The Librarian Always Rings Twice

A First Edition Library Mystery, Book 3

By: Marty Wingate

Narrated by: Fiona Hardingham

Length: 8 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

When a mysterious stranger turns up making claims that threaten Lady Fowling’s legacy, Hayley Burke must dig deep into her late-benefactor’s history to uncover the truth and catch a conniving killer in this new mystery from USA Today best-selling author Marty Wingate.

It has been nearly a year since I took up my position as curator of Lady Georgiana Fowling’s collection of Golden Age of Mystery writers’ first editions at her library in Middlebank House. I have learned that I need to take the good with the bad. The good: I have finally convinced Mrs. Woolgar to open up the collection to the public one day a week so that they too can share in Lady Fowling’s passion. The bad: although he would not be my first, or even 10th, choice, at the insistence of the board Charles Henry Dill, Lady Fowling’s unscrupulous nephew, is now my personal assistant.

On one of our first days open to the public, Mr. John Aubrey shows up at Middlebank House and insists that Lady Georgiana Fowling is his grandmother. Mrs. Woolgar is scandalized by his claims, and Charles Henry, who feels he has been cheated out of his rightful inheritance as Lady Fowling’s heir, is furious. I do not know that I believe Mr. Aubrey, yet he has knowledge of Lady Fowling’s life and writings that few possess. To further complicate matters, an associate of Mr. Aubrey’s intends to help us uncover the truth of John’s story. But before he can do that, he is murdered and the police have reason to suspect Charles Henry.

As much as I would like to lock up Charles Henry and throw away the key, I cannot believe he is a killer. And I also know there is something dead wrong about Mr. Aubrey’s tales regarding his “grandmother” Lady Fowling. I will need to make sense of her past in order to suss out the true villain of this story.

©2022 Marty Wingate (P)2022 Penguin Audio

God mix

It's a good mix with not too much of anything; all wrapped around good character building, an interesting mystery, an animal and affectionate ties. It's appreciated that those interests include family, friends and co-workers and not voyuerism. The narrator creates separate voices without being distracting and helps tie the characters to the story line.

Lovely read, but Not sure about the title.

I am not sure how the title relates to the story line, but nonetheless, I enjoyed the 3rd book of the series and can’t wait for the next one.

First editions and the public

This was an interesting addition to the series. The narrator was all right.
Hayley must contend with Lady Fowling’s nephew coming to work at the First Edition Library. The library has its first open days to the public. A man comes to a public open day and says he is Lady Fowling’s grandson. It stirs up everyone.
There is a murder and it ends up not being related to what most the characters assume.
Hayley and Val seem to have a good future. It seems this is the end of the series and it feels like it is well ended.

Wonderful!

I absolutely love Marty Wingate's books and The Librarian Always Rings Twice is no exception. This is my favorite book in the series so far because just as I am getting to know the characters better, they are also getting to know each other. In other words, the character development is beautiful, on point, neither too rushed nor too slow. I was so glad to catch up with Hayley, Val, and the members of The First Edition Society. It's like visiting dear friends. I appreciate that most of the characters are mature, intelligent, interesting. I would love to be Hayley's friend. She's a wonderful character -- compassionate, sometimes almost despite herself, with a very funny, wry sense of humor, and she's clever. The supporting characters are just fantastic.

A few really loveable new characters were also introduced. I don't know if they will appear in the next book, but they made the story even more enjoyable.

As for the mystery, there were enough twists and turns that I did not figure it out! I was gripping the edge of my seat until it was solved.

The cozy level is high, too. I love the literary feel of this series, the bookish, fireside chats, and I can easily imagine myself enjoying tea or a glass of wine or sherry with Hayley and her friends.

Fiona Hardingham is a splendid narrator.

Thank you for a great read, Marty Wingate!

Pretty Good

The Librarian Always Rings Twice is an entertaining cozy mystery with an interesting plot. I look forward to the next book.

Okay

A little slow for me. Some interesting parts that got buried in pages of things that didn’t hold my attention. Part of the problem might have been that I don’t care for first person. It’s a limited POV and often contains a lot of I did this then I did that.

Disappointed

This was my least favorite book in the series. I didn’t think the characters well well drawn. The story was ridiculous. The two plots didn’t seem to merge. Celia’s character was annoying g, if anything. I was so disappointed, because I loved the last book.