The Last Library Card

A book can be overdue. A truth can be overdue far longer.

When a battered local-history book is returned to the Bramblewick library forty years late, Charlie Vale recognizes the vanished road drawn in its margins-the same road Aunt Wren once marked in an old atlas. Tucked inside is a paper library card issued to a young woman who officially disappeared in 1986.

Before Charlie can question Marian Bell, the retired librarian who signed that card, Marian vanishes too. Then historian Felix Ward is found murdered inside an abandoned branch library at the end of the road the town quietly erased from its maps.

The old records point to a frightened young woman, a powerful family, and the night Wren helped someone leave Bramblewick under another name. But the woman Wren protected is still alive-and Charlie knows where she is. To solve Felix's murder, she must decide how much of the truth belongs to Detective Jonah Reed, and whether keeping one vulnerable person safe gives her the right to withhold a secret from the man she's only just begun to trust.

The Lantern & Quill Mysteries, Book Six. A cozy about disappearance, protection, and the maps a town would rather forget. Stands on its own.

Perfect for fans of Kate Carlisle's Bibliophile Mysteries, Jenn McKinlay's Library Lover's Mysteries, and Ellery Adams's Book Retreat Mysteries.