Checked Out by Elizabeth Spann Craig

Reviewed by Jeanne

Librarians end up doing a lot of things they don’t tell you about in library school.  A former director’s favorite example was having to climb a ladder in high heels in a downpour in order to check a leaky roof.  For Ann Beckett, one of those things is rescuing a kitten from a drainage ditch at the behest of two young patrons.  While the feline is saved (and adorable), Ann is thoroughly drenched in the process.  It’s already promising to be a difficult day since a long-time patron has talked her into a blind date with the patron’s nephew.  As Ann says, nothing good ever comes out of a blind date.

This one turns out to be even worse than she bargained for when she discovers her date is dead in his backyard, stabbed through the neck with a skewer at his backyard grill.

This is the first in the Village Library Mysteries series and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the book. Ann is more like a real librarian than many fictional librarians of my acquaintance; they’re always closing the library to chase clues or spending large amounts of uninterrupted time at the desk doing research.  I like Ann and I like the way she takes care of her patrons.  Naturally, this being a mystery, she can’t resist doing a bit of low level detecting, mostly involving talking to people and not, say, indulging in a bit of B&E. (Breaking and entering makes me nervous but somehow most get away with it and it seems to never come up at trial about information being gathered illegally.)

Also, I just like the way the library operates.  It felt more realistic than most, and I like the other librarians.  Also I thoroughly enjoyed all the title-dropping of books, from recommendations to patrons to what Ann was reading. The appropriately adorable kitten plays a role in the book and I have high hopes he will show up in later volumes.  

There could have been a bit more character development at times, but again for me the pros far outweighed the cons. For example, Ann is something of a workaholic, spending most of her time at the library.  She doesn’t have much of a social life because of it, but on the other hand, she doesn’t spend her time moping about it.  After all, it’s her choice. She isn’t down on romance but she isn’t desperately seeking a mate.  She seems to have her life together. Easy stereotypes are avoided for the most part.  Best of all, there isn’t a character who exists simply to make others’ lives miserable, which is a pet peeve of mine.

I liked the way the mystery was constructed, and the straight-forward feel.  There wasn’t a lot of extraneous information (no recipes, craft tips, or lectures on the Dewey Decimal system) which I sometimes enjoy but that just kept the focus on the mystery.  In short, I found this to be a very pleasant, entertaining book. 

Checked Out by Elaine Viets

Reviewed by Jeanne

Private investigator Helen Hawthrone has been hired to shelve books at her local library.  Actually, that’s just a cover: she’s actually searching for a small watercolor painting thought to have been in a book that was part of a donation to the library, one among hundreds and hundreds of books.  The painting is actually a John Singer Sargent original and worth up to a million dollars, which is why Helen isn’t the only one searching.  There’s also the matter of the library ghost.  . . .

Meanwhile, Helen’s investigator partner and husband, Phil, is busy posing as a gardener at a local estate.   A valuable necklace and a golf cart have gone missing, and the family is sure one of the servants is to blame.

This was my first foray into the Dead-End Job Mystery series.  A friend had recommended it, assuring me there were cats.  Cats are my fall-back, in case I don’t care for plot or characters.  In this instance, while the cats were welcome, they weren’t the only reason to enjoy the books.  Helen and Phil are an adorable couple, very much in love, but also smart and competent. They put me in mind of Nick and Nora Charles or Jennifer and Jonathan Hart: romantic banter but the partners are equal, and there’s a real mystery (or two) to solve.   There’s a selection of returning supporting characters, my favorite being Margery Flax, their landlord and friend who presides over her tenants like an eccentric aunt.

The suspects and motives were well defined, and I like the methodical and professional way that the two investigators go about their business.  That was something I didn’t realize I’d missed while reading a slew of cozies: people who have a plan, instead of characters more or less waiting around for a clue to show up.  

 The part that I enjoyed most was the background setting.  Her descriptions of how a library works ring true:  for example, the eternal debate whether to shelve series alphabetically by title or numerically, by series order.  It’s a small thing, but it tells me that Viets has done her research and gives me confidence in areas I don’t know well, such as how one would get rid of a hot golf cart.  I even looked up Sargent’s watercolor alligators and highly recommend others do the same: they are indeed lovely.

Another point in the book’s favor was the shrewdly observed social commentary.  There are the usual class distinctions, but with a Florida twist that includes the “old families” vs. residents vs. seasonal residents.  The problem of homelessness comes up as well and is considered in an even-handed manner.

This particular book even had a bonus cat, in addition to the series regulars. Paris is the library cat whose proposed ouster causes a ruckus similar to ones I’ve heard about from other libraries. (Browser the library cat was one of the more recent ones.)

I will definitely be reading more in this series.