Customer Reviews

Unbound (Booklover's Mysteries)

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

 

 

If you are a fan of bibliomysteries as I am - then read this fabulous mystery - even if you simply enjoy a good read you will enjoy Julie Kaewert's series featuring Alex Plumtree.

While some of his expolits are admittedly over the top -they are still fun and well written. This books plot is fabulous - weaving history (real and fictional), legend and laughter together for an unforgetable ride!

Enjoy all of the twists and turns in this and her other Alex Plumtree books - Unprintable and Untitled (Unsolicited is going to be reissued). Also, if you are a fan of

I am an avid reader of mysteries and have nothing but praise for Kaewert's second book. "Unbound" is written on a much higher level than most mysteries. There is plenty in "Unbound" that is educational as well as recreational. The reader learns about book publishing and book collecting, while at the same time enjoying a classic page-turner mystery. Additionally, "Unbound" has received nothing but great reviews from numerous friends of mine. Several enjoyed it so much that they were determined to track down Kaewert's first book "Unsolicited" in order to enjoy this series from the beginning. "Unbound" is a great read; I hope Alex and Plumtree Press are around for a long time to come. Both "Unbound" and its predecessor "Unsolicited" are Unforgettable and it would be most Unfortunate if you miss them.

Unbound is the second in Julie Kaewerts Un series of mysteries in a British publishing and rare book collecting milieu. Ive read 4 of the 5 now (albeit out of order), and have finally come to realize that this series needs to be critiqued almost more as one of drama and adventure, not just mystery (not to mention a fairly strong romantic element involving the main character, which could be nicely omitted without being missed). Neither are these simply who-dun-it mysteries.

As a drama or adventure story, Unbound gets pretty high marks, but the mystery element gets less attention than I would prefer. The story begins with protagonist Alex Plumtree being invited onto the board of the Folio B society, a society for the preservation of publically-owned rare British books, but from the beginning theres something remiss about being given this honor. A secret society, the Bibliati, which turns out to be mostly a subgroup of Folio B, consists of an unscrupulous lot who will stop at nothing to steal and/or fabricate rare books, then sell them for ill-gotten gain. The Bibliati also has a political agenda which revolves around doing away with the monarchy, and to this end they promote revisionist history to make royalty look bad.

Another main aspect of the plot involves a new author about to be published by Plumtree Press for her first novel, a fictional but fact-based account of the life of Marcus Stonecypher, a British writer of great fame. She has discovered that four of Stonecyphers early 19th century books contain purposeful misprints, which when strung together spell out a radical political philosophy. Someone doesnt want her book published. An attempt is made on her life, and soon thereafter Alexs life is almost ended more than once as well. The really ironic thing is that Unbound itself has at least a dozen obvious misprints of its own! This book was poorly proof-read before it went to press. And, no, I dont think they would form a sentence if these misprints were strung together! (This is all the more ironic since this is the only book in the Un series that contains numerous misprints.)

In this book, more than the others in the series, the reader is taught a lot about the world of rare books. Kaewert has obviously done considerable research in this area, and in the historical context for this story. In spite of the misprints, some extraneous non-mystery elements, and a somewhat protracted story line, I still find this story (and the others in the Un series) to be worth the read. British mystery fans and bibliophile types should enjoy it.

Marcus Stonecypher is considered an icon in British literary cycles, belonging to the illustrious Bloomsberry group that includes such luminaries as Virginia Wolf and Maynard Keynes. His publisher, Plumtree Press remains a thriving enterprise run by Alex Plumtree, who is about to pull off a coup. American Angela Mayfield, while doing her doctoral on Stonecypher's work, discovers what appears to be a glaring number of misprints in each work. Taking each misprint and placing them together, Angela discovers that they form secret messages that advocate the overthrow of all governments to be replaced by one world-wide government that unites everyone.

Angela has written a fictionalized account of her discovery and her publisher Alex is preparing to make a grand announcement of her findings to the media. At a social gathering, Angela inadvertently reveals her work to the other guests, who are mostly members of the Folio B society (preservation of rare antiques and books). The group poorly accepts the news. That same night they invite Alex to take a seat on their board, hinting that there are secrets for him to learn. A letter from a deceased book collector accidentally falls into Alex's hands in which Folio B is linked to Stonecypher code.

Angela and Alex are soon the recipients of nasty warnings including a letter threatening her life if she does not withdraw the book from publication. Naturally, neither the author nor the publisher considers consider withdrawal a reasonable alternative. They decide to discover why someone is desperate to keep the secret hidden. However, neither realize that the closer they get to the truth, the nearer they get to opening a Pandora's Box ,almost losing their lives in the process.

Julie Kalewert's latest work is an unusual who-done-it, a British cozy successfully written by an American author. Readers have an opportunity to get a glimpse into the legitimate and illicit world of British publishing and book collecting while observing an intellectual amateur sleuth struggling to solve a case. This dichotomy is brilliantly blended together into a mesmerizing reading experience.

Harriet Klausner

Of all the sleuths I've read in cozies, Alex Plumtree definitely has to be the one who has the cunniest appeal to get himself involved in the most dangerous publishing intrigues. "Unbound", is the second installment in the "Booklover's Series" of mysteries. Unlike the first one ("Unsolicited") I enjoyed it very much. Here is, at last, a true booklover's mystery; where we are not only introduced into the world of rare books, but we are also taught about restoration techniques, antique volumes, a conference at an antique book fair, and general booklore.

The plot starts rolling when Alex and his author Angela Mayfield are within days of publishing a breakthrough novel about a famous old author - now long deceased - by the name of Marcus Stonecypher. Apparently, "The Stonecypher Saga" will be based on the premise that Stonecypher used to include secret codes within his novels, which were indicative of a secret political agenda that threatened to destroy world governments. Well, well... Anonymous, deadly auspicious messages start arriving at Alex's and Angela's door until she is involved in a horrible accident that leaves her comatose. Alex, in the meantime, vows to find out who could have done this to her friend when he is now the victim of almost sure death.

To reveal more would be too much. Let's just say that this is a novel with numerous twits and turns, were many plots seem to be on development at the same time. The settings are extremely cozy and one wishes to have the possibility of sharing them with the protagonists every single time: the cocktails, the conference at the chateaux in France, the bicycle ride in the French countryside; all truly, very much inviting. Towards the end of the book there's an episode where the late Princess of Wales takes centerstage, accompanied by her two sons. Although they are not mentioned by their actual names, the reader will immediately notice the reference to Diana and her sons, the princes William and Harry, at the book event. I can only imagine the novel was published before her unfortunate death, and because of that I'd like to think of this as a small tribute on behalf of the author.

In the end, "all's well that ends well" and both Alex and his elder brother Max find true love. Hopefully we won't have to deal with Alex's feelings for Sarah anymore in further novels. That would be a relief, especially because one cannot bear to imagine Alex with all his contained sexual tension (!). That aside, "Unbound", is what it claims to be: an intrigue amongst the world's best rare book collectors and restorers, and one that is a pleasure to read.

UNBOUND is too long for a mystery, but who cares? After the first half, it turned into a real thriller that was impossible to put down. Imagine a mystery with its own history and mythology! Incredible! It has a little of everything: adventure, romance, love, death threats, information (about the publishing industry), a chase, ghosts. Cool! Thoroughly enjoyable. It's a complex, clever, easy to read page-turner. Be warned: There are a LOT of characters. This is proving to be a fantastically good series. If you haven't already, go back and read the first, UNSOLICITED.

I am sorry to say that I was quite disappointed by this book. I had expected much more out of it and I also expected it to be more believable. It felt like I was reading the plot to a bad TV action movie, where the hero gets stabbed, shot, bluggened and can somehow outrun cars, safely jump out of airplanes and bring all of the bad guys to justice. Urgh. I don't mind pure escapism sometimes, but I was really hoping for a book with more substance. Especially after the build up of harriet's review and the very interesing plot device. Sigh. Good if you are looking for some action, bad if you were expecting to use your mind.

I happened to get an ARC of this book. It was an wonderful read. It keeps you turning pages and introduces you to some great characters. Oh not to mention the illuminatie ... But beware they are everywhere.... ack, poision keyboard, must get help!!!! :) Great READ

I did not enjoy reading this book. It was my first by this writer and will be my last. The booklover's mystery blurb on the cover led me to expect a traditional mystery, likely a cozy with an amateur protagonist. It should have read thriller as the book was littered with bodies through several generations. Only one actual murder took place within the 2 week time frame of the story -- a likeable Cockney bookseller whose death was not investigated or resolved.
The plot was so convoluted I couldn't understand what it was really about. There were book collectors altering and repairing old books so as to make them more valuable -- okay, financial gain is a motive, but there was a secret society conspiracy to over throw the monarchy, that had led to many deaths over the years and maybe, to the numerous attempts on the life of the protagonist by inept killers. This writer often used foreshadowing, so the reader always knew the attempts would fail.
At the end, we learn the real villian was so minor a character as to never be suspected, and with a brand new motive, so the reader was cheated out of trying to solve the mystery along with the dectective.

Julie Kaewert, Unbound (Crimeline, 1997)

Julie Kaewert's Booklover's Mysteries series continues with Unbound, which suffers from many of the same flaws as its predecessor, but also the same strengths. Something new, though (or maybe something I just didn't notice in Unsolicited): the dreaded foreshadowing sentence rears its ugly head quite often here, usually at the end of a chapter, and I got the feeling more than once that I was going to look up and see "tune in next week for more of The Perils of Pauline!" flashing before my eyes.

As with Unsolicited, some of the prose-- especially at the beginning-- is bloated, and the book takes a while to get off the ground. Once it does, though, it's quite nicely paced and readable (though, again, there's a certain character Alex draws attention away from so much that you know that character will somehow end up involved in the conspiracy).

Yes, conspiracy. Kaewert isn't at all shy about having indefatigable bookman Alex Plumtree take on the entire world, or so it seems sometimes. In this one, Plumtree Press is on the verge of publishing The Stonecypher Saga, a novel based on the doctoral thesis of its author, who discovered what seemed to be a practical joke hidden in the typographical errors to be found in the first editions, and only the first editions, of the four novels published by Marcus Stonecypher, a contemporary of (and member of) the Bloomsbury Group-- Virginia Woolf, Lytton Strachey, that crowd. A few days before the big press conference Alex is holding to announce the book's release, he gets a printed copy of the Stonecypher dingbat, another feature of Stonecypher's book, on the desk in his library-- in Stonecypher's books, a sure sign that the recipient would meet a bad end (kind of the literary equivalent of the Black Spot), as does Angela, the author-- who also receives an anonymous threatening letter. All of which just makes them determined to publish at any cost, but when Angela meets with an accident, a warehouse full of advance copies burns, and even Alex's best friends start telling him he's in over his head, he starts to wonder if they're not right.

To be honest, I was wondering from the receipt of the first letter-- when he still thought it a lark at best-- why it never crossed Alex's mind to turn the whole thing into a big publicity stunt. That ended up being my biggest problem with the whole thing; it seems like the kind of thought that would have occurred to anyone running a business that's about selling things. But once that got put aside, it was another fun little book. ***