The Librarian of Crooked Lane

by C.J. Archer

Other authors: See the other authors section.

Series: The Glass Library (1)

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Fantasy. Fiction. Mystery. Historical Fiction. HTML: A librarian with a mysterious past, a war hero with a secret, and the heist of a magic painting. THE LIBRARIAN OF CROOKED LANE is an intriguing new fantasy from C.J. Archer, the USA Today bestselling author of the Glass and Steele series. Librarian Sylvia Ashe knows nothing about her past, having grown up without a father and a mother who refused to discuss him. When she stumbles upon a diary that suggests she's descended from magicians, she's skeptical. After all, magicians are special, and she's just an ordinary girl who loves books. She seeks the truth from a member of the most prominent family of magicians, but she quickly learns that finding the truth won't be easy, especially when he turns out to be as artless as her, and more compelling and dangerous than books. War hero Gabe is gifted with wealth, a loving family, and an incredible amount of luck that saw him survive four harrowing years of a brutal war without injury. But not all injuries are visible. Burying himself in his work as a consultant for Scotland Yard, Gabe is going through the motions as he investigates the theft of a magician-made painting. But his life changes when he unwittingly gets Sylvia dismissed from her job and places her in danger. After securing her new employment in a library housing the world's greatest collection of books about magic, Gabe and Sylvia's lives become intwined as they work together to find both the painting and the truth about Sylvia's past before powerful people can stop them. But sometimes the past is better left buried... .… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 15 (next | show all)

A very trite story with a narrative that focuses on too many plot points: is it a crime and intrigue saga? Is it a romance or a fantasy with magical abilities? Maybe some social justice in the aftermath of WWI and its impact on societal norms in England? Oh wait, it's an art heist with the murkiest of motives and cardboard characters with no thread of events to connect the dots. And thus the novel is fractured, suspending reader engagement with unresolved vignettes strung together. The final chapter did no favours to bring a satisfactory ending, either. (

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SandyAMcPherson | Mar 15, 2024 |

I won't rate it since I didn't finish it. It started off good and I got sucked in, but somewhere, it went off the rails. I don't know if this was a me problem and I got lost in the characters. I was listening to this on audio, so that could be the case. But I realized, I didn't know who was who and then I realized I also didn't care about the mystery they were trying to solve. I decided it was just time to give up!

Mav-n-Libby | Mar 4, 2024 |

The story has a Librarian (hence the title), a library, a theft, lots about art-history, (more than I really needed to know) an artist, magic, mystery, romance, an investigation, a handsome magical detective, that all comes together making it difficult... if not impossible, to stop reading. The 4-star rating was no fault of the story or the authors ability to write an interesting, winning novel. I was surprised to learn that this book is either the 2nd or maybe 3rd addition to a series called The Glass Library...named for the Glass family that invested in the library. This books place in the series was a bit confusing as some sources say it's the 1st book of 5. It didn't read like a continuation...but who knows? If any of this books' content might pique your interest, you may enjoy this one more if you read them in order.... whatever that order is. Not to give too much away I'll just summarize by using a description I found that gives you an idea how this book fits into what appears may be an established storylines from the other books.

"Librarian Sylvia Ashe has come to London to find out who the magic user is who her brother (died in recent WW1) thought had answers to questions they've had all their lives. Father unknown and mother VERY secretive about the past. She believes that while she and her brother are artless, there is some sort of connection with those who have silver magic. Soon she meets the son of the woman she seeks (who is wealthy, war hero, police consultant), loses her job, becomes entangled in a web of art theft, becomes endangered." (

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Carol420 | Feb 7, 2024 |

A historical fantasy mystery set in London in the aftermath of WWI, about a young woman who gets a new job at a magical library.

Despite sounding very much like my cup of tea, I was on the verge of not finishing it. I found some of Sylvia’s reactions unrealistic (for instance why wasn’t she more annoyed when her friend caused her to lose her job?) and questioned the historical accuracy of some of the worldbuilding. (On one hand, historical fiction and historical fantasy doesn’t need to be perfectly accurate and it’s a perfectly valid to throw in fantasy elements instead of historical accuracy, but one the other hand, I don’t actually care about accuracy so much as verisimilitude, I want the story to flow and I want to be convinced…)

But then I changed my mind, reapproached with adjusted expectations and it was -- okay. Finishable. (One of those books I’d like to send back in time to my teenage self, who would have appreciated it more.) I am slightly curious about some of the on-going, unsolved mystery about Sylvia’s family and vaguely invested in her romantic prospects. Maybe one day I will be in just the right mood for giving the sequel a go? (

)

Herenya | Dec 22, 2023 |

My kind of catnip, interwar story, magic as a bonus and some snobbery about it. Add in a magical library and a sarky heroine, Sylvia Ashe who is alone in the world, and is finding herself dealing with Gabe, who is a war hero and consults with Scotland Yard to keep away the terrors of his past.
Gabe accidentally gets Sylvia sacked from her job in a library and determines to fix the problem, the only way he knows how, and creates a job for her in the magical library. There she finds a home and he also finds that she has skills in linking information. He's got a girlfriend but their relationship seems based more on pragmatism than love.
It's complicated and messy and there are plenty of bright young things and it was a peach of a read. (

)

wyvernfriend | Oct 24, 2023 |

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Author name	Role	Type of author	Work?	Status
C.J. Archer	—	primary author	all editions	calculated
Hussey, Marian	Narrator	secondary author	some editions	confirmed

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Canonical title

The Librarian of Crooked Lane

Original title

Alternative titles

Original publication date

People/Characters

Sylvia Ashe

Gabriel Glass (Gabe)

Important places

London, England, UK

Important events

Related movies

Epigraph

Dedication

First words

The woman crouching under the desk near my feet expelled an unladylike snort of derision.

Quotations

Last words

(Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)

Disambiguation notice

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Blurbers

Original language

English

Canonical DDC/MDS

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▾Book descriptions

Fantasy. Fiction. Mystery. Historical Fiction. HTML:

A librarian with a mysterious past, a war hero with a secret, and the heist of a magic painting. THE LIBRARIAN OF CROOKED LANE is an intriguing new fantasy from C.J. Archer, the USA Today bestselling author of the Glass and Steele series.

Librarian Sylvia Ashe knows nothing about her past, having grown up without a father and a mother who refused to discuss him. When she stumbles upon a diary that suggests she's descended from magicians, she's skeptical. After all, magicians are special, and she's just an ordinary girl who loves books. She seeks the truth from a member of the most prominent family of magicians, but she quickly learns that finding the truth won't be easy, especially when he turns out to be as artless as her, and more compelling and dangerous than books.

War hero Gabe is gifted with wealth, a loving family, and an incredible amount of luck that saw him survive four harrowing years of a brutal war without injury. But not all injuries are visible. Burying himself in his work as a consultant for Scotland Yard, Gabe is going through the motions as he investigates the theft of a magician-made painting. But his life changes when he unwittingly gets Sylvia dismissed from her job and places her in danger.

After securing her new employment in a library housing the world's greatest collection of books about magic, Gabe and Sylvia's lives become intwined as they work together to find both the painting and the truth about Sylvia's past before powerful people can stop them.

But sometimes the past is better left buried...

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