Welcome to Storyton Hall, Virginia, where book lovers travel from near and far to enjoy the singular comforts of the Agatha Christie Tea Room, where they can discuss the merits of their favorite authors no matter how deadly the topic . . .
With her twins, Fitzgerald and Hemingway, back in school, Jane Steward can finally focus on her work again—managing Storyton Hall, and breaking ground on the resort’s latest attraction: a luxurious, relaxing spa named in honor of Walt Whitman. But when the earth is dug up to start laying the spa’s foundation, something else comes to the surface—a collection of unusual bones and the ragged remnants of a very old book. The attendees of the Rare Book Conference are eager to assist Jane with this unexpected historical mystery—until a visitor meets an untimely end in the Henry James Library. As the questions—and suspects—start stacking up, Jane will have to uncover a killer before more unhappy endings ensue . . .
“Combines clever clues, a smart and courageous heroine and an interesting setting in a whodunit that will inspire readers to make further visits to Storyton Hall.”
—Richmond Times-Dispatch on Murder in the Paperback Parlor
Sometimes I run across books that, in spite of obvious points of diversion from my personal taste, I can't help reading anyway. This series is a perfect example.
The premise is both wonderful and cheesy as hell. Like 70's cheesy, but still really wonderful. The series centers around Storyton village and resort; a luxury resort centered around the love of reading. Wonderful. Jane Stewart is the manager and heir of the resort, as well as the Guardian of a super-secret repository of all. the. books. Or at least all the books, scrolls. manuscripts, clay tablets, that are priceless, rare. dangerous. This part is 50/50 wonderful/cheesy. The super-secret repository comes complete with a super-secret security force that has access to all the toys, and they guard against other, evil, super-secret organisations that want access to the library. Super-cheesy.
Still, I can't resist. The author's love of books is obvious and she casually title-drops interesting sounding books throughout the narrative. This book focused on books about books too, which is my personal weakness, so several titles have been added to my lists.
The mystery around this one was ... so-so. A very old skeleton was dug up during excavations on site and the only known copy of a controversial book is found with it. Then new murders start occurring. So far, so good. Unfortunately, the author made the murderer too obvious by overdoing the hiding in plain site chestnut. And then giving him a motive that is firmly in the cheesy camp.
I'm never in a rush to buy these, but when I'm in the mood for a between books palette cleanser, these work and I get to imagine how amazing an entire resort centered around books would be.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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12 July, 2018:
Finished reading
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12 July, 2018:
Reviewed