The Dark Library is a grown-up Nancy Drew with a WWII homefront twist. Estella enlists the help of her friends — a librarian, a fellow scholar, a dressmaker, and a young man who just might be worthy — to hunt for clues of how her father spent more money than he earned and what might have happened to her mother.
This is a much better than average thriller, with strong storytelling that holds together from beginning to end. The mystery is solid, her unraveling of it is realistic, and if one chooses to believe in spirits, their assistance is unwavering.
There are plenty of reasons Hitchcock’s films are considered classic, even genius. But often overlooked is the fact that they were nearly always based on books. Two are again available in print.
It’s a better than average thriller, with a smart protagonist and a cracking mystery. There are psychological complications, a dusting of clues, well-drawn characters and a quickly moving plot.
Lorac is the pen name of Edith Caroline Rivett who wrote dozens of novels from the 1930s – 1950s. Death of an Author pulls from her inside publishing knowledge to set up this snappy mystery novel.