Customer Reviews

Mr. Dixon Disappears (Mobile Library Mysteries)

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

 

 

Sansom, who lives in Northern Ireland, is a writer and reviewer for the Guardian and the London Review of Books. He is the author of The Impartial Recorder (published in England as the Ring Road), and The Case of the Missing Books, the first in the Mobile Library mysteries.

Poor Israel Armstrong arrives early at the Dixon and Pickering store on Easter Saturday and is let in by security guard to set up his exhibit on the history of the store. In inimitable Armstrong style, he of course sets up the display and then backs into a glass display case that crashes into another... you get the picture.

The caretaker shows up pale and shocked, and stammers out that they've been robbed-and Mr. Dixon is missing. Once the police arrive they decide that since Israel is there, and his fingerprints are all over everything, he must be guilty. He is interrogated and arrested. He is a wreck of nerves when he is finally bailed out; and he realizes he must find out what happened. The police certainly won't.

He has to rely on his old pal Ted and his cab service, unfortunately, as he has been put on suspension and has no access to the library van. Ted and Israel stumble around, and during their investigation they trip across clues that lead them to a solution-of sorts. It seems Mr. Dixon was a member of a local magician's society. How did he make himself and 100,000 pounds in cash disappear? His wife and daughter appear only slightly worried. His son, a shock-jock talk show host on Belfast morning radio, is estranged from his father but inadvertently provides a clue.

Sansom has created a zany tale of a careening search through Ireland featuring the somewhat hapless librarian Israel, struggling to survive in an alien land.

Armchair Interviews says: A mystery with lots of interesting characters.

Another good book of the life of the librarian. It is interesting to read of his mishaps and sometimes unbelievable things that happen to him. (who would agree to live in a chicken coop) I am glad I am not this poor guy. He just keeps plugging along and some how, some way he comes out on top.

This tale of a nice Jewish librarian valiantly trying to be a good librarian in a totally new environment (to him) has both humor and pathos in it. The small community he is trying the serve both likes him and sees him as an outsider. This is the second in the series. Darn good!

This book was my first exposure to Ian Sansom, and I head read fewer than forty pages when I vowed to read everything Mr Sansom has written. The writing has such style and humor that I could imagine finishing the entire 253-page novel in two hours. Unfortunately, though, the plot kicked in, and I grew disenchanted.

Mobile librarian Israel Armstrong is at a department store setting up a display on the history of the store when a robbery and apparent kidnapping are uncovered. Before he knows it, Israel is in jail, apparently the prime suspect in the crime. It was at this point that the novel lost steam for me. The police seemed cartoonish, and the situation was absurd. I recognized that there is deliberate humor here, but I thought some of the situations lapsed into farce. Ionesco this is not.

I did finish the book and mostly enjoyed it, but I did so with the sense that there could have been so much more here.

This book was my first exposure to Ian Sansom, and I head read fewer than forty pages when I vowed to read everything Mr Sansom has written. The writing has such style and humor that I could imagine finishing the entire 253-page novel in two hours. Unfortunately, though, the plot kicked in, and I grew disenchanted.

Mobile librarian Israel Armstrong is at a department store setting up a display on the history of the store when a robbery and apparent kidnapping are uncovered. Before he knows it, Israel is in jail, apparently the prime suspect in the crime. It was at this point that the novel lost steam for me. The police seemed cartoonish, and the situation was absurd. I recognized that there is deliberate humor here, but I thought some of the situations lapsed into farce. Ionesco this is not.

I did finish the book and mostly enjoyed it, but I did so with the sense that there could have been so much more here.

I was elated to find this book at the Texas Library Association conference as an advanced reader copy. Happily, it's just as good as book one. Now I wait for book number three.

I loved the first edition of this series, Case of the Missing Books, and I thought I had stumbled upon the perfect mysteries for book lovers. From the debut effort, I expected a continuing series of quirky characters, witty literary references, and excellent writing. This second novel of the series failed to deliver on all counts.

The protagonist went from quirky in book one to disgustingly slovenly in book two. Other lovable characters from book one are barely there in book two, and literary witticisms are practically non-existent. There is just no substance here. It wouldn't qualify as a padded short story.

I don't know what this author who showed such promise was thinking, but he's lost this reader. I won't be wasting my time or money on more of the series.

I really enjoy Mr. Sansom's style of writing. The characters are endearing (even with all their quirks and eccentricities). The plot was fairly weak though. If you are looking for a serious or even semi-serious mystery this won't do it for you. I'm beginning to think the plot is just a vessel for the author's love of writing about the characters. This wasn't as funny as the first in the series but I am still looking forward to the next book.