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Better Off Read

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
When her best hope of saving her storm-damaged library is found murdered, senior librarian Cleo Watkins hits the road in her bookmobile in search of justice
Septuagenarian librarian Cleo Watkins won’t be shushed when an upstart young mayor threatens to permanently shelve her tiny town’s storm-damaged library. She takes to her bookmobile, Words on Wheels, to collect allies and rally library support throughout Catalpa Springs, Georgia.
However, Cleo soon rolls into trouble. A major benefactor known for his eccentric DIY projects requests all available books on getting away with murder. He’s no Georgia peach, and Cleo wonders if she should worry about his plans. She knows she should when she discovers him bludgeoned and evidence points to her best friend, Mary-Rose Garland.
Sure of Mary-Rose’s innocence, Cleo applies her librarian’s sleuthing skills to the case, assisted by friends, family, and the dapper antiquarian bookseller everyone keeps calling her boyfriend. Evidence stacks up, but a killer is overdue to strike again. With lives and her library on the line, Cleo must shift into high gear to close the book on murder in Better Off Read, the charming Bookmobile series debut by Nora Page.
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    • Library Journal

      May 1, 2018

      At 75, Cleo Watkins isn't willing to give up her job as head librarian in Catalpa Springs, GA, when the mayor wants to take money that would have been used to repair the library's storm-damaged roof to build a fishing pier and a floating casino. So, Cleo takes to the road in her aging bookmobile, hoping to drum up support for the library. One supporter promises help, but he's also at war with Cleo's best friend Mary-Rose. When Cleo finds Buford murdered, it's easy for the police to blame Mary-Rose. It's going to take all Cleo's guile and research skills to identify the true killer. Page, who writes the "Santa Fe Café" mysteries as Ann Myers, introduces a large cast of quirky characters in a homespun Southern small-town setting. At times it is difficult to distinguish among the numerous personalities, which include Cleo's family, friends, library customers, and assorted cats and dogs. But the bookmobile premise promises more humorous library-related adventures. VERDICT Fans of Ashton Lee's "Cherry Cola Book Club" series, with the political machinations involving the library, will find this new cozy appealing, as will readers of Laurie Cass's "Bookmobile Cat" mysteries.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

      Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      March 26, 2018
      When septuagenarian librarian Cleo Watkins of Catalpa Springs, Ga., learns that the new mayor wants to close her storm-ravaged library to fund his high-end fishing pier and floating casino, she takes matters into her own hands, in this funny, fast-paced series launch from the pseudonymous Page. Cleo sets out to rally support for saving the library in Words on Wheels, a yellow school bus turned mobile library. But when someone fatally bludgeons one of the library’s major benefactors, an aficionado of true crime books, Cleo enlists the support of friends and family to keep her best friend, Mary-Rose Garland, and her 24-year-old grandson, Ollie, from being implicated in the crime. Page pulls together all the elements needed to sustain a cozy series: an eccentric cast of supporting characters, a potential suitor, a cat named Rhett, a quaint town, great food, and, most importantly, a dynamo of a lead in Cleo, who drives with a lead foot and refuses to back down from anything or anyone, including bullies and murderers. Agent: Christina Hogrebe, Jane Rotrosen Agency.

    • Library Journal

      May 1, 2018

      At 75, Cleo Watkins isn't willing to give up her job as head librarian in Catalpa Springs, GA, when the mayor wants to take money that would have been used to repair the library's storm-damaged roof to build a fishing pier and a floating casino. So, Cleo takes to the road in her aging bookmobile, hoping to drum up support for the library. One supporter promises help, but he's also at war with Cleo's best friend Mary-Rose. When Cleo finds Buford murdered, it's easy for the police to blame Mary-Rose. It's going to take all Cleo's guile and research skills to identify the true killer. Page, who writes the "Santa Fe Caf�" mysteries as Ann Myers, introduces a large cast of quirky characters in a homespun Southern small-town setting. At times it is difficult to distinguish among the numerous personalities, which include Cleo's family, friends, library customers, and assorted cats and dogs. But the bookmobile premise promises more humorous library-related adventures. VERDICT Fans of Ashton Lee's "Cherry Cola Book Club" series, with the political machinations involving the library, will find this new cozy appealing, as will readers of Laurie Cass's "Bookmobile Cat" mysteries.--Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

      Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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