Book Review: The Stranger in the Library by Eva Gates
- Kristen Lewendon
- Jun 4, 2024
- 2 min read
Lighthouse Library Mystery Book 11
Outer Banks librarian Lucy is working on an art show at the library when paintings–and people–start to go missing, in this 11th Lighthouse Library mystery from national bestselling author Eva Gates.
When a traveling show of impressionist art comes to Nags Head, North Carolina, librarian Lucy and the staff at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library are inspired to create an educational display about art history. Their launch of the display is a huge success, but the morning after, they discover that a reproduction of a famous painting has gone missing.
No one knows why anyone would bother stealing it: the picture is of no value–the real, priceless painting is under lock and key at the art show itself. Lucy gets an invite to the glitzy opening night for the real show, where she notices unusual tension among the show’s organizers. Then, the man scheduled to give the welcoming speech fails to arrive, and a party-goer is discovered drowned in a fish pond.
Meanwhile, Louise Jane is totally captivated by Tom Reilly, a handsome, charming art dealer lurking at the edges of the receptions on both nights. Tom slipped away from the party early, and he cannot be located by the police. Who, Lucy asks, is Tom Reilly, the shadowy figure threatening to break Louise Jane’s heart?
Something is afoot in Nags Head, and it’s up to Lucy and her friends to get to the bottom of it before it’s not just paintings being framed.
My Review:
I did not see that coming at all. Mind you, I was so caught up with all the hijinks Lucy and Louise Jane kept getting pulled into that I wasn’t paying nearly as much attention to the mysteries as I normally do. I enjoyed that so much. It reminded me a bit of some of my favorite heist stories; the ones with a “good” bad guy that you just can’t help but cheer for in spite of yourself. I also had a lot of fun catching up with all the series regulars and learning new things about several of them. And now, with where this book leaves off, I’m more curious than ever about where the author is going to take us in the future.
I received a complimentary advance copy of this book through NetGalley.
Other books in the series:
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