Okay. Let’s just get past this. My name is Rain, like the water that drops from the sky. My mother is a nature lover and somehow, she convinced my father it would be a good idea to grant me this name. If I recall, I remember hearing that my father had been so deliriously relieved that she’d survived the complicated c-section, (which brought me into the world), that he was willing to give my mother anything she wanted. As a child, I was frustrated by the fact that I hadn’t had a choice in the matter, nor the spelling. One day, I’d promised my parents with a stomp of my foot, I’d take the matter into my own hands and change it. I’ll admit the name has since grown on me, and I have long since forgiven my mother for using me to fulfill her earth-child fantasies. I’ve matured into it—Rain suits me.

I never planned on a summer back in Lofty Pines, but then again, most of what we have planned for our lives never happens, right? After growing up spending endless summer days in the Northwoods of Wisconsin, water skiing on Pine Lake with my bestie Julia, life sort of took me away from this place. But when an unexpected tragedy hit me, I found I longed for the comfort of my family’s generational log cabin compound with direct access to the lake. The best part of my life was spent out on that lake, and that’s where I felt the magnetic pull to return, in order to heal.

I’d been gone so long that I’m ashamed to admit, I wasn’t even aware that my mother had expanded our family’s library and opened it up to the community. It’s nice of her to invite the locals to peruse the books in the original log cabin that my great grandfather Lorenzo had built. However, it seems she forgot to mention I’d be running the library this summer. Alone. Willow opted out this year, and instead is digging wells in undeveloped countries. An honorable thing for my mother to be doing— for sure. It’s probably best she didn’t tell me ahead of time that I’d become head librarian, as I’m kinda introverted, and would much rather sink my head into my own reading than run a library. But here we are.

I also never imagined that I’d be wrapped up in a murder investigation that would be tied to my own ancestry, and the book my grandfather Luis had authored. Family secrets, I didn’t even know existed seemed to unearth with one crazy surprise after another and I barely had time to unpack my bags! When rumors surfaced that my mother had spent a great deal of time with the murder victim, a guy named Thornton, and the idea of a potential affair, well that’s when I about lost it!

Thankfully, my bestie Julia is back living next door along with her husband Nick. It’s been an absolute Godsend to get reacquainted with my childhood friend, and she’s more than willing to work at the library alongside me. Oh, and Marge too, with her dog Rexy…. Well, you’ll just have to stop in the library and introduce yourself. We can’t wait to meet you! I promise, you’ll never want to leave the Adirondack chairs on the deck facing the lake with a book in hand, or the cozy log cabin library on a rainy day. The breeze off the water, and the sparkles that dance across it, will remind you there’s nothing better than lake livin’.

Murder at the Lakeside Library, A Lakeside Library Mystery #1
Genre: Cozy
Release: July 2021
Purchase Link

In this series debut perfect for fans of Jenn McKinlay and Miranda James, Rain Wilmot must discover the killer, before the book closes on her life.

Rain Wilmot has just returned to her family’s waterfront log cabin in Lofty Pines, Wisconsin after the untimely death of her husband. The cabin is peaceful compared to Rain’s corporate job and comes with an informal library that Rain’s mother, Willow, used to run. But as Rain prepares for the re-opening of the library, all hopes for a peaceful life are shattered when she discovers the body of Thornton Hughes, a real estate buyer, on the premises.

The community of Lofty Pines starts pointing fingers at Willow, since she has been unusually absent from the library this summer. A fishy rumor surfaces when Rain learns that Willow had been spending a lot of time with Thornton. The town even thought they were having an affair.

While theories swirl about Thornton’s death, Rain takes it upon herself to solve the case to exonerate her mother. As more clues surface, Rain will have to piece together the mystery. But if she isn’t careful, she may be the next to end up dead in the water in Murder at the Lakeside Library, the first in Holly Danvers’ new Lakeside Library mysteries.

About the Author
Holly Danvers grew up devouring every mystery novel on the shelf of her local library. She lives in the Midwest with her husband and 3 chickens, where she’s already plotting her next novel.

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