What do you think?
Rate this book
The Village Library Mysteries #6
Frictional Characters
No one in the town of Whitby, North Carolina was excited when Jonas Merchant returned to town. Jonas was an effective muckraker; an expert at uncovering secrets, rumors, and undercurrents. Even worse, he’d fallen on hard times and was desperate for easy cash. It was a decidedly dangerous combination. It was perhaps not the biggest surprise when Jonas was discovered dead one day. More shocking, at least to local librarian Ann Beckett, was the fact that her straight-arrow director Wilson was one of the suspects in Jonas’s death. Will Ann be able to track down the killer and clear Wilson’s name before he strikes again?
- GenresMysteryCozy Mystery
212 pages, Paperback
Published February 3, 2022
38 people are currently reading
105 people want to read
About the author
Elizabeth Spann Craig
89 books471 followersAuthor 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...
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...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
October 16, 2023
I enjoy this cozy series a lot. This book was no exception.
First off, our protagonist is a librarian, and there's nothing not to love there. Ann loves books, reading, her cat and being alone while doing most of those things. I relate to Ann a lot and like her a bunch too.
The town is full of "characters" and I like most of them, too.
The murder mysteries are well-done and engaging, without a lot of violence or darkness. But they are still interesting and engaging.
This is just a good, solid entertaining cozy series that I very much enjoy. I intend to continue reading this series.
First off, our protagonist is a librarian, and there's nothing not to love there. Ann loves books, reading, her cat and being alone while doing most of those things. I relate to Ann a lot and like her a bunch too.
The town is full of "characters" and I like most of them, too.
The murder mysteries are well-done and engaging, without a lot of violence or darkness. But they are still interesting and engaging.
This is just a good, solid entertaining cozy series that I very much enjoy. I intend to continue reading this series.
September 2, 2022
Very enjoyable installment. Great mystery with no shortage of suspects since the victim wasn’t well liked by anyone. Love this series.
April 14, 2025
Rating: 3.7 stars
Reaction: Liked
Reaction: Liked
May 16, 2022
Another enjoyable entry in The Village Library Mysteries series. A light cozy read set in Whitby, North Carolina with Ann, her library cat Fitz and her boyfriend Grayson, the town’s journalist. A mean-spirited man is murdered; no-one was sad that he was gone. Several suspects are introduced but only one had the biggest motive to “do him in”. A pleasant whodunnit.
February 11, 2022
Surprise Ending
This was an unusual plot with many potential perpetrators. The victim was so evil that you were glad he was gone. Unfortunately, all his victims were nice people. But one just had too much at risk.
This was an unusual plot with many potential perpetrators. The victim was so evil that you were glad he was gone. Unfortunately, all his victims were nice people. But one just had too much at risk.
July 8, 2024
I had to chuckle a bit while reading Frictional Characters. The Village Library series is set in a small NC town. I grew up in several small towns in the Midwest and then lived 20 years in another small town in NC. The depiction of Whitby, NC reminds me so much of things I experienced living in tiny towns.
In a small town, if residents don't know you personally, they know "of you." Gossip flies through town at the speed of sound. Everyone knows everybody's business, or thinks they do. And every neighborhood has That Neighbor -- the one who doesn't mow their lawn or keep their property clean or has a tendency to be a troublemaker. Every neighborhood also has the person (or persons) who believe they are the resident Yard Police. Who needs an HOA when you have Nosy Nellie walking around?
Plus, small towns are NOT like Mayberry. They seem idyllic at first.....but there are hidden dark secrets. Every little town I lived in had nasty little things going on behind the scenes. Jealousies, lies, whispers about infidelities, crooked business deals, suspicious deaths, good old boy politics.....even cults (two small towns I lived in had religious extremist cults that caused problems. How I managed to hit that particular jackpot twice is a mystery....ugh!
The plot in Frictional Characters really hit home with me when The Problem Guy in Librarian Ann Beckett's neighborhood turns up dead. Family squabbles, neighbor squabbles, business squabbles, relationship squabbles. Nearly everyone in town had some sort of grief with the guy. Librarian Ann Beckett finds herself sifting through the list of people with grievances with the deceased. It's difficult to find the person angry enough to kill someone when that person has made almost everyone in town upset. Frictional Characters is a perfect title for this book!
The plot definitely kept me engaged the entire time. The investigation moved along at a nice pace and there were plenty of suspects and twists. I definitely enjoyed the story.
After reading several of these books in a row, I am starting to see the author's formula for her books. Murder.....preliminary investigation and basic suspects.....follow up additional murder discovered.....more investigation....twist and reveal....wrap up/end. Each book is pretty much following this basic outline....with a bit of character development, humor and fluff thrown in. I'm enjoying the stories, but hoping that later books in the series deviate from this basic outline. At least in this one, a different person found the dead body. I swear if Librarian Ann Beckett finds one more dead body the state police are going to lock her up just on principle. :)
This book also had multiple typos and errors that weren't caught in editing. Most of the errors weren't glaring but there were multiple mistakes. Perhaps in later editions this has been corrected.
Enjoyable read! I'm continuing with this series as I like the characters and the plots make for an entertaining, quick read. But I do hope the next book varies the basic plot outline a bit. It's getting a bit predictable with each book being just a variation on the same basic formula.
On to the next book in this series!
In a small town, if residents don't know you personally, they know "of you." Gossip flies through town at the speed of sound. Everyone knows everybody's business, or thinks they do. And every neighborhood has That Neighbor -- the one who doesn't mow their lawn or keep their property clean or has a tendency to be a troublemaker. Every neighborhood also has the person (or persons) who believe they are the resident Yard Police. Who needs an HOA when you have Nosy Nellie walking around?
Plus, small towns are NOT like Mayberry. They seem idyllic at first.....but there are hidden dark secrets. Every little town I lived in had nasty little things going on behind the scenes. Jealousies, lies, whispers about infidelities, crooked business deals, suspicious deaths, good old boy politics.....even cults (two small towns I lived in had religious extremist cults that caused problems. How I managed to hit that particular jackpot twice is a mystery....ugh!
The plot in Frictional Characters really hit home with me when The Problem Guy in Librarian Ann Beckett's neighborhood turns up dead. Family squabbles, neighbor squabbles, business squabbles, relationship squabbles. Nearly everyone in town had some sort of grief with the guy. Librarian Ann Beckett finds herself sifting through the list of people with grievances with the deceased. It's difficult to find the person angry enough to kill someone when that person has made almost everyone in town upset. Frictional Characters is a perfect title for this book!
The plot definitely kept me engaged the entire time. The investigation moved along at a nice pace and there were plenty of suspects and twists. I definitely enjoyed the story.
After reading several of these books in a row, I am starting to see the author's formula for her books. Murder.....preliminary investigation and basic suspects.....follow up additional murder discovered.....more investigation....twist and reveal....wrap up/end. Each book is pretty much following this basic outline....with a bit of character development, humor and fluff thrown in. I'm enjoying the stories, but hoping that later books in the series deviate from this basic outline. At least in this one, a different person found the dead body. I swear if Librarian Ann Beckett finds one more dead body the state police are going to lock her up just on principle. :)
This book also had multiple typos and errors that weren't caught in editing. Most of the errors weren't glaring but there were multiple mistakes. Perhaps in later editions this has been corrected.
Enjoyable read! I'm continuing with this series as I like the characters and the plots make for an entertaining, quick read. But I do hope the next book varies the basic plot outline a bit. It's getting a bit predictable with each book being just a variation on the same basic formula.
On to the next book in this series!
January 25, 2022
Frictional Characters is the sixth book in Elizabeth Spann Craig’s The Village Library Mysteries series. Set in the small town of Whitby, North Carolina, this is a classic cosy mystery.
No one was excited when muckraker Jonas Merchant returned to town. He was an expert at uncovering secrets and rumours. He was also desperate for easy cash – definitely a dangerous combination.
It wasn’t surprising, then, that Jonas was discovered dead one day. What was more surprising, at least to local librarian Ann Beckett, was that her unimpeachable library director Wilson was one of the suspects in Jonas’s death.
Ann’s challenge was to track down the killer and clear Wilson’s name. Can she do this before the killer strikes again?
**
I love cosy mysteries. They entice me to follow the clues to discover the murderer but they never scare me. Sometimes, that’s what I need – to be taken back to a familiar place and set of characters, knowing that the crime will be solved by the end of the book.
Frictional Characters does not disappoint. That it’s set in a working environment that’s familiar to me – a public library – adds to my enjoyment. After all, librarians talk to so many people in their working day that it’s not surprising they have so much local knowledge. Ann is a totally relatable character to me.
Great read for lovers of cosy mysteries.
Thank you to the author for providing me with an ARC of this book.
No one was excited when muckraker Jonas Merchant returned to town. He was an expert at uncovering secrets and rumours. He was also desperate for easy cash – definitely a dangerous combination.
It wasn’t surprising, then, that Jonas was discovered dead one day. What was more surprising, at least to local librarian Ann Beckett, was that her unimpeachable library director Wilson was one of the suspects in Jonas’s death.
Ann’s challenge was to track down the killer and clear Wilson’s name. Can she do this before the killer strikes again?
**
I love cosy mysteries. They entice me to follow the clues to discover the murderer but they never scare me. Sometimes, that’s what I need – to be taken back to a familiar place and set of characters, knowing that the crime will be solved by the end of the book.
Frictional Characters does not disappoint. That it’s set in a working environment that’s familiar to me – a public library – adds to my enjoyment. After all, librarians talk to so many people in their working day that it’s not surprising they have so much local knowledge. Ann is a totally relatable character to me.
Great read for lovers of cosy mysteries.
Thank you to the author for providing me with an ARC of this book.
February 17, 2024
No one in the town of Whitby, North Carolina was excited when Jonas Merchant returned to town. Jonas was an effective muckraker; an expert at uncovering secrets, rumors, and undercurrents. Even worse, he’d fallen on hard times and was desperate for easy cash. It was a decidedly dangerous combination. It was perhaps not the biggest surprise when Jonas was discovered dead one day. More shocking, at least to local librarian Ann Beckett, was the fact that her straight-arrow director Wilson was one of the suspects in Jonas’s death. [amazon synopsis]
Good addition to the series. Will Ann be able to clear Wilson before the killer strikes again?
Good addition to the series. Will Ann be able to clear Wilson before the killer strikes again?
June 2, 2023
always a winner with plots, characters, and twists
This book is relaxing and has a “can’t put it down” plot. Great characterization and situations. No cursing or sexual situations but plenty of romance.
This book is relaxing and has a “can’t put it down” plot. Great characterization and situations. No cursing or sexual situations but plenty of romance.
September 12, 2023
Love this series
Fictional Characters includes page turning events, certainly surprises, and a twist that I also did not see coming. Will definitely engage in the next book. Love the characters.
Fictional Characters includes page turning events, certainly surprises, and a twist that I also did not see coming. Will definitely engage in the next book. Love the characters.
February 11, 2022
The mystery kept me guessing almost up to the end. I figured it out just a moment before Ann did. Lots of time spent in the library, and with Fitz!
May 23, 2022
FICTIONAL CHARACTERS
I enjoyed the book very much. I would recommend the book to everyone that likes a little mystery . Can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
I enjoyed the book very much. I would recommend the book to everyone that likes a little mystery . Can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
August 14, 2022
Gossip and blackmail are key in this latest book in the series. Ann is involved once again.
September 10, 2022
Same but easy to read.
Too many people. So simular to previous book . just different names and professions. Still easy reading and not unpleasant. Will still continue series.
Too many people. So simular to previous book . just different names and professions. Still easy reading and not unpleasant. Will still continue series.
January 14, 2023
Another great mystery in this series. I'm ready to start the next one.
August 22, 2023
A lovely summer read.
September 14, 2025
Great book. The plot and storyline were interesting. Great characters. Some good twists and turns. Love Fritz. Some good humor. It's interesting to see growth in the main character. Highly recommend.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews