Customer Reviews

If Books Could Kill: A Bibliophile Mystery

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Kate Carlisle's second mystery novel is just as fabulous as the first! I loved it!

In If Books Could Kill, rare book expert Brooklyn Wainwright goes to Edinburgh, Scotland to attend the Book Fair. A friend approaches her with an incredible find, what could be a book of heretofore undiscovered poems by Robert Burns and proof of a scandal that will forever shatter the world's view of Scotland's poetic hero. Someone wants to stop Brooklyn from authenticating the find - enough to commit murder. As the last person to see the victim alive, Brooklyn is the prime suspect. Now, in a foreign country, she must evade the police and the killer - and oh yes, the freemasons who have vowed to protect Robert Burns's name at all costs.

Janet Evanovich is one of my favorite writers, and Kate Carlisle is right up there with her. She's even given Brooklyn a delicious romantic foil in British detective Derek Stone. (Think a James Bond who wants just one woman. Sigh!)

Brooklyn Wainwright, bookbinder, is beginning to get a complex. It seems that everywhere she goes she finds dead bodies, and Edinburgh's Book Fair is no exception. Picking up right where the first in the series (Homicide in Hardcover) left off, Brooklyn is attending the book fair, meeting up with old friends and finding new acquaintances, having a grand old time, when an old flame asks her to authenticate a book of unknown Robert Burns poems, signed by the poet and embroiling the British royal family is a salacious scandal. Before she can even get a decent look at the object, her friend is found dead, appropriately enough, on a ghost tour, and Brooklyn is the number one suspect. Could it be because one of her bookbinding tools is the murder weapon?

Carlisle is a fine writer. The dialogue is natural, the narrative voice is a hoot, and the mystery is populated with lots of devious suspects, daunting detectives and a few silly Scots.

It's not necessary to have read the first in the series, but it does make the appearance of Wainwright's nutty parents more delicious, and adds depth to her romance with British agent Derek Stone. (No graphic scenes.)

This is a fun mystery in an interesting setting with a lively narrator and protagonist.

The idea of a bookbinder qua accidental detective is very appealing to me.
I really enjoyed the passages in which books were described and in fact anything having to do with books was written.

However, I didn't care for the style of the narrator's voice or the dialogues. It was too crisp and uncouth for me. The narrator describes herself as superficial at one point in the story and I have to admit she did seem a little superficial to me. She's a little flat and her thoughts seem detached from a profound personality, except, again when she describes books and the sights of Scotland.

If these linguistic quirks won't bother you then you might really enjoy the books in this series. The premise is great as is the general plot and the unraveling of this mystery.

When I am in a stressful situation, I normally reach for one of the many cozy mysteries on our shelves and at our local library. These are fast reads; fun reads, and for me, rather therapeutic. This work by author Kate Carlisle, `If Books Could Kill,' filled my needs perfectly. And there was an added bonus in the fact that this particular series revolves around book; things which I dearly love! There is even an additional bonus for me personally in that the setting is in a city I have never visited but is in my top ten to do so before I shuffle off....one of the cities in my "bucket list."

Reviews on mysteries are difficult to write as even the slightest and most innocent slip in describing the plot can lead to a spoiler. I will try to be brief and careful.

Our heroine, Brooklyn Wainwright has found herself in Edinburgh attending a book convention. Brooklyn is an expert in the art of bookbinding, book restoration, and we know from reading the first novel in this series, quite good at solving murder.

Almost immediately Brooklyn meets old friends and colleagues, one being an old lover; a rather charming young man who has broken her heart sometime in the past. He is in possession of a very rare book; a book of poems by Scottish Poet Robert Burns. It is a signed copy and has poems in it that are until the finding of this book unknown. Without revealing too much, we find that our old poet friend Bobby just may have had an affair with a member of the Royal Family in his day which would led to some dire consequences if the truth were know. Brooklyn's old friend asks her to verify and confirm that the book is indeed legitimate.

Of course we must have our murder and we soon find that Brooklyn's old lover and the owner of the rare book quite dead. As one of Brooklyn's tools is found to be the murder weapon and as she was the last person to see her old boy friend alive, she of course is the number one suspect. She must clear herself.

I liked this book. There was plenty of talk of old books, the art of book binding, plenty of verbal landscaping of Edinburgh and a plethora of likely suspects. For me, after the initial set up, the book moved quite well and held my interest quite well. There were plenty of neatly done twists and turns.

There was of course romance (no graphic scenes), and the dialog of believable. Like a couple of the other reviewers here, I found a couple of the side characters very annoying; but perhaps the author meant them to be! They did not distract me from enjoying the book though.

This is the second book in this series and while it is always nice to read them in sequence, it is absolutely not necessary to do so to enjoy this read.

This is a well written, well crafted and enjoyable cozy mystery. I will be following this author closely.

Don Blankenship
The Ozarks

First Line: If my life were a book, I would have masking tape holding my hinges together.

Book restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright is still recuperating from the events in Homicide in Hardcover, but she's now in Edinburgh, Scotland attending the Book Fair. Her roguish ex, Kyle McVee, shows up with an original copy of a book that could very well change history and humiliate the British monarchy in the process.

When Kyle turns up dead, naturally Brooklyn is the first suspect out of the gate, so she starts conducting her own investigation to see if the motive for murder was a 200-year-old secret-- or something much more personal.

Although the main character is still suffering the effects from the first book in the series, there's no need to go back and get your hands on a copy to fill in the blanks. Carlisle provides enough detail for new readers to avoid confusion.

There is a lot to enjoy in this second book. I loved the Edinburgh setting, and-- just like the first time-- I really enjoyed the book restoration details which Carlisle provides. Brooklyn is a likable, interesting character who has a fascinating career, the promise of a lot of romance in her life, and a winning voice. The plot certainly has enough twists and turns to keep the pages turning, but there is trouble looming in my rearview mirror. I find two of the supporting cast of characters extremely annoying and more than a bit distracting.

Brooklyn's mother is a child of the 60's who never relinquished her hold on Flower Power. She's gone on to put New Age practices in a stranglehold as well. I found her dependence on spleen washes and other kooky-sounding stuff mildly amusing at first, but in this book she just got on my nerves.

The second character who chaps my hide is Minka LaBoeuf, Brooklyn's arch enemy. The character is so over the top she's like a cartoon character. Minka is screaming loud, she's obnoxious, and she's constantly telling the police that Brooklyn is responsible for whatever's gone wrong. I wouldn't be surprised if Minka also believes Brooklyn is responsible for global warming, the US deficit, and my trick knees. I really wish Carlisle would either have Minka put on some heavy duty meds... or have her committed. (Preferably the latter. I'd supply the strait jacket.)

When two secondary characters begin to annoy me to this degree, I begin to wonder if the series is really for me. The acid test will be Carlisle's third Bibliophile Mystery, The Lies That Bind. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

When I read the first book in the series (Homicide in Hardcover), I knew that this was going to be a series that I would follow for quite a while. Not only does Carlisle manage to weave a good mystery, but she also includes one of my favorite subjects: books.

After the events from the previous book, all Brooklyn wants is to have a nice time at the Edinburgh Book Fair. However, her plans for a relaxing weekend are interrupted by her nemesis Minka as well as an ex-lover showing up claiming that he has a book that is proof of a royal love scandal. When his dead body is discovered on a local ghost tour that Brooklyn is attending, she knows that she might be in danger. When the police discover that one of her book restoration tools was the murder weapon, Brooklyn knows that she has to uncover the truth & clear her name!

I will admit that while I loved this book, it did take a while for it to really get started. Don't get me wrong- I love reading about Brooklyn, especially since she's so intelligent & really knows what she wants. It's just that the opening set up for the mystery took a while to unwind. It isn't bad or boring, just a little drawn out.

I liked that our heroine's hunky love interests return in this book & that her fantastic parents make an appearance as well. (Hey, her mom is a hoot to read about & it is nice to have a story where the mom is nurturing & not overbearing, as some mystery moms tend to be.) The mystery is nicely done & I have to admit, I was a little surprised at the end. As always, we get a nice dose of book love as well as book reconstruction- something that is surprisingly interesting. (Actually, I wished that there was a little more book reconstruction- I love the way Carlisle describes it!

If you haven't read the previous book then rest easy- you don't have to read it to understand everything that is going on in this book. While the previous book is referenced quite a bit, Carlisle does do a bit of explanation about everything that has gone on before. Not so much that it interrupts the book flow, but enough that a first time reader can go through the book with ease. I do recommend picking up the first book, though...

I can't wait for the next book (The Lies That Bind) to be released in February of 2011- if it keeps up the trend with the previous two books, it promises to be a real treat!

If you crossed John Dunning's series about bookman Cliff Janeway with Jennifer Crusie's ability to write women characters who ring true and the audacity of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum, the end result would come very close to Kate Carlisle's If Books Could Kill. The heroine's kooky parents are a nice addition to the cast too, rivaling Stephanie Plum's Grandma Mazursky for entertainment value.

All in all, if you're looking for a light entertaining read with a bit of mystery and a bit of "chick flick" romance, give this series a try.

She works at the book arts center in San Francisco and is considered an expert in book restoration. Brooklyn Wainwright is also called upon to authenticate whether a book is genuine or a fake. Currently she heads to the world- renowned Edinburgh Book Fair where she will meet with friends and associates, teach a few sessions, and sit in on lectures.

Her plan implodes when she runs into her former boyfriend Kyle McVee who asks her to authenticate a book allegedly created by eighteenth century bookbinder William Cathcart containing never before published poems written by Robert Burns in which the renowned author infers he had an affair with Princess Augusta Sophia, daughter of King George III. Rumors have survived to the present that he got her pregnant, which, if true, would leave the British royalty with a nasty black eye. He also tells her he has received threatening letters and calls. That same day whiles Brooklyn is sightseeing, she finds the body of Kyle killed with one of her bookbinding instruments. The local lead cop suspects Brooklyn so to clear her name she investigates Kyle's murder.

As in the first Bibliophile mystery (see Homicide in Hardcover), Brooklyn finds the corpse of someone who was close to her at one time (a sub-genre hazard). The author's second cozy is a breezy fun read due to a taste of the city and false clues with dead end trails. Although in trouble with the law and who knows who else, Brooklyn keeps her sense of humor, mostly self deprecating as she finds even Princess Street dangerous. A terrific romantic subplot enhances her stay in Scotland that she hopes is not a lifetime event as she learns once again Books Could Kill to the delight of cross genre fans.

Harriet Klausner

The mystery taking place in Edinburgh was definitely pleasing. The story that takes place at a Book selling or convention is okay. The language the author uses will deter me from reading anymore of her books. Really? Do you have to use language like that to get people to read your books? I guess it's a sad commentary of the way the public speaks today. Of course, just my opinion.

I enjoyed the second as much as the first - and LOVED having lots of the same folks show up in this book as found in the first. And there's even a completely new setting for the second book: Edinburgh, Scotland - which made it all the more enjoyable. Both book 1 and 2 are fun, light reading - and can keep you guessing.