Book Review: Played By The Book by Lucy Arlington

In the fourth book in the Novel Idea Mysteries, Lila Wilkins, and the gang at Novel Idea Literary Agency are gearing up for a signing and dinner with their newest and biggest client, television show host Damian York, with his new gardening book. However gardening isn't just going on between the pages as the local gardening club gears up for a contest and Lila uncovers a skeleton in her backyard. With a cold case on hand, and a murderer looming it's up to Lila to help her police officer boyfriend solve another crime.

Ever since I read the first book in this series, Buried in a Book, I have been completely enamored with this series. As far as I'm concerned Lila has the perfect job! She is paid to read stories every day. Lila is a great main character. She always has her nose to the crime, and it doesn't hurt that she lives in the idyllic town of Inspiration Valley, and has some fantastic friends.

I love that something is always happening in Inspiration Valley. You might think these small towns are sleepy, but that's not so. With a gardening contest that is so competitive, that someone might kill to win the "van Gogh" prize, romance and the possibilities of wedding bells in the air, and a murderer on the loose, every page of this latest addition of the series kept me on the edge of my seat.

Played by the Book was another fabulous addition to a series that gets better with every book. If you're a book lover and haven't added this series to your reading pile don't hesitate to pick it up. It will be a series that you will treasure for a long time.

Note: I wanted to add a little note about Lucy Arlington. Lucy Arlington was the pseudonym for Ellery Adams and Sylvia May. Having these two tremendously talented authors behind this series was part of my reason for picking the series up to begin with. For this book the author behind the series was changed to Susan Furlong. I only discovered this when I was halfway through reading this book and read another review on this title. The transition has been absolutely seamless. If I hadn't read about the change in author I wouldn't have realized it by reading this book. Whether it's Ellery Adams and Sylvia May or Susan Furlong behind the words, they've done a fantastic job of creating a enjoyable mystery series that keeps readers engrossed from the first page to the last, and I can't wait to see where they will take the series next.