Book Review: Off the Books by Lucy Arlington

The Novel Idea Literary Agency has planned a wedding-themed week for Inspiration Valley, celebrating not only North Carolina’s best vendors but also some of the agency’s most popular bridal books. The fact that Lila can use the event to plan her own impending nuptials is just the icing on the cake.

But wedding bells turn to warning bells when Lila finds a dead man facedown in the frosting. Soon it’s discovered that the victim was connected to several Novel Idea authors, all of whom quickly become suspects in the case. It’s up to Lila and her fellow agents to find the real killer before one of their clients winds up scribbling stories from behind bars...[summary via Amazon]

It's a bitter sweet world, we cozy readers, are currently living in. A lot of cozy mystery series are being cancelled and we are saying goodbye to much beloved characters, and towns. When you read you immerse yourself in the story and it can be very much like visiting family and friends. As is the way, when a series ends, it is sad to not have new adventures with those characters. 

I've been taking adventures with Lila and her family and friends in Inspiration Valley since her first adventure. The Novel Idea Mysteries quickly became one of my favorite adventures and it was very bitter sweet for me to pick up the last adventure. I'm hoping somewhere down the track there will be more adventures, but for now, I'm happy to have had one final adventure with Lila.

In Off the Books it's wedding fever, as the agency holds a wedding-themed week. Disaster strikes when someone turns up dead, and one of Lila's authors is a suspect. Together with other members of the agency, they look to find a killer before one of their authors ends up behind bars!

I really enjoyed this mystery. It kept me guessing right until the end, as I didn't solve the mystery before Lila. I also liked the wrapping up of several other character storylines. Even with murder abound, Lucy Arlington has managed to create a beautiful final book in the series, and give several characters their "happy ending", which as a huge fan of this series, I was so happy to see.

I thoroughly encourage readers to read this series. It's a fun, beautifully written series, with memorable characters and I'm looking forward to reading other books by the author in the future.