Homicide in Hardcover

This was a good summer read, and I enjoyed the book preservation connection a lot. I would've enjoyed more on that angle. As it was, this book bordered on chick lit, which I don't read much of. Still, I enjoyed the story, as well as the San Francisco locale. ( )

I am always looking for mysteries about books, libraries, or librarians. The cover says that Homicide in Hardcover is the first in a new series of bibliophile mysteries. The main character is Brooklyn Wainwright. She is young, sassy, attractive, has no domestic skills, crazy parents and a couple of interesting men in her life so in those ways she reminds me of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum. She supposedly has two masters degrees and restores rare books for a living. The story is set in San Francisco and the commune where her parents live in wine country.

I enjoyed the characters, the humor and I thought that the story was well-paced but Brooklyn doesn't really do any investigating. There are a couple of things about book restoration that were just stunningly unrealistic. For example, Brooklyn was in the lab working on an absolutely priceless edition of Goethe's Faust while snacking on gooey chocolate. ( )

I am always looking for mysteries about books, libraries, or librarians. The cover says that Homicide in Hardcover is the first in a new series of bibliophile mysteries. The main character is Brooklyn Wainwright. She is young, sassy, attractive, has no domestic skills, crazy parents and a couple of interesting men in her life so in those ways she reminds me of Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum. She supposedly has two masters degrees and restores rare books for a living. The story is set in San Francisco and the commune where her parents live in wine country.

I enjoyed the characters, the humor and I thought that the story was well-paced but Brooklyn doesn't really do any investigating. There are a couple of things about book restoration that were just stunningly unrealistic. For example, Brooklyn was in the lab working on an absolutely priceless edition of Goethe's Faust while snacking on gooey chocolate. ( )

Homicide In Hardcover by Kate Carlisle is the first of the Bibliophile mysteries. Brooklyn Wainright is an expert in book restoration and binding. A potentially cursed copy of Faust leads to the death of her mentor where her mother is a suspect!

Two factors drew me to this series: the book binding aspect and the setting — San Francisco. Carlisle's description of San Francisco and surrounding areas (mostly in Marin county) were believable, capturing both the landscape and the quirks of the local culture. Meanwhile the book binding and repair details were just enough to be interesting without getting in the way of the plot.

I think fans of Penny Warner's Party Planning series will enjoy the Bibliophile series. Brooklyn has a similar dysfunctional but loving relationship with her mother, though her's is in good health, and her father is still alive.

As a first mystery, the clues and suspects are pretty easy to put together for an observant reader. The characters and setting, though, more than make up for the simplicity in plot. ( )

This is the first book in the Bibliophile Mystery series. "Homicide In Hardcover" follows Brooklyn Wainwright, book restorer, as she tries to find out who murdered her mentor. This books introduces the main character, her quirky family and friends and the more "enlightened" communities in the San Francisco area. The characters are entertaining and the mystery and potential romance are well balanced. I'm looking forward to reading more of this series. Also the author has the habit of ending chapters right in the middle of a scene, this can lead to a significant loss of sleep. ( )