The Plot and the Pendulum by Jenn McKinlay

The Plot and the Pendulum
by Jenn McKinlay

ISBN-13: 9780593101803
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: Berkley
Released: October 11, 2022

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Library director Lindsey Norris is happy to learn the Briar Creek Public Library is the beneficiary of the Dorchester family’s vast book collection. However, when Lindsey and the library staff arrive at the old Victorian estate to gather the books, things take a sinister turn. One of the bookcases reveals a secret passage, leading to a room where a skeleton is found next to an old copy of The Collected Works of Edgar Allan Poe.

Using the distinctive 80s era clothing worn by the deceased to determine a time frame, Lindsey discovers that Briar Creek has an unsolved missing person’s case from 1989. A runaway bride went missing just weeks after her wedding. No suspects were ever arrested and the cold case remains unsolved. Lindsey and the crafternoon crew decide that justice is overdue and set about solving the old murder mystery.


My Review:
The Plot and the Pendulum is a cozy mystery. It's the 13th in a series. You don't need to read the previous books to understand this one, and this book didn't spoil the whodunits of the previous mysteries.

The main characters were likable and interesting. Lindsey asked good questions and kept an eye out to spot clues. This was a clue-based mystery that can be guessed before the end. I guessed "whodunit" correctly yet was only partly right about how the murder occurred as we only had hints about how that happened. So probably not fully guessable until the final clue and confession. There were no sex scenes. There were only a few uses of bad language. Overall, I'd recommend this enjoyable novel.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.