Review: Death Overdue by Mary Lou Kirwin

• Series: Librarian Mysteries
• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: Gallery Books; Original edition (November 5, 2013)
• ISBN-10: 145168466
• Source: Publisher

In this second book in the Librarian Mystery series, Minnesota librarian Karen Nash is in London helping Caldwell, her love interest, locate a site for their dream bookstore. This is a big step for her; it wasn’t long ago that she was in heartbroken in London after she discovered her previous boyfriend was having an affair. This step would mean leaving her life in Minnesota and making the permanent move to London. Obviously, this is a concern for Karen and she finds herself questioning every decision she and Caldwell make together.

Even more chaos erupts when Caldwell’s former flame, and joint owner of his B&B, Sally Burroughs, appears out of the blue, demanding that her share of the lucrative business be split with her. She disappeared without a trace nearly seven years ago, leaving Caldwell in her wake. Before Karen and Caldwell can even discuss what is to be done about this situation, a freak accident occurs. In the middle of the night, a bookcase falls and an avalanche of books traps Sally beneath it, killing her instantly.  Caldwell is arrested and taken into custody, charged with her murder. His fingerprints are found on the bookcase and the hook that secured it to the wall. Karen immediately begins to investigate. While Caldwell does have a reason to want her dead, surely he isn’t capable of such a brutal killing, specifically when it involves the disruption of his treasured library?

As mentioned, this is the second book in a cozy mystery series. I discovered the previous book, Killer Librarian, during Cozy Mystery Week last year. I instantly fell in love with the setting Kirwin created and Karen’s sassy attitude!  I was thrilled to learn that she and Caldwell connected and really looked forward to their life together.

That said, while I did enjoy Death Overdue, everything I loved about the previous book seemed to be absent or lacking. I didn’t feel the spark between Karen and Caldwell.  It was almost as if their relationship was more of a business one than anything else. Additionally, while the mystery aspect had me intrigued, I really wasn’t invested in learning what happened. Sally was a truly detesting character and I could have cared less what happened to her. I wanted to get back to Karen and Caldwell’s life together and their hunt for the perfect bookstore location.

All in all, I did still enjoy this book as a part of this series. It could definitely serve as a standalone, but would recommend starting with the first book, Killer Librarian. Despite my issues with this one, I am still looking forward to reading more about Karen and Caldwell and their dream bookstore!