Customer Reviews

Homicide in Hardcover: A Bibliophile Mystery

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Brooklyn Wainwright is a skilled surgeon who uses her expertise with a scalpel to save the lives of her patients - patients with life threatening ailments of cracked, brittle leather, moldy paper and dried-up glue. The daughter of quirky, offbeat members of Guru Bob's Fellowship for Spiritual Enlightenment and Higher Artistic Consciousness, this very likeable heroine is passionate about her books but pretty much oblivious to everything else, including her hair, clothes and shoes, much to the frustration of her sexy, stylish best friend, Robin.

As the story opens, Brooklyn is at a museum reception enjoying a happy reconciliation with her life-long mentor, Abraham Karastovsky but her happiness ends abruptly later that evening when she discovers her mentor in an isolated workroom, dying from a gunshot wound. With his final breath Abraham presses the supposedly cursed copy of Goethe's Faust that he has been restoring into her hands and pleads with her to "Remember the devil." Suddenly, Brooklyn finds herself neck deep in the mystery surrounding Abraham's murder and the curse of Faust. Derek Stone, the handsome, all-business British security agent (think James Bond with attitude) assigned to protect the priceless copy of Faust initially believes her guilty of the murder but there are suspects aplenty and, when Brooklyn is asked to finish the restoration that was begun by Abraham, they start coming out of the woodwork. There's Ian, her former fiancée who is in charge of the museum exhibit that contains the Faust, Minka LaBoeuf, the thieving, conniving she-witch who has hated Brooklyn since college, Enrico Baldacchio, the sleazy book restorer who is always just this side of the law and, sometimes, on the other side. Even Brooklyn's mother isn't above suspicion. As Brooklyn works to restore the Faust she also turns amateur detective to ferret out the truth of Abraham's murder, trying to stay one step ahead of the delicious Derek and well out of range of the killer who now appears intent on eliminating her.

I always assumed that book-binding and restoration would be a dull, dry subject but the historical facts and bits of trivia sprinkled throughout this book were so fascinating that instead of being bored I found myself wanting to know more. The sexual tension between Brooklyn and Derek is palpable, growing stronger with each encounter but actual sexual interaction between the two is mild and, in fact, limited to a kiss. The potential for a deeper romance between Brooklyn and Derek is firmly established before the end of the book but Carlisle also tosses in a delicious twist that has me eagerly anticipating the next book in what I hope will be a long-running series.

It was with trepidation that Brooklyn Wainwright attended the showing of the rare book collection at the Covington Library. The guest of honor, Abraham Karastovsky, was responsible for the collection's restoration and was also Brooklyn's friend and mentor up until 6 months ago, when she told him that she was leaving to start up her own business. However, all seemed to be forgiven, so it's heartbreaking when Brooklyn discovered Abraham dying, leaving Brooklyn with a priceless edition of Faust and last words a strange clue. Brooklyn, now responsible for completing his last assignment to restore the priceless - and reportedly cursed - volume of Goethe's Faust has to discover who murdered Abraham in order to save herself from both the killer and the British detective in charge of protecting the Library's collection. The frustratingly attractive Commander Derek Stone delights in taunting and tantalizing Brooklyn, so she believes that it's up to her to solve the mystery that may be hidden in Abraham's books. Plagued by a psychotic stalker and former rival for Brooklyn's boyfriend, Brooklyn has to dodge attempts on her life, a break-in, visits with her commune family, and Gabriel, mysterious man in black who's definitely no angel.
Fans of Janet Evanovich will enjoy this surprisingly (for a bibliophile mystery) spirited and sexy novel. While I've never been fond of mysteries that have the heroine lusting for the detective while he suspects her of being a murderer, Carlisle makes this work as Brooklyn is just as irritated with herself for her feelings. Booklovers will enjoy the minutiae of book mending and lovingly detailed descriptions of the beautiful edition of Faust, and mystery readers will revel in the plethora of quirky, hilarious characters. My one complaint is that the novel ended too quickly, leaving me wanting to know more about her five commune-raised siblings and new age Deadhead mother. Thankfully, the series looks to continue with Brooklyn leaving for Edinburgh for a new job, so here's to the hope that Brooklyn's hilarious adventures with her family continue. Pick up Homicide in Hardcover in paperback as soon as you can.

The attractive cover caught me, and I'm a booklover so a "Bibliophile Mystery" sounded nice. This is a pleasant enough book but it just didn't do much for me. First, I'd have expected more about books and that they'd be more important to the plot: theft, faked editions, something more involving. While book restoration (nicely described)is the heroine's job it wasn't really a big part of the plot to me. She really didn't do much investigation, things just happened until the murderer shows up just after our heroine has found crucial evidence. I don't think I'll be searching for more books in the series.

First Line: My teacher always told me that in order to save a patient you'd have to kill him first.

When book restorer Brooklyn Wainwright decided to go into business for herself, it caused a rift between her and her teacher, Abraham Karastovsky. She is relieved when he welcomes her with open arms at a party in the prestigious Covington Library in San Francisco, but a short time later Brooklyn walks into a workroom to find Abraham lying in a pool of blood. Leaving her with a cryptic message and an extremely rare (and supposedly cursed) volume of Faust, she finds herself right in the middle of a murder investigation, complete with family members as suspects and a delectable British security officer.

Although Hardcover in Homicide suffers a bit from wanting to be all things to all people with a wide-ranging cast of characters that could've been pared down, I did enjoy the book. The information about book restoration was fascinating without bogging down the pace. The San Francisco-Napa Valley locales added the perfect ambiance to the story, and Carlisle does have some gems in her line-up of characters-- foremost among them Brooklyn's family. Her parents live in a commune named Dharma in the Napa Valley, and her siblings have similarly geographic names: Austin, China.... Led by Guru Bob, the people of Dharma are quite the interesting bunch to visit, and I'm hoping that future books in the series will let us get to know Brooklyn's siblings better.

Led by a very interesting main character, once this series tightens its focus a bit, it will be a very entertaining one to follow. One small aside: I find it amusing that Homicide in Hardcover is published as a mass market paperback (but then, I can be easily amused)!

If I had known Kate Carlisle was going to craft such a compelling tale, I would have tucked this gem aside until the release of her second book, so that I could have immediately devoured one after the other. Brooklyn is a wonderfully real, flawed heroine, her family is eccentric without being cliche, and she weaves the details of the bookbinding craft into the story with a deft hand.

Just a pleasure to read!

Brooklyn Wainwright is a bookbinder and restorer who has recently gone into business by herself after years as an apprentice by one of the best in the field, Abraham Karastovsky. Her mentor handles what he calls her defection very poorly and they have not spoken to one another in six months. Ergo Brooklyn is nervous about attending a private showing at San Francisco's Covington Library because she knows Abraham will also be there. When they meet at the gala, they become friends again and he invites her to look at the copy of Goethe's Faust in his workroom.

When she arrives at his workroom, Brooklyn finds Abraham lying on the floor. She goes to him and he whispers his dying words "Remember the devil." She has no idea what his departing cryptic message means, but freaks out when Derek Stone of Stone Security declares she killed him. Stunned she faints. When she regains consciousness, the police question her, but let her go while Stone states he will be watching her. As the Covington Library chief hires Brooklyn to finish Abraham's restoration of Faust, someone kills another book restorer. Attempts are made on her life and her house is broken into and searched. Past the breaking point, Brooklyn investigates starting with the space Abrahame made in the cover s to the tome and whether it is why someone is willing to kill to obtain the Faust.

The first bibliophile amateur sleuth showcases how dangerous the life of a book restorer is when a critic wants something. In less than a week, numerous attempts are made on Brooklyn's life and her home and her and Abraham's studio as well her mentor's murder make for a fun time for readers, but a rough go for the heroine. This is an entertaining somewhat amusing whodunit as the nervous eccentric Brooklyn travels the mean streets of San Fransisco trying to restore order to her life starting with having a life.

Harriet Klausner

Brooklyn Wainwright is a restorer of antique books. Taught by Abraham Karastosky on a commune in the Napa region that her parents brought her and her siblings to when she was a young child.

Brooklyn and Abraham had always been close, that was until about six months previous when she had decided to start her own business and Abraham was not too fond of that idea. Brooklyn had hopes of being back on better footing with Abraham so on the night of the Covington Libraries Rare Books Gala she went to seek him out only to find him dying on the floor of his workroom. With a rare Faust book pressed into her hands and Abrahams dying words, Brooklyn is left to finish his last restoration and to find his killer.

Of course Brooklyn and a whole slew of quirky characters are first pinpointed and then released as suspects making this book rather predictable in its search for the murder. I had actually picked the wrong who-done-it person, but then again, there were so many different people thrown at you with their own reasons for wanting him dead that when the end came you could only say "oh, ok".

I'm sure that this is the first of many more in this series, just can't picture myself rushing out to buy the next.

Brooklyn Wainwright is attending a gala party celebrating the opening of a new exhibit at the Covington Library. The books have been lovingly restored by Abraham Karastovsky, Brooklyn's old mentor. They had a recent falling out, but Brooklyn is happy that their meeting brings an obvious reunion of their friendship.

That reunion is short lived when Brooklyn wanders to the work rooms in the basement and finds Abraham dying. He manages to whisper "Remember the Devil." Brooklyn is determined to make sure her mentor's killer is brought to justice, but what does that one clue mean?

The characters in this book were great. There were quite a few of them, and I never had a hard time remembering who they all where. Most of them were quite lovable, and I enjoyed spending time with them.

Unfortunately, the plot was uneven. It wasn't that things weren't happening because there was plenty of action. But the clues, red herrings, and discoveries were few and far between. Still, things picked up enough to make for a great climax, and I didn't want to stop reading at any point.

The characters are charming enough that I want to visit them again in future books.

I love mysteries and female lead characters - and this book did not disappoint! This is a great read for anyone who likes to be immersed in a well crafted story.

This book took me by surprise since I was hesitant about the theme of book restoration. However, the main character is likeable and smart and the book restoration tidbits were not overpowering. The story kept me captivated to the end. Highly enjoyable!