A Killer Clue

by Victoria Gilbert

Jane Hunter, a librarian forced into an early retirement, works for Cameron Clewe who has hired her to catalog his books and other literary collections. Cameron is wealthy, generous, intelligent and very nice, but he does have quirks. He avoids crowds and becomes anxious in certain situations. Jane is a good, calming influence, gently reminding him of social cues such as saying “thank you.” He is in his thirties and she is sixty-one. Together they have formed an informal sleuthing team. Jane does not want to be involved with murder investigations, but she ends up doing just that. They are helped by various contacts, but one of the most valuable ones in this book is Jane’s landlord Vince, a retired investigative reporter.

The mystery in A Killer Clue begins with a rare book seller, Eloise, approaching the pair to exonerate her mother who recently died in prison. She had been found guilty of killing Eloise’s father. Eloise, unfortunately, discovers a murdered former detective in her bookshop. He was the one who was on the case that sent Eloise’s mother to prison. This is just the start of a novel with multiple threads and lots of twists and turns. It is also very bookish because in addition to Cameron’s library, there are two competing rare book stores featured.

I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Rating: 4/5

Category: Mystery

Notes: 1. #2 in the Hunter and Clewe Mystery Series. I have not read the first in the series, but I don’t feel like that hindered my reading of this book.

    2. Clean

Publication: October 24, 2024—Crooked Lane Books

Memorable Lines:

I couldn’t change my past, but I could banish negative memories and focus on all the positive aspects of my current life.

I knew my reaction was because I’d felt ambushed. That had been a tactic my ex-husband, Gary, had frequently used on me—publicly forcing me to agree to some action or event because there was no graceful way to say no.