*I was given a copy of Mayhem in Circulation in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Leah Dobrinska for my copy of the book*
Synopsis:
Librarian Greta Plank is hard at work planning and preparing for Larkspur’s Fall Festival and regional tourism showcase which, if successful, will be a boon to the local economy. But disaster strikes and chances of a positive review look slimmer than a periodical’s spine when a series of pranks escalates and one of Larkspur’s own is found dead the same day the reporter is set to arrive.
Desperate to defend her town’s character and get to the bottom of the circulating mayhem, Greta begins indexing suspects. Could the crimes be an outside job, undertaken by someone intent on harming the town’s reputation? Or is someone closer to home trying to ruin Larkspur from the inside?
With destruction of property, sabotage, and strange animal mishaps piling up on top of murder, Greta wouldn’t recommend this ‘choose your own (disastrous) adventure’ to anyone. In the end, she must decide who she can trust so she can close the book on these crimes before the shadowy vandal authors another kill.
Review:
After listening to the audiobook version of the first book, I was really hoping to enjoy this series more in the written format. I definitely did enjoy my reading experience of this one more, but I do think the story of the first book was stronger.
Don’t get me wrong, I didn’t hate this, but I definitely didn’t love it. The mystery element never feels very urgent. There was a literal murderer walking around and at no point did the book feel tense nor did the suspense grow. It does live up to the cosy small-town murder mystery vibes it promised, but I think I’m a bigger fan of grisly mysteries.
My favourite parts of this book were watching Greta and McHenry grow closer. I personally think the author excels more at writing romance than a mystery. However, I don’t have a lot of experience with cosy mysteries so my opinion could be wrong.
I’m not going to give the mystery away, but I do think the resolution was a bit of a cop-out. I don’t feel like it was developed enough to have an impact. It was a good storyline but I feel like it needed just a little more time to really add shock value.
It sounds like I hated every moment of this but I really didn’t. The characters are fun and I love small-town books. I’m not sure if I would consider continuing this series, maybe if there’s a promise of Greta and McHenry’s relationship progressing.
Check out Young Creative Press on all socials
You can also check out my StoryGraph here
Like this post? Why not read this one too: Re-Watch Review: Gilmore Girls S2-EP16
[…] Like this post? Why not read this one too: ARC Review: Mayhem in Circulation by Leah Dobrinska […]