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An English Librarian Cozy Mystery #1
Obsession is Murder
Introducing Harriet Biddlecombe - the English Librarian - she has a passion for books, her cat and attending funerals.
Harriet loves her job, but with a boss who would tempt a saint to commit murder, it's difficult to enjoy doing it.
Rapidly approaching sixty and just a little bit too interested in death, she's feeling like the best years of her life may be behind her.
But underneath it all, Harriet has a nagging feeling that she should be doing more.
So when she discovers her young dance instructor neighbor, Alexis, is being hounded by an obsessed stalker, Harriet jumps right in and begins to investigate.
Nothing quite like a good mystery to chase away the 'getting old' blues and she's surprised to discover she has a real knack for it.
Well... that is... if only she could work out who was terrorizing Alexis.
The mystery becomes a lot more serious when someone is found murdered and it seems to be related to Alexis' stalker.
A frightening confrontation with one of the suspects has Harriet believing that she knows who the culprit is.
However, things become even more complicated when the mystery takes an unexpected turn.
There's something she's missed.
What is it?
If she doesn't work it out soon a murderer is going to get away free and Harriet will not stand for that!
( this book/series is written in British English. A Glossary of British terms is included.)
Harriet loves her job, but with a boss who would tempt a saint to commit murder, it's difficult to enjoy doing it.
Rapidly approaching sixty and just a little bit too interested in death, she's feeling like the best years of her life may be behind her.
But underneath it all, Harriet has a nagging feeling that she should be doing more.
So when she discovers her young dance instructor neighbor, Alexis, is being hounded by an obsessed stalker, Harriet jumps right in and begins to investigate.
Nothing quite like a good mystery to chase away the 'getting old' blues and she's surprised to discover she has a real knack for it.
Well... that is... if only she could work out who was terrorizing Alexis.
The mystery becomes a lot more serious when someone is found murdered and it seems to be related to Alexis' stalker.
A frightening confrontation with one of the suspects has Harriet believing that she knows who the culprit is.
However, things become even more complicated when the mystery takes an unexpected turn.
There's something she's missed.
What is it?
If she doesn't work it out soon a murderer is going to get away free and Harriet will not stand for that!
( this book/series is written in British English. A Glossary of British terms is included.)
190 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 2, 2022
155 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 30, 2025
An interesting read but felt that there were little or no clues has to who did it. If you don’t mind waiting until the end for the answer then it is worth reading.
September 29, 2025
Too wordy with many trivial things from Harriet's mind.
She was also overdone on psychoanalyst everyone just to dismiss subtle things and overlook glaringly obvious clues about the culprit.
The fact the police willingly giving her, a nobody; a stage to present her analysis was ridiculous, there was no subtlety to make it believable.
Also i already guess the villain half way across the book.
Oh and how come she didn't feel any ounce of guilt over her false analysis, only embarrassed??
It seems quite cold hearted considering the death that happened afterward was direct result of her amateur analysis (which of course part of it was on the cops too for taking her words blindly without future investigation.).
She was also overdone on psychoanalyst everyone just to dismiss subtle things and overlook glaringly obvious clues about the culprit.
The fact the police willingly giving her, a nobody; a stage to present her analysis was ridiculous, there was no subtlety to make it believable.
Also i already guess the villain half way across the book.
Oh and how come she didn't feel any ounce of guilt over her false analysis, only embarrassed??
It seems quite cold hearted considering the death that happened afterward was direct result of her amateur analysis (which of course part of it was on the cops too for taking her words blindly without future investigation.).
November 15, 2025
Obsession and murder
Harriet is a widow and works as a librarian. Her boring life is turned upside down due to her neighbor Alexis that is being stalked and threatened. She is trying to figure out who it is and then one of Alexis 's friends was murdered in her own home. Who was it and how did they get in Alexis's home? Harriet inserts herself into the investigation and solves the murders. The characters are interesting and relatable. I liked that the main character is an older woman. This was a good start to the series. I am now curious as to what Harriet is going to get involved in next.
Harriet is a widow and works as a librarian. Her boring life is turned upside down due to her neighbor Alexis that is being stalked and threatened. She is trying to figure out who it is and then one of Alexis 's friends was murdered in her own home. Who was it and how did they get in Alexis's home? Harriet inserts herself into the investigation and solves the murders. The characters are interesting and relatable. I liked that the main character is an older woman. This was a good start to the series. I am now curious as to what Harriet is going to get involved in next.
March 8, 2022
I just could not get into this book, and usually I really enjoy this author's writing. This time, I found it needlessly wordy, and ended up scanning and skipping large parts just to get to the end and find out if I was right about who did it. (I was - I guessed very early on.)
This is one series I will not continue reading.
This is one series I will not continue reading.
December 2, 2024
3 stars ⭐⭐⭐
Some parts of this story felt very wordy and at the same time the ending felt rushed.
I had worked out who the murderer was before the story revealed it even with all the red herrings.
Nice easy read but nothing ground breaking.
Some parts of this story felt very wordy and at the same time the ending felt rushed.
I had worked out who the murderer was before the story revealed it even with all the red herrings.
Nice easy read but nothing ground breaking.
March 29, 2025
An easy read
Didn't take me long to work out who the killer was, bank goodness for nosy neighbours A nice easy read nothing heavy, ideal if you're on the beach or sat in the garden.
Didn't take me long to work out who the killer was, bank goodness for nosy neighbours A nice easy read nothing heavy, ideal if you're on the beach or sat in the garden.
July 13, 2025
Harriet needs a new hobby!
This book was fine. I love Harriet and Marjory. The ending was unexpected. I will definitely be reading more of this series.
This book was fine. I love Harriet and Marjory. The ending was unexpected. I will definitely be reading more of this series.
"There's more to situations and people if you dig deeper"
August 18, 2024
Pulled me in.
March 31, 2025
The story was okay but there were so many grammatical errors it was distracting.
June 1, 2025
Surprise ending!
I did enjoy this cozy mystery, though it seemed anything but cozy with all of the mentally unhinged people. Too bad the main, "actress," had to die.
I did enjoy this cozy mystery, though it seemed anything but cozy with all of the mentally unhinged people. Too bad the main, "actress," had to die.
November 12, 2025
This was a really good cozy, I really enjoyed it. The characters were great and the storyline really kept me interested. I have read numerous books by K.J. Emrick and I have enjoyed them all.
August 7, 2025
A nosy neighbour and three obsessive stalkers! It was a good read but I did get annoyed at the nosy neighbour a lot!
February 7, 2025
I have loved other books by this author but was extremely diisappointed in this book.
The writing was overly wordy to the point of being distracting.
The plot was short-sighted, figuring out the whodunit part was glaringly obvious. There was no suspense.
To make matters worse the characters were horrible!
There was nothing endearing about Harriett, which I found a real shame.
She should have been a larger then life older lady. Instead we got a whiner that acts way older than her age.
Was not fun at all!
I won't continue the series
The writing was overly wordy to the point of being distracting.
The plot was short-sighted, figuring out the whodunit part was glaringly obvious. There was no suspense.
To make matters worse the characters were horrible!
There was nothing endearing about Harriett, which I found a real shame.
She should have been a larger then life older lady. Instead we got a whiner that acts way older than her age.
Was not fun at all!
I won't continue the series
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews