Oxford Exit

Novelist and one-time librarian, Kate Ivory, has been asked to do some cataloguing at the Bodleian Library, Oxford in an undercover effort to find out how to make rare books disappear when they are in the process of being added to the computer catalogue and removed from the card index. Not only did she discover major losses and what became of the books, but someone else had the same suspicion and came to a nasty end. The book theft is referred to as the Oxford Exit. This was a lot of fun, not a cozy, but kept light with Stallwood's humour and library lore. And of course the setting is first-rate.

Most noteworthy: a particularly creepy character has the name of Vivian.

This book is very interesting if you work in a library or want to visit a time when libraries were transitioning to newer technology (some still are). The mystery itself is interesting in the way we already know how/why the murderer did it and what shaped them early on, just (and more importantly) not who the perpetrator is. Veronica Stallwood deals deftly with the psychological reasons for murder, and honestly it did leave me squirmy at the end...you’ll have to read it to understand.

Oxford Exit is the second in the series featuring novelist Kate Ivory.

This isn't your standard cut-and-dried whodunit, because here Stallwood uses two narratives to tell the story. There is Kate's story -- she's trying to write her newest novel with a lot of interruptions, and she's asked by her friend Andrew to take on the task of tracking down some suspected thefts from some newly-computerized Oxford libraries. While Andrew is telling her about some of the library's problems, his girlfriend Isabel tells Kate the story of one her friends, coincidentally a graduate student in library science, who was killed some time back. The two cases get Kate's detective juices flowing. At the same time, Stallwood introduces the readers to the show more somewhat rather warped jottings of a creative writing student that interweave throughout the novel and often parallel the action that's taking place in Kate's world and which could place unknowing Katein a lot of danger.

The alternating narratives work here, and work well. Although the writing student's narrative warns the reader not to take everything at face value, you know that you're looking into a very sick mind. I enjoyed that aspect of the book, and I enjoyed the unmasking of the killer. Kate Ivory's side of things was good, but often just a little cutesy for my taste in mysteries. I think this book might be better suited for cozy mystery readers than for more serious readers (like me), but overall it was okay. I was actually wrong in my choice of murderer so that's always a positive thing. I'd recommend it primarily to cozy readers who want something more on the criminal side, because even though the criminal's viewpoint was well done, the rest was kind of so-so.

I do have more books on my shelves by this author, and will eventually read them all, but I've read better. show less

Kate Ivory, a writer and sometime librarian, is hired to investigate some very clever book thefts from Oxford's libraries. Complicated plot, engaging protagonist, and the setting in Oxford -- no wonder I liked it.

I love this book. This was my introduction to Kate and the Oxford series. Fast paced, interesting and a wonderful setting for all literature lovers.

Synopsis of plot seemed interesting, but not my style.