I am an absolute sucker for a good murder mystery and this one hit all the right spots!

Greta moved to Larkspur to start over after breaking up with her boyfriend and meets the grumpy Franklin. Who suddenly ends up dead in his backyard. With a new detective in town, who thinks Greta is his prime suspect, she decides to do a little investigating on her own.

The writing style was very enjoyable and easy to follow, which for me is important when reading a murder mystery. Leah did an awesome job at keeping you guessing, my theory changed a lot while reading but in the end I never would’ve expected who it actually was.

Basically, this is a must read if you like/love murder mystery’s. You definitely won’t go wrong with this book!

I received this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This is an intriguing read! I love a good mystery and I liked the characters in this story.

Thank you NetGalley for giving me a copy of this book.

Earlier this year I discovered that I really enjoy cozy fantasy books. So in keeping up with this newfound genre, I decided to give cozy mysteries a try too in hopes that I would also fall in love with these. And while I can maybe see the appeal for someone looking for a low-stakes, easy to read whodunit type story, this book just all around did not work for me.

Again, like my other mystery and thriller reviews, I prefer to go into these stories as blindly as possible, so I will not be discussing the synopsis of the story here.

What I will say is this:

Around the time that Josie and Greta are paddle boarding together on the lake, Greta mentions the wind tangling her curly hair. At that point, I realize we have gotten NO physical descriptions for ANY of the characters aside from calling Iris petite. It made all of the characters feel really flat and super interchangeable. Instead, the author chose to focus on personality traits, but most of the characters didn't have unique or identifying ones of those either! Sydney is happy. Greta is optimistic. Iris is lovesick. Josie is sarcastic. The detective is broody. See what I mean? That's a large cast of characters (and this isn't even all of them!) who basically could be anybody with how generic they are.

Also, this story is extremely predictable. I am not going to lie, I guessed the first part EXTREMELY early on and the second at the gathering held by Liam. Unfortunately, again with the characters not being super distinguished, it made them seem super transparent and almost allowed the motives behind their actions to come to light quicker than if they had more depth and gave me something else to focus on. Also, there was A LOT of telling and no showing going on in this book. I think that if the author would have made me FEEL the characters doubts and suspicions instead of just telling me them, maybe it could have clouded my judgement or given me something else to focus on. Instead, it was all just kind of laid out there which made the last half of this book really long and hard to get through.

I also get that it is fiction, but this is no way a detective would behave. The allowing of the public to trample through crime scenes and handle evidence? Not a chance. Definitely pulled me out of the story quite a few times.

Another complaint is the romance. For such a short MYSTERY book, we spent a lot of time focusing on Greta and her past relationship with Nathan. Greta and her date with Liam. Greta and her slow burn with the detective. Iris and Dean for crying out loud. And lonely ass Josie. For three hundred pages, I needed more mystery and less romance for this to appeal to me personally.

I appreciate the opportunity to read this book.

A cozy mystery is such a great way to describe this book! If you're a Nancy Drew fan, you'll love this book. It's perfect for curling up with a cup of coffee and a candle on.

When small town librarian Greta Plank becomes a suspect in the murder of her dear friend and neighbour, she decides investigating what happened herself might be the only way to clear her name.

Greta Plank is a fantastic protaganist, and I am definitely interested in reading more books about her investigative endeavours (and maybe a budding romance?). This book is well written with lots of twists and turns. And while I did (semi) guess who-done-it, I wasn't sure until the very end!

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This is a great mystery for book lovers! Entertaining, fun, heartwarming, and has all the pieces a cozy mystery should have. I'll be looking for the next one!

This book had such promise - the blurb sounded appropriately cozy with Greta moving to a small town, getting a job as a librarian, and stumbling upon a body. But while the book checks all the boxes of a cozy, it didn't draw me in and make me feel like part of a community. In fact, I ended up skipping over much of the book, reading only the dialogue, because everything else was so dry and repetitive. I never really warmed to the characters and there wasn't anything that stood out to make this different than other cozies. I probably won't continue with the series.

Hilarious, suspenseful and heartwarming - everything about this book brought me joy. If you are a book lover, you will be able to relate to so many of the feelings and reactions within the pages. Greta is such a joy to follow as a protagonist and the small town vibes are spot on. A clean and easy read if you enjoy murder mysteries!

I have just recently gotten into cozy mysteries and stories like this will keep me coming back to the genre! I cannot wait for more stories in this series. Definitely a great introduction to cozies!

3.5, rounded up.

Death Checked Out follows Greta Plank, a library director in Larkspur, Wisconsin, a small town with plenty of charm. Greta is happy-go-lucky and a lover of literature. That changes when she finds a dead body, and now she's a suspect. Greta decides to investigate on her own so she can clear her name.

As somebody who typically picks up thrillers over cozy mysteries, it took some time to adjust to the cozier side of things. One of my pet peeves in literature and in real life is when people overuse the phrase "anxious to ______," and I feel like the author threw that in the book too often. I'm not sure other people care as much, so it might not be a distraction for most readers.

I'm also a librarian, so I'm generally critical of the way authors write them. Overall, I think Leah Dobrinska has written one of the most accurate depictions of what it's like to work in a small library.

The pacing of the book was a little slow at the beginning, but once I hit the 50% mark, I wanted to know if my predictions were right. (Note: they were.)

I recommend Death Checked Out to people who want a cute cozy mystery with books at the center of it all. If you prefer darker stories, skip this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Level Best Books for providing an e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I recently finished this book. It is a cozy small town murder mystery novel that makes you want to visit and walk the town and stay at a lakeside cabin… minus the murdering part. With a librarian as a prime suspect and a grumpy detective who is a little too protective of his suspect to a set of die hard friends… it was a good place to spend some time. The plot did lag, but it made up for some great characters. Once the plot got moving, it kept me up until 230 am to see who did it. 🥭🥭🥭🥭

A cosy small town mystery that’s a perfect fall/winter read. Would highly recommend! Think Gilmore Girls meets murder mystery

This is the first I read in this series and enjoyed it. It's heartwarming, entertaining, and well plotted.
There's humour, a cast of fleshed out and likeable characters, a solid mystery.
I hope there's going to be another book in this series soon.
Recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

I really wanted to like this book. I grew up watching Murder, She Wrote and love a good cozy mystery so I was excited to get this ARC. But Death Checks Out just didn’t do it for me.

There were so many parts of this book that made me cringe with second-hand embarrassment. A lot of the dialogue felt like it was trying too hard to be from a Hallmark movie and the likable, quirky main character felt too over the top for me to find relatable. There was far too much detail on things that didn’t matter and several occasions the characters seemed to forget their own timeline and what the had already told both other characters and the readers.

I wouldn’t quite call this enemies to lovers, maybe enemies to friends to maybe lovers in future installments of the series? But what aspects we see of the main characters going from being at odds to possibly more felt very forced and they had very little chemistry with each other, unfortunately.

Thank you NetGalley and Level Best Books for giving me this ARC!

A murder mystery is a common storyline, but have you read one where the primary setting is a library? Well, I have the story for you.
This book follows the story of Greta who moved to a small town not long ago and wiggled into her neighbour Frank’s world. One day she comes over to visit and finds him dead at the bottom of the stairs. Greta’s world takes a turn as she is a suspect in Frank’s murder investigation with the new police officer breathing down her neck. With the help of Greta’s fellow librarians, they begin investigating for themselves to prove Greta innocent.

This story focuses on Greta growing as an individual and the girl’s friendship, which is something I found refreshing. The murderer was not very predictable and there were some unexpected twists and foreshadowing you don't see coming.

I rated this story 3/5 because although I enjoyed the writing it had some slow moments. I think this book needed an epilogue of sorts to tie things up. Such as Greta’s future romantic(like does anything happen with the detective, he kept flirting), and the girls' friendship.

I received this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

#DeathCheckedOut #NetGalley Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this novel. I encourage you to check this one out! Really solid read.

A small town mystery with a broody detective and a meddling librarian. I loved the small town business names. I loved Mugs & Hugs but absolutely giggled at the name of the taco spot! I liked the librarians and the friendship they had. I loved the small town feel and the MC. I didn't guess the twist and just enjoyed the fun ride. I'd definitely read a book 2 to this series!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Loved this cozy murder mystery set in a small town. This is my first in this genre, and it did not disappoint!

Greta becomes friends with a neighbor… only to find him murdered, and that shes the lead suspect. Greta then goes on a journey to clear her name with her sweet librarian friends.

This book keeps you guessing till the end, and I can’t wait to see what else is in store for the rest of this series!

Thank you to Leah Dobrinska, and Netgalley for the e-arc. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

3.5/5 stars. Death Checked Out was a really well-written cozy mystery! Books set in small towns always fascinate me; add a murder mystery to the mix, and I'll most definitely enjoy the book to the fullest! <3 I felt the same way about Leah's mystery debut. <3

The book was cozy, and fun. Greta's character was fascinating, = I liked seeing her growth throughout the book. I was expecting a bit more from how the murder suspects were revealed, though. Nevertheless, I am looking forward to the next book in the series!

Enjoyed this cosy mystery! Loved the setting and the main character Greta! Was well written and enjoyed reading about the murder and the town! Looking forward to more in the series.

While I will always pick up a book where the main character is a librarian or bookstore owner, I know it's not always a slam dunk. THIS, however, was such a pleasure to dig into. I loved meeting these characters, led by Greta Plank, director of library services in Larkspur, Wisconsin.

When a neighbor she befriends ends up dead, and the new police detective in town considers her the lead suspect, Greta and her fellow librarians band together to prove her innocence by unearthing who the true culprit is. The town really rallies behind her and you can't help but love the twists, turns, and sweet moments.

This is the first cozy mystery I've really enjoyed and look forward to the next Larkspur Library Mystery!

Thank you NetGalley and Level Best Books for this advanced copy. All opinions expressed are my own.