I’m so excited to be a stop on the blog tour for author Eva Gates and her new release The Spook In The Stacks. This is the fourth book in her A Lighthouse Library Mystery series. This is the second book in the series that I have read and I have enjoyed them both.
The Spook in the Stacks: A Lighthouse Library Mystery
Cozy Mystery
4th in Series
Crooked Lane Books (June 12, 2018)
Hardcover: 250 Pages
ISBN-13: 978-1683315803
Digital ASIN: B075QJ59PX
Purchase Links
Amazon B&N Kobo Google Play BookBub
Readers get ready for spooks, creaks, and goosebumps as you read this perfectly blended mystery. It is full of all the little details that make a cozy worth loving.
~Bibliophile Reviews
I admire lighthouses, and I adore libraries, so the combination of these is a delight.
~Mallory Heart’s Cozies
I adored the Halloween atmosphere, filled with ghostly legends and mysterious apparitions. Parallels to The Legend of Sleepy Hollow are in abundance. Loved it!
~Melissa’a Mochas, Mysteries, and Meows
From the moment Lucy discovered a body in the library right up to the end I was engrossed.
~The Book’s the Thing
This installment of the Lighthouse Library Mystery series was worth the wait! It was wonderful.
~Valerie’s Musings
This story not only has a mystery but some love and some “strange” appearances… Is Lucy really seeing ghosts or someone is trying to play with her?
~Varietats
A fantastic cozy mystery and addition to the Lighthouse Library series, The Spook in the Stacks is engaging, doesn’t divulge the suspect right away, and keeps the reader guessing.
~Sapphyria’s Books
The story moved along at a quick pace with unexpected moments throughout. Anyone who loves a good character driven cozy and the Halloween season will enjoy this book.
~Laura’s Interests
The Spook in the Stacks is everything that a cozy mystery should be; I was hooked from the first page and its steady pace never let up.
~The Power of Words
Characters are always such a driving force in a book for me. Gates has really created some great characters who have many levels. I admire the relationship they all have with one another, especially Lucy and her friends. Oh, I loved Charles, the library cat! He was the best!!!!
~ Devilishly Delicious Book Reviews
The Spook in the Stacks is a lively, airy cozy mystery that you will keep you engaged and ordering takeout for dinner.
~The Avid Reader
The Spook in the Stacks by Eva Gates is enjoyable and entertaining with a fun cast of characters and a to-die-for setting (quite literally for our poor murder victim).
~Reading Is My SuperPower
Halloween in North Carolina’s Outer Banks becomes seriously tricky when librarian Lucy Richardson stumbles across something extra unusual in the rare books section: a dead body.
Wealthy businessman Jay Ruddle is considering donating his extensive collection of North Carolina historical documents to the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, but the competition for the collection is fierce. Unfortunately, while the library is hosting a lecture on ghostly legends, Jay becomes one of the dearly departed in the rare books section. Now, it’s up to Lucy Richardson and her fellow librarians to bone up on their detective skills and discover who is responsible for this wicked Halloween homicide.
Meanwhile, very strange things are happening at the library―haunted horses are materializing in the marsh, the lights seem to have an eerie life of their own, and the tiny crew of a model ship appears to move around when no one is watching. Is Lucy at her wit’s end? Or can it be that the Bodie Island Lighthouse really is haunted?
With The Legend of Sleepy Hollow on everyone’s minds and ghoulish gossip on everyone’s lips, Lucy will need to separate the clues from the boos if she wants to crack this case without losing her head in The Spook in the Stacks, the delightful fourth in national bestseller Eva Gates’ Lighthouse Library mysteries.
The characters are well rounded and well developed. Lucy is a strong, smart loving person and she is always ready, willing and able to help her friends when they need it. I found it very funny that Lucy does not really like Halloween and anything scary. She does not think being scared is fun. But she works and lives in a lighthouse that is said to be haunted. I think that is ironic and very humorous. I enjoyed getting to spend time with Lucy and her friends and library “family”. And Connor seems to be a great boyfriend and their relationship is progressing at a normal speed. All of the characters, primary and secondary, added a lot to this book. And Charles is one cool cat.
The author is very talented in her descriptive writing and she drew me into the location. I feel like I know more about North Carolina’s Outer Banks. I could picture the area and the lighthouse in my mind as if I visited it in real life. The writing style flows smoothly and the book is an easy read. It defined the characters very clearly by their actions and dialogue. There are literary references and some history lessons peppered throughout the book that I felt added a lot to the overall enjoyment.
The mystery was well plotted and not an easy one to solve. There were enough suspects to consider and clues to sift through. There were twists and turns everywhere you turned and I did not see the ending coming.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a well crafted cozy mystery. If you like lighthouses, the Outer Banks or Halloween, I think you’ll like this book.
I voluntarily reviewed an ARC of this book provided by the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, and NetGalley, which I greatly appreciate.
Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than twenty-five books: clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing three cozy mystery series: the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series for Crooked Lane, the Year Round Christmas mysteries for Penguin Random House and, under the pen name of Eva Gates, the Lighthouse Library series, for Crooked Lane Books.
Vicki lives and writes in bucolic Prince Edward County, Ontario. She is the past president of the Crime Writers of Canada. Her work has been nominated for the Derringer, the Bony Blithe, the Ontario Library Association Golden Oak, and the Arthur Ellis Awards.
Visit Vicki at www.vickidelany.com. On Facebook at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor. Twitter @vickidelany @evagatesauthor
When did you know that you wanted to be an author? What things, if any, influenced that decision?
I wasn’t one of those people who always wanted to be an author. I was well into my 40s when I decided I’d like to give it a try. I originally thought I’d write for children, and I took some courses at a community college. I quickly decided I didn’t want to write children’s books, but I was enjoying the course and wanted to stay in it. As I read mostly mysteries, I thought I’d try my hand at that. And here I am today. The Spook in the Stacks is my 30th published book (most of which were written under my real name of Vicki Delany)
With so many cozies being written today, what makes your books stand out from the crowd?
There are so many great cozies out there, but I hope my location makes the Lighthouse Library series appealing. It’s about a library in a Lighthouse on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. The main character, Lucy Richardson, has a tiny apartment on the fourth floor. In writing this series, The Spook in the Stacks is the fourth, I’ve developed a real love for lighthouses, particularly their importance in historical times. Lucy isn’t from North Carolina, and neither am I, so we’re discovering it together. Things like shrimp and grits and hush puppies. Yum.
Do you work from an outline or plot or do you just see where the characters take you?
A little of both. I draw up an outline, and I stick to it fairly closely, but I’m still open to new developments, particularly those the characters themselves influence.
Do you read your reviews? Do you respond to them, good or bad? Do you do anything special to get those reviews?
I tend to read early reviews, then not so much. I never respond to a review, good or bad. Never. That way madness lies. I run contests for advance review copies on my Facebook page (Vicki Delany + Eva Gates) and at the Killer Characters blog I’m part of. But I never ask for reviews. If someone wins a book and wants to review it, that’s their privilege.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
I’ve found that persistence is the key. Even when things are not going well in the book, if you believe in it and in yourself, it will (usually) come together.
Do you think that the cover plays an important part in someone buying your book(s)? Who designs your book covers?
Covers are incredibly important. Not many people buy books just because they like the cover, but an appealing cover makes prospective readers pick the book up (or click on the link) and read more. And then they buy if they like it. Whereas an unappealing or inappropriate cover means they won’t look further. At both Crooked Lane and Penguin, the publisher handles all aspects of cover design. Which is the way I want it. I’m not a graphic designer so I’ll leave that to the professionals.
Please give us an insight into your main characters. What do you think makes them special?
Most of the characters in the Lighthouse library series work in a library. I try to bring their love of libraries and of books into the story. My protagonist Lucy Richardson doesn’t want to be a sleuth. She’d much rather just be a librarian. But she gets dragged into things because she has an insight into people and she wants to help. That plus Charles the library cat who sometimes seems to be almost pushing her forward. I love writing Charles. He’s a cat, he doesn’t talk and he doesn’t have any unusual powers. But he does seem to know a lot about what’s going on, whether in Lucy’s love life or in who’s up to no good.
What have you learned about yourselves since becoming an author?
I love the writing life. It’s the best. I travel a lot for promotion and I love meeting other authors and book lovers. It’s all great.
Do you write full-time or part-time?
I write full time, in that I don’t have another job.
What do your plans for future projects include?
I still have contracts for books 5 & 6 in the Lighthouse Library series. Book 4 in the Sherlock Homes bookshop series (by Vicki Delany) is titled A Scandal in Scarlet and it will be out in November, to be followed by books 5 and 6. As Vicki Delany, I am also writing another book in the Year Round Christmas series for Penguin, to be released in 2019. All that’s enough for now, I think.
What do you think the hardest part of writing is? What is the easiest?
The hardest part is what I call “the soggy middle”. That point in the first draft when you just can’t see your way through to the end. There’s always an “I want to quit” point. But I never do, and then it gets easier.
The easiest for me is the final draft. I love giving it a nice polish and a last look through, and feeling (Generally) pretty pleased with it.
What type of books do you like to read? Who are some of your favorite authors?
I read quite a bit. I love modern gothic suspense by people like Kate Morton or Simone St. James. I love the cozy mystery series by Kate Carlisle and Jenn McKinlay, and so many others. A bit of non fiction, usually to do with travel.
What is the one thing you would like your readers to know about you?
Other than that I am Vicki Delany as well as Eva Gates, with books under both names, I’d like them to know that I love to hear from them. I love meeting readers in person, but if we can’t do that, I love getting letters.
Do you have anything specific you would like to say to your readers?
I send out a quarterly newsletter with info about new books as well as my travels, and they can sign up by writing to me at vicki@vickidelany.com. I run lots of contests and give news on my book on my Facebook author page at www.facebook.com/evagatesauthor
How can readers discover more about you and your work?
Website: www.vickidelany.com , http://www.lighthouselibrarymysteries.com;
Blog: www.killercharacters.blogspot.com http://www.typem4murder.blogspot.com
Facebook: evagatesauthor
Twitter: Vicki.delany ; evagatesauthor
Pinterest;
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Vicki-Delany/e/B001JP2AAI/ref=sr_tc_2_0?qid=1526061372&sr=8-2-ent
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/550956.Vicki_Delany
Please click on the link below to enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway:
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/02887792727/?widget_template=56d5f80dbc544fb30fda66f0
TOUR PARTICIPANTS
June 10 – Bibliophile Reviews – REVIEW
June 10 – Mallory Heart’s Cozies – REVIEW
June 10 – Babs Book Bistro – SPOTLIGHT
June 11 – The Book’s the Thing – REVIEW, GUEST POST
June 11 – Mochas, Mysteries and Meows – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
June 12 – Valerie’s Musings – REVIEW
June 12 – Varietats – REVIEW, GUEST POST
June 12 – Rosepoint Publishing – SPOTLIGHT
June 13 – Sapphyria’s Books – REVIEW
June 13 – Laura’s Interests – REVIEW
June 13 – The Power of Words – REVIEW
June 14 – Devilishly Delicious Book Reviews – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
June 14 – Readeropolis – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 15 – The Avid Reader – REVIEW
June 15 – Teresa Trent Author Blog – SPOTLIGHT
June 15 – Cozy Up With Kathy – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 16 – Reading Is My SuperPower – REVIEW
June 16 – Brooke Blogs – GUEST POST
June 17 – Lisa Ks Book Reviews – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 17 – A Holland Reads – SPOTLIGHT
June 18 – Back Porchervations – REVIEW
June 18 – Celticlady’s Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 18 – The Book Diva’s Reads – CHARACTER GUEST POST
June 19 – My Reading Journeys – REVIEW
June 19 – Curling up by the Fire – REVIEW
June 19 – Mysteries with Character – AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 20 – Moonlight Rendezvous – REVIEW
June 20 – A Blue Million Books – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
June 20 – Paranormal and Romantic Suspense Reviews – SPOTLIGHT
June 21 – That’s What She’s Reading – REVIEW, GUEST POST
June 21 – Escape With Dollycas Into A Good Book – REVIEW
June 21 – Sneaky the Library Cat’s Blog – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
June 22 – MJB Reviewers – REVIEW, AUTHOR INTERVIEW
June 22 – The Montana Bookaholic – CHARACTER GUEST POST
June 22 – A Wytch’s Book Review Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER INTERVIEW
June 23 – Melina’s Book Blog – REVIEW, CHARACTER GUEST POST
June 23 – Island Confidential – CHARACTER INTERVIEW
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