Hi. My name is Martha Mallory. My husband Ron and I own the popular Gallery on the Green in Clover Ridge, Connecticut. We opened it eighteen years ago and it’s been a big success. Lots of beautiful artwork for sale by famous as well as local artists.

I know I look like an ordinary sixty-something married woman–short, with gray hair, and a bit on the plump side—but I’ve an adventurous side that very few people know about. For one thing, I was in the Witness Protection Program when I first came to Clover Ridge with my young daughter. I testified against my boss, who turned out to be as crooked as a meandering brook. Boy, was he furious at me! He even claimed I was involved in his money-making schemes.

Today is Saturday, a busy day at the gallery. I told Ron I had errands to run this morning and I’d be in later in the day. Though I love my husband, there are things about my life he doesn’t know about and I need to keep it that way. At noon I met Victor Zalinka at the Sea Maiden, a seafood restaurant on the Long Island Sound, in one of their private rooms. Victor is an attractive man ten years younger than me. We’ve shared a few delightful interludes, but today my interest in all business. Victor has an extensive art collection, and has bought a few pieces from me. One painting is a copy of a famous artist’s work. I was hoping to interest him in a similar sale. Lunch was enjoyable, but Victor didn’t bite. Surely, he has no idea that the painting he owns is a fake!

After lunch I met Susan Roberts outside the restaurant. We sat on a bench beside the path that runs along the Sound. A bit chilly for mid-November, but I chose a place where I was sure no one would see us while we had our little chat. Susan is a very talented artist. She’s a lovely young woman of twenty-five, but she has no street smarts. She’s rather shy, which is probably why she works part-time at the library. We’ve featured her in the gallery a few times, for which she’s very grateful. In fact, I think she’s kind of sweet on Ron, which I think is kind of sweet. Who else but a naïve young woman would find my husband romantic?

I want Susan to do some work for me, work that Ron knows nothing about. A few days ago I asked her to make a copy of a painting just for fun. She did an amazing job! Such talent. I’ve just asked her to make a few copies of the same painting, and she was horrified to think I want to deceive buyers. I figured she simply needed some encouragement to do something that would benefit us both, and so I threatened to show the copy I’d asked her to make to the authorities and say she sold it to me as the real McCoy.

Oh, no! Who should be coming down the path but Carrie Singleton and her best friend Angela Prisco! Carrie is Susan’s boss and our local Miss Marple. I don’t want Carrie to know what I’m asking Susan to do. It can bring down an entire business enterprise, and I’ll be to blame. And so I smile and act my usual pleasant self, hoping that Susan doesn’t spill the beans and tells Carrie what I’ve asked her to do.

Overdue or Die, A Haunted Library Mystery Book #7
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Release: October 2023
Format: Print, Digital, Audio
Purchase Link

Carrie Singleton has a wedding to plan, a killer to catch, and a conspiracy to uncover in this charming seventh novel of Agatha Award-nominee Allison Brook’s Haunted Library mysteries.

Carrie Singleton has more than her fair share on her plate: her job at the Clover Ridge Library, preparing for her wedding to Dylan Avery, and hoping that the local art gallery doesn’t steal away one of her part-time employees. Her fiancé Dylan accompanies her to the beautiful home of Victor Zalinka—art collector and successful businessman—to select paintings for an art show at the library. While Carrie muses that Victor’s home would be the perfect wedding venue, Dylan spots a forgery among the paintings in Victor’s collection.

Then Martha Mallory is found murdered in her art gallery. With the assistance of Evelyn, the library ghost; the resident cat, Smoky Joe; and the office manager of Dylan’s private investigation company, Carrie comes up with a suspect list long enough to rival the size of an encyclopedia. During her investigation, Carrie stumbles across a terrible truth: Martha’s murder was part of something far bigger and more dangerous than she could have ever imagined. And it all leads back to the art gallery.

How far will Carrie go to find the killer and uncover the truth? If the killer finds her first—will Carrie finally be taken out of circulation?

About the author
A former Spanish teacher, Marilyn Levinson writes mysteries, romantic suspense, and novels for kids. Her books have received many accolades. As Allison Brook she writes the Haunted Library series. Death Overdue, the first in the series, was an Agatha nominee for Best Contemporary Novel in 2018. Other mysteries include the Golden Age of Mystery Book Club series, the Twin Lakes series, and Giving Up The Ghost. Her juvenile novel, Rufus And Magic Run Amok, was an International Reading Association-Children’s Book Council Children’s Choice. It will soon be reissued, followed by three more books in the series. And Don’t Bring Jeremy was a nominee for six state awards.

Marilyn lives on Long Island, where many of her books take place. She loves traveling, reading, doing crossword puzzles and Sudoku, and chatting on FaceTime with her grandkids