Book Review: Read and Gone (Haunted Library Mysteries) by Allison Brook

Read and Gone is the second book in the Haunted Library Mysteries series by Allison Brook. I do recommend reading the series in order, to get the backstory of the characters and set up, but I think newcomers could catch on fairly quickly.

A devoted dad is as precious as diamonds, but Carrie Singleton wouldn't know since her dad Jim's been on the lam most of her life. In an unusual family reunion, she finds Jim breaking into her cottage in the middle of the night. The fun really starts when he begs her to help him recover his half of a seven-million-dollar gem heist he pulled off with the local jeweler, Benton Parr. When she refuses, Jim takes off again. Carrie finds her father again behind bars for the recent murder of Benton Parr. Who made the connection? Unbeknownst to her, Carrie's boyfriend Dylan, an insurance investigator, has been searching for the gems. Determined to find the jewels herself, she starts examining every facet of Parr's life. She turns up a treasure trove of suspects, one of whom bashes her on the head as she's searching the victim's country cabin. Retreating to the quiet confines of the library where she works, Carrie watches as Smokey Joe, the resident cat, paws at a hole in the wall. Is he after the library's ghost Evelyn, or something shinier?

Read and Gone is a solid continuation to this series. I enjoyed that Carrie and the secondary characters continue to grow, and that I am still learning new things about them even though they feel like old friends. The addition of her father and the mystery and murder that follow in his wake was well done. I found the mystery to be multi layered and well handled, and even with the amount of suspects and twists I never felt like there was so much going on that I could not keep track of it all. I will admit that I had my suspicions about who might be involved in the big reveal, and I was mostly right. However, I really enjoyed the journey to get to those answers. While I enjoyed Jim, Carrie's dad, and his role in the action and felt that the emotional rollercoaster Carrie was dealing with were well written, I have to admit that I got frustrated with her on occasion. She seems a little quick to cut people out, and them gets upset when they take her at her word. However, as annoyed as I was I felt both sides were completely realistic and in character for them. It felt like giving advice to a friend who then ignores your coaching and does something completely different, normal but still bothersome. 

Read and Gone is an engaging read with plenty of twists and turns to keep mystery readers happy and enough character development and emotion to keep everyone turning those pages.