Peril in Paperback: A Bibliophile Mystery [Mass Market Paperback]

Kate Carlisle (Author)

Book Description

Release date: August 7, 2012 | Series: BIBLIOPHILE MYSTERY (Book 6)

How to become the life of the party? First, survive the celebration…

Rare books and antiquities expert Brooklyn Wainwright is thrilled to be invited to the fiftieth birthday party of her neighbor Suzie’s aunt Grace. A retired founder of a major video game corporation, Grace is a larger-than-life character who’s turned her Lake Tahoe mansion into a fun house, full of everything from pinball machines and giant props to secret passageways and trap doors. Brooklyn is most excited to catalog Grace’s extensive collection of rare paperback pulp fiction.

Part of the fun involves a séance, but after the lights flicker, one guest is dead, poisoned by a cocktail intended for Grace. It seems someone is determined to turn Grace’s playful palatial estate into a house of horrors. Brooklyn suspects the key to the killer’s identity may lie in the roman á clef Grace has written about her life. With Grace in great peril, “must-read” takes on a whole new meaning, as Brooklyn tries to stop a murderer who’s through playing around…  

Editorial Reviews

Review

“Your passport to hours of entertainment.” 

(New York Times bestselling author Miranda James)

About the Author

A native Californian, award-winning writer Kate Carlisle worked in television for many years before turning to writing. A lifelong fascination with the art and craft of bookbinding led her to write the Bibliophile Mysteries featuring Brooklyn Wainwright, whose bookbinding and restoration skills invariably uncover old secrets, treachery, and murder.  

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Signet (August 7, 2012)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451237625
• ISBN-13: 978-0451237620
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 4.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (48 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #226,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Visit Kate online at www.KateCarlisle.com or www.Facebook.com/KateCarlisleBooks

Bestselling author Kate Carlisle spent over twenty years working in television production as an Associate Director for game and variety shows, including The Midnight Special, Solid Gold and The Gong Show. She traveled the world as a Dating Game chaperone and performed strange acts of silliness on The Gong Show. She also studied acting and singing, toiled in vineyards, collected books, joined a commune, sold fried chicken, modeled spring fashions and worked for a cruise ship line, but it was the year she spent in law school that finally drove her to begin writing fiction. It seemed the safest way to kill off her professors. Those professors are breathing easier now that Kate spends most of her time writing near the beach in Southern California where she lives with her perfect husband.

A lifelong love of old books and an appreciation of the art of bookbinding led Kate to create the Bibliophile Mysteries, featuring rare book expert Brooklyn Wainwright, whose bookbinding and restoration skills invariably uncover old secrets, treachery and murder. Kate is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers and Romance Writers of America. She loves to drink good wine and watch other people cook.

The Real Story

For award-winning author Kate Carlisle, the gleaming brass ring of publication eluded her grasp for the longest time. People were starting to talk. Was it simply bad luck? Bad timing? Bad writing? Bad hair? A panel of experts were convened to analyze the details of Kate's life and certain patterns began to emerge that clearly indicated...well, let's just call them Bad Choices. Yes, Kate made some wrong moves on her personal path to publication, and in the interests of full disclosure--and as a cautionary tale--the highlights are listed below.

The Early Years

Kate was born in Los Angeles, California. Need we say more? Name one famous author who was born in Los Angeles. You can't do it. Why? Because all really famous authors are born somewhere else. A rural town in upstate Michigan, a crab shack on the Eastern shore, somewhere on the prairie, in a bayou, on the frozen tundra. Anywhere but LA.

And yet, despite this almost overwhelming handicap, Kate was born with good skin and a naturally attractive telephone voice which led her parents to wonder if she might have a future in either cosmetology or telephone solicitation.

Growing up, Kate and her family moved every few years. She would tell new teachers she was a Navy brat, but the truth is, her father's mounting gambling debts often forced the family to escape in the night with whatever they could carry on their backs. Kate learned to sleep with her favorite toys clutched in her arms, which may explain why her beloved Baldhead Barbie remains in Kate's special toy collection to this day.

Kate's creativity with scissors, not to mention her uncanny ability to tell great whopping lies, alarmed her parents enough that they sent Kate off to be educated by the nuns.

When Good Things Happen to Bad Girls

Thus began Kate's long and desperate search for a creative outlet and a good haircut. Chafing under the authoritarian rule of Sister Mary Cletus at Holy Rosary Academy, Kate escaped by making up stories. One of her favorites was a tale about a wild pony who rescued a strange, lonely farm girl with a bad haircut. Given their daughter's fascination with ponies, Kate's parents thought she might grow up to be a bookie like her Uncle Jerry.

As a teenager, Kate fell in with the wrong crowd. She grew big hair and started flirting with boys, but her school spirit never waned. In fact, Kate's sophomore class at Holy Rosary won a trip to Safari World for selling the most chocolate almond bars, due mainly to Kate's strategy of selling her candy bars to sailors at the downtown bus station. When Kate would ask if they'd like to buy some candy, the sailors would invariably respond, "Is your name Candy?" Her mother held out hope that Kate might someday find her niche in Sales.

Lying For Fun and Profit

But Sales weren't on Kate's radar. Instead, a friend got her a job on a game show and Kate grabbed that opportunity with both hands. She dropped out of college, bleached her hair and went on to spend years in production working on countless films and television shows, hanging out with rock stars and partying with the beautiful people.

But Kate realized she was losing her grip on what was truly important in life. She quit show biz and gave herself a permanent wave. Forsaking her worldly goods, she joined a cult. It worked out well at first. The cult leader owned a vineyard. But within months, the grapes were picked, the wine was drunk, and Kate's hair was losing its wave. It was time to move on. But where to go? What to do? Kate decided to seek professional guidance. After relating her life story to her therapist and lamenting that she'd run out of options, the woman gave her a dirty look and called her a big fat liar. Liar? Kate shouted "Eureka!" and applied to law school.

All The Right Moves...Really

During her first year of law school, Kate again turned to writing as a way of escaping the drudgery of studying because, let's face it, she wasn't the greatest student in the world. But this time there were no stories of wild ponies or lonely little girls with bad haircuts. No, this time her stories were filled with hot, lusty men and smart, spunky women investigating murders and falling in love. There was danger and adventure and treachery...and sex!

Faster than you can say res ipsa loquitur, Kate dropped out of law school and signed up for writing classes. She joined Sisters in Crime and Romance Writers of America where she met lots of wonderful writers and made fabulous friends. She wrote books and attended writers' conferences and sent out query letters and entered writing contests in hopes of selling her manuscripts to the perfect publisher.

And one day, Kate walked out of the hair salon with the best haircut she'd ever received. The sun was shining, the air was clean, the planets were aligned, and suddenly her phone rang. It was "The Call." Kate became a published author that day. Her destiny was fulfilled. And her hair was perfect.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Not quite ... August 22, 2012

By v. m. hollingsworth

Format:Kindle Edition

I generally love these books and found most of this book enjoyable with a couple of complaints. One, as a 56 year old, I was a little turned off by the heroine's expectation that a woman turning 50 (yes, 50) would be gray haired, in a rocking chair, raising cats. Most women in their 50s lead full active lives and aren't expecting to be confined to rocking chairs for a couple of decades. Two, the ending was just a little farfetched with it's surprise revelations. [Don't want to give anything away.] I love this series and the author is usually more imaginative than this but I felt she was kind of overdoing it at the end of this book.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Setting For This Engaging Series August 7, 2012

By F. Yoder

Format:Mass Market Paperback

This is the sixth book in the A Bibliophile Mystery series. There is also a novella e-book.

Brooklyn Wainwright and her neighbors, Vinnie and Suzie, are on their way to spend a relaxing week with Suzie's Aunt Grace at her Lake Tahoe extravagant home. Aunt Grace will be celebrating her 50th birthday with her family. Aunt Grace has made it known that she will have an important announcement at her birthday party. Many members of her family believe she about to rewrite her will and possibly leaving out some of her family.

To start the week long party, Aunt Grace has a tarot card session,even though she is not an experienced reader of tarot cards. But Brooklyn is a little more aware of what the cards say and becomes concerned that something terrible may happen to one of the guests. The next evening Grace is set to have a seance. As she is about to begin, her close friend brings her an iced tea. She places it on the floor and asks everyone else to do the same, as it interferes with the spirits. shortly thereafter, Bella who is sitting next to Grace, gasps and slumps forward. As they check on Bella, Gabriel notices that in fact she is dead and the smell of almonds is very apparent. The first thought was why would anyone want Bella to die. But everyone soon realized that the poison had been in Grace's drink, so she must have been the intended victim.

So Brooklyn and Gabriel set out find the killer. Grace has written a book and had passed out copies of the manuscript the first evening. Brooklyn set out to read the book, in hopes that it will provide a clue. Grace herself said of the book that the names had been changed to protect the guilty. Possibly Madge, who I verbally abusive to everyone, and is Grace's sister-in-law. Sybil, who is the wife of Grace's ex partner Peter. She is very secretive and hardly talks with anyone. Kiki, who is Grace's niece was considered until she was pushed down the staircase.

Grace's house would be something to see. It's like a giant game-board, similar to a game that Grace designed. Hidden wall that move, trapdoors and a giant mouse trap that when triggered can entrap a person. Brooklyn bedroom even has book shelves mounted to ceiling and will lower to be able to retrieve the books.

This is a very well written story that will keep the reader guessing. This series is definitely one of my favorites. Certainly looking forward to the next book.

16 of 19 people found the following review helpful

1.0 out of 5 stars Disappointed August 22, 2012

By N. Laughlin

Format:Mass Market Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

First, let me state that I loved the first four books in the Bibliophile series. I thought the characters were unique, quirky and fun to read, and the plotting was terrific. There was none of the simplistic or obvious plotting I dislike in many cozies. These were, in fact, some of the very best cozy mysteries I'd ever read.

Then came "One Book in the Grave", which I found just okay. The plotting slipped. It wasn't as fresh as the previous books and the characters lost a bit of their sparkle, but still, it was an okay book. Then I read the ebook "Pages of Sin" and wow was I disappointed.

I actually questioned whether to get this book after the last two disappointments. Now I wish I hadn't. Starting with chapter 2, I suspected this would be another disappointment. The characters seemed flat, characatures of who they should have been. I never got any sense of emotion from anyone in this book. I was occasionally told people were afraid, but I never saw them acting like it.

The majority of the book was interospection and talking with very little investigation for a murder mystery. For instance, near the beginning is a scene that takes the characters from an upstairs room down some stairs into the dining room. This scene goes on for at least ten pages if not fifteen and has a flashback in the middle of it. There is no transition out of the flashback. I kept rereading trying to figure out where I was, and the flashback provided no new or interesting information.

The plot had zero cause and effect and way too many holes.Nothing propelled the story forward, connected scenes, or created the tension needed for the characters to feel like they at least took the story seriously. From the first murder, I found it incredible that the police would wait overnight to send an officer. They should at least have sent a patrol officer to secure the crime scene. And what was the point of the delay? I couldn't figure it out.

Then several attempted murders take place and no one calls the police back out? Why? Then the police can't get back out but several other people can, and by jet ski, on land?

I don't write bad reviews. I never write bad reviews, but I am so diappointed here. I won't be reading the next in the series.