Miss Zukas and the Library Murders by Jo Dereske

I will be the first to admit that had I been looking in a book store for a "cozy" to read - I would never have chosen this book - yep, because of the cover. Not a cover that would have drawn me. But, I purchased it on my kindle fire and didn't see this cover. I am sorry but apparently I DO judge a book by it's cover!

 My virtual cover for my Kindle Fire.

(for some reason this one is much more pleasing to me!)

I like cozies. I don't like romance, but sometimes I want a light read so I turn to the genre of murder! I have several from my favorite authors on my book shelves. I didn't feel like rereading at the time so I googled  "cozies" and found a discussion on a blog about authors of this genre. I made a list of several that I thought I would look up and when I did, I started with Jo Dereske. I enjoyed this first book in her series of 12 books about Miss Helma Zukas, a 30 something librarian in Washington state.

 "Meet Miss Zukas . . . the very proper, exceedingly conscientious, and relentlessly curious local librarian of tiny Bellehaven, Washington—and one heck of an amateur sleuth! The Bellehaven police are baffled when a dead body turns up right in the middle of the library's fiction stacks. But Miss Helma Zukas—who never fails to make note of the slightest deviation from the norm of everyday life—is not willing to let this rather nasty disruption stand. Her precious literary sanctuary has been violated, and if the local law cannot get to the bottom of this case, Miss Zukas certainly intends to—with the help of her not-so-proper best friend, Ruth, a six-foot-tall bohemian artist with a nose for gossip and a penchant for getting into trouble. But their research project is bringing them a little too close to a killer . . . who'd like nothing better than to write Helma and Ruth out of the story completely!"

I really enjoyed this book. It was funny, moved fast, but not too deep and not scarey (which is the point of a good cozy.) I had figured out "whodunit" before the end but it is very well written and entertaining.  I will admit, at first, I kept picturing Miss Zukas as an older women (apparently I also stereotype!) but that picture quickly faded as I continued to read. There is also a good looking, single, police chief in the story. (maybe romance isn't that bad!)

Once I finished book one I purchased book two Miss Zukas and the Island Murders. I enjoyed book two, also. I plan on reading all 12 books.

 

The author, Jo Dereske is the author of 17 published books. She lives in Washington and to find out more about her you can check out her web site HERE


For my friends who like "cozies" I suggest Jo Dereske's series about Miss Zukas. Light reading and very entertaining!

*****