September Book Club: Books, Betrayal & Blame by Sally Bayless
Books, Betrayal & Blame by Sally Bayless (Dogwood Springs Cozy Mystery #8)
Full disclosure up front: Sally Bayless is my friend in real life, and I know how much thought and care she puts into every book she writes. That said, I’m not recommending this because I like her. I’m recommending it because it’s good.
Libby Ballard is the director of the museum in the small town of Dogwood Springs, currently in the happy chaos of planning her wedding to Sam, with her golden retriever Bella as loyal sidekick and general emotional support animal. Life is good.
Then a rare original manuscript is set to be donated to the local library (the library, not the museum), and Libby, because she is a gracious professional, shows up to support her colleagues across town. She may have had some opinions about where a valuable historical manuscript really belongs. She was keeping those opinions mostly to herself.
Then the donor is murdered, and Libby’s professional grievances become suddenly, embarrassingly irrelevant. Dodged that one.
With a limited number of people present at the library event, the investigation has that satisfying locked-room quality even without an actual locked room. Libby and her circle of friends dig in, follow leads, hit dead ends, and eventually work it out. Meanwhile she and Sam are also tracking down a separate historical mystery and trying to plan a wedding. The book layers all of this without losing the thread, which is harder than it sounds.
Bella the golden retriever is, as always, excellent.
This is book eight in the series, and yes, I recommended book one a while back (here). You should read them all because it would be a fun way to spend a week of binge reading and these characters are worth the investment. But if your to-be-read list is anything like mine, you have my permission to skip ahead. This mystery is self-contained and you won’t be lost if it’s your first visit to Dogwood Springs.
You’ll be in very capable hands.
Kelly Brakenhoff is the author of 17 books and a seasoned ASL interpreter. She splits her writing energy between two series: cozy mysteries set on a college campus and children’s books featuring Duke the Deaf Dog.
In 2025, two of her children’s books were selected for the CBC Favorites Award Lists, honored by teachers and librarians nationwide for excellence in children’s literature. Parents, kids, and educators love the Duke the Deaf Dog books and activity guides because they introduce ASL and the Deaf community through engaging stories.
And if you enjoy a smart female sleuth, want to learn more about Deaf culture, or have lived in a place where livestock outnumber people, the Cassandra Sato Mystery series will have you connecting the dots faster than a group project thrown together the night before it’s due.
A proud mom to four adults, head of the dog-snuggling department, and grandma to a growing brood of perfectly behaved grandkids, Kelly and her husband call Nebraska home.