Hello, y’all. I’m Cleo Watkins, and I hope what I’m about to confess won’t offend Dru Ann or any other readers. I had the most terrible urge this morning. I almost—almost, mind you—threw a book at someone.

Now, this is not my usual behavior. I consider myself polite and peaceable. I have seventy-five years of gracious southern living behind me. Most importantly, I’m a librarian. I adore books and would never harm one, let alone another human being.

However, I was provoked. Recently, a toppled tree took my town’s library out of circulation. Catalpa Springs, Georgia, is a pretty little place just over the border with Florida. Everyone loves our library and the cozy historic home it occupies. Well, almost everyone. This is where I get to the urge to throw a hardback.

Our new mayor—a man barely older than my eldest grandson and nowhere near as mannerly—just informed me that he hopes to permanently shelve our library. He wants to use the funds “saved’ to build a flashy new fishing pier out on the river, although there’s a perfectly functional one already there.

I have nothing against fishing, but at the expense of a library? A library helps everyone. It provides knowledge and joy and literary escape. If a choice must be made, I’ll pick the library over chasing after fish. If you would too, you can probably understand why I got a little heated up.

There’s more. Not only did the mayor threaten to retire the library, he suggested I should retire too. How ageist, not to mention rude! I love my job. Besides, I tried retirement. Twice. It did not agree with me.

I have no plans to give up on my beloved job or library. In fact, I’m going to do just the opposite. I’m about to hit the road in my bookmobile, keeping services rolling while gathering support for the library.

The bookmobile is another reason I’ll resist retirement. Words on Wheels is the most beautiful bookmobile in the South, if I do say so myself. It’s a refurbished school bus with shelves in place of the bench seats and air-brushed flames fanning the grill. It’s a joy to drive. . .maybe a little too much, given my recent speeding ticket. I can’t afford another fine, but I’ll have to get a move on if I want to outmaneuver the mayor.

I’m heading to Words on Wheels now. My sidekick, Rhett Butler, is already waiting on the hood, sunning his fluffy orange belly. The frowny-faced Persian will come running when I shake his canister of kitty treats. We’ll put down the windows and let the wind whip at our faces. However, we do tend to roll into trouble, and I’m a little worried about our first stop. The eccentric patron we’re visiting is wealthy and could save the library. However, his recent reading list is a tad heavy on true crime and do-it-yourself murder. . .

You can read more about Cleo in Better Off Read, the first of the NEW Bookmobile Mysteries.

When her best hope of saving her storm-damaged library is found murdered, senior librarian Cleo Watkins hits the road in her bookmobile in search of justice.

Septuagenarian librarian Cleo Watkins won’t be shushed when an upstart young mayor threatens to permanently shelve her tiny town’s storm-damaged library. She takes to her bookmobile, Words on Wheels, to collect allies and rally library support throughout Catalpa Springs, Georgia.

However, Cleo soon rolls into trouble. A major benefactor known for his eccentric DIY projects requests all available books on getting away with murder. He’s no Georgia peach, and Cleo wonders if she should worry about his plans. She knows she should when she discovers him bludgeoned and evidence points to her best friend, Mary-Rose Garland.

Sure of Mary-Rose’s innocence, Cleo applies her librarian’s sleuthing skills to the case, assisted by friends, family, and the dapper antiquarian bookseller everyone keeps calling her boyfriend. Evidence stacks up, but a killer is overdue to strike again. With lives and her library on the line, Cleo must shift into high gear to close the book on murder in Better Off Read, the charming Bookmobile series debut by Nora Page.

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Meet the author
Nora Page enjoys rainy weather, the perfect biscuit, and quiet evenings in with her husband and cat. You can often find her in the company of books. Stop by and visit at her website novelmystery.com. You can also follow Nora at Facebook and Instagram.

All comments are welcomed.