BOOK REVIEW: The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner

The Village Library Demon-Hunting Society by C.M. Waggoner is a delightfully wacky murder mystery. It begins as a garden-variety cozy mystery. Sherry Pinkwhistle is a middle-aged librarian in a small town in upstate New York. She lives alone, has a close friend, a new friend, and an across-the-street neighbor that she looks in on. She has an almost boyfriend, a sweet middle-aged man who owns an antique shop. And, she solves murder mysteries.

There has been an uncannily high number of murders in their small town. Sherry has helped the local sheriff to solve them. She has a knack for it and, although he grumbles about her involvement, he accepts her help (and takes the credit).

A local art gallery owner is murdered—the cheating husband of Sherry’s new friend. Sherry gathers the clues (which are very conveniently strewn in her

path) and solves the mystery pretty quickly. She’s pleased with herself. As a reader, I’m wondering where this is all going. It’s a little too cozy. And Sherry is dizzy and funny, but...

And then her almost-boyfriend is killed. And everything flies off the rails.

There is a demon in her town, orchestrating the murders. And Sherry has to solve them to entertain the demon. A cast of characters help and hinder her: the sheriff who is intermittently possessed, the handsome, very young, very earnest new priest and his evil twin, as well as the dead boyfriend’s family. If this all isn’t enough, Sherry is hiding a crime in her own past.

The whole story is implausible (obviously), yet Sherry pulls it together to solve her boyfriend’s murder in conventional detective fashion. The trouble is, what will the demon do when Sherry wants the fun and games to stop?

BOOK REVIEW: A Holiday by Gaslight: A Victorian Christmas Novella by Mimi Matthews

I don’t generally read novellas, or seasonally-themed stories, but I love Mimi Matthews’ books so I read A Holiday by Gaslight: A Victorian Christmas novella.

Sophie Appersett is the older daughter of an impoverished baron, impoverished because of his passion for the renovation and innovation of his country home (among other extravagances.) In order to install gaslights in the house, he spent Sophie’s dowry. And he’s entirely unrepentant.

Sophie’s younger sister is just as impulsive and selfish as their father. She wears all the latest fashions, while Sophie and their mother content themselves with patched-up, made-over clothes. Sophie is resigned to this, but less resigned to the fact that she is supposed to marry for money to pay off the family’s debts. She is being courted by a wealthy, educated, manufactory owner, Edward Sharpe, but he is so cold and dull she breaks off the courtship.

Edward Sharpe is not as cold as he appears. Rather, he is truly smitten by Sophie, so much so that he has been following to the letter the advice in a book on gentlemanly behavior. When she breaks with him, he is hurt and peeved.

But Sophie has second thoughts. Not only because her father and sister are furious with her, but also because she thinks she didn’t give Edward a fair chance. She realizes they don’t know each other at all. 

The Appersetts are returning to their country home for a big Christmas celebration. Edward had been invited, and Sophie urges him to come despite their breakup. If he will talk to her, let her get to know him and him to know her, they might have a chance after all.

If you’re looking for a short and sweet holiday romance, this is a charming love story with likeable protagonists and a thoroughly happy ending.

BOOK REVIEW: Daniel Coit Gilman and the Birth of the American Research University by Michael T. Benson

Something completely different!

I have an interest in the early history of Johns Hopkins University and Hospital (which will be on display in my forthcoming historical novel, Till Taught by Pain, to be published by Regal House in November, 2025). I’m also interested in early U.S. university presidents (such as Robert M. Hutchins, a character in my work-in-progress). So I knew I had to read this biography of the first president of Johns Hopkins, who helped build the university, medical school, and hospital from scratch. The author gave a talk at our local library, which made me even more determined. However, it took two long car rides back and forth to my sister’s house for Thanksgiving before I finally moved it to the top of my TBR pile and read it.

Daniel Coit Gilman and the Birth of the American Research University by Michael T. Benson is an interesting account of Gilman’s life. It centers on his work, without touching upon his private life except to mention that he was married, widowered, remarried, and had two daughters. 

Born in 1831, Gilman devoted his life to the study of education, utilizing (as a young man) a position as an attaché to the ambassador to Russia to tour Europe and Russia and investigate universities there. His interest always seemed to lie more with administration than with teaching. He returned to various positions at Yale before being hired as the president of the University of California as it was getting started. (There is an analysis of the Morrill Act, the government program of land grants for education purposes; both Yale and the University of California made use of such grants.) Although Gilman accomplished a good deal in California, it wasn’t a great fit. (Disgruntled faculty members caused some problems.)

Back in the east, in Baltimore, the Trustees of the board administering the bequests of railroad tycoon Johns Hopkins were tasked with founding a new university. They took their responsibility seriously. Interviewing other educators and university presidents provided the unanimous recommendation of Gilman to head up this new endeavor. Gilman was promised almost complete control over building a true research-oriented university from the ground up. It was an opportunity he couldn’t resist.

This new biography delves into the nitty-gritty of Gilman’s process, the vision he had and the men he hired to bring his vision to life. It goes beyond the founding of Johns Hopkins. Gilman had his finger in many pies, all related to education.

It’s not an adventure-filled story, or even one rife with conflict, but it does bring notice back to the life of this remarkable man. It also shows the reader something of the state of higher education in the mid-to-late eighteen hundreds and the central role of Johns Hopkins University as a premier example of what academic research could become in the U.S.