Eva Gates
Eva Gates has published 13 books. The recommended reading order starts with Booked for Trouble (2015).
Eva Gates is a Canadian author who writes the Lighthouse Library Mystery series. This series is written under a pen name by Vicki Delany, a versatile writer known for her work in cozy mysteries, police procedurals, and historical fiction. Delany began her writing career by dedicating her weekends to writing while working full-time as a computer programmer. As her children grew, she dedicated more time to writing and eventually retired from programming to focus on her literary career. Under the Eva Gates pseudonym, she writes the Lighthouse Library cozy series for Crooked Lane Books, which has achieved national bestseller status. Her broader work as Vicki Delany demonstrates a wide range of skill within the mystery genre and beyond.
Shelf & Shadows
Order of Lighthouse Library Mystery Books
- TagscrimemysteryDescriptionLucy Richardson loves her quiet life at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library. Beach walks, book club, the library cat, and attention from two men–it’s bliss. But her socialite mother, Suzanne, arrives with a plan: move Lucy back to Boston and reunite her with her ex. The tension escalates when Suzanne has a very public fight with her former classmate, Karen Kivas. The next morning, Karen is found dead outside the library. Suzanne is the prime suspect. Now Lucy must find the real killer before her mother is locked away.Publication dateSeptember 1, 2015Amazon rating4.4/5Print length304LanguageEnglishPublisherBerkley
- TagscrimemysteryDescriptionTen years poring over rare tomes at Harvard have left Lucy weary of the demands of her family’s social life and a stifling engagement. When her long-term relationship implodes, she recognizes her own life’s plot needs a serious rewrite. A retreat to the Outer Banks offers solace, with sunshine and confections from her cousin Josie’s bakery. But an unexpected opportunity arises when her Aunt Ellen draws her into the unique lighthouse library on Bodie Island. Thrilled to find a librarian position in her favorite place, Lucy’s new beginning is shattered when a priceless first edition Jane Austen novel vanishes and the library board chair is murdered. Suddenly, Lucy is ensnared in a real-life mystery, far removed from the quiet comfort of books, and she’s not sure if this chapter will have a happy ending.Publication dateFebruary 3, 2015Amazon rating4.3/5Print length352LanguageEnglishPublisherBerkley
- TagscrimemysteryDescriptionMisfortune blows into North Carolina’s Outer Banks when a dead body on the shore leaves local librarian Lucy Richardson racing to solve a strange new mystery. After a successful party at Bodie Island’s Lighthouse Library, Lucy is ready for some rest with her cat, Charles, and a good book. But her relaxation is cut short when she notices mysterious lights leading a small boat to crash on the coast. The two seafarers survive, but one turns up dead a few days later. Lucy is roped into a murder investigation, navigating a sea of suspects who all had motives to deep-six the deceased. And this time, she has a sinking feeling that finding the real killer won’t be so easy.Publication dateApril 5, 2016Amazon rating4.5/5Print length336LanguageEnglishPublisherBerkley
- TagsmysteryDescriptionHalloween in North Carolina’s Outer Banks takes a sinister turn for librarian Lucy Richardson when a dead body is discovered in the rare books section of the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library. Wealthy businessman Jay Ruddle, who was considering donating his valuable collection of historical documents, becomes the victim during a lecture on ghostly legends. Now, Lucy and her colleagues must trade their Dewey Decimal knowledge for detective skills to unmask the killer. As Lucy navigates the investigation, the library itself seems to come alive with unsettling occurrences: spectral horses appear in the marsh, lights flicker with an eerie sentience, and a model ship’s crew seems to move on its own. With the spooky atmosphere of Halloween and the legend of Sleepy Hollow on everyone’s minds, Lucy must distinguish fact from fright to solve this wicked homicide before the haunting truly begins.Publication dateJune 12, 2018Amazon rating4.5/5Print length320LanguageEnglishPublisherCrooked Lane Books
- TagsmysteryDescriptionThe Bodie Island Lighthouse Library is digging into its foundations, and librarian Lucy Richardson unearths a battered tin box. Inside: a Civil War-era diary, a hand-drawn map of the Outer Banks, and a page of indecipherable code. The find causes a stir, but the excitement turns to horror when Jeremy Hughes, a member of the historical society, is found dead in the library. The map and coded page are gone. Lucy's nemesis confesses to being in the library, but denies involvement. When Lucy learns a fellow librarian had a past with Jeremy, she's drawn into the investigation. As the community obsesses over cracking the code, a second break-in makes it clear someone else is desperate to solve it, too. If Lucy can't crack the code first, she may end up read and buried.Publication dateOctober 15, 2019Amazon rating4.6/5Print length320LanguageEnglishPublisherCrooked Lane Books
- TagsmysteryDescriptionWinter on the Outer Banks. Lucy Richardson and her friends are helping her favorite cousin, Josie, plan her wedding. Josie wants simple. Her grandmother Gloria and her entourage, the "Louisiana Mafia," want grand. Cousin Mirabelle has her own lavish plans and eyes Josie's fiancé. To ease tensions, Lucy hosts a bridal shower at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library. But the celebration turns deadly when Mirabelle collapses after eating Josie's treats. Now, Josie is the prime suspect. Lucy must unmask the real killer before her cousin is sent to prison for life.Publication dateMarch 13, 2019Amazon rating4.6/5Print length336LanguageEnglishPublisherCrooked Lane Books
- TagsmysteryDescriptionSummertime in the Outer Banks. At the Lighthouse Library's opening reception for a college reunion, librarian Lucy Richardson and her colleagues display an exhibit on the evolution of libraries. After the event, a walk on the boardwalk leads to a grim discovery: the former director of the Lighthouse Library, floating lifeless in the water. Helena Sanchez was not well-liked, having been rude to nearly everyone at the party. Now, Lucy finds herself in deep water, questioning suspects. She must uncover the truth before she is left high and dry, caught in the killer's crosshairs.Publication dateOctober 6, 2020Amazon rating4.7/5Print length372LanguageEnglishPublisherCrooked Lane Books
- TagsmysteryDescriptionLucy Richardson’s wedding is on the line. Her former almost-fiancé, Richard Eric Lewiston III, and his overbearing mother, Evangeline, arrive uninvited. Evangeline’s mission: reunite Lucy and Ricky. Lucy, however, is engaged to Connor McNeil and has no interest. Evangeline hosts a dinner party to force the issue. But the evening takes a deadly turn when a body is discovered at the restaurant’s kitchen door. Now, Lucy must unwillingly don her detective hat. She needs to find a killer to save her family and her engagement before the wedding date passes. Meanwhile, a canine invasion threatens the Lighthouse Library, sparking a feud between a new dog and the resident cat.Publication dateMay 11, 2021Amazon rating4.7/5Print length298LanguageEnglishPublisherCrooked Lane Books
- TagsmysteryDescriptionSpring has sprung in the Outer Banks, and librarian Lucy has finally moved into her new historic cottage on Nags Head Beach with Connor. While she's happily immersed in her work at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library, planning her wedding, and decorating their fixer-upper, a dead body disrupts their peaceful new abode. The house, with its unfinished rooms and unsettling noises, already carries whispers of the past, including the tale of a teenage daughter who fled forty years ago and never returned. But the unsettling sounds turn out to have a very human, and deadly, origin. When Lucy and Connor discover an unknown dead man in their kitchen, they learn he has a long-standing connection to their home. Lucy finds herself compelled to uncover what happened decades ago, a mystery that now threatens her present happiness. As her Classic Novel Reading Club delves into Nathaniel Hawthorne's The House of the Seven Gables, a tale of another old house steeped in secrets, Lucy must search for parallels that might help her unravel the truth before the killer strikes again.Publication dateJune 7, 2022Amazon rating4.6/5Print length280LanguageEnglishPublisherCrooked Lane Books
- TagscrimemysteryDescriptionLibrarian Lucy's Outer Banks wedding is almost perfect, a beautiful day with good food and happy guests. But the celebration takes a dark turn when one guest goes missing, and then another wedding guest is discovered strangled in a locked closet. The police are already questioning Bertie James's friend, Eddie, who also never returned home after the reception. Lucy must unravel the connection between the missing guest and the murder before the killer strikes again. With her Classic Novel Reading Club delving into the works of Edgar Allan Poe, can Lucy find inspiration in the master of the macabre to solve a real-life mystery, or will the killer’s identity remain elusive?Publication dateJune 6, 2023Amazon rating4.6/5Print length272LanguageEnglishPublisherCrooked Lane Books
- TagsmysteryDescriptionWhen a traveling show of impressionist art arrives in Nags Head, librarian Lucy and her colleagues at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library create their own display inspired by the exhibition. But the morning after their successful launch, a reproduction of a famous painting is discovered missing. The original is secured at the art show, and the stolen copy holds no value. As Lucy attends the show's opening night, she senses unease among the organizers. The planned welcoming speaker never appears, and a guest is found drowned. Adding to the intrigue, a charming art dealer named Tom Reilly, who has captivated Louise Jane, disappears from the reception, and the police can’t find him. Lucy must uncover the truth behind the missing painting and the suspicious death before the situation escalates beyond the canvas.Publication dateJune 4, 2024Amazon rating4.6/5Print length297LanguageEnglishPublisherCrooked Lane Books
- TagscrimemysteryDescriptionThe salt-laced air of the Outer Banks usually carries only the cries of gulls and the crash of waves, but the upcoming YA book festival at the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library promises a different kind of storm. Authors from across the globe are descending, yet it’s the unexpected, private visit from author Todd Harrison to librarian Lucy McNeil’s beach house that raises the first questions. When Lucy steps away for mere minutes to fetch a drink, she returns to find Harrison murdered on her deck. Puzzled by his clandestine meeting and the impossible speed of the crime, Lucy finds herself drawn into the investigation. Her determination intensifies with the arrival of Harrison’s widow, Heather, whose grief seems secondary to her ambition. Heather plans to exploit her husband’s death to launch a senatorial campaign, and Lucy, along with the local police, is her immediate target. Amidst a clamoring fan club, authors jockeying for position in the wake of Harrison’s demise, and a widow wielding political ambition like a weapon, Lucy must uncover the truth. She needs to catch a killer before the final page is turned on justice.Publication dateMay 6, 2025Amazon rating4.6/5Print length278LanguageEnglishPublisherCrooked Lane Books
- TagscrimemysteryDescriptionA dead body lies on the front steps of the Bodie Island Lighthouse Library on new librarian Nichelle Gilchrest’s first day. The victim bears a shocking resemblance to her father, who vanished thirty-eight years ago on a fishing trip. Fingerprints confirm the dead man is indeed her father, living under an assumed name and preying on lonely women for money. As Detective Rhonda Thomas investigates, the suspect list grows, and Nichelle discovers her own brother was in town days before the murder and lied about his whereabouts. Hoping to clear his name, Nichelle dives into the mystery, with a seasoned sleuth offering gentle encouragement for the amateur investigator. But her first week on the job is shaping up to be far more dangerous than she ever imagined.Publication dateJune 9, 2026Amazon rating4.5/5Print length304LanguageEnglishPublisherCrooked Lane Books
Frequently Asked Questions about Eva Gates
The Lighthouse Library Mystery series should be read in publication order to best follow the character development and overarching plotlines. The first book is Booked for Trouble, published in 2015. Subsequent books in the series include By Book or By Crook (2015), Reading Up a Storm (2016), The Spook in the Stacks (2018), and Read and Buried (2019), with more titles continuing the sequence. Following this order allows readers to fully appreciate the progression of the mysteries and the lives of the characters within the library setting.
A good starting point for Eva Gates's books is the first novel in the Lighthouse Library Mystery series, Booked for Trouble, released in 2015. This book introduces readers to the protagonist, a librarian named Lucy, and the cozy setting of the Posy Petal Inn, which houses a secret library. By beginning with the first installment, readers can immerse themselves in the series's established world and characters, understanding the foundational elements of the ongoing narrative. It sets the stage for the subsequent mysteries.
While it is possible to read some books in the Lighthouse Library Mystery series as standalones, it is recommended to read them in publication order. The series features a continuing storyline and character arcs that develop over time. Reading them out of order may lead to confusion regarding plot points and character relationships. The first book, Booked for Trouble, establishes the core elements of the series, and subsequent novels build upon this foundation, making chronological reading the most rewarding experience.
Eva Gates primarily writes series fiction. The most well-known is the Lighthouse Library Mystery series, a collection of cozy mysteries featuring a librarian protagonist. While this author, writing as Eva Gates, focuses on series, the broader writing career of the individual behind the pseudonym, Vicki Delany, includes standalone novels and other series within the mystery genre. However, for Eva Gates specifically, the output is consistently within a series format.
As Eva Gates, the author has written at least thirteen books in the Lighthouse Library Mystery series. The series began in 2015 with Booked for Trouble and has continued with numerous installments. The exact total number of books can fluctuate as new titles are released. This series forms the core of the Eva Gates bibliography, with each book contributing to the ongoing narrative and character development within the established mystery framework.
The first book written by Eva Gates is Booked for Trouble, published in 2015. This novel launched the Lighthouse Library Mystery series. It introduces readers to the protagonist, Lucy, a librarian who finds herself embroiled in a murder mystery. The book sets the tone and introduces the cozy mystery elements that define the series, including a charming setting and a puzzle to solve. Booked for Trouble is the entry point into the world Eva Gates has created.
The most recent book by Eva Gates is the thirteenth installment in the Lighthouse Library Mystery series, titled Ebook Edition, which was published in October 2023. This novel continues the adventures of Lucy, the librarian protagonist, as she navigates another mysterious death within the cozy setting of the library. The series remains active, with new entries contributing to the ongoing narrative and the development of its characters and plotlines.
Eva Gates writes cozy mysteries. These books are characterized by a lighthearted tone, a focus on puzzles and deduction rather than graphic violence, and often feature amateur sleuths in charming settings. The Lighthouse Library Mystery series, written under this name, is a prime example, often involving a library or book-related themes. The author behind Eva Gates, Vicki Delany, also writes police procedurals and historical fiction under her own name.
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Dorothy St. James
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We verified the reading order for Eva Gates's books by cross-referencing official publication dates, ISBN databases, and publisher catalogs.
Last verified: July 2026
Shelf & Shadows. (…). “Eva Gates Books in Order.” Retrieved …, from https://www.shelfandshadows.com/authors/eva-gates