Customer Reviews

The Bad Book Affair: A Mobile Library Mystery (Mobile Library Mysteries)

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The best part of this series of very funny mysteries-without-murder is how the characters really blossom over time so that over time Sansom challenges every stereotype in your head, while reinforcing them at the same time. Israel, the only Jewish vegetarian mobile librarian in Northern Ireland, bumbles through another human mystery. And it's a laugh a minute despite dealing with scandal, death, funerals, refugees, and censorship.

And there's always Ted, the man with the unnatural love for the mobile library's van.

If you haven't read a Mobile Library mystery yet, buy 'em all and start at the beginning. Soon, you may join me in checking weekly for word of the next book.

And if you have read the rest of the series, there's news of Gloria in this one that you won't wanna miss.

Mobile librarian Israel Armstrong reaches Tumdrum, in Northern Ireland to allow locals to borrow books. The next day, Israel is open for business thanks to his coop mate Ted's nagging. Fourteen year old Lyndsay Morris borrows an adult only Roth's American Pastoral that she knows her parents especially her politically ambitious father Maurice would ban from their home.

When Lyndsay disappears, the local cops and the media believe Israel abducted her. Library director Linda Wei holds Israel culpable for lending a bad book to a child. Tabloid journalist Veronica threatens to turn him into red meat for a pack of rapid reporters and Maurice goes after him as a tool to regain his lost political seat. His traveling partner in the chicken coop Ted throws him out into the cold suggesting he get to work.

If you seek a strong amateur sleuth, don't bother with the Bad Book Affair as the whodunit investigation is at best a modest proposal. However, if you seek a terrific satire that skewers the lofty affectations and posturing of political, media, and religious leaders by lampooning their holier than thou prejudices and sham social issues (for instance ban the book), than The Book Stops Here. Fans who enjoy a wild witty swift impaling of the self-aggrandizing will want to read the latest adventures of the innocent Israel.

Harriet Klausner

A mobile librarian in Northernmost Northern Ireland, who is Jewish and English, allows a fourteen year old daughter of a local politician to borrow Roth's American Pastoral and is accused of corrupting her mind and abducting her. That's about as much sex and suspense as you'll get. This isn't going to make you bite your nail and turn the pages wondering what will happen next, but turning the pages is well worth it for the humor and local color. The scenery and religion and atmosphere of Ulster are vividly brought to life. It's got a lot of parallels with the American Bible belt. There isn't a catholic in sight. The local Presbyterian minister is suspected of being too liberal.

I came upon Ian Sansom by shear accident. I was at a local bookstore, my hands full of books, when I lost my grip and books jumped out of my arms in all directions. While picking them up, my eye caught hold of the first Ian Sansom Mobile Library Mysteries, The Case of the Missing Books. I added it to my stack. That night, I decided to read this book first and I was hooked. Israel Armstrong has got to be the most pitiful and yet funniest character I have come across in ages. I read a lot of books - 3 to 4 a week. So, I have come across some really good ones and some really bad ones. Before I even finished this book I was online with Amazon ordering the rest of the series. The Bad Book Affair - #4 in the series - continues with the mishaps of this poor Irish librarian. If you are looking for a fun, colorful read with a hint of mystery - try this series. It is well written, will keep you engaged, and you will want more of Israel, his nutty friends, and employer.

I'm sitting on a park bench, in Brooklyn, with my dog, reading this book, and laughing out loud.

I was looking for a pleasant mystery to read while traveling--this wasn't it, no real mystery in it at all. It reminded me a little of the old BBC series "Father Ted"--filled with charming and bumbling Irish characters. Some of the writing was amusing, but the central character, a young depressive slacker,was not interesting enough to sustain my attention. Not much of a plot, a fairly aimless satire of provincial Northern Irish life.

I'm not a mystery fan -- the whole genre seems pretty pointless to me. This was lying around the house, a quick look inside indicated it was readable, so I picked it up. Glad I did, and I will be reading the rest of the series. If you're a hard core mystery fan, the characters overshadow the actual mystery. Sorry. Go reread Agatha Christie or wash the cat.

Reading this was sort of little vacation to an obscure corner of the countryside in Northern Ireland, a place I've never been, nor am I likely to visit. The author pokes gentle skewers into everyone. The general theme here is alienation -- a feeling of loneliness that everyone has from time to time. The author has a keen ear for dialog -- and the interactions between people have the ring of truth. The characters were interesting enough that I am looking forward to following them in future episodes.

Summary: Well written, worth a look.

This is the only book I've read from the Mobile Library Mystery Series. Frankly, if it were not a LibraryThing Early Reviewers book I would not have finished it.

There is no real mystery. The main character, Israel Armstrong, has some possibilities but unfortunately his character remains undeveloped until he eventually becomes a whiny, self-absorbed old man lamenting his approaching 30th birthday. Both Ted and Pearce were more interesting characters and at times made the book humorous.

A small point but what is annoyingly distracting is the author's occasionally odd placement of type and use of white space for no apparent reason and with no effect on the atmosphere or development of the story. Also, about once every page of dialogue the author has Israel say "Erm" at the beginning of a sentence. Again, a pointless distraction.

I was disappointed. The setting is charming, the characters have potential but sadly I was very glad when I read the last page.

I just received a copy of this work from amazon.com and am now reading it. I was a bookmobile librarian (mobile library) many years ago. Israel is one of my favorite characters.