Publisher: Crooked Lane Books

Published: February 8, 2022

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Available Formats: Digital, Audio, and Hardcover

My Review: I enjoyed the second book as much as the first. There is something about how the series is written that it feels real and inviting. The friendship between Rain and Julia keeps you coming back for more.

We join Rain and crew during an ice fishing tournament where a local is murdered. Unfortunately, Julia’s husband is on the hook for the murder. Will a brutal start to winter keep Rain and Julia from fishing out the killer?

In my review for book one, Murder at the Lakeside Library, I had hoped for more in Rain’s parents in book two and that did not happen but that was ok. We do have an addition of a romantic interest for Rain and so far he seems steamy hot (when you read the book you will understand why I said this). Does he beat out Jace? Only time will tell.

Both books are perfect curl up by the fire and read until the wee hours of the morning reads.

I received a complimentary copy from the publisher, Crooked Lane Books, through NetGalley. All opinions expressed above are entirely my own.

NetGalley: An icy cold murder and a library patron collide in Holly Danver’s second Lakeside Library Mystery.

A glowing wood stove, a cozy log cabin, and shelves full of books are all Rain Wilmot needs to ride out the Wisconsin winter, now that she’s made her family’s Lofty Pines library her year-round home. But the warm-hearted librarian’s blood runs cold when local man, Wallace Benson, is found dead during the annual Ice Fishing Jamboree. 

After Benson’s body is found in his ice shanty, Rain recalls that she recently saw the victim in her library, borrowing a few cookbooks to prepare for the fishing tournament’s communal “chili dump.” She later finds these same books returned to the library’s drop box, with an enigmatic note from Benson to Rain.

As Rain seeks to understand the message, the prime suspect becomes Rain’s friend Nick, who was the last person to see Wallace alive and who returned to the Jamboree with a nasty cut on his hand. The knife found in his tackle box only makes Nick’s troubles worse. But Rain keeps fishing for other suspects. Was the killer Danny, who lost his arm to a logging accident involving Wallace? Or Danny’s bitter father, whose dreams of retirement were dashed by his son’s accident?

With the help of her friends Julia and Jace, Rain sets out to hook the real culprit and clear Nick’s name. But can her sleuthing skills protect her from a killer who’d like to take her out of circulation?