The Village
Library Demon-Hunting Society, by C. M. Waggoner (Ace)
I often dive into books without
reading the description, and in the case of The
Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by picked
it up thinking I’d find a cozy mystery, conveniently forgetting the “demon-hunting”
part of the title. Indeed, the opening is very cozy: a small town, a quaint
library with older, single librarian sleuth (Sherry Pinkwhistle, great name!) with
eccentric friends and a sweet beau, and a murder mystery. As she investigates, she
realizes something is not quite right. A suspect confesses but not all the
evidence fits. Sherry wonders why her little town has a disproportionate number
of murders and why she is always the one to solve them, much to the annoyance
of the local sheriff. And why, at the peak of the chase, the town is cut off
from the outside world.
At this point, things go seriously
demon-pear-shaped. Supernatural forces are at work, creating the same Murder,
She Wrote scenario over and over, while preying on Sherry’s private guilt.
By the time the sheriff yells at her in an inhuman voice that she must
investigate another murder, all Sherry’s suspicions are in full play. It’s off
to the library to do research!
Despite the demon-hunting weirdness, the cozy quality and Sherry’s intrepid librarian superpowers never failed to deliver a great read. The moral for demons and murderers alike: Never mess with a librarian.
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