This past weekend I started two new cozy mystery series.  One, a book about a librarian (my future career hopefully), the other about a Bostonian who travels to Ireland.

The first,

Books Can Be Deceiving, by Jenn McKinlay

So, as a secret/dream librarian, anytime I can find a good mystery with a character I can identify with in it, I’m down.  This series follows a young-ish librarian in a small town in Connecticut (yay New England!).  Of course there is murder, cause this wouldn’t be a cozy mystery with out it.  With the help of a friendly water taxi captain and her group of friends.  Lindsey, the main character, is a spunky Librarian director with a fierce loyalty to her friends.  This loyalty springs into action when her best friend Beth is considered a murder suspect in the death of her mysterious, children’s author boyfriend.  And, not to spoil anything, but one of my favorite parts of the book came towards the end when Lindsey was investigating at a nursing home.  To sign in, she used the name Leigh Deway.  Get it?  Lead the way!  I died.  I love a pun.

I’m definitely going to continue reading this series, it’s a just a fun lighthearted cozy mystery.  Highly recommended for mystery lovers.

The second series I started this week was by one of my favorite cozy mystery authors, Sheila Connolly.

Buried in a Bog

Another dream I’ve also had was just to pick up and move to England or Ireland, open a small business and just live a quiet life.  Weird, I know.  I’ve become much more of a loaner in my older age, and the country life seems like it’d be perfect!  So, after reading Sheila Connolly other series (The Orchard Series, the Museum Series), I picked up her County Cork Mysteries.  This first one is the introduction to the whole shebang.

Maura Donovan is a South Boston born and bred girl who lives with her Irish Grandma after her father dies and mother abandons the family.  She grows up not knowing a whole lot about the Irish background of her family, but after her Grandmother dies, she makes good on a promise to go back to the town her Grandma grew up in.  That town is Leap in County Cork.

While she didn’t have a lot going on Boston, other than a few dead end jobs, she quickly becomes accepted in the small town and even accepts a job at the local Pub.  The mystery itself is actually really interesting.  A body from 50 years earlier was found buried in one of the peat bogs which leads to an even bigger mystery that surrounds the town today.  Its interesting to see how the townspeople and local police work together to solve the local mystery.  Of course, at the end, there is a way for Maura to stay in Leap for the near future, which means there will be plenty of more books in this series to follow.  I’ve already started the second one, Scandal in Skibbereen (which is the neighboring town).

So, moral of the story is, if anyone has friends in the library business or with a business they don’t want to run in England/Ireland, hit me up!