Review: Murder in the Library by Anita Davison

February 21, 2024

Review: Murder in the Library by Anita Davison

Today, I'm delighted to share my review of Murder in the Library by Anita Davison. Last year, I read the first book in this new series, Murder in the Bookshop, which I loved. Find my review of that novel here.

My thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and Boldwood Books for a copy.

Murder in the Library

Anita Davison

Several months after having found her best friend, Lily-Anne, dead in Aunt Violet's bookshop – and after having to rebuild it following bombardment – Hannah volunteers part-time at a local hospital library, coordinating the lending of books to recuperating soldiers.

When she arrives one morning to find the large auditorium, from where the library is run, locked, she wonders why but thinks nothing much of it. As she tidies up the shelves, she notices that the curtain of the stage in the room is drawn. But when she opens it, she comes across the dead body of a soldier, lying in a pool of blood.

When Detective Inspector Farrell arrives, he pretends not to know her, and this suits Hannah well as she volunteers to snoop around a bit, listening in to conversations.

She soon discovers that the dead man, Sergeant Tillman, was hugely unpopular amongst the other patients, and had run-ins with a number of staff and fellow injured soldiers.

But when a young nurse, Alice, who had confided in her that she fears she was being followed, suddenly disappears, Hannah is set on discovering what happened – and if the girl's disappearance is somehow linked to the murder. But in doing so, she finds herself in the killer's sights!

Can she avoid a tragic fate and help save Alice? Or has Hannah gone too far this time? Well, read the novel!

Murder in the Library is full of clever twists and unexpected turns. We have several suspects, and there is a growing sense of tension as the story progresses.

The setting is, again, expertly researched, and the author gives us a real glimpse at everyday life in London during WWI. Life didn't grind to a halt because there was a war on, so it's fascinating to read about how ordinary people coped with the daily threats.

Hannah is a fabulous character, with an open mind and a curious nature. And Aunt Violet is delightfully eccentric. Their characters really make the story.

Murder in the Library is a worthy sequel to Murder in the Bookshop, and I'm looking forward to the next novel in the series. Clearly, Hannah shouldn't be anywhere near a bookshelf, or more bodies will turn up... In truth, hope so!

Murder in the Library reads well as a standalone story, but I think the introductions to the characters and their relationships with each other provided in Murder in the Bookshop will help get a clear image from the start.

Another exciting murder mystery by Anita Davison. Do check it out!

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Blurb:

A body in a hospital isn’t so unusual. Unless they’ve been murdered!

1916, London: Keen to support the war effort, bookshop manager and sometime amateur sleuth Hannah Merrill has taken a volunteer role in the library of the nearby military hospital. But arriving at the hospital one cold winter’s morning, she is horrified to find the body of a dead soldier in the library.

What’s more, a beautiful young nurse confides in Hannah that she thinks she’s being followed, and then she abruptly disappears. Hannah can’t shake the suspicion that the two cases are connected, but she can’t solve the case alone. She’ll once again need to call upon her delightful, demanding, only-occasionally devious aunt, Violet. The two women know they must find the missing nurse before it’s too late… but they don’t realise they’re now both in the killer’s sights.

Buy Link: https://mybook.to/MurderLibrarySocial

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About the Author:

Anita Davison

Anita is the author of Miss Merrill and Aunt Violet Mysteries set in WWI from Boldwood Books. Murder in the Bookshop was released in August 2023, and the second in the series, Murder in the Library, in February 2024.