The Lies That Bind

Brooklyn Wainwright is back in her beloved San Francisco and is teaching a class on book binding at Bay Area Book Arts. The head of the BABA, Layla Fontaine, is good for the organization but is a royal pain to Brooklyn and really just about everyone else who has to work with her. When Brooklyn finds out that Layla intends to sell an Oliver Twist that Brooklyn just restored as a first edition, Brooklyn is determined to stop her but can't quite figure out how to convince Layla. Before she can do anything about it, Layla is killed and as usual, Brooklyn is first on the scene. At least this time, she was teaching a class when the gun was fired so she has a room of witnesses to keep her from becoming a suspect. But this does not keep show more Brooklyn from trying to discover who the killer is. Really she can't help herself. She also can't help herself around the dashing Derek Stone, security analyst and British stud muffin, who has reappeared in her life.

This is the third book in the Bibliophile Mystery series. These books are always entertaining. Brooklyn and her friends and family are a lot of fun. Her constantly interupted attempts to be alone with Derek add to the general fun. There is also the mysterious Gabriel, who always seems to be around. Hope to find out more about him soon. I am grabbing the 4th book today. I have to see what happens next! show less

Third in the series, this adventure takes place only two months after the first volume. The pace of finding dead bodies is becoming a bit difficult to sustain. I mean, really, maybe Brooklyn is a murder magnet after all. The central mystery is solid, but the villain was identified so early I kept waiting for a surprise twist that never came. The romantic interactions between Brooklyn and Derek have become a distraction more suited to a romance novel than a serious mystery series, but I'll hope this swooning and petty jealousy thins out into a more realistic and mature relationship.

I love the bibliophile mysteries and love the fact that Brooklyn restores old books. This is the third in the series and I'm still very excited to read each book.

This time round Brooklyn is teaching bookbinding at Bay Area Book Arts (BABA)where she has to deal with the director Layla, her assistant Alice and her niece Naomi as well as her class of students.

There are returning characters including Derek, Gabriel and the hated Minka as well as Brooklyn's family.

When Minka is attacked and then Layla is killed Brooklyn and Derek set out to help the San Francisco police solve the crimes.

These books are easy reads but the mystery stays complicated in most cases. This one I did guess the bad guy but wasn't positive and certainly had no idea of show more reason!

Looking forward to #4 show less

This is the third in the Bibliophile Mysteries series. The rare books and antiquities black market provides an intriguing backdrop to the stories. I find the (minimal) details about book binding to be interesting, since I took a book binding workshop--so the information was understandable. I did get sick and tired of the main character and her swarthy Brit boyfriend, as they were constantly on the verge of "doing it" and then something prevented consummation of their relationship every time. So get on with it already! I really liked the secondary characters--her "hippie" parents are a trip, if you pardon the expression. The mystery itself almost seemed secondary to the other stuff going on in the book, but it all came together in the show more last two chapters. show less

Book restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright returns home to San Francisco to teach a bookbinding class. Unfortunately, the program director Layla Fontaine is a horrendous host who pitches fits and lords over her subordinates. But when Layla is found shot dead, Brooklyn is bound and determined to investigate—even as the killer tries to close the book on her for good

First Line: Layla Fontaine, Executive Artistic Director of the Bay Area Book Arts Center, was tall, blond, and strikingly beautiful, with a hair-trigger temper and a reputation for ruthlessness.

Book restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright has returned to San Francisco from Edinburgh, Scotland to teach a bookbinding class at BABA (Bay Area Book Arts). She loves BABA but can't stand the program director, Layla Fontaine, a woman who is truly gifted at her job but despised by her subordinates due to her penchant for wielding power as if it were a sledge hammer. However, when Layla is found shot to death, Brooklyn is willing to let bygones be bygones as she tries to identify the killer.

After the second book, If Books Could Kill, I was show more teetering precariously on top of the fence. There were just too many things about the characters and the story that didn't set well with me. Unfortunately many of the same things bother me in this book, too.

Brooklyn is too immature for me and gets on my nerves. Interested in sexy security expert, Derek Stone, the poor man can't glance at another woman without Brooklyn becoming jealous. It's also awfully easy for her to say that she hates someone. For someone with the flower power parents that she has, one would think that hate would be one word that's not bandied about lightly. For icing on the Brooklyn cake, several people tell her that she's naive and the world's worst liar. She is. I don't think being a terrible liar is a bad thing, but her naivete-- since she's showing no signs of becoming wiser-- could prove fatal.

Two of the characters that make me grind my teeth are Brooklyn's mother and Minka La Boeuf. Brooklyn's mother is supposed to be a flaky version of an Earth Mother. One of the brighter spots in this book is that Mama wasn't trying to force enemas on everyone. Minka, on the other hand, is an evil-tempered psychopath who's just way over-the-top. I keep hoping that she'll be the next victim in this series, but the mad cow refuses to moove off into the sunset.

Speaking of victims, Minka does have one thing right: everywhere Brooklyn goes, someone dies. Two months have passed since the first book in the series, and the bodies are beginning to pile up. If I were expecting to be anywhere near Brooklyn Wainwright, I'd hire a bodyguard.

I love the information about bookbinding that is included in the books, but that can't overcome the problems I have with the characters and plots where the killers are too easily guessed. This is one series that I'm going to let sit on the shelf for a while. With any luck, I'll pick the next book up sometime in the future and begin enjoying the series again. show less

The Lies That Bind by Kate Carlisle is the third of the Bibliophile Mystery series. Brooklyn Wainwright has returned to San Francisco to teach a book binding course. She's also rebound a nice old (but not first) edition of Oliver Twist only to have the director of BABA lie and call it a first edition.

It seems that every time Brooklyn tries to run her class, someone either ends up seriously hurt or dead at BABA (Bay Area Book Arts). Ultimately it's Layla, the director who is murdered and Brooklyn, figures she has to solve the case before her reputation is forever damaged.

As with any cozy mystery, there's a chance that the series' niche and its refined selection of tropes will make solving the mystery faster than the protagonist too easy. show more That happened here. The reasons behind the crimes, though, come in the back third of the book which seem to be there for soap-operatic drama than for the construction of the mystery.

I did though enjoy Brooklyn's further lessons on book binding, book history, and her hippy commune roots. I have the fourth book, Murder Under Cover, on hand to read soon. show less