Trouble on the Books

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Shelby Cox returns to her hometown of Alexandria Bay in the beautiful Thousand Islands area of New York after living in Boston for most of her life. In Trouble on the Books by Essie Long, Shelby finds herself as a part owner of Bayside Books with her aunt Edie. One of the book stores is located in a Castle on Blye Island.

Gearing up for the tourist season and getting to know the Castle book store, Shelby encounters town pain in the behind Loreena Swan, also curator of exhibits at the Blye Castle. Not ready to be bossed around by someone with no experience in book stores, Shelby and Loreena do not hit it off the first time they meet.

Days later when Shelby founds Loreena's body in the nearby grotto, she is worried about the island caretaker Matthew Kessler as he has had varied negative encounters with Loreena. Shelby gets it into her head that Loreena's death was related to smuggling especially as she encounters Coast Guard investigator Zack Griffin.

With all this going on Shelby is having a hard time getting a straight answer from her aunt about her mother's death. Every time she brings it up, Edie changes
the subject. Before her father died, she was not able to get a straight answer out of him either and this is frustrating Shelby.

When the sheriff considers Matthew as a person of interest in the murder, Shelby buckles down and searches for clues to clear him, but naturally puts herself in danger.

The first in a new series by Essie Lang AKA Linda Wiken. I would love to visit the Thousand Islands and a castle bookstore sounds fantastic.