Mr. Dixon Disappears: A Mobile Library Mystery (Mobile Library Mysteries) [Paperback]

Ian Sansom (Author)

Book Description

Series: Mobile Library Mysteries | Publication Date: June 26, 2007

Mr. Dixon a member of the Ulster Association of Magicians, has gone missing—along with one hundred thousand pounds in cash. Israel Armstrong, bighearted and overly inquisitive, should stick to delivering library books to out-of-the-way readers and not get involved in the investigation. But of course, he can't help himself—which costs him his job and earns him a place of dishonor among the police's prime suspects. Can Israel clear his name and get his van back? Will the exhibition of old local photos he's been driving around County Antrim offer clues to Mr. D.'s whereabouts? And is a romance in the offing with winsome barmaid Rosie Hart?

All will be revealed!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Sansom's wry second mystery to feature Northern Ireland mobile librarian Israel Armstrong (after The Case of the Missing Books), Israel is suspected of robbing and kidnapping a local department store magnate, the titular Mr. Dixon, who dabbled in the magical arts. To clear his name, Israel must penetrate the bizarre world of Ulster magic. Dixon's wife seems curiously unmoved by her husband's absence, but perhaps all the alcohol she swills is masking her true emotions. If this isn't enough to ruin Israel's week, Linda, his boss at the mobile library, learns that Israel's been digging into the petty cash to pay his friend (and love interest), Rosie, to work for a few hours each week. Linda suspends him, and Rosie, who had thought her job was on the up and up, gets steamed about Israel's patronizing deception. Readers will enjoy the snappy dialogue and wacky cast of characters, particularly the lovable and winsome Israel. (July)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

In The Case of the Missing Books (2007), the first installment in the Mobile Library series, Sansom overcame a paper-thin plot with scene after hilarious scene, as Israel Armstrong, the unlikely librarian of Tumdrum, Northern Ireland, tried to both adapt to village life and solve the titular crime. With the second installment, the question is this: now that we're familiar with our fish-on-land protagonist, and he is familiar with the locals, will character carry the day? The plot here is just as slight (Israel is mistakenly arrested in connection with a department-store theft and the disappearance of the store's owner) and the crime solving just as haphazard (Israel's crime-novel posturing, gleaned from paperbacks, ends in pratfalls)--and yes, the whole affair feels a bit lacking. Sansom can still be awfully funny, but even readers who love a put-on may start longing for him to develop some plotting chops. It's one thing to pull a beard; it's something else entirely to grow one yourself. Keir Graff
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Paperback: 257 pages
• Publisher: Harper Perennial; 1ST edition (June 26, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060822538
• ISBN-13: 978-0060822538
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,064,687 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hapless Samson is in the thick of things again--good for us., August 9, 2007

By 

Armchair Interviews (Minneapolis, MN) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mr. Dixon Disappears: A Mobile Library Mystery (Mobile Library Mysteries) (Paperback)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Another book of the life of the librarian, December 4, 2008

By 

Fabric Crazy (Pfafftown, NC United States) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Mr. Dixon Disappears: A Mobile Library Mystery (Mobile Library Mysteries) (Paperback)

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.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The ultimate outsider, October 17, 2008

By 

Margaret F. Baker "glencoe wordsmithing" (Baldwin City, KS United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mr. Dixon Disappears: A Mobile Library Mystery (Mobile Library Mysteries) (Paperback)

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!