Eva Gates

In the twelfth installment of the Lighthouse Library mysteries, Lucy McNeil is back on the case, but this time she’s on the case alone.The upcoming YA book festival at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library is bringing in renowned authors from all over the world. When bestselling author Todd Harrison unexpectedly visits librarian Lucy McNeil at her Outer Banks beach house after a meeting, she is puzzled by his presence, since they’re virtually strangers. After stepping inside to get him a drink, she returns to find him murdered on her deck—killed in the few minutes she left him alone. Not knowing why he wanted to meet with her in private or how someone managed to kill him in the time it takes to make lemonade, Lucy is determined to help with the investigation and figure out what happened. When Heather Harrison, Todd’s widow, shows up in town, her motivations aren’t inspired by grief. She’s intending to use her husband’s tragic death to launch her candidacy for state senator, and her first order of business is to go after the local police force–and Lucy herself.Caught between an intrusive fan club mourning Todd, squabbling authors fighting for prominence in his absence, and a politically ruthless widow, Lucy must roll up her sleeves and catch the killer before the chapter closes on justice.

When a traveling show of impressionist art comes to Nags Head, North Carolina, librarian Lucy and the staff at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library are inspired to create an educational display about art history. Their launch of the display is a huge success, but the morning after, they discover that a reproduction of a famous painting has gone missing. No one knows why anyone would bother stealing it: the picture is of no value - the real, priceless painting is under lock and key at the art show itself. Lucy gets an invite to the glitzy opening night for the real show, where she notices unusual tension among the show''s organizers. Then, the man scheduled to give the welcoming speech fails to arrive, and a party-goer is discovered drowned in a fish pond. Meanwhile, Louise Jane is totally captivated by Tom Reilly, a handsome, charming art dealer lurking at the edges of the receptions on both nights. Tom slipped away from the party early, and he cannot be located by the police. Who, Lucy asks, is Tom Reilly, the shadowy figure threatening to break Louise Jane''s heart? Something is afoot in Nags Head, and it''s up to Lucy and her friends to get to the bottom of it before it''s not just paintings being framed.