The Librarians

By: Sherry Thomas

Narrated by: Louisa Zhu

"This delicious murder mystery is a must-read for any library lover!”—New York Times bestselling author Shelby Van Pelt

Murder disrupts four quirky librarians' lives when they try to hide among books to keep their secrets.

A LIBRARY READS PICK! l An NPR Books We Love

Sometimes a workplace isn’t just a workplace but a place of safety, understanding, and acceptance. And sometimes murder threatens the sanctity of that beloved refuge....

In the leafy suburbs of Austin, Texas, a small branch library welcomes the public every day of the week. But the patrons who love the helpful, unobtrusive staff and leave rave reviews on Yelp don’t always realize that their librarians are human, too.

Hazel flees halfway across the world for what she hopes will be a new beginning. Jonathan, a six-foot-four former college football player, has never fit in anywhere else. Astrid tries to forget her heartbreak by immersing herself in work, but the man who ghosted her six months ago is back, promising trouble. And Sophie, who has the most to lose, maintains a careful and respectful distance from her coworkers, but soon that won't be enough anymore.

When two patrons turn up dead after the library’s inaugural murder mystery–themed game night, the librarians’ quiet routines come crashing down. Something sinister has stirred, something that threatens every single one of them. And the only way the librarians can save the library—and themselves—is to let go of their secrets, trust one another, and band together....

All in a day’s work.

Meh, go with the Lady Sherlock series instead.

Not my favorite from this author. I really wanted to like this story as I loved the Lady Sherlock series. This was hard to follow and a bit too unbelievable in terms of characters. The performer had a hard time with the accents. It was a bit rough and confusing to listen to.

Solid listen, likable characters.

A solid 4 is a book l’d read every time. Good storyline, likable characters and narrator, and keep me listening for a long, long time.

I liked this book

Good book, interesting story and characters. Although it took several chapters for me to keep them straight (no pun intended).

Barely tolerable narration. Ok story

I like the author’s Lady Sherlock series and had high hopes for this mystery. Two of the main characters seemed quite immature for their age (in fact, the teenage character seemed to be the most mature character in the entire story). Maybe that was deliberate but I didn’t enjoy their immaturity. Adding to my frustration with that immaturity was the narrator’s portrayal of one of those characters. Her accent was supposed to be Swedish. It was unrecognizable to me.

The narrator’s speech also seemed stilted at times, mostly in the halfish of the book. I nearly returned the book due to the narrator.

I stuck it out and found the story okay. Nothing I would recommend to anyone due to a meh story and annoying narration. The library setting and skill sets of librarians as researchers and bibliophiles could have lead to a much more interesting story.

Each has secrets

Each of the main characters has secrets. It takes time for them all to come out and for the story to come together. It draws them together. I was surprised the climax of the book came when it did but it took time to resolve everyone’s story. The narrator was good.
This may have been better if I read it in book form as it took me quite awhile to learn the 4 main characters and associate the correct backgrounds with each as I was stopping and starting the audio and couldn’t refer back.
I bought the book based on others written by the author. Not sure if I will read another contemporary by her. This book was well done but I prefer her others.