etc.

I’m not usually one to pick up pulp-mysteries, especially ones with remotely cheesy titles, but I read that this one was rife with tasty treats on books and collecting and dealing, and as soon as my rare books prof in graduate school recommended it as “a vertiable trifle of delights for the bibliophile”, I didn’t need any more convincing. Since I’m not a reader of mysteries generally, I feel somewhat incompetent to comment on it as a mystery, but as a bibliophile, I can certainly attest to the treasures that await anyone in this particular niche market. Our protagonist is Cliff Janeway, a cop turned book-dealer, whose motivation at the start of the book is cornering a certain Jackie Newton for murders the whole police department knows he committed. It is when a particular lapse in judgement pushes him off the police force and Janeway turns to his passion – books and book dealing – that the book gets really interesting. There are all sorts of nicely packaged bits of rare book trivia in this novel, and the mystery part of it is engaging enough, albeit vaguely predictable. But Dunning has written a very likeable character in Janeway, and in fact I liked him enough that the sequel is the next on my list.