Monday 3 August 2020

Burglary at Barnard (Oxford Key Mysteries #2) by Lynn Morrison


Burglary at Barnard (Oxford Key Mysteries #2)
A dead body buried under a pile of ageing manuscripts. A secret chamber filled with a treasure-trove of books and paintings.

Nat returns to Oxford in January, this time based out of the historic halls of Barnard College. When she agrees to meet Mathilde in the college archives after hours, they hope to find information on the magic. They don’t expect to find a hidden chamber or stumble across another dead body.

Nat is scrambling to figure out if this is a crime of passion, a case of wrong place and wrong time, or whether something larger is a foot. Meanwhile, Mathilde and Kate are searching the hidden chamber for information on the magic’s origin. The last thing they need is Edward snooping around, wondering how the prefects are connected.

Can Nat satisfy Edward’s curiosity without revealing the existence of Oxford’s magic?

Can the prefects figure out how to restore Oxford’s magical border before someone else dies?
   (Summary via Goodreads)



Burglary at Barnard is the second book in the Oxford Key Mystery series by Lynn Morrison and I really, really, really want to spill the beans and tell you about a HUGE part of the story but if I do that , it will totally ruin reading the book and I am not like that.  But believe me when I say that I am biting my tongue as I type up my thoughts.

In Burglary at Barnard main character Natalie Payne doesn't even unpack her suitcase after returning from the holidays before meeting up with friend Mathilde where they stumble across a dead body.  They had planned to meet up in the archives in the  library to start looking into why they are having trouble with the magic that is within Oxford.  Nat, Mathilde and Kate work at the college and all have important "jobs" as prefects who can see all the magic within the walls and grounds of Oxford.  In the first book in this series, Murder at St. Margaret, they learn that there is a problem with the magic and they need to find out why that is.  That is why Nat and Mathilde are meeting at the library at night before the colleges re-open for the new semester.  Unfortunately finding the body of Barnard's Master's assistant and a secret chamber changes all their plans.

Luckily they are able to get assigned to catalog the contents in the hidden chamber which allows them to also look into the problem with the magic.  Unfortunately, Master Finch-Byron takes control over the murder investigation and assigns it to Edward Thomas who happens to be Nat's upstairs neighbor who she has a crush on and who she worked with on the previous case however him looking into the murder could cause complications for the women.

I am a huge fan of this series and if you are a Harry Potter fan, this is a must read for you,  I know I said it when I reviewed the first book but it bears saying again.   Harry Potter fans and any fans of magical books will love this series.  And each book draws the reader further into the story and the magic and with the explosive events that I really, really, really want to tell you about but can't you won't want the story to end.  I am already looking forward to the next book, Arson at the Ashmolean....especially with the last line in Burglary at Barnard.


Review by Missi M.





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