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Book Reviewed by:It's the oldest bookshop in a town full of bookshops; rambling and disordered, full of treasures if you look hard. Jude found one of the treasures when she visited last summer, the high point of a miserable vacation. Now, in the depths of winter, when she has to run away, Lowell's chaotic bookshop in that backwater of a town is the safe place she runs to.
Jude needs a bolt-hole; Lowell needs an assistant and, when an affordable rental is thrown in too, life begins to look up. The gravedigger's cottage isn't perfect for a woman alone but at least she has quiet neighbors.
Quiet, but not silent. The long dead and the books they left behind both have tales to tell and the dusty rooms of the bookshop are not the haven they seem to be. Lowell's past and Jude's present are a dangerous cocktail of secrets and lies and someone is coming to light the taper that could destroy everything.
Because the novel is classified as suspense, readers will need to be careful not to become discouraged with its pace. The climax builds very slowly, but the last few chapters bring several surprises and answers to tidbits that seemed irrelevant at first mention. The ending is swift, and although the book takes a while to gain momentum, readers should stick it out.
While Quiet Neighbors does have some quirks, it is an engaging read that most will find worth their time and effort...continued
Full Review
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(Reviewed by Mollie Smith Waters).
Located in southwest Scotland in the Dumfries and Galloway district, Wigtown, the setting of Catriona McPherson's novel Quiet Neighbors, became Scotland's National Book Town in 1998. The Wigtown website touts it as: "A book lovers' haven…with over a quarter of a million books to choose from, old and new."
This claim to fame was very much planned. Wigtown's two main employers – a creamery and distillery – were closed in the earlier part of the 1990s, causing a depression. The hope was that the national search to decide Scotland's Book Town would land on Wigtown and help reinvigorate it. It did (land on it) and it did (reinvigorate it.) 
The town website lists many operating bookstores (with most selling new ...
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Charlaine Harris, #1 New York Times bestselling author
Quiet Neighbors drew me in from the very first page, and I stayed up late reading it because I couldn't wait to find out what happened next. That's the definition of a good book.
