KATE CARLISLE – Homicide in Hardcover. Obsidian, paperback original; 1st printing, February 2009.

    First in a projected series featuring Brooklyn (“Kate”) Wainwright, a book restorer who, invited to a reception to honor her mentor, Abraham Karastovsky, finds herself a suspect after she discovers him dying and whispering “Remember the devil.”

    Marketed as a “bibliophile mystery,” this first novel departs from the usual bookstore/collector subjects to go behind the scenes of the upscale collectors’ world to show how artisans, with loving skill, return valuable books to the condition that makes collectors proud to display them on shelves with books that have somehow, almost miraculously, escaped the myriad disasters that can befall antiquarian books.

    Any collector prizes the restorer who can return books to their original condition even though, in my experience, the process can take what seems an inordinate amount of time, causing the always anxious owner more than one night of sleep broken by fantasies of books mysteriously disappearing or being engulfed in a sudden and totally consuming fire.

    However, none of these concerns need spoil the enjoyment of this well-crafted mystery for the reader who likes the bookish references and setting, and can appreciate the enjoyable mix of humor and suspense that make this the debut of a promising series.

Note:   According to the author’s website, the second book in this series, If Books Could Kill, will be coming out next month, in February of this year.