Once Upon A Spine (Bibliophile Mystery, #11)

by Kate Carlisle

In this Bibliophile Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Books of a Feather, San Francisco bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright stumbles through the looking glass in a tale of murder, rare books, and a quest for the perfect pie…

Brooklyn's oh-so-proper future in-laws are traveling from England to meet her, and if that's not enough to set her on edge, rumors abound that the charming Courtyard shops across the street may be replaced by high-rise apartments. Their trendy neighborhood will be ruined unless Brooklyn and her fiancé, Derek Stone, can persuade the shopkeepers not to sell. 

But with a rare edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland causing bad blood at the Brothers Bookshop and a string of petty vandalism making everyone nervous, Brooklyn and Derek feel like they're attempting six impossible things before breakfast. Then the owner of the Rabbit Hole juice bar is felled by his own heavy shelves, and the local cobbler lies dead beside him. An accident . . . or something more sinister? Things get curiouser and curiouser when a second priceless copy of Alice is discovered. Will it stir up more trouble within the close-knit community?  

As the Brits descend, Brooklyn learns they're not so stuffy after all. Derek's dad is won over with chocolate cream pie, and his psychic mum would kill to help Brooklyn solve this murder—before another victim takes a tumble.

• ISBN10: 0451477723
• ISBN13: 9780451477729
• Publish Date: 6 June 2017
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Penguin Putnam Inc
• Imprint: Berkley Publishing Corporation,U.S.
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 288
• Language: English
• URL: https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9780451477729

Reviews

[MurderByDeath]

Carlisle is also a romance writer and it's starting to show in this series.  I don't say that like it's a bad thing, but the focus of the books has definitely become the love between Brooklyn and Derek, and the strong family ties of both.  I like it, but it can sometimes get a little too sticky sweet, and completely unrealistic.  Say, for example, when both sets of in-laws come to stay for a week (meeting for the first time) and everyone stays together in the same apartment and gets along like a house on fire.  I won't say it's impossible, but definitely unrealistic.   The mystery was a tiny bit slapstick at the end.  I liked it; it worked for me, mostly because Carlisle was obviously having fun with it too and wasn't expecting high drama out of it.  Frankly, the fate of The Courtyard was screamingly obvious from the start, but that didn't bother me much either, it's a small thing and made no difference to the plot at all.   My favourite part of these books continues to be Brooklyn's work with books.  I love the moments where she talks about the books, their construction, and her work preserving or restoring them.  This time around, it was all about making your own paper and she made it sound so easy I am determined to try it myself this summer.  My only complaint is that at the end, rather than the recipes she included, I'd have rather had definite instructions on the paper making.   In general, this one didn't wow me, but I enjoyed it and I learned something new, so of course I'll be back for more.