The Body in the Law Library

Hooray! Our book, Death Among the Stacks: the Body in the Law Library, just received a five star rating on Goodreads!

It is the first book that my husband and I wrote together. It is loosely based upon something I witnessed while working at a library. My nieces helped us with the cover: Allison posed as the shushing librarian and her sister took this great picture. I love the way it looks as if the shelving is closing in on her, which was perfect because that is how the victim in our whodunit died.

Here is a description of our murder mystery: Why did an Inspector from the Government Printing Office get crushed between two rows of electronic compact shelving? Find out in this murder/mystery, an Agatha Christie-type whodunit with multiple suspects whom the book's detective assembles together in the final chapter for "the big reveal." Death-by-compact-shelving may seem like a stretch, but it actually almost happened at a library where I worked. You will never look at librarians and library shelving the same after reading this whodunit. 

Only $2.99. Available at Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, Smashwords, Kobo and Scribd.  Also available in paperback at Amazon.

Books about Librarians

When was the last time you visited a library?  How long has it been since you asked a librarian a reference question?   These days, it seems like the only people who go to the library are those wanting to use the Internet or check out DVDs.  It's a favorite hang-out for the homeless or those seeking either an air-conditioned or heated place to camp out all day and night until closing.  The times they are a changin' as Bob Dylan says.

I started working in a law library in 1983.  It was the heyday of libraries. It was interesting work and we had a lot of lawyers as patrons, before Lexis/Nexis came along.  The library was in the civic center where all the county business took place.  Our library was between the Federal and the State building, so there was always a lot of buzz and never a boring day.  When the governor visited our library, his body guards were stationed atop the State Building with their rifles drawn and ready. Before Bill Clinton was nominated for a second term, he came to the old county courthouse to give a speech.  My friends and I walked over to see him and passed  through security that was similar to what you'd find at an airport.

The people I worked with were all college educated and three were former lawyers.  We used to have enjoyable conversations about politics, TV, movies, and each other (there was a lot of office politics that I did my best to steer clear of). I was one of the writers of the library's newsletter so it was fun coming up with ideas for my articles.  I got to go to other libraries on field trips on work time.  One of my favorite's was the National Archives in Laguna Niguel where I saw how and where all the boxes of data were stored.  I'll never forget the time when the library's electronic compact shelving malfunctioned and almost crushed to death one of my coworkers.

I used that background for the first novel I wrote that takes place in a library.  It is called "Death Among the Stacks: The Body in the Law Library".  I had Agatha Christie's detective, Hercule Poirot, in mind when I wrote this book with my husband.  We wanted it to be a story with multiple suspects who, in the last chapter, are summoned by the detective, who then grills them in front of everyone, saying why he suspected each one until he finally reveals whodunit.

Death Among the Stacks:

The Body in the Law Library

by Louise Hathaway

The second book about libraries I wrote is a romantic comedy.  It's about a librarian who goes to a performance at a mystery dinner theater where someone is actually killed--definitely not part of the act.  A handsome detective comes to investigate and she falls madly in love with him.  This one is a little racy: her fantasies about him are quite graphic (and very funny).

Watchin' the Detective:

A Mystery Dinner Romance

by Louise Hathaway

These books are available at Amazon, iTunes, Barnes and Noble, Google Play, Kobo Books, Smashwords and Oyster

Available in paperback at Amazon

Agatha Christie Whodunit

Why did an Inspector from the Government Printing Office get crushed between two rows of electronic compact shelving? Find out in this murder/mystery, an Agatha Christie-type whodunit with multiple suspects whom, in the last chapter, the book's detective assembles in one room for "the big reveal." Death-by-compact-shelving may seem like a stretch, but it almost happened at a library where this book's author worked. You will never look at librarians and library shelving the same after reading it.

Death Among the Stacks: The Body in the Law Library

By Louise Hathaway

Only $2.99 at most online bookstores

Paperback version available at Amazon

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Nancy Drew Meets Jame Bond

What would happen if Nancy Drew met James Bond?  Find out in The Stolen Mask: A Nancy Keene Mystery, a humorous, PG-Rated tale written for nostalgic women baby-boomers who grew up loving Nancy Drew mysteries.  The teenage sleuth in this story goes to London and stays in the same hotel as Daniel Craig (AKA James Bond) when his BAFTA award is stolen from his room.  When Nancy is not on a Jane Austen pilgrimage or visiting Buckingham Palace, she channels Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, and Rumpole of the Bailey to help her solve the mystery of who took the award and why.

The Stolen Mask: A Nancy Keene Mystery
This eBook is available for $1.99





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Nancy Drew Meets James Bond

I've been busy writing my next Nancy Keene book, "The Case of the Stolen Mask".  This book, a humorous, PG-Rated tale written for nostalgic women baby-boomers like myself who grew up loving Nancy Drew mysteries, has my teenage sleuth going to London and staying in the same hotel as Daniel Craig (AKA James Bond) when his BAFTA award is stolen from his room.  When Nancy is not on a Jane Austen pilgrimage or visiting Buckingham Palace, she channels Agatha Christie, Sherlock Holmes, and Rumpole of the Bailey to help her solve the mystery.

Check out my other Nancy Keene Mysteries at all your favorite online bookstores:

The Missing Bachelor Farmer

The Ghost in the Plantation

The Buried Treasure on Route 66

Agatha Christie

I've been watching the new season of Miss Marple on PBS and once again I've been filled with wonder when I see how complicated Agatha Christie's plots are.  Just when I think I've figured out "whodunit", she pulls the rug out from under me once again.  It seems like everyone has a motive in her stories and I love when her Belgian detective, Hercule Poirot, gathers all of the suspects together in one room at the conclusion of the stories and drills them one by one in front of everyone else.

The first book my husband and I wrote together was in the spirit of Agatha Christie.  We took my experiences of working in a library and put together a cast of suspect librarians, each of whom has a motive for killing the U.S. Depository Inspector who comes to see if the library meets the exacting requirements of the depository program.  In our story, the victim dies when the mechanism that electronically opens and closes the compact shelves malfunctions and crushes him.  I was witness to a friend almost getting crushed between them, so it does happen.  I'll never forget her blood-curdling scream; luckily we were able to save her!  You will never look at librarians and library shelving the same after reading our homage to the "Queen of Mystery".

Death Among the Stacks: the Body in the Law Library

eBook at $2.99 at all your favorite online bookstores

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Christmas Gifts for Book Lovers

Okay, everybody.  The Christmas Season is officially here.  Are you wondering what to buy for that special person in your life who likes to read?  If so, check out our paperback books at Amazon.com.

For baby boomers who grew up loving the Nancy Drew series, we wrote two PG-rated mysteries about our teenager sleuth, Nancy Keene.  These two books are also travelogues.  "The Ghost in the Plantation" takes place in New Orleans and "The Buried Treasure on Route 66" takes place on Route 66.

For readers who like good, old-fashioned, hard-boiled detective mysteries, check out "The Tustin Chronicles" and "The Murder at the Abbey."

For fans of whodunits with multiple suspects (ala Agatha Christie), check out "Death Among the Stacks: The Body in the Law Library."

Merry Christmas and Happy Reading,
Lewis Hathaway

Our Books Are Now Available In Paper

Five of our books are now available in both paper and e-book formats:

They are:  The Ghost in the Plantation; The Buried Treasure on Route 66; and The Tustin Chronicles: A Detective Santy Mystery; Murder at the Abbey: A Detective Santy Mystery; and Death Among the Stacks: The Body in the Law Library.

They are available in paperback at Amazon.com and at your favorite eBookstores (i.e. Apple; Barnes and Noble; Amazon; Kobo; or Sony; to name but a few.