Received from Net Galley, “A Thin, Dark Line” is a romantic suspense story (I don’t read too many of those!).

Eloise Carmichael is a small town librarian. She hires Cormac O’Malley as her handyman, however, there is one big hitch: Cormac is the town’s “bad guy”, having just returned from jail and serving time for murder. Eloise, however, knew Cormac as a child, and believes he is honestly good (though he is quite up front that he really did commit the murder).There is a lot of small town history/back story regarding Cormac’s mother and the town politicians. When Eloise starts to dig into the past, one of her former co-workers is found murdered at the library. The bodies begin to stack up, and fingers start to point at Cormac. Will Eloise’s faith in him be supported? Or will she be the next victim?

I enjoyed reading this novel, which I got as an ARC from Net Galley. I loved the character of Eloise and the relationship she had as a single woman with her best friend and her best friend’s children. Eloise and Cormac’s relationship built slowly and I appreciated that there weren’t glowing, romantic descriptions of them looking perfect. They weren’t perfect and they both knew it, and that made them all the more likable.

If you like romantic mysteries, then you will probably like “A Thin, Dark Line”. Thank you, Net Galley and The Writer’s Coffee Shop, for my copy!