Books Can Be Deceiving

Table of Contents

 

 

 

“A sparkling setting, lovely characters, books, knitting, and chowder! What more could any reader ask?”

—Lorna Barrett,
New York Times
bestselling author of
Sentenced to Death
and the Booktown Mysteries

 

“With a remote coastal setting as memorable as Manderley and a kindhearted, loyal librarian as the novel’s heroine,
Books Can Be Deceiving
is sure to charm cozy readers everywhere.”

—Ellery Adams, author of the Books by the Bay Mysteries

 

“Fast-paced and fun,
Books Can Be Deceiving
is the first in Jenn McKinlay’s appealing new mystery series featuring an endearing protagonist, delightful characters, a lovely New England setting, and a fascinating murder. Don’t miss this charming new addition to the world of traditional mysteries.”

—Kate Carlisle, author of the Bibliophile Mysteries

 

 

 

“A tender cozy full of warm and likable characters and a refreshingly sympathetic murder victim. Readers will look forward to more of McKinlay’s tasty concoctions.”

—
Publishers Weekly
(starred review)

 

“McKinlay’s debut mystery flows as smoothly as Melanie Cooper’s buttercream frosting. Her characters are delicious, and the dash of romance is just the icing on the cake.”

—Sheila Connolly, author of
Fundraising the Dead

 

“Jenn McKinlay delivers all the ingredients for a winning read. Frost me another!”

—Cleo Coyle, national bestselling author of the Coffeehouse Mysteries

 

“A delicious new series featuring a spirited heroine, luscious cupcakes, and a clever murder. Jenn McKinlay has baked a sweet read.”

—Krista Davis, author of the Domestic Diva Mysteries

BOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING

 

 

SPRINKLE WITH MURDER

BUTTERCREAM BUMP OFF

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Penguin Books Ltd., Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England

 

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party websites or their content.

 

PUBLISHER’S NOTE: The recipes contained in this book are to be followed exactly as written. The publisher is not responsible for your specific health or allergy needs that may require medical supervision. The publisher is not responsible for any adverse reactions to the recipes contained in this book.

 

BOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING

 

A Berkley Prime Crime Book / published by arrangement with the author

 

PRINTING HISTORY

Berkley Prime Crime mass-market edition / July 2011

Copyright © 2011 by Jennifer McKinlay Orf.

“Readers Guide” by Lynn Sheene copyright © 2011 by Hawkeye Sheene. Excerpt from
Due or Die
by Jenn McKinlay copyright © by Jennifer McKinlay Orf.

 

All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

For information, address: The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

 

ISBN : 978-1-101-53809-8

 

BERKLEY
^®
PRIME CRIME

Berkley Prime Crime Books are published by The Berkley Publishing Group,
a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,
375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014.

BERKLEY
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PRIME CRIME and the PRIME CRIME logo are trademarks of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

 

 

 

—LADY BIRD JOHNSON

 

 

 

I have been very fortunate to spend my formative years and my adult years working in a variety of positions in many different libraries. There is no way to acknowledge every person I’ve worked with, so I just want to give a nod to the places I’ve worked and the people within them: East Lyme Public Library, Cromwell Belden Public Library, Phoenix Public Library, Maricopa County Library, Desert Botanical Garden Library and Scottsdale Healthcare Library. The librarians and staff in these libraries are truly some of the most brilliant and dedicated people I’ve ever met. The world is a better place because you all make a difference in people’s lives every single day!

And now to thank those people who helped to make this book shine. I want to thank my manuscript readers: Sheila Levine, Jan Buckwalter, Carole Towles, Wendy Resnik, Sue McKinlay and Susie Matazzoni. Thanks for catching the details in the library world that I missed. And to my amazing editors: Kate Seaver, Katherine Pelz and Eloise L. Kinney; wow, you really made this book tight. Well done! Also, I have to thank the cover creators, Rita Frangie for design and Julia Green for art, for making the most spectacular cover ever. I really want to work in that library. I wonder if they’re hiring . . .

Finally, to my families, the McKinlays and the Orfs, thanks for always cheering me on. It means the world to me! And for my men, Chris, Wyatt and Beckett, thanks for all the hugs and unwavering belief that I could do this. I love that we are a book-loving, library-loitering family!

“O
h, I just love that Maxim de Winter,” Violet La Rue said, her knitting needles clicking together as if to emphasize her words. “He gives me the shivers.”

“Him?” Nancy Peyton asked. “He’s not nearly as scary as Mrs. Danvers.”

Lindsey Norris glanced up from her knitting at the two ladies sitting across the circle from her. It was crafternoon Thursday, where members of the crafternoon club gathered at the Briar Creek Library to do a craft—currently, they were knitting—and discuss the assigned book of the week.

Lindsey was the director of the library, and this group had been one of her ideas to make the Briar Creek Library the place to be in the small town. Unfortunately, she had discovered that her ability to knit and talk at the same time was about as good as her ability to pat her head and rub her tummy at the same time. Which meant it took great effort, and the results were not pretty.

“Oh, that Mrs. Danvers,” Violet clucked. “Someone should push her out of a window.”

Violet was a tall, thin black woman with warm brown eyes and gray hair that she wore pulled back from her face in a tight bun at the back of her head. She dressed in colorful, flowing caftans that whispered around her when she walked. She was a retired actress, having starred on the Broadway stage most of her life, who now volunteered her time at the Briar Creek Community Theater.

She was an expert knitter, and it irked Lindsey to note that she wasn’t even looking at her needles while she spoke.

“I read that Mrs. Danvers is one of the most infamous female characters in literature,” Nancy said, also not looking at her needles. She was Lindsey’s landlord and Violet’s best friend.

Lindsey dumped her knitting into her lap and said, “
Rebecca
is Daphne du Maurier’s greatest work and frequently draws comparisons to
Jane Eyre
.”

“Oh, she’s getting irritated with her knitting again,” Violet whispered to Nancy.

“I am not,” Lindsey protested.

“It’s all right, dear,” Nancy said. “You always put on that scholarly voice when you’re frustrated with your knitting.”

“I do not,” Lindsey protested.

A widow in her midsixties, Nancy was a delightful landlady. With her short gray hair and sparkling blue eyes, she didn’t miss much that went on around her. She liked to bake cookies, she was teaching Lindsey to knit, and she never nagged about the rent, but sometimes she mothered Lindsey, and at thirty-five, Lindsey wasn’t really sure how to tell her to knock it off, especially when it was kind of nice to have that maternal softness in her life.

“Do not what?” a voice asked from behind her.

Lindsey glanced over her shoulder to see a giant teapot standing behind her. A few months ago, she would have found this odd but not now.

“How was story time?” she asked.

“Full house,” Beth said. “The kids loved my Mrs. Potts outfit, and of course I taught them all to sing ‘I’m a Little Teapot.’ ”

“Naturally,” Lindsey said.

If Beth weren’t a librarian, Lindsey was pretty sure she would have been a circus performer. She could just see her balanced on a pony, riding around the ring in a tutu with a feather on her head. Beth brought that over-the-top energy to her role as a children’s librarian and in fact to her whole life.

Lindsey had met Beth Stanley more than ten years before when they both were attending Southern Connecticut State University to get their master’s degree in library science. They had ended up rooming together in a small second-floor apartment on the Boulevard in New Haven.