Hooray for Libraries and Librarians!
Sit with me and relax over a cup of coffee. Let’s talk about being thankful for Libraries and Librarians.
Libraries have a special place in my heart. When I was growing up in rural Minnesota, our library consisted of three bookcases in the front office of the Wheaton Gazette. It was a self-service checkout. I spent hours with those books, fascinated by what they might contain. I haunted the library enough that I was asked to keep the shelves in order and put the returned books back. I thought that made me a librarian. Little did I know the job of real librarians.
Since most of the books at the Gazette were for adults, I was lost for the summer when the school library was closed. The exception was the two weeks when I visited my grandmother in St. James, Minnesota. Not only did they have a city library, but they also had a county library. Using my grandmother’s library card, I became acquainted with Mary Norton’s The Borrowers, Walter Farley’s The Black Stallion, and Rachel Field’s Hitty: Her First Hundred Years. Hitty was a wooden doll who narrated her story. I took that book to heart, and when I got back home, I sat down to write a book narrated by a puppy. (Sadly, I Take Pen in Paw is lost to history.)
Libraries and librarians are under siege right now. I’ve read that in some places, librarians have been threatened and fired from their jobs for refusing to ban books. In Washington State, a small community library was nearly shuttered when a group of people who didn’t like the books on the shelf organized a petition to close it. Fortunately, community library supporters sued, and the library remains open. Still, it saddens me that a child like I was might have to live in a library desert.
Remembering my days at the Wheaton Gazette library, in 2019, we dedicated a neighborhood Little Free Library. Though I have since moved, it is being well cared for by the neighbor. Whenever I visit, I make sure to add a book or two.
The Secret of Ravens Valley
The Secret of Ravens Valley is dedicated to librarians everywhere. The story finds Liza and Mrs. Wilkens in a small farming town where a group is trying to keep books off the shelf. And where the librarian who is fighting them is suddenly found dead. They discover a community cloaked in fear and a murder to solve.
Thank you, Lori Robbins, Amazon bestselling author of the award-winning On Pointe and Master Class mystery series, for your review!
"The Secret of Ravens Valley owes much of its appeal to the way author Linda Norlander uses a trio of suspenseful narrative threads to power the central mystery: a librarian’s suspicious death. Book bans, corporate greed, and a corrupt police department each play a role in the escalating tension, but it’s the finely drawn characters who bring all of those to life. Thirty-something Liza Johnson and eighty-four-year-old Mrs. Wilkins are the amateur sleuths who investigate murder, arson, and more in Ravens Valley, but they’re helped by a raft of vividly realized allies and convincingly menacing opponents.
Perhaps the most unexpected source of help comes from Liza’s long-deceased sister, who whispers ghostly advice and plays a central role in several of the laugh-out-loud scenes. Goldie, Liza’s cat, is also on hand to provide comic relief in a novel that expertly handles explosive elements that converge in a memorable climactic scene.
The conclusion does what the best ones do: provide a satisfying ending as well as whet the reader's appetite for another installment of this excellent series."
Coming up! Third Place Books Author Event
My friend and fellow author Carol J Williams and I will be reading and signing books on June 1st, 7:00 PM at Third Place Books in Lake Forest Park, Washington. Carol and I were in the same writer’s group and will be talking about our experiences as we worked on our books. We’re calling it “History and Mystery.” Carol’s book is about a journalist stationed in Moscow at the time of Chornobyl. I will be talking about What the Fields Saw, a Sheriff Red mystery that involves a sixtieth class reunion and the secret the class held.
More to Come!
Another Sheriff Red Mystery, Only the River Knows, is scheduled for publication on September 22nd, 2026, and is available for pre-order.
A murder in the wings. A cold case resurrected. And a killer ready for an encore.
The curtain rises on Lykkins Lake’s community theater production of The Music Man—but the show turns deadly before the first line is spoken. During auditions, director Amanda Brodie spots someone on stage and bolts in fear. The next morning, her body surfaces in the dark waters beneath an abandoned railroad bridge.
Word of Mouth
Telling your friends about a book is one of the best ways of supporting an author. If you like my books, feel free to spread the word. Yes, and remember to write a review. Stars are appreciated.
Have a wonderful spring filled with great books!
Linda