Books Can Be Deceiving

By: Jenn McKinlay

Narrated by: Allyson Ryan

From the New York Times best-selling author of The Cupcake Bakery Mysteries comes the start of a series about a library where the mysteries refuse to stay in the fiction section....

Lindsey is getting into her groove as the director of the Briar Creek Public Library when a New York editor visits town, creating quite a buzz. Lindsey's friend Beth wants to sell the editor her children's book, but Beth's boyfriend, a famous author, gets in the way. When they go to confront him, he's found murdered - and Beth is the prime suspect. Lindsey has to act fast - before they throw the book at the wrong person.

©2011 Jenn McKinlay (P)2015 Penguin Audio

Good start for this library themed series

Loved the characters. Plot was quite good as well, I'm a sucker for library related mysteries I especially like those strictly about people with no assorted cats or dogs thrown in . Not so patiently waiting for the next book in the series h

Public Librarian Super Sleuth

Only when there is a need for researching the Truth of events does this brave, courageous, and royal librarian show her Super Powers.

Coming back for more

Where does Books Can Be Deceiving rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is definitely near the top of the books I've listened to! I have come back for more of this series and intend to keep doing so.

What does Allyson Ryan bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Allyson Ryan brings the characters to life.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes.

Any additional comments?

I have really enjoyed the character development and the development of relationships between characters. Jenn McKinlay does a good job of giving her characters depth and making them different from each other, yet all relatable.

Fantastic

This was a fantastic listen from beginning to end!!!! Another great recommendation from Audible.

Good concept. Meh on dialogue.

I liked that the cast of characters had age and ethnic diversity. I liked the personalities and the idea of having “crafternoons”. My biggest issue was with some of the dialogue writing. Example: When Lyndsay is angry, she uses a series of directives (chapter 7). She needs a boat “right now”. Her pouty tirade seemed unrealistic.

Good cozy mystery

I was itching for a good cozy mystery, and this scratched the itch pretty well. Some of the secondary characters were a bit flat, and the story could get s bit silly from time to time, but this is a genre where lack of depth is forgivable. The only moments that truly felt like mediocre writing to me were times the lead character makes some stupid decisions without any explanation as to why - points where a line like, “I reached for my cell, but had forgotten it,” or “I was so nervous I couldn’t think straight,” would have been helpful.
I loved the setting of a tiny coastal New England town with a cluster of tiny islands nearby. I also liked that the main character and a lot of the side characters were librarians - definitely added to the cozy factor.
Was not a huge fan of the narrator. She wasn’t great at character voices or dialogue. Ot was very irritation how she made the voice kid the black female character very deep and gave her a weird old timey Southern accent that was pretty eyebrow-raising.
Overall, it’s a good book for when you need something mindless, relaxing, and cozy.

Good distraction

Good book, I didn't guess the ending or the killer but the overall story was mildly slow and not your typical who done it.

I liked the characters and want more stories about them

I have no idea if there are more Briar Creek stories, but I certainly hope so!

Cozy series, is good.

Where does Books Can Be Deceiving rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Middle range. They are entertaining but somewhat predictable. However I did buy the whole series.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Maybe but does give voice to the various characters

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

I would not make a film of it

Hard to Stay Interested

It wasn’t a complete disappointment, but it was hard to stay interested. There were a few curse words too, but no explicit scenes.
I will pass on the rest of her books.
The Narrator was great: her voice, pronunciation and emphasis was awesome! She did wonderful.