Aurora Rescue: Book Tour: The Librairian Picks Her Poison by Amber Gilchrist

Amber Gilchrist lives in New Mexico with her husband and six children. She writes YA , Romantic Comedies, and series mysteries. She calls her lifetime of jumping from one job to another 'experience' for her books and not an inability to settle down. Amber loves mysteries and a good, happy romance. She also loves to laugh. Sometimes she likes all of them together.

A fan of quirky movies and indie books, Amber likes to be with her family, is socially inept, and fears strangers and small yippy dogs. She alternates between writing and being a mom. She tries to do both at the same time but her kids don't appreciate being served lunch and told, "This is the hot dog of your discontent." So mostly she writes when everyone else is in bed.

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Audrey Scott might be a children’s librarian, but that isn’t all she can do. When her best friend, Gretchen Holden, stands accused of a murder, Audrey can’t handle doing nothing more than bailing Gretchen out of jail. She has to figure out who really killed Gretchen’s step-father, a universally hated federal judge.

With a not small list of potential people the judge has wronged, Audrey and her friends have a rough ride ahead of them trying to decide who had a motive, means, and opportunity to put the judge in an early grave. With the help of Derek Hennessy, erstwhile enemy turned very good friend, and her normal crew of cohorts, Audrey won’t stop until the threat no longer looms.

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I agreed to review both books in the Librarian series, and I was happy I did. Although there is enough backstory in The Librarian Picks Her Poison that it can be read as a stand-alone, for me, it flowed more easily because I already knew several of the characters from the first book, The Librarian Shoots a Gun.

Audrey Scott is quite the heroine. In the opening chapters, she comes across as mouthy and pushy—something a thirty-one-year-old woman who, at 4’11” with curly red hair and who looks like a teenager, would have to do to be taken seriously as an intelligent adult. As she settles into her role, it was easy for me to appreciate the quirky writing style of the author as she wrote about this librarian, a lover of reading and research, who seeks to find the killer of a man whose death postponed her cousin’s wedding--an insult to her family she does not take lightly.

Audrey runs head-on into two homicide detectives, both of whom seem far too interested in her possible involvement even though she was nowhere around the crime scene and did not even know the victim. There is a man suspected of the murder, but Audrey is convinced he is innocent. Since the officials conducting the investigation seem more intent on finding and arresting him, and do not seem too anxious to find the real culprit, she, with her librarian skills, works to solve the crime herself.

Audrey persuades her gorgeous, tall, blonde roommate, Gretchen, into getting documents from her federal judge stepfather, whom Gretchen hates, deals with her home being invaded, takes shooting lessons, even though she is not a gun fan, and ends up in a back alley in a bad part of town to ostensibly buy a big, illegal gun for her non-existent husband—all creating fun scenes in this delightful murder mystery.

This was a fun, delightful read which ended well and set up the second book, The Librarian Picks Her Poison. In that book, best friend and roommate Gretchen ends up being accused of murdering the stepfather most of her friends know she does not like. Many of the characters from the previous book are in this one, some fleshed out more as they participate in clearing their mutual friend. The reader gets the opportunity to learn a lot about cyanide poisoning, but the fun of the case centers around the whodunit factor. Once again, Audrey Scott uses her reading and research skills as a librarian to investigate this crime.

The reader should also be aware that some of the books’ sub-plots deal with serious issues facing many people, no matter their upbringing. Part of Audrey’s mission is to help those who need support to overcome addictions and childhood trauma to receive what they need to better their lives. There is a hint of romantic feelings, but Audrey guards her heart, believing nothing will come of her relationship with the man who has captured her interest.

I recommend this series (I believe there is at least a third book in the works) to those who love great characters, interesting scenarios, and good murder mysteries that keep the reader guessing.