Shelved Under Murder

Shelved Under Murder by Victoria Gilbert is the second installment in A Blue Ridge Library Mystery series. It is October in Taylorsford, Virginia where Amy Webber, library director, is preparing for the annual Heritage Festival where the library hosts a yard sale table as a fundraiser. They have been busy gathering donations and Sunny Fields, Amy's perky assistant, got a local artist to donate three paintings. Since Sunny drives a tiny car, Amy and her boyfriend, Richard agree to go with her to acquire and transport the works of art. They arrive to find the artist dead in her studio where she was stabbed with her own palette knife. Chief Deputy Brad Tucker arrive on the scene and his staff finds paintings in a hidden room. Amy, courtesy of her art history background, looks at the paintings and she discerns that they are expert forgeries. Hui "Hugh" Chen, an art expert, arrives in town and Aunt Lydia offers their guest room to him. He uncovers canvases belonging to Andrew Talbot, Aunt Lydia's deceased husband, in the guest room closet that are replicas of renowned paintings. Had Andrew been involved in forging artwork? Amy delves into the murder and the world of art forgeries. She believes Kurt Kendrick is involved, but will Amy be able to prove he is complicit in the crime?

Shelved Under Murder can be read alone. The author summarizes A Murder for the Books and provides background on the main characters. The mystery is complex as it explores the world of art forgeries. Unfortunately, the killer might as well have a neon arrow flashing over his head. I wish the author had made it harder to pinpoint the guilty party. Amy is an interesting main character. She is an intelligent woman with diverse interests. I love the home she lives in with Aunt Lydia. The descriptions of the beautiful Victorian and the town allowed me to visualize the scenes. I enjoyed the scenes where Amy was researching the artwork. We get to learn about resources available. I also liked the scenes with Amy and Sunny interacting with the patrons and helping them with their research requests. Despite what some people may think, libraries along with their librarians hold an important place in our society (a valuable resource). Sunny adds lightness to the story with her cheerful personality and outlook on life. I did feel that there was too much romance in the book. I would have preferred less lovey dovey moments (dating, kissing, thinking about Richard, and more). Shelved Under Murder is nicely written, but I did feel the pace could have been peppier. The long-winded ending wrapped up the mystery and answered all the lingering questions about the crime. My rating for Shelved Under Murder is 3.5 out of 5 stars. Shelved Under Murder is an inviting cozy mystery with congenial characters, lovely setting and a stimulating whodunit.