Jenn McKinlay - Books Can Be Deceiving

Table of Contents

PRAISE FOR

Books Can Be Deceiving

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 novels 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 McKinlays appealing new mystery series featuring an endearing protagonist, delightful characters, a lovely New England setting, and a fascinating murder. Dont miss this charming new addition to the world of traditional mysteries.

Kate Carlisle, author of the Bibliophile Mysteries

Sprinkle with Murder

A tender cozy full of warm and likable characters and a refreshingly sympathetic murder victim. Readers will look forward to more of McKinlays tasty concoctions.

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

McKinlays debut mystery flows as smoothly as Melanie Coopers 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

Berkley Prime Crime titles by Jenn McKinlay

Library Lovers Mysteries

BOOKS CAN BE DECEIVING

Cupcake Bakery Mysteries

SPRINKLE WITH MURDER

BUTTERCREAM BUMP OFF

THE BERKLEY PUBLISHING GROUP

Published by the Penguin Group

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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 authors 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.

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

http://us.penguingroup.com

For my brilliant agent, Jessica Faust

Acknowledgments

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 Ive worked with, so I just want to give a nod to the places Ive 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 Ive ever met. The world is a better place because you all make a difference in peoples 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 theyre 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!

CHAPTER 1

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. Hes 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 craftcurrently, they were knittingand 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.