Traced to Death
(2025)(A book in the Tails Between The Shelves Mystery series)
A novel by Hailey Hartley
When head librarian Amanda Bradford hosts a genealogy workshop featuring a priceless 1840s county map, she expects an educational weekend and a boost to community engagement at the Oakridge Public Library. What she doesn't expect is to find the renowned guest speaker collapsed and dying beside a shattered display case the next morning, the valuable map stolen and her library transformed into a crime scene. While Sheriff Rachel Thornton initially suspects a theft gone wrong, Amanda and her energetic Jack Russell Terrier puppy Penny soon uncover evidence of something far more sinister. The map wasn't just valuable—it was evidence, and someone was willing to kill to keep its secrets buried. When a torn piece of the stolen map mysteriously appears in Amanda's own backyard and threatening texts start arriving, Amanda realizes she's being framed for murder by someone who knows exactly how to manipulate the investigation.
As Amanda digs deeper into the shadowy world of historical document fraud, she discovers a conspiracy that stretches back over a century, involving forged property records, stolen land, and powerful families desperate to protect their reputations. With help from a coalition of affected families and a determined history teacher who'd been investigating the same fraud, Amanda must untangle a web of lies that connects prestigious collectors, questionable genealogy research, and long-buried secrets. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more dangerous her investigation becomes, and someone is watching her every move. When the killer strikes again and evidence points in unexpected directions, Amanda must use all her librarian skills of research, documentation, and attention to detail to separate authentic history from elaborate forgeries created to support fraudulent claims.
In this gripping finale to the Tails Between the Shelves series, Amanda discovers that some legacies are built on lies, and that exposing the truth can be deadly when powerful people have everything to lose. With Penny's persistent detection skills leading to crucial evidence, a desperate confrontation that puts the entire library at risk, and revelations that shake Oakridge's founding families to their core, Amanda learns that being a guardian of authentic history sometimes means risking everything to protect the truth. Perfect for fans of bibliophile mysteries and stories about libraries as keepers of community memory, "Traced to Death" proves that even the most carefully constructed lies eventually crumble when confronted by a determined librarian, a fearless puppy, and an unwavering commitment to justice.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
As Amanda digs deeper into the shadowy world of historical document fraud, she discovers a conspiracy that stretches back over a century, involving forged property records, stolen land, and powerful families desperate to protect their reputations. With help from a coalition of affected families and a determined history teacher who'd been investigating the same fraud, Amanda must untangle a web of lies that connects prestigious collectors, questionable genealogy research, and long-buried secrets. But the closer she gets to the truth, the more dangerous her investigation becomes, and someone is watching her every move. When the killer strikes again and evidence points in unexpected directions, Amanda must use all her librarian skills of research, documentation, and attention to detail to separate authentic history from elaborate forgeries created to support fraudulent claims.
In this gripping finale to the Tails Between the Shelves series, Amanda discovers that some legacies are built on lies, and that exposing the truth can be deadly when powerful people have everything to lose. With Penny's persistent detection skills leading to crucial evidence, a desperate confrontation that puts the entire library at risk, and revelations that shake Oakridge's founding families to their core, Amanda learns that being a guardian of authentic history sometimes means risking everything to protect the truth. Perfect for fans of bibliophile mysteries and stories about libraries as keepers of community memory, "Traced to Death" proves that even the most carefully constructed lies eventually crumble when confronted by a determined librarian, a fearless puppy, and an unwavering commitment to justice.
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Used availability for Hailey Hartley's Traced to Death