Read and Buried: A Lighthouse Library Mystery
Cozy Mystery
6th in Series
Crooked Lane Books (October 15, 2019)
Hardcover: 325 Pages

Synopsis

Librarian Lucy Richardson unearths a mysterious map dating back to the Civil War. But if she can’t crack its code, she may end up read and buried.

The Bodie Island Lighthouse Library Classic Novel Book Club is reading Journey to the Center of the Earth by Jules Verne while workers dig into the earth to repair the Lighthouse Library’s foundations. The digging halts when Lucy pulls a battered tin box containing a Civil War-era diary from the pit. Tucked inside is a hand-drawn map of the Outer Banks accompanied by a page written in an indecipherable code.

The library is overrun by people clamoring to see the artifact. Later that night, Lucy and Connor McNeil find the body of historical society member Jeremy Hughes inside the library. Clearly Jeremy was not the only one who broke into the library–the map and the coded page are missing.

Lucy’s nemesis, Louise Jane McKaughnan, confesses to entering the library after closing to sneak a peek but denies seeing Jeremy–or his killer. When Lucy discovers that fellow-librarian Charlene had a past with Jeremy, she’s forced to do what she vowed not to do–get involved in the case. Meanwhile, the entire library staff and community become obsessed with trying to decode the page. But when the library has a second break in, it becomes clear that someone is determined to solve that code.

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Guest Post

Eating Shrimp and Grits on the Outer Banks

By Eva Gates

I practically know Jake’s menu by heart. I didn’t have to think hard about what to order. “Shrimp and grits please.”

“You’re becoming a true Southern woman,” Connor said.

“If Southern means shrimp and grits, then I’m in.  And a couple of hush puppies too, please.”

Reading Up A Storm by Eva Gates

I hadn’t even checked the menu. I didn’t need to: I know it by heart. I asked for the shrimp and grits, as I usually did. Jake’s were the best in Nags Head, if not the entire Outer Banks. Maybe all of North Carolina. Connor ordered a steak, rare, with a baked potato and Caesar salad, and we handed our unopened menus to the waiter.

“I never understand why you come to a seafood place as special as Jake’s and have steak and potatoes,” I said.

Connor just grinned at me and took a sip of his beer.

Read and Buried by Eva Gates

My dedication to accuracy in my novels is impressive if I do say so myself.

The Lighthouse Library Mystery series from Crooked Lane Books is set in the Outer Banks of North Carolina.  Like my protagonist, Lucy Richardson who hails from Boston, I am not a southerner.  But, like Lucy, I am keen to experience all that the Outer Banks has to offer.

Case in point: Shrimp and Grits

In a recent visit to the area, I was there for three nights. I had shrimp and grits three times.

The first night I went to Owens in Nags Head, which is something of an institution, having been in the same family for almost seventy years. That’s pretty impressive by North American standards. (In 2014 I went to the worlds’ oldest continuously operating restaurant, Botin’s in Madrid, which has been a restaurant since 1725. But I digress.) Owen’s is a beautiful restaurant, with cosy alcoves and large main rooms, beautiful furniture, and rich dark walls. The tables are set with white tablecloths, shining silver, and sparkling stemware. When I travel I like to eat locally, so I ordered the shrimp and grits.

Oh. Oh again. It was marvellous. Rich and spicy and delicious. And, I must say, not cheap.

The next night, I went to Pamlico Jacks. This is a more casual place than Owens, with a lovely outdoor dining area overlooking Roanoke Sound.  I ordered shrimp and grits again. They were cheaper than at Owens and very good, if not exactly marvellous.

Night three, I realized I had to cut back a bit on my dinner expenditure so I went to a very casual place in Nags Head. The shrimp and grits were much cheaper than the other two places, and it showed.  In fact, I didn’t even finish them.  Once I’d picked off the few shrimp and sausages and the small amount of grits that were coated in the sauce, I realized that unadorned grits aren’t particularly tasty.

So, in shrimp and grits, as in life, quality shows. And sometimes it costs money too.

The location of Pamlico Jacks (if perhaps not the pirate theme) is the inspiration for Jake’s Seafood Bar in the Lighthouse Library books. Like me, Lucy Richardson will be regularly ordering the shrimp and grits. With a side order of hush puppies. Lucy and I have both decided we love North Carolina cooking!

About the Author

Vicki Delany is one of Canada’s most prolific and varied crime writers and a national bestseller in the U.S. She has written more than thirty books:  clever cozies to Gothic thrillers to gritty police procedurals, to historical fiction and novellas for adult literacy. She is currently writing four cozy mystery series: the Tea By The Sea mysteries for Kensington, the Year Round Christmas mysteries for Penguin Random House, the Sherlock Holmes Bookshop series and, as Eva Gates, the Lighthouse Library books for Crooked Lane.

Vicki is a past president of the Crime Writers of Canada and co-founder and organizer of the Women Killing It crime writing festival. She lives in Prince Edward County, Ontario.

Website * Facebook * Twitter – Vicki * Twitter – Eva * Instagram

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