The Broken Spine

Dorothy St. James

Jan 2021 · A Beloved Bookroom Mystery Book 1 · Sold by Penguin

About this eBook

When small-town assistant librarian Tru Beckett sets up a secret book room in her newly modernized library, she discovers that protecting the printed word is harder than she’d ever imagined. In fact, it’s murder.

Trudell Becket, known to her friends as Tru, finds herself in a bind when her library in lovely Cypress, South Carolina, is turned into a state-of-the-art bookless “technological center.” A library with no books breaks Tru’s book-loving heart so she decides to rescue hundreds of beloved tomes slated for the town dump. Under the cover of darkness, Tru, along with her best friends—coffee shop owner Tori Green and mysterious bestselling author Flossie Finnegan-Baker—set up a secret bookroom in the library’s basement and prepare to open it to their most loyal, trustworthy patrons.

But as Tru and her crew are putting the finishing touches on their new book room, the town manager, who was behind the big push for the library’s transformation, is crushed by an overturned shelf of DVDs. Tru becomes the prime suspect as she hadn’t hid the fact that she hated having all of those wonderful books replaced by tablets and computers. But if she gives the police her alibi, she’ll have to explain about the secret book room and risk losing the books.

Tru knows she’s in a heap of trouble, and it doesn’t help that the officer in charge of the case is her old crush from high school, who broke her teenaged heart. To keep herself out of jail and her beloved bookroom up and running, Tru—with the help of Tori, Flossie, and a brown tabby stray cat named Dewey Decimal—decides to investigate. And faster than you can say “Shhhh!” Tru quickly finds herself on the same page with a killer who would love to write her final chapter. . . .

Ratings and reviews

The Broken Spine by Dorothy St. James has Trudell Becket, assistant librarian, distraught that her beloved library in Cypress, South Carolina is becoming bookless. The books are the heart of the library. The library and its books helped Trudell get through some difficult times growing up. When Trudell learns that the town manager, Duggar Hargrove is having the books tossed into the landfill, she comes up with a plan. Trudell along with a couple of trusted friends are transporting books into the basement vault when she hears a large crash. She rushes upstairs to find Duggar dead underneath a bookcase. Trudell is surprised to discover that the lead detective is Jace who humiliated her in high school. As if that is not bad enough, Trudell learns she is the prime suspect. Trudell with help from two close friends works to prove her innocence by finding the guilty party. The Broken Spine is the debut of A Beloved Bookroom Mystery series. I thought The Broken Spine had an interesting premise. A library with no books. This is the first time that I had heard of this concept. I found The Broken Spine was easy to read with some interesting characters. I do hope the author will provide more background on Trudell in the next book. I would like to see her fleshed out more (I want to know more about this book loving librarian) along with the other regular characters (Tori, Flossie, Jace, Charlie). I just loved the cat, Dewey. He is a cute and smart feline. I also liked Charlie who is new to town and opening The Deckled Edge. I thought that was a clever name for a bookstore. The mystery was clear-cut. There were a couple of suspects, a red herring, and direct clues. I would like to see that mystery in the next book to be more of a challenge. I was not a fan of Jace and the way he treated Trudell. I think Trudell deserves someone better as her romantic partner (maybe Jace will redeem himself in the next book). I did find the book slow in spots and there was repetition of information. I felt the story needed more depth. I am curious to see if Trudell can keep her secret library hidden from her boss along with Dewey. The Broken Spine is a unique cozy mystery with a bookless library, a clever cat, a demanding mayor, a bevy of beloved books, a determined detective, and a lockpicking librarian.

Enjoyed this book from start to finish. :).

About the author

A lover of puzzles and perhaps a bit too nosey about other people's lives, author Dorothy St. James is a former Folly Beach beach bum. She now lives in Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina with her husband, precocious daughter, slightly (OK, terribly) needy dogs, and the friendliest cat you'd ever meet. Author of a dozen novels, Dorothy enjoys writing both cozy mysteries and romance. Her works have been nominated for many awards including: the Southern Independent Bookseller's Alliance Southern Book Prize, Romantic Times Reviewers' Choice Award, National Reader's Choice Award, and The Romance Reviews Today Perfect 10! Award.