Pages of Sin

Bibliophile Mystery #4.5

by Kate Carlisle

After Wanda Frawley’s tragic suicide, rare book expert Brooklyn receives a box of Wanda’s old books—including a copy of Pride and Prejudice that contains a very interesting letter addressed to the deceased’s spouse. In it, Wanda’s sister professes her love for Wanda’s husband…and soon, other pieces of correspondence are discovered between the covers, hinting at sordid secrets—and, perhaps, murder.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Cozy, Books About Books, Romance, Short Stories

68 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 3, 2012

About the author

Golden Heart and Daphne du Maurier Award winning author Kate Carlisle spent over twenty years working in television production as an Associate Director for game and variety shows, including The Midnight Special, Solid Gold and The Gong Show. She traveled the world as a Dating Game chaperone and performed strange acts of silliness on The Gong Show. She also studied acting and singing, toiled in vineyards, collected books, joined a commune, sold fried chicken, modeled spring fashions and worked for a cruise ship line, but it was the year she spent in law school that finally drove her to begin writing fiction. It seemed the safest way to kill off her professors. Those professors are breathing easier now that Kate spends most of her time writing near the beach in Southern California where she lives with her perfect husband.

A lifelong love of old books and an appreciation of the art of bookbinding led Kate to create the Bibliophile Mysteries, featuring rare book expert Brooklyn Wainwright, whose bookbinding and restoration skills invariably uncover old secrets, treachery and murder. Kate is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers and Romance Writers of America. She loves to drink good wine and watch other people cook.

Despite the appearance of overnight success, Kate's dream of publication took many, many years to fulfill.

Reviews

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three sisters. One man. A mysterious death. What could've gone wrong? In this in-between novella, Kate Carlisle keeps the fun alive in her Bibliophile series. Protagonist Brooklyn visits her mom back in Sonoma County while her boyfriend, Derek, is on an international work assignment. He's a spy. She's a bookbinder. The job: find out who killed one of the sisters. Sort of. It appears like a suicide, but there's always sin hidden among the pages.

Brooklyn and her mother built a great relationship in this short tale. I loved how they worked together to read all the notes tucked between the books so Brooklyn could solve the case. I can't imagine how the guy kept up with three different sisters throughout the years. And the surprise daughter! Which one mothered her? How did it all come together? How did it all fall apart? A clever tale with more going on that it seems. A great way to connect with Brooklyn, but I missed all the side characters, particularly Minka. At least we had a moment with Robin, and something big happened in her life. Looking forward to the next full-length novel.

[❂ Murder by Death · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent, entertaining short story with a bit of a humorous ending. I love the characters in the Bibliophile Mystery Series - each of them interesting and intriguing in their own right. And I absolutely can not get enough of the bookbinding facts that are very gracefully interwoven into the story lines. I'm looking forward to the next full length print installment in the series and this novella was a great read in the interim.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick fun novella that takes place in Brooklyn's hometown. I liked that we got to see more of her mom and for once the mystery didn't involve Brooklyn finding a dead body.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice short story

You really can’t go wrong with this series. My only complaint was that Derek was out of town. This was an enjoyable little mystery.

[msleighm · Rating 5 out of 5]

Audiobook. Book 5 stars, Narration 4 stars.

As a bibliophile, I absolutely adore this series. My only complaint about this novella is I wanted it to be longer.

This book goes into detail about a bookbinding class, I found that very interesting and instructive.

[Jennifer Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars

Easy read. No death, but Brooklyn and her mom do try to solve a mystery over her mom's friend's death. The ending with the sisters made no sense to me. I'm shocked people actually are okay with all that!

[JoAn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pages of Sin by Kate Carlisle was an fun little novella that I easily read in an afternoon. Since I had saved the Bibliophile series to binge read this summer, I was delighted to find this one after having finished all of the others. It was fun to be back in Dharma with Brooklyn and her family. The mystery was an unusual one that for once did not include Brooklyn finding a dead body! A quick fun read that still shared some amazing little tidbits of bookbinding/repair information.

[Katherine Decker · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quick read that adds to the series. Short novellas add to the series while being a bit different from the longer stories. This one involves Brooklyn and her mother trying to solve the mystery of a strange family that they know from Dharma.

[Holly Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the first book of Kate Carlisle's I've ever read. A short between the mysteries, mystery... Brooklyn is a book binder/book repairer, having grown up in the Sonoma Valley in a commune. She is a mystery solver and a book lover, has a boyfriend who used to be a British Spy....interesting book and probably not the right place to start the series at Lol but... I want to learn more so I will be reading more of the Bibliophile mystery series.

[Rebecca · Rating 1 out of 5]

Brooklyn is a book repair specialist. When a local hoarder dies by suicide, Brooklyns mother offers to help getting the house in order, and bribes Brooklyn to help with the promise of old books. In a series of Austen books, they find notes and documents that hint at family scandals.

What was the point of this book? It’s not a murder mystery, and while there are family secrets exposed, they are emphatically not sins, and they are none of Brooklyns business. They are no more than nosy neighbors inserting themselves into the lives of the people who should be the main characters—would have been much interesting that way. Kate Morton could have made it amazing. The writing was a bit annoying—we did not have to know what everyone ate all the time, for example. And what childrens picture book author would not know that the Caldecott is for illustrations, NOT writing? Then the audio book reader made the fifty-something mother sound like a little old lady. Um, no. This one definitely not a win for me.

[Evelyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great edition to the Brooklyn stories.

[Christine Lussier · Rating 3 out of 5]

Liked it, quick read (one night), had been waiting for awhile for our library to release the ebook.

Did not see any of it coming! Unbelievable, but a nice filler book.

[Kristi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. I read it for the sake of reading all of this series, but I wouldn’t have missed anything if I skipped it.

[C. (Comment, never msg). · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess authors create novellas for different reasons. It pissed me off to discover they were e-books only, a form that is not what books mean to me. I will not pay for air but nowadays, a friend has PDFs of most series entries I need to see. It happens that I am glad I do not own volume 4.5 as a book. After volume #7, I am done with Kate Carlisle. I was irritated by “Pages Of Sin” from 2012. Fortunately, I had read on before my friend obtained it and already loved mystery #6 enough to deem it my favourite. It missed 5 stars because reviewers promised an environment of secret tunnels, whose exaggeration was a letdown.

Brooklyn Wainwright appeared to have stopped fawning over her boyfriend like an insecure loser. She is thirty. We need to be able to respect a sleuth protagonist. Spelling “backwards” without the “S” and outrageously snappy slang were annoying; like Brooklyn “snagging” food from her Mom! Stick to your own damn plate and just write that someone “TOOK” fries! I hate fancifulness, like writing “crimson” instead of simply “red”. Nonetheless, an exasperated 2 star grade only culminated partially from personal faux-pas.

Mystery fans pay attention to the nuts and bolts of plots. Sleuthing wise, Brooklyn and her Mom did nothing but happen upon personal documents inside books. Their decision making started and stopped at speculating on the meanings and whom among the three relatives they would show the papers. In the Dharma, San Francisco commune, Wanda had died. Serious scenarios arose about her husband Byron and her Sisters Elaine and Marjorie.

I like very much that this mystery featured Mrs. Wainwright. Also, Brooklyn’s best friend, Robin shared news that is important to the series. I do not remember book #5 mentioning it.

[Jeannie and Louis Rigod · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this short story and am tickled that it was written as an interlude between novels. Very clever because it connected the novels but gave us a glimpse of Brooklyn Wainwright's family life.

Brooklyn is spending time off with her Mother and Father at their home in Sonoma County. Brooklyn's Mother is asked to help clean out a home of her friend, who has just passed away. The friend was a agoraphobic and the house borders on the disease of Hoarding. Although the house is built within outside walls of 6' high concrete, the ladies find beauty within.

Brooklyn is there for her pick of books. The husband, Bryon has given them their choice and there is a complete set of Jane Austen that just needs some care.

As Brooklyn begins teaching her class on Book binding, repairing etc. a student finds a letter within the pages of one of the Jane Austen books. What the letter says causes Brooklyn and her family great confusion and some discomfort.

This is a mystery of a different sort for Brooklyn to solve.

I loved having the other family members involved. I enjoyed seeing Brooklyn's relationship with her best friend evolve. This book was a great bridge between books and a wonderful way to keep us up to date as we eagerly await the new novel.

[Mary Ann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good short story. Brooklyn is back in her hometown, staying with her parents and giving a program at the library to teach people simple fixes of special books. Her mother asks her to help clean out a friend's house after her death. When she is using some of the books to teach her students, they find some records that show some of the secrets of the woman who died and her family. When they are brought together and the items are brought out at the memorial the whole truth starts to come out.



While not a murder mystery, it is still a cute story showing some things that people keep hidden.

[Ellen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not worth a review.

[Dawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

That was an...unexpected little tale. I can safely say I did not see *any* of that coming. It was almost unsettling. But I enjoyed a quick (albeit out of sequence, for me) visit with Brooklyn!

[Crazy for Books (Stephanie) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I agree with other reviewers, that this one was unnecessary in the series. Was just okay.

I also don't like this narrator as much as the original. The first narrator made her dad sound like he was always a little high and belonged on the commune and the mom a little ditzy, but ultimately smart. This narrator plays them both very straight.

[Joy Gerbode · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novella in the series was definitely not as good as the full books. It was actually kind of a soap opera ... bizarre circumstance and it's only redeeming quality was all the book references.

[Christian · Rating 4 out of 5]

saat melihat cover-nya yang oh-so-classy, gue merasa memang harus membacanya dengan iringan musik klasik. i chose mozart.

dan dugaan gue bener, meskipun terbilang quick read (cuman 161 halaman, lho), gue lumayan tertarik dengan premis serial ini. bercerita tentang brooklyn, heroine yang sangat mencintai buku. hobinya adalah mengunjungi perpustakaan. love her like a sister. *halah*

any-hoo, cerita ini dimulai dengan brooklyn menerima buku-buku koleksi mendiang wanda frawley yang baru-baru ini ditemukan bunuh diri. nggak ada yang mencurigakan sejauh ini... sampai brooklyn menemukan surat terselip di buku pride and prejudice, yang ternyata adalah surat cinta untuk byron, suami wanda... dari saudara perempuan wanda.

gue langsung semangat melanjutkan membaca. dan MAKIN semangat saat ketika menemukan fakta bahwa byron ternyata main gila dengan saudara perempuan wanda yang lain ketika mereka menikah. what the heck?! byron, you naughty-naughty bastard!

gue nggak akan bercerita lebih banyak lagi soal buku ini karena takut membocorkan isi cerita. tapi untuk jenis buku tipis, novel ini lumayan menghibur. lebih bagusnya lagi, gue jadi tertarik mencari tahu tulisan kate carlisle lainnya. yay!


mwa mwa,
CHRISTIAN SIMAMORA

[Kate Berry · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was a little weird. I mean, I'm glad I read it, but I doubt I'd reread it. Firstly, there wasn't any murder - just a suicide. And secondly, the relationship between the dead woman and her husband and her sisters is just....icky...to me. I suppose it shouldn't be, since they were all reportedly fine with it, but the one sister was almost his fiance, but he didn't get the letter with her acceptance before she went on a mission trip, and he had been sleeping with sister two while they were together - she got knocked up and sent away to have the kid, who she then gave up for adoption, and while sisters one and two were out of town, he married the third one. Like what?! And sister three became agoraphobic and no longer left the house and was secretly ghost writing both sister one's children's books and sister two's travel books.... all around an odd story.

But it was interesting nonetheless.

[Dharia Scarab · Rating 5 out of 5]

Since I don't normally write reviews unless I have something specific to say, here's the break down of how I rate my books...

1 star... This book was bad, so bad I may have given up and skipped to the end. I will avoid this author like the plague in the future.

2 stars... This book was not very good, and I won't be reading any more from the author.

3 stars... This book was ok, but I won't go out of my way to read more, But if I find another book by the author for under a dollar I'd pick it up.

4 stars... I really enjoyed this book and will definitely be on the look out to pick up more from the series/author.

5 stars... I loved this book! It had earned a permanent home in my collection and I'll be picking up the rest of the series and other books from the author ASAP.

[Jill DeBellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love times three plus Jane Austen

Brooklyn has the opportunity to get some books for the class she is teaching from her mother’s friend’s house. The friend has died and husband wants to clear some of his wife’s belongings removed. Here is where the mystery begins when teaching her class, Brooklyn’s students come across letters inside a series of Jane Austen books.
How and why were the letters there and did the owners realize what they meant.

[Kevin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting short story, but no murder, the main thrust of the story is about a man and his love triangle with three sisters. Brooklyn is back on the commune to teach a book repair class at the library. I found the subject of her class interesting enough that I googled some video's to see how to repair a loose hinge

[Mary Corso]

Essentially a short story

Annoying that the title does not suggest that this is a short story. It is also not much of a mystery as there are no clues to chase down. You won't miss any part of the continuing back story by skipping it if that is what you choose. A decent story on its own though.

[pat evans]

A quick funny read.

Have never read one of her short stories before and enjoyed it as much as her longer tales. Old books, a death and hidden letters lead to a mystery about a suicide. She has done it again.

[Trish · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun little non-murder, between the books novella.

[Monica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hard for me to read ebooks and would have read quicker if it was on paper. Change of pace tale for Brooklyn. You'll shake your head at the ending.

[Holly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a nice interstitial in the Bibliophile series, I especially liked that Brooklyn got to spend a lot of time with her mother.