Final Draft

The Village Library Mysteries #15

by Elizabeth Spann Craig

Every story has a final draft. This one is murder.
Ann Beckett is finally settling into married life. The cottage renovation is complete, Fitz has claimed his sunroom, and quiet evenings with Grayson have become her favorite part of the day. After the chaos of wedding planning—and murder—she's ready for something resembling normal.
But normal doesn't last long in Whitby.
When an out-of-town dealer is found dead inside the local typewriter repair shop, Ann is pulled into another investigation. The victim wasn't well-liked—he'd made enemies among collectors, rattled old acquaintances, and been asking questions that made people uncomfortable. Someone in Whitby wanted him gone, and Ann suspects the reason lies buried in the past.
As she digs deeper, Ann discovers that small towns have long memories—and some secrets are worth killing to protect. With Grayson's support and the library community beside her, she'll need to separate old grudges from deadly intent before the killer strikes again.

190 pages, Kindle Edition

Published June 9, 2026

About the author

Author also writes under Elizabeth Craig

Elizabeth is the bestselling cozy mystery author of the Southern Quilting mysteries, the Myrtle Clover Cozy Mysteries, the Village Library Mysteries, and Memphis Barbeque mysteries for Penguin Random House, Midnight Ink, and independently. Find out more about her books and sign up for her newsletter on her website: http://elizabethspanncraig.com . Find her books on Goodreads here: https://www.goodreads.com/author/list...

Reviews

[Sue Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I still like the characters and the series, but this one was just sort of average. There was way too much talking and not nearly enough action. The mystery wasn't all that compelling. I was much more interested in the narrative of what was happening at the library. Reading about her married life is of no interest to me! I miss when Ann was was single and not tied down! Oh well, other cozy fans seem to want the romance, though there doesn't seem to be much romance left in their relationship. "quiet evenings with Grayson" may have become her favorite part of the day, they are of go interest to me and nothing worth writing about, though the author writes about it anyway. Ann got married? Now what? The author doesn't seem to know what to do with her former independent woman now that she's saddled her with a boring husband. So they go from person to person asking questions? Yawn! Ms. Spann, please do something to breathe some life back into this series—and please do not bring babies into the mix!