Opening Line:  “I love my mother.  Truly, I do.”

Overall:  This is the second book in the, Lighthouse Library Mystery Series.  The first one is called, By Book Or By Crook, and you can follow the link to read my review of that book.  There are 8 books published so far in this series, and a ninth to be released in 2022.  The story is about Lucy Richardson, who leaves both her job at the Harvard Library, and the man she figured out she did not want to marry.  She goes to visit her Aunt and Uncle on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, to relax and figure out what to do next.  Lucy is thrilled when she finds out she has a job at the local library there, which is inside a lighthouse!  Bodie Island, North Carolina is a real place and there is a real, working lighthouse there.  However, in reality  it is not a library.  But I love the  entertaining twist of imagination to have a library inside of a lighthouse… and have Lucy be able to live inside a small apartment in the lighthouse too!  I just loved that unique and charming idea for the setting of these books!   I would love to live in this seaside town on the Outer Banks of North Carolina and live and work in a library lighthouse!  Lucy is loving it too, and happy to be living life on her own terms.  She is glad she is finally away from her Boston family and the pressures they have been putting on her.   She is also enjoying the attention of two local men who both like her.  One is the Mayor of the town, who used to be a childhood crush of hers.  The second is a nice local police officer she just met when she came back into town.  However, Lucy’s socialite mother, Suzanne, wants her to move back to Boston and marry her ex-fiance.  So, she drops-in unexpectedly for a visit, with the intention to bring Lucy back to the life she left behind.  Her mother is originally from the Outer Banks area and runs into some old classmates while she’s in town.  Unfortunately one of them, Karen, is found dead outside of the library after Suzanne and her had a big public fight earlier.  Also, an expensive missing necklace is found in Suzanne’s bag after Book Club, and so the police think Suzanne is the prime suspect of both the theft and the murder.  Lucy knows that her mother might be dismissive and pretentious, but she is not a murder.  So it seems it’s up to Lucy to help her mother  clear her name of both crimes.              

Ovations:  I love reading books about libraries, books, and librarians! I love that the Bodie Island location is a real place with a real, working lighthouse there that you can go visit if you wanted to.  But, I also love the quirky idea of the lighthouse as a library.  I really like the main character Lucy.  She is highly educated, and comes from money, but she is very sweet and does not act haughty at all.  She seems like someone I would want to be best friends with.  I enjoy the love triangle Lucy is involved in with the two local guys.  They are both very different, and I wonder which one will win her heart.   I also liked that the storyline involved two mysteries.  There is the stolen necklace and the murder and you are not sure if the two are connected or not, and if they are, how and why?  The plot moves along at a good pace and keeps you interested.                     

Oh Well: There are a lot of characters to get to know in this book again.  I was hoping that would just be the case with the first book in the series, introducing us to everyone.  But I still felt there were too many characters to keep straight sometimes.  I also think it was not realistic that Lucy did not just sit down and talk with her mother about her feelings as to why she does not want to, and will not go back home. Lucy seems like a smart, capable woman, so I don’t know why she didn’t just have a direct conversation with her mother about her reasons for wanting to stay where she is.                              

Opinion:  Overall, I liked this second book in the, Lighthouse Library Mystery Series.  But, I did like the first book, By Book Or By Crook,  a bit more than this one.  I still love how the North Carolina Island location for this book is a real place but the author was so imaginative to make the lighthouse a library that also has an apartment for Lucy to live in.  If those things appeal to you too, then I think you will like this new cozy  mystery series.  Rating: 5 out of 10