is dreadful but not as awful as the Betty who makes her presence known from the beginning with her rudeness and disdain for the residents of Briar Creek.

The mystery was entertaining and kept me guessing from start to finish and I thoroughly enjoyed the investigation. This is a solid series with an enjoyable community around the main characters. I really love seeing Ms Cole - formerly known as "the Lemon" - getting comfortable in her new role as Mayor Cole. The book can easily be read as a standalone but is even more enjoyable when read as part of the series.

A Merry Little Murder Plot is book 15 in the Library Lover's Mystery series by Jenn McKinlay.
All the wonderful characters are back once again.
And I have the best time reading this book.
A wonderfully plotted mystery full of twists and turns.
There are lots of surprises and shocking revelations in this story!
Jenn McKinlay writes fun and entertaining mysteries with characters fleshed out making them real and identifiable.
Being in Briar Creek was charming, exciting and full on adventurous.
I really had a great time reading this book, and highly, highly recommend it to fans of cozy mysteries.

Thank You NetGalley and Berkley for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

I will be sharing to my blog and social media accounts!

This winter, the Briar Creek Library is hosting a writer in residence, and they are honored to have thriller writer Helen Monroe as she works on something new. But Lindsey Norris’s radar goes off when she meets an obsessive fan of Helen’s. Sure enough, the sparks fly when the two meet at a public event. And then Lindsey finds a dead body in the city’s park – electrocuted by the town’s Christmas lights. Can she figure out what is going on?

I always enjoy visiting these characters, and that was no exception. Having said that, I didn’t appreciate the subplot about book banning, mainly because it was just knee jerk storytelling and didn’t have any of the nuance that should be involved in the topic. Still, that was a minor part of a book I enjoyed overall. The plot was great and kept me guessing even about who the victim would be (I went in without reading anything about the plot). The twists kept coming after the murder, but everything made sense at the end. The characters, both old and new, were fun. I laughed quite a few times as I went along. And the festive setting added a nice touch to the book. There are some Christmassy extras at the end. Fans will love this book. Anyone looking for a fun Christmas mystery will be glad they picked this book up.

"A Merry Little Murder Plot" is a cozy mystery. It's the 15th in a series. You don't need to read the previous books to understand this one, and this book didn't spoil the whodunits of the previous mysteries.

The main characters were likable and interesting. Lindsey and her helpers asked good questions and noticed clues. This clue-based mystery could be guessed before the end. I guessed "whodunit" correctly, though I wasn't completely certain until the end since there were several possibilities that weren't explored until later on. There were no sex scenes. There were only a few uses of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable novel.