The Catalogued Corpse By D.S. Lang -- Book Review

The Catalogued Corpse by D.S. Lang is an amazing start to a new series set in a small town in 1920s America. It follows a librarian, Doro who is soon nicknamed 'Armchair Detective' by her sleuthing partner Officer Everett Mallow, much to her dismay. The murder of Hemet Corlon happens on the campus of Michaw College and Doro finding the body doesn't do her any favors as she already rubs with the administrators of the college the wrong way because of her gender. And calling in the death of her work enemy couldn’t make the situation any worse. To top it off, the President insists on making the newly hired campus security guard incharge of finding the killer, even when Doro believes her friend Wade Lammers, the town constable, would be the better choice.

I just love books that have passionate librarians. And librarians who finally get to live their dream of solving a mystery? I already love it!! The first four chapters took their time to introduce Doro’s history with the college, her friend and book-sleuthing partner Aggie and the backward mindset of the heads of the college. But after that, I devoured the book in one sitting. Doro and Everett’s friendship had a very rocky start mostly because he was hired by the four men she despised the most so, she thought that this would force him to solve the crime - not to catch the killer, but to just please them. In addition to this, Doro was a suspect in the case and the missing trust didn't work any favors for their friendship. But as things went on and our headstrong librarian did what her books taught her - collect information quietly, find the evidence and clear oneself of the charge - she proved to be a good partner for solving the case. They started working together and she sees a side of him she didn't notice under the arrogance that rolled off him on their first meeting.

This book is a great package of mystery, finding new friendships and doing away with the old, boring mindsets of women being lesser than men. All in all, I do think the mystery was simpler as compared to other books I’ve read, but this book came to me when I was tired of studying and just wanted a simple, cozy mystery book with chemistry between the male and female lead. So, for me, it was a great book and I would love to continue reading the series. I loved it and I can’t wait till December when the next installment of the series will be published.