Betrayal By the Book by Michael D. Beil is about a young girl who tries to solve a murder. Twelve year old Lark is excited about the upcoming writer’s conference. For a week, Swallowtail Island hosts the Swallowtales Writers Conference that brings writers, publishers, agents, and fellow book lovers together for exclusive book related content.
Lark is ecstatic when she is assigned to be a page for her favorite author, Ann E. Keyhart. Lark has devoured and re-read Ann’s book several times and Lark considers the book to be one of her favorites. Ann arrives on the island after agreeing at the last minute to do the conference. She brings her bubbly assistant, Didi, with her. However, Lark quickly learns what the saying means about never meeting your idols.
Lark tries to do her job as a page for Ann professionally but Lark can see why many people don’t like her. Ann is pushy, aggressive, and mean to everyone and always needs to get her way. Thus when Didi needs help finding a place on the island, Lark jumps at the chance to help Didi, while Ann gets ready to attend the conference. At least this way, Lark can get a small break from the author.
Didi takes Lark to a special place on the island where Didi decided she wanted to be a writer. The duo bond before Lark takes off to prepare for the conference. Later in the day, Lark is devastated to learn that Didi ends up dead. When the cause of her death is disclosed, Lark feels like something doesn’t add up.
Lark feels that someone else might have been the target instead. As Lark digs deeper into the case, a few things stand out to her, like Ann has tons of enemies and Didi’s computer vanishes from the hotel suite she was staying in. She also finds out that Didi had a glass bird that is very similar to the one Lark’s late mother had. Will Lark be able to figure out what happened to Didi?
This middle grade level book is the second in the series and can be read as a standalone. There is a wider mystery that connects the two books in the series, though. I found the book to be an entertaining read and it was fun trying to guess who was behind the murder and their motive. It was a bit predictable but I enjoyed reading along with Lark and her adventures.
However, the one thing I didn’t like was that the entire book had a lot of coincidences. For example, it just so happens the person that Lark was searching for was in the right area at the right time. Then Didi’s roommate, Suzy, just so happened to performing in the same location that Didi was. It would be fun if it happens once or so but, it was just too many coincidences for it to be realistic. If you liked the first book, then you would enjoy the next book in the series.
