Siblings Brigid and Seamus Reardon emigrate from Ireland in 1877 because it's easier for their parents' landlord to pay for the teens' passage to America than to continue feeding them.  Eager to seek better lives in the land of opportunity, Brigid finds work in Minnesota as a domestic servant while Seamus heads west in search of gold.  A few years later, Brigid receives word that her mother has died.  Grief-stricken and tired of dodging the wandering hands of her employer's lascivious son, she decides to reunite with Seamus in South Dakota.  

Brigid is shocked by what she finds in Deadwood, a bustling city that's dirty, violent, and lawless.  She's only just arrived when a popular prostitute is stabbed to death in the street.  Seamus, who claims to have loved the woman truly, becomes an immediate suspect.  Knowing her brother could not have done such a shameless deed, Brigid urges him to leave town while she tries to figure out who killed Lily.  Her amateur investigation does not go unnoticed and soon she finds herself caught in the glare of a cold-blooded murderer.  Can Brigid bring Lily's killer to justice?  Or will hers be the next body bleeding out on the mean streets of Deadwood? 

The Streel by Mary Logue is a fast-paced mystery that's compelling even though it's not super twisty.  The setting is atmospheric, the characters sympathetic, and the plot exciting.  I liked Brigid, who is hardworking, upright, compassionate, and brave.  It's easy to root for her as she works to prove her brother's innocence.  The Streel is barely over 200 pages, so it's a fast read and one that easily kept my attention.  I enjoyed it.

(Readalikes:  Hm, I can't think of anything.  You?)

To the FTC, with love:  I bought a copy of The Streel with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.

(Image from Barnes & Noble)

Despite her obsession with British mystery novels, 46-year-old Karen Nash has never actually crossed the pond.  That's why the Minnesota librarian is so thrilled about her upcoming trip to London.  Six months in the making, the vacation will be the fulfillment of all her bluestocking dreams.  Karen's boyfriend ("the love of my midlife" [9]), a 50-year-old plumber named Dave, doesn't share her enthusiasm, but after a week in a quaint British B&B, she's pretty sure he'll come around.  

When Dave calls at the last minute to cancel not just their trip but also their entire relationship, Karen is devastated.  Deciding that the best revenge will be to have a good time in London without him, she scrapes up enough cash to purchase her own ticket.  When she spies Dave at the airport with a pretty, young blonde on his arm, she becomes even more infuriated.  She feels mad enough to kill the jerk, but when she spills her drunken guts to a stranger in a pub, he appears to take her pronouncement seriously.  Has Karen just sicced an assassin on her ex-boyfriend and his new fling?  

While Karen tries to warn Dave, a wealthy flower breeder is murdered at the B&B where she's staying.  On the verge of creating a blue rose, Howard Worth had plenty of enemies.  Who actually did the dirty deed?  With a nose for sleuthing, Karen—the self-proclaimed "master of the mystery section" (5)—is determined to find his killer.  In the process, she'll soak in British culture, find drool-worthy books to add to her collection, and fall in love with both England and a kindly bibliophile who may also be a murderer.

Killer Librarian, a debut novel by Mary Lou Kirwin (a pen name of Mary Logue) and the first in a series, is a fun bookish cozy.  Anyone who loves mystery novels will enjoy hanging out with Karen, who throws out reading recommendations right and left.  The situation in which she finds herself gets sillier as the story progresses and the mystery she's trying to solve really isn't that mysterious.  There is one twist in the tale that caught me completely off-guard, mostly because it seemed completely unnecessary.  Other than that, Killer Librarian is a fairly typical cozy—it's warm, it's fun, it's far-fetched, it's enjoyable.  The bookish theme is my favorite part of this series; because of that, I'll keep reading it.  

(Readalikes:  Death Overdue by Mary Lou Kirwin)  

Grade:

If this were a movie, it would be rated:

for brief, mild language (no F-bombs) and violence

To the FTC, with love:  I bought a copy of Killer Librarian from Amazon with a portion of the millions I make from my lucrative career as a book blogger.  Ha ha.