The Case of the Missing Books (Mobile Library Mysteries) [Bargain Price] [Paperback]

Ian Sansom (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 2, 2007

Israel Armstrong is a passionate soul, lured to Ireland by the promise of an exciting new career. Alas, the job that awaits him is not quite what he had in mind. Still, Israel is not one to dwell on disappointment, as he prepares to drive a mobile library around a small, damp Irish town. After all, the scenery is lovely, the people are charming—but where are the books? The rolling library's 15,000 volumes have mysteriously gone missing, and it's up to Israel to discover who would steal them . . . and why. And perhaps, after that, he will tackle other bizarre and perplexing local mysteries—like, where does one go to find a proper cappuccino and a decent newspaper?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

British author Sansom (The Impartial Recorder) launches a humorous new series set in Tumdrum, Northern Ireland, the small village that transplanted Londoner Israel Armstrong reluctantly makes his home. The nebbishy Jewish vegetarian shows up at the Tumdrum and District Public Library eager to assume his post as the new librarian, only to find the place boarded up and that it's his job to steward the beat-up mobile library instead. When he finally gets inside the library building, he discovers its 15,000 books are missing. Less astute than the detective characters in the novels he has devoured, Israel blunders through an investigation, making startling discoveries while suffering some hard knocks along the way. Israel's fish-out-of-water dilemmas and encounters with kooky locals will resonate with Alexander McCall Smith fans. (Jan.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* In a field crowded with unlikely sleuths, Israel Armstrong--chubby, nervous, clumsy, headache prone, underachieving--stands out. Jewish and vegetarian, he stands out even more when he accepts a job in Tumdrum, Northern Ireland, where it's assumed that, if he's not Protestant, he must be Catholic. Hired to be a librarian, he arrives to find his library closed and his position retitled "Outreach Support Officer"--driver of the decrepit mobile library. Worse, the books he's supposed to fill it with have disappeared. Worse yet, his new boss will accept his resignation only if he finds the missing books first. Between Israel's inept sleuthing and the general unhelpfulness of the locals, it looks as if he'll be in Tumdrum a long, long time. The plot here is an excuse for the scenes, but what scenes! Begging to be read aloud, they unfold with a rollicking blend of dry humor, slapstick, and sheer farce that is nonetheless anchored by a strong sense of place and a sobering sense of the place's troubled history. Librarians have found themselves a new hero in Israel Armstrong, who, despite his unheroic demeanor, is a champion against bullshit and bureaucracy in the service of books. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Harper Paperbacks (January 2, 2007)
• ISBN-10: 0060822503
• ASIN: B001O9CC2A
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #716,674 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars I wanted to like it..., October 27, 2007

By 

Debra Hamel (North Haven, CT) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Case of the Missing Books (Mobile Library Mysteries) (Paperback)

Israel Armstrong, the protagonist of Ian Sansom's fish-out-of-water story, is the sort of character Hugh Grant might play, all bumbling and hapless, if Hugh Grant were Jewish and had a paunch. Israel has left his home and girlfriend behind in London to take up a job as a librarian in "the middle of the middle of nowhere," in Tumdrum, County Antrim, in Northern Ireland. Once arrived, however, he finds the library shuttered and his job description much altered: rather than manning a civilized circulation desk, Israel is to run a mobile library, spreading literature around, quite literally, out of the back of a broken-down bus. Provided, that is, that he can find the town's books, all 15,000 of which have gone missing.

During his quest for the missing books, Israel is thrown into a series of bizarre circumstances (like being compelled to sleep in a chicken coop), and innumerable bad things happen to him (like he's punched in the face), and he is forced to interact with an endless stream of quirky locals (who tend to be more sophisticated than he at first suspects). Think Hugh Grant in Northern Exposure, maybe.

The book is meant to be charming. We're told on the back of the paperback that it "combines the off-beat soulfulness of Nick Hornby with the quirky cheerfulness of Alexander McCall Smith." And, really, the book should be charming: how could the plight of a bumbling English librarian stranded among eccentric Irishmen fail to charm? And yet, it just didn't work for me. The locals are odd, but they're not interesting. The author seems to strain to make Israel's interactions with them as frustrating as possible. The dialogue, meant to be cute and filled with funny misunderstandings, is very often just annoying:

"'Aye, save your breath,' said another woman. 'We've heard it all before. Sure, you're all the same.'

"'I can assure you, madam, that--'

"'Who you calling madam?'

"'Erm.'

"'Are yous the new librarian?'

"'Who?'

"'Yous?'

"'Me?' Israel looked over his shoulder: were there more of him?

"'Yous!'

"'Well,' said Israel, 'yes. Mes. Me, I mean, yes it is. I am. Although actually I'm what's called an Outreach Support Officer these days.'"

There's an awful lot of dialogue like that, filled with halting speech and almost willful misapprehension. It might work on screen, but not on the page.

I wanted to like this book. I wanted quirky and charming and Alexander McCall Smith-iness. But mostly I was just bored.

-- Debra Hamel

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Librarian Loves Library Mystery, January 15, 2007

By 

Anne deFuria "Blogging Librarian" (New Jersey) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Case of the Missing Books (Mobile Library Mysteries) (Paperback)

The first in a proposed series about Israel Armstrong, rumpled and befuddled bookmobile librarian in a small town in Northern Ireland, The Case of the Missing Books by Ian Sansom (2006), introduces not only Israel, who travels from London to start a new job as town librarian at the Tumdrum and District Library, but also a whole cast of local eccentrics. The story is a classic "fish out of water" tale. The plot: an overeducated cityslicker arrives in a rural backwater where wiley locals contrive to pull the wool over his eyes about how 15,000 library books have disappeared. The Case of the Missing Books is a charming satire in this tradition. The book reminded me of Bill Forsyth's 1983 movie, Local Hero, or more recently, Waking Ned Devine or Saving Grace, all movies based in the U.K. where the townsfolk's mistrust of authority binds them together, results in heart-warming hijinks, features endearingly nutty locals and ends happily.
The Case of the Missing Books, a mobile library mystery is the funniest book I've read in a while and I would recommend it to anyone who for example, has finished all the #1 Ladies Detective Agency books by Alexander McCall Smith, and is looking for a gently humorous, character driven, "cozy" kind of mystery.

10 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars I want my 8 hours back, May 20, 2008

By 

D. Cooley (Suburban St. Louis, MO) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Case of the Missing Books (Mobile Library Mysteries) (Paperback)

Wow. This is the worst book I have read in a LONG time. I kept wanting to quit, but I was convinced that somehow it would get better. I think we're supposed to sympathize with the protagonist, but he continues to make the same mistakes over and over again when he clearly should know better. Really, if I figure out within the first 20 pages that any normal person would do the opposite of what he's doing, then he should have figured it out after the first 100 or so. I couldn't muster any sympathy for him at all. I just wanted to scream at him.

I can't wait to get this one off of my bookshelf. What a complete waste of $10 and several hours of my time, neither of which I'll ever get back.