Booked to Die

The back cover for this mystery describes:

“Tough, book-loving Denver homicide detective Cliff Janeway wants to nail Jackie Newton – a suspected psychopath who just barely beat the rap for a series of vagrant killings. Janeway is certain his sleazy, sadistic nemesis is to blame for the recent murder of a down-and-out rare book hunter – and treats Newton to a rather brutal helping of off-duty justice that ultimately costs the overzealous cop his badge.

“A civilian once more, Cliff Janeway now has time to pursue his true passion – the buying and selling of valuable first editions – and to get to the bottom of the unfortunate bookscout’s still-unsolved slaying. For somewhere undercover, in the bizarre, cutthroat world of show more bookmen and collectors, someone is dealing death along with vintage Chandlers and Twains.”

It’s that last bit: that “someone is dealing death” part that usually turns me off of mysteries. It sounds cheesy, like the taglines for Goosebumps books or really bad 80s movies that don’t fit the qualification of “it’s so bad, it’s good.” However, my strong appeal for books about books brought me to this one, and I was surprised that it didn’t turn out to be the only thing that kept me going.

The writing style is undeniably addictive. It took me longer to read this book than I would have expected, partially because I read quickly, but also because I found myself completely engrossed. It took an addictive distraction to pull me away, and even then, I still snuck in a few minutes of reading here and there – to the point where I was actually greedily consuming words while I was at red traffic lights.

This is going to sound like an awful statement, but this book read like a “real book.” You know how most people view romance novels as trashy works of fiction that have no real significance in the grand scheme of writing? Well, supposedly (I’ve heard), there are quite a few that aren’t just smut; they’re well thought-out, well written, with extremely detailed and intricate plot-lines that aren’t just about being bedded. Well, the former description is how I have seen most mystery novels in the past. Not “trashy” per say, but certainly not significant. Selling them, I saw older women buying five a day, complaining about how they’re such “quick reads” and they “don’t leave much of a mark,” but they’re addicted anyway - sort of like how my mom is addicted to romance novels. However, just as there are plenty of good romances, there apparently are great mysteries. John Dunning’s Booked to Die is one of those books.

Romances and mysteries were always two genres wholly unknown to me. I don’t read a lot of science-fiction, but I have, and while “grown up” horror doesn’t appeal to me either, I favored the genre when I was younger. I took on the Summer Mystery Reading Challenge to rectify the non-mystery part of my life, and even though I probably won’t read the remaining three books before the end of August (though I could get lucky!), it’s books like this one that make me want to dive further into the genre. Not only that, but I plan on reading the rest of the books in this series, learning more about Janeway and McKinley if she reappears, hoping that they’ll all be just as brilliant. show less

Readers should be aware that this is mainly a noir novel, not a novel about books per se. There's an investigator, Cliff Janeway, a dame, a murder and a book angle. It becomes more book-ish as the main character drops his job for another, more interesting, one. But the investigation in the book world can lead to murder and deception. I personally love the crossover of the two worlds, it makes the book world more edgy and dangerous than what readers think. There's also a lot of action and the characterization is well crafted. Overall, this is an interesting novel, with lots of suspens and easy to read. Janeway starts rather as an obnoxious investigator character but ends up being a likeable bookish one, as if he had a split personality, show more depending on whether he is a cop or a book collector/salesman. The mix of both worlds makes for an interesting series of books, which I'll read with anticipation. show less

The first title in the Cliff Janeway Bookman series is a good mystery with lots of booktalk. The author is a former Denver resident and bookstore owner. The Janeway character is a Denver detective who doesn't always follow the rules. At the end of the book he's no longer on the force and has followed his interest in books and opened a bookstore. I'll definitely continue the series.

between 3 and 3.5 stars. i really never tire of books where the main character is a big reader or it takes place in the book world, and this is a more unusual take, where the mystery is among the book dealers in the rare book world in denver. so that's a big plus for me. really fun to be in all the stores and to scout the books discussed. that ended up being a much bigger part of the story than i expected, and it was great.

the mystery, which was wrapped around the book stuff, was also therefore fun for me, and definitely took some unexpected turns.

the parts i liked less or am unsure about are also throughout the book. first, and this is probably me, but it didn't feel at all like 1986 to me, but more like 1966 or even earlier. this is show more likely just me thinking that 1986 wasn't really that long ago, but over and over this struck me as feeling like it was taking place long before he wrote it. it also seemed like a strange decision to give the main character political views that almost certainly would offend just about everyone. i think he was trying to make him seem like a good guy but one that people might find tough, but i feel like the way he did this was just alienating to everyone. along the same lines, i didn't really see a reason to insult all the authors that he does. he talks trash about so many modern authors and their quality of writing, and that just feels both unnecessary and kind of mean. both of these seemed a really strange choice to me, when there were other ways of saying what he wanted, without specifically naming things/people that could insult or antagonize readers. i also didn't at all like the dalliance the main character had with the book appraiser; nothing about that felt real to me (except her anger and betrayal at his lack of trust in her). and i hated the way he treated the woman who was being abused by the man he thought had committed the murders; he seemed to feel no understanding for her fear and anguish.

but, the mystery was good and being in that world was really fun for me. the writing was also good, and the pages kept turning pretty quickly every time i picked this up. somehow in spite of the faults, i still really enjoyed this. show less

This is a really fun "hard-boiled" detective novel about a bibliophile. How can you go wrong with that premise? Cliff Janeway is a Denver detective who is extremely passionate about books. When a bookscout is murdered, Janeway is put on the case and he begins investigating the Denver antiquarian book community. Janeway ultimately ends up leaving the police force after tangling one too many times with an old enemy, and he opens a book store, though he continues to investigate the bookscout's murder. Along the way, Janeway encounters a number of fascinating characters, all of whom are involved in some way in the book trade.

At its heart, this is a hard-boiled detective story, and Janeway can be a bit of a thug at times, but that's part of show more his charm. The story is told in the first person (from Janeway's perspective, obviously), which I always enjoy. The action is pretty constant and Janeway's investigation is intelligent and doesn't insult the reader with obvious plotholes or pointless subplots. The dialogue is very natural, and often downright clever.

The cast of characters is truly outstanding and one of the greatest strengths of the book. Dunning has done a great job of crafting a Denver antiquarian book community that feels real. There are a few passages in the book describing how Janeway or one of the other characters feels about books that really hit home for me -- Dunning truly "gets it" -- he is clearly a bibliophile who understands what it is to genuinely *love* books.

This was the first John Dunning book I've read, but it certainly won't be my last. In fact, I liked "Booked to Die" so much that I've already bought the second Cliff Janeway novel. The book ends on a bit of a bittersweet note and I'm really looking forward to seeing how Janeway's new business and personal relationships progress. If you're a fan of detective stories and you love books, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up!

Review copyright 2008 J. Andrew Byers show less

I love mysteries but too often dislike those written by male writers. Often they're too focused on being tough and gritty and sleazy and raunchy to be bothered to develop an actual mystery, a puzzle to be solved. Not true with this one. It's tough and gritty and sleazy and raunchy, but at its core is a true conundrum. The last line alone is worth the price of admission.

And it's about books! People killing and being killed over rare books, like something out of Chandler or Hammett. I don't believe that's an accident. Booked to Die reads like an homage to noir - though set in the 80s, the book's lurid and sometimes exotic characters could easily have been rendered forty years earlier in glorious black-and-white. All the elements are there show more - the seedy apartments, small-time hustlers, the big house on a hill, the femme fatale who may or may not be involved in shady dealings, the (sometimes ridiculously) old-fashioned character names, the protagonist who used to be a cop until he got tired of playing within the boundaries of the law. Except in this case, he didn't become a private eye like the rest of them do; he became a book dealer, and the glimpse into the rare book trade is fascinating.

This one was a winner, and I look forward to the rest of the series. show less

This is the one that started Dunning's Janeway series. I was hooked from the first page to the big-twisting end.
This detetective story is peppered with all kinds of book facts that will keep any bibliophile turning the pages. I guess it's a good detective story too. But, hands down, it's a winner just for merging detectives and books.
Half-way through, it had me Googling "book scout" and wondering if I could make a living at that myself.
Needless to say, I was smart enough not to quit my day-job, all the while wishing this book-detective tale never ended.