Read and Buried
by Eva Gates
Kindle Edition
Published October 15th 2019 by Crooked Lane Books
Goodreads synopsis:
Librarian Lucy Richardson unearths a mysterious map dating back to the Civil War. But if she can't crack its code, she may end up read and buried.
The Bodie Island Lighthouse Library Classic Novel Book Club is reading Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne while workers dig into the earth to repair the Lighthouse Library's foundations. The digging halts when Lucy pulls a battered tin box containing a Civil War-era diary from the pit. Tucked inside is a hand-drawn map of the Outer Banks accompanied by a page written in an indecipherable code.
The library is overrun by people clamoring to see the artifact. Later that night, Lucy and Connor McNeil find the body of historical society member Jeremy Hughes inside the library. Clearly Jeremy was not the only one who broke into the library--the map and the coded page are missing.
Lucy's nemesis, Louise Jane McKaughnan, confesses to entering the library after closing to sneak a peek but denies seeing Jeremy--or his killer. When Lucy discovers that fellow-librarian Charlene had a past with Jeremy, she's forced to do what she vowed not to do--get involved in the case. Meanwhile, the entire library staff and community become obsessed with trying to decode the page. But when the library has a second break in, it becomes clear that someone is determined to solve that code.
***
4.5 Stars
This is the sixth book in the Lighthouse Library series by Eva Gates.
This was a fun book with a complex mystery and quirky characters. The entire code-breaking scenario was wonderful and had me on the edge of my seat. I was biting my fingernails wondering if they would ever find a clue to the substitution cipher. This book had all the bells and whistles that made a compelling mystery that keeps you interested from the beginning to the end.
When a Civil War era diary is found on the library grounds, you know it only a matter of time before someone gets a bit too greedy and wants what they think is a map to buried treasure. The searching was the most interesting part of this as the team got together to find clues. I enjoyed the whole black history aspect to this puzzle and getting the family some well deserved notice after a hundred years of being overlooked.
I have to confess that I will be pushing a lot of the previous books in this series up in my TBR pile because I want to complete all the books I haven’t read yet.
This has me intrigued and wanting more. Loving this mystery lighthouse library series!
I received this as an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) in return for an honest review. I thank NetGalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this title.
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