This book starts off quickly and the pace continues at a breakneck pace. Lindsay and Glen Reade, bookstore owners, are returning from a book buying trip when they are deliberately run off of the road. Lindsay sees a face peering through the window of the overturned van, but is too concerned about Glen's well being to take note of details.

 

At home after the accident, while checking the damage to the books that were thrown about the van, Lindsay discovers a diary from approximately 40 years earlier. She begins to read it and discovers that it contains information about a murder. Glen is continually teasing her about her "weakness" for diaries, but his attention is caught when Lindsay tells him what she's read. Now to figure out in which box the diary came to them.

 

We meet Bobo, Glen's sister, who works at the bookstore and Faith who is hired soon after the accident. Faith comes with a good deal of knowledge and they are surprised that she is willing to work at the shop for what they can afford to pay her.

 

We also meet several of the people in town who attend the book discussions at the store. At the senior reading group get together several people become violently ill resulting in the death of one of the group. Someone tampered with the food. Now Glen and Lindsay are beginning to believe that someone doesn't want the diary read, or talked about. The cast of suspects grows daily.

 

This is an adventure and surprises one on top of the next. The small town atmosphere seeps through and the characters are very true to life. Even Heather the dog gets in on the action. The suspense is very well handled and personalities are so well thought out that they are a pleasure to meet, even the questionable people. I hope that this is the first of a series as the opportunity to watch Glen and Lindsay "grow", so to speak, is a very inviting idea. I also enjoyed the tidbits about used books which are interspersed with the action throughout the book.

Mary Fairchild