Book 68, 2022

Tomes and Terriers by Hillary Avis

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



I finished reading Tomes and Terriers by Hillary Avis last night. It's the first in the "Magic Library" mystery series. Main character is Allison Rye, whose once perfect life has imploded around her.

Allison was living the dream. Married to the love of her life, Paul, and owning a bakery while watching their daughter Emily grow up has been ideal. Unfortunately, Allison's perfect life came crashing down when Paul mysteriously lost his memories overnight. Now he's in a memory-care facility, and Allison has been forced to sell the bakery to pay for his care. Emily is in med school in Portland, and Allison may have to go live with her daughter. When visiting Paul one day, the answer to her prayers lands in her lap when one of the employees says that Allison can take over the small house she's been living in...with one catch. The house is a library of sorts, and the books there contain the memories of every resident of Remembrance, Oregon. Allison would become the guardian of the library, but she can never divulge its secrets. Allison takes up the mantle, pleased that her new house is only blocks from the facility where Paul lives. She begins taking her foster dog, a Yorkie named Pogo, to visit Paul, in hopes it will jog his memory of their own Yorkie. After one such outing, when Allison was visiting some other residents, one of them ends up dead--murdered with a pair of knitting needles. The woman's elderly roommate is tabbed as the primary suspect, but when Allison searches through the books in the library, she discovers that Lillian didn't do it. Now she'll have to convince the police without revealing the secret of the library.

I am really really torn about this book. I didn't exactly like it, per se, but I couldn't quit thinking about it. I found it difficult to relate to Allison, and the mystery of Gertrude's death seemed to take a backseat to the mystery of Paul's memory loss. I've read other 'magical library' stories, but the premise of this one was wholly unique. Now, on to the multitude of things that bugged me...( Spoilers )

Favorite line: "That crusty cowboy would give himself fleas just so people would come and watch the circus."

I'm at a loss as to how to rate this. As mentioned, I didn't particularly like the story, but again, it consumed my thoughts at odd times, which is the hallmark of good writing, whether or not we enjoy the book. Would I read another in the series? Probably not. I considered awarding this two stars; however, based on my obsessive preoccupation with it, I'm bumping it all the way up to a four.