REVIEW: The Spook in the Stacks

The Spook in the Stacks
Author: Eva Gates

It's Halloween and the library in Bodie Lighthouse is decorated for the season. The Lighthouse Library is also in the running to receive a donation of a historical documents collection from a rich businessman, Jay Ruddle. Unfortunately, during a lecture at the library on local ghostly legends, Ruddle is found dead in the library's rare book room. Spooky things start happening in the library after Ruddle's death.....lights flickering, ghostly horses appearing and inanimate skeletal sailors on a model ship seem to move by themselves. Who killed Ruddle and is the Lighthouse Library haunted?

I love this series! The location is awesome. I live in NC and have been to Nag's Head and Bodie Lighthouse. ;) The characters are likable and quirky. And the mystery is always entertaining and interesting. Halloween is my favorite holiday so I very much enjoyed this spooky visit to the OBX and its lighthouse library. The mystery had plenty of suspects and spooky twists. The pacing was great. The story definitely kept my attention from beginning to end. Great new addition to this series! There are four books so far in the Lighthouse Library mystery series.

My only issue with this series is the fact that Bodie Lighthouse is a real location at Nag's Head. And the lighthouse is too small to house a library or an apartment of any kind. I have no problem with authors taking poetic license a little bit with actual places....but when it comes to Bodie Lighthouse, it's a biggg step away from reality. I would have preferred that she used a fictitious name instead of using an actual existing historical lighthouse if fact and fiction were going to be so far apart. The actual Bodie Lighthouse has just enough room for the metal spiral staircase to the top.....no place for a library or someone to live. No second floor. No nothing. Stairs to the top....and a sturdy metal platform at the top where you can look out on the ocean and the surrounding countryside. There is a visitor's center nearby that is big enough to house a library (it's a gift shop and information center in reality) and an apartment. But, I can see how the idea of a library actually inside a lighthouse with the main character living there too was much cooler than locating the books inside a regular building near a lighthouse. :) But still.....knowing the real place and reading about the fictional place always pulls me out of the story. I still love this series....and this one issue does not effect my reading enjoyment all that much. Just me being a North Carolinian. :) [As an aside:  Nag's Head is awesome. The surf can get a bit rough there, but I highly recommend it as a tourist destination. It has the right mix of quiet beach, touristy fun and local flair. Plus, great seafood and the beautiful pier! I love it there! Just don't expect Bodie (pronouced like beau-dee not like body) Lighthouse to have a library in it. You can buy a nice t-shirt that proclaims you climbed to the top though! Can you tell I love my state? :)]

**I voluntarily read an advance readers copy of this book from Crooked Lane Books via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**