Review - Homicide in Hardcover
Title: Homicide in Hardcover
Author: Kate Carlisle
Series: Bibliophile Mystery #1
Publisher: Berkley Books
Book expert Brooklyn Wainwright discovers that murder is always a bestseller in the first novel in the New York Times bestselling Bibliophile Mystery series.
Brooklyn Wainwright is a skilled surgeon. Sure, her patients might smell like mold and have spines made of leather, but no ailing book is going to die on her watch. The same can't be said of Abraham Karastovsky, Brooklyn's friend and former employer.
On the eve of a celebration for his latest book restoration, Brooklyn finds her mentor lying in a pool of his own blood. With his final breath Abraham leaves Brooklyn with a cryptic message, "Remember the Devil," and gives her a priceless—and supposedly cursed—copy of Goethe's Faust for safe-keeping.
Brooklyn suddenly finds herself accused of murder and theft, thanks to Derek Stone, the humorless—and annoyingly attractive—British security officer who found her kneeling over the body. Now she has to read the clues left behind by her mentor if she is going to restore justice…
Brooklyn Wainright is an expert bookbinder. After finding her mentor and teacher, Abraham Karastovsky, dead she is devastated. More than that, she is determined. Just before Abraham died he said a few words to her and gave her a priceless book, Goethe's Faust. When Abraham's employer, who is also Brooklyn's former boyfriend, asks her to take over the restoration of Faust, she agrees. Meanwhile she is forced to deal with a British security expert, Derek Stone, who both attracts her and annoys her.
At the outset, Derek thinks she might be guilty. His feelings on the matter change rather quickly, especially when he discovers that she plans on checking things out for herself. Meanwhile, Brooklyn is super busy. She has less than a week to restore the book, must fend off attacks while asking one too many questions, and has constant run-ins with Derek.
Brooklyn must also contend with another restorer, Minka. They have been having difficulties for years, and Minka is pushing all of her buttons. Despite Minka's evil nature, there are other great characters in this book, including Brooklyn's best friend Robin and her delightful parents.
This story is told in Brooklyn's first-person's point of view. One bonus to Kate Carlisle's writing style that I enjoyed while reading this book is Brooklyn's side comments to herself. She is so snarky and fun.
Homicide in Hardcover is a wonderful cozy mystery and I am glad to have had a chance to read it. It is the first book in the Bibliophile series. There are currently 13 titles. The latest title is The Book Supremacy, which I have already read. I really enjoyed that book, so I decided to backtrack and read the series from the beginning. Immediately after reading this first book, I then read the second, If Books Could Kill, and have already borrowed the third, The Lies That Bind, from my library.
New York Times bestselling author Kate Carlisle is a native Californian who worked in television production for many years before turning to writing. It was a lifelong fascination with the art and craft of bookbinding that led her to write the Bibliophile Mysteries, featuring Brooklyn Wainwright, whose bookbinding and restoration skills invariably uncover old secrets, treachery and murder.
Her first book, Homicide in Hardcover, debuted in February 2010, followed by If Books Could Kill, The Lies That Bind, Murder Under Cover, One Book in the Grave, Peril in Paperback, A Cookbook Conspiracy, The Book Stops Here, Ripped from the Pages, Books of a Feather, Once Upon a Spine, Buried in Books and The Book Supremacy. She also wrote a Bibliophile e-novella, Pages of Sin, available in e-format only.
With the publication of A High-End Finish in November 2014, Kate launched the Fixer-Upper Mysteries featuring building contractor Shannon Hammer, who specializes in Victorian home renovation and repair. The series is set in Lighthouse Cove, a seemingly idyllic town with many dark secrets hiding under its floorboards. This Old Homicide, Crowned and Moldering, Deck the Hallways, Eaves of Destruction and A Wrench in the Works continue the series. Three of the Fixer-Upper Mysteries have been brought to the small screen by Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.
Kate's television credits include numerous game shows, music videos, concerts, 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, most notably as a member of the girl group, The Whispers. They didn't sing, exactly, but spit water on the host of the show.
Kate 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 in Southern California where she lives with her perfect hero husband.
Kate is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers and Romance Writers of America. She is the proud recipient of the Golden Heart and Daphne du Maurier awards, and her first Bibliophile Mystery received a Best First Mystery nomination from RT Book Reviews. Kate loves to travel and read and drink good wine and watch other people cook.
Despite the appearance of overnight success, Kate's dream of publication took many, many years to fulfill. If you're wondering why, here's the real scoop.
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Labels: 4.5 Stars, cozy mystery, series
DJ Sakata July 18, 2019 at 12:53 PM
ashleighjayne July 18, 2019 at 1:27 PM
never heard of these, great review
Bentley BookBastion July 18, 2019 at 3:11 PM
That's awesome that you got hooked into a series you're clearly enjoying! Great review!
Christina - Recipe & a Read July 18, 2019 at 5:28 PM
I have never heard of this series but I am going to have to look into it.
Bewitched Reader July 18, 2019 at 6:22 PM
I've never heard of this series. Thanks for sharing!
Whispering Stories July 19, 2019 at 6:17 AM
Looks fab. Not a series I've heard of before.
Shelleen July 19, 2019 at 7:05 AM
This sounds good
Amanda McGill July 19, 2019 at 2:41 PM
Allie Bock July 20, 2019 at 8:57 AM
I enjoy cozies! Great review!
Willis August 5, 2019 at 10:55 AM
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