Review: By the Book by Gregory Ashe

Title: By the Book

Series: The Last Picks: Book Seven

Author: Gregory Ashe

Length: 241 Pages

Category: Cozy Mystery

Rating: 4 Stars

At a Glance: This Last Picks installment may feel like yet another crazy, cozy caper with Dash and company. It’s a little more, though. It’s a turning-point in some important relationships, and being brave enough to take some risks.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: A stolen book. A desperate killer. And two very meddlesome parents.

Dashiell Dawson Dane might have a problem. It’s not a huge problem. In fact, all things considered, life is good—he’s got a wonderful boyfriend, fantastic friends, and a home where he’s genuinely happy, maybe for the first time ever. He’s even writing regularly. (Okay, mostly regularly.)

There is, however, the teensiest issue with money—in that, he doesn’t have any.

And it turns out Dash isn’t the only one strapped for cash. The Hastings Rock Public Library has recently been defunded by the mayor and the city council, and the town is in an uproar.

To keep the library open, Dash hosts a charity auction at Hemlock House. But disaster strikes when an exceptionally valuable book is stolen before the fundraiser can begin. And when Dash finds the mayor dead—and Hastings Rock’s head librarian refuses to provide an alibi—he quickly becomes tangled in yet another murder investigation.

How could things get any worse?

Oh. Right.

A surprise visit from his parents.

Review: Despite his creative lulls, Dash Dane can unravel clues and solve a case like he was born to it, even if it’s more like bumbling into the clues, sometimes. (Hey, it’s the results that count.) And this installment in the Last Picks series is where we learn a lesson in “Those who can’t do, write” from Dash’s parents. Meeting them in By the Book explains some things . . .

The mystery of a stolen book and the murder that accompanies its disappearance is not without personal revelations for those involved in the investigation. For one, Dash’s parents finally listen to him and finally see that he’s not in need of their coddling, even if well-intentioned. For Dash and Bobby, it means communication and striking a balance between Dash’s urge to solve every case and Bobby’s desire to keep Dash safe. The life lessons you can learn while trying to catch a cold-blooded killer, who knew?

One of my favorite parts of this series is Dash teaching readers the various plot devices that are integral to a successful mystery, which end up making this a successful mystery. The meta-ness is abundant, folks. It’s also pretty comical that Dash knows how to write a good mystery, but he just can’t seem to force himself to do it all that often. But, as it turns out, it’s forcing himself to conform that’s the problem.

This Last Picks installment may feel like yet another crazy, cozy caper with Dash and company. It’s a little more, though, and that’s where Dash’s conversation with his mom at the end strikes a particular chord. Is Dash going to take a risk and invent a new genre mashup despite the risk of failure? If it means Gregory Ashe giving himself creative freedom to do it, Dash definitely will.