If Books Could Kill: A Bibliophile Mystery

Bibliophile Mystery #2

by Kate Carlisle

Murder is easy—on paper.
Book restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright is attending the world- renowned Book Fair when her ex Kyle shows up with a bombshell. He has an original copy of a scandalous text that could change history—and humiliate the beloved British monarchy.
When Kyle turns up dead, the police are convinced Brooklyn's the culprit. But with an entire convention of suspects, Brooklyn's conducting her own investigation to find out if the motive for murder was a 200-year-old secret—or something much more personal.

Genres: Mystery, Cozy Mystery, Fiction, Cozy, Books About Books, Romance, Mystery Thriller

Audible Audio

First published December 17, 2009

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]

If Books Could Kill is only the second book in the Bibliophile Mysteries series of at least 15 so far, but I can tell I am gonna love this one immensely. Kate Carlisle has given me a second top-notch series, as I am current on her Fixer-Upper series, which also happens to be a tv show. A rarity for a new series, the main character has left her hometown from the first book and is traveling abroad in this second one. Scotland takes center stage, and it's the perfect backdrop for a murder involving a potential unknown book of poems written by the famous Scot, Robert Burns.

Not only did I read a great mystery with an unexpected twist, but I learned a lot about a famous Scottish poet from 250 years ago, as well his potential relationship with an English king's daughter. I haven't been to Scotland yet but this book makes me even more intrigued. It better happen in 2022! That said, Brooklyn is a great heroine. She gets hurt and does some risky things, but she fights back. And there are a few 4-letter words which make the situations more realistic. Well balanced, fun supporting cast, and cool subject when it comes to book repairs.

Imagine being hunted down by a woman who has a huge vendetta against you? Minka seems to be part of the killer's plan to hurt our protagonist, even though she never does anything wrong herself. And who exactly is this Gabriel character; he shows up like an angel (or archangel?) at the least and most opportune moments. Derek is Brooklyn's perfect match tho, so they better stay together. Perhaps Robin could end up with Gabriel... although she has her hands filled with two other men so far too. Wow! I will definitely be reading more in this series soon. 4.5 stars and rising quickly.

[Holly Kench · Rating 2 out of 5]

Gosh. OK. So here’s the thing. I sort of, vaguely, really, quite a bit, maybe enjoyed the first in this series, Homicide in Hardcover. I mean, it was a fun, trashy chick-lit-detective story that made for a relaxing read. The hero, Derek, rescued and patronised a little too much for my liking, and the heroine, Brooklyn, fainted more often than I could bear. Yet, despite the occasional stereotype, minority representation was good in this book, and it was basically a fun read.

However, the second in the series, If Books could Kill, became simply ridiculous. Although the protagonist was visiting Edinburgh (from San Francisco – the setting for Book 1), nearly the entire cast from the first book, randomly turned up again in the second. The plot turns made next to no sense, and by the end of the story I just wanted to punch Brooklyn hard in the face. I had been a little confused in the first book by some of her decision making processes, but by half way through the second book, I began to presume she had suffered brain damage during one of her fainting episodes – she couldn’t be naturally so stupid, surely?!

Also (and I really can’t believe I need to bring this up), in what world are enemas and colonics considered cause for repeated discussion in any novel?

[Roberta · Rating 2 out of 5]

This isn't so much a bibliomystery as it is Stephanie Plum goes west.

The star of the show is a young woman with loony parents. She is involved with a handsome hunk who is connected to law enforcement and with another drop-dead gorgeous guy who operates outside of the law. She has a female sidekick who is noticed for her physical attributes. So, if you like Janet Evanovich's books, maybe you've come to the right place.

I have decided that it is an advantage for my reading pleasure to believe that, in the world of fiction, all ordinary girls are pursued by multiple incredibly gorgeous men who are great kissers. But some things sent my suspended disbelief into a nose dive. No professional bookbinder would ever be seen in public with a priceless rare book in one hand and a Cadbury bar in the other. Brooklyn (yes, that's her name) slobbers food all over her own projects and dealers' books at the book fair. In this book Brooklyn wins a very prestigious bookbinding contest with a project that she worked on for "hours." And how did she get all those knives past homeland security without getting yanked out of line and detained for a rubber-gloved strip search?

[Estíbaliz Montero Iniesta · Rating 3 out of 5]

3'5 YOUTUBE / INSTAGRAM 

Pues me ha parecido un libro entretenido y que contiene lo que suelo pedirle a un cozy mystery, me ha transmitido totalmente esa sensación acogedora de estar en casa, y eso a pesar de que lo leí estando en Japón, que es algo diametralmente opuesto a mi casa.

El caso es que me ha gustado mucho la ambientación en Edimburgo (tengo muchas ganas de visitar Escocia algún día) y he disfrutado de los toques de historia escocesa que se introducen en la trama. También sigue pareciéndome muy guay que la prota sea encuadernadora y que el misterio (cuya resolución me ha parecido satisfactorio) vuelva a girar en torno a un libro raro y único.

Sí que es cierto que, pese a que la prota viaja literalmente a otro continente, los personajes secundarios siguen siendo los mismos en un 90% (puesto que todos se trasladan a Edimburgo para una feria del libro) y no sé si tiene mucho sentido. Entiendo la necesidad de seguir presentándote a la gente de la vida de Brooklyn, puesto que se trata solo del segundo libro de la saga, pero quizás entonces se habría podido seguir ambientando este en Estados Unidos y haber dejado el viaje para un libro más adelante y aprovechar para variar de secundarios cuando ya tengamos más vistos a los habituales.

Como protagonista, Brooklyn me gusta bastante (pese a que a veces habla de otras mujeres en unos términos que a un libro escrito hoy día quizá no se lo pasaría), aunque sí tiene algún puntillo con el que no acabo de congeniar, como su indecisión en el tema "amoroso". Aquí conocemos un poco más a Derek y bueno, la cosa va avanzando, pero también pasan cosas que me han sobrado.

En fin, en términos generales, es una serie que de momento estoy disfrutando y con la que tengo ganas de seguir.

[Missy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Terrible. I had a very difficult time finishing the book. THe first in the series was good, but this was bad-very bad. It should not be classified as a mystery, but a romance with a tiny, silly mystery. I will not continue the series and I am very disappointed, as I am a bibliophile and love reading about books-this hardly touched on book lore.

[BLynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brooklyn is at a book fair in Scotland where she finds herself in a situation where she is viewed as a murder suspect again. This time the English detective Derek is on her side. As the mystery continues more twists and turns happen which comes to an interesting conclusion. Overall I enjoyed this book and will continue to read more from this series.

[Alison Rose · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good lord, I know I may not fully understand the allosexual mindset, but even so, I feel like you could slap some muscles onto a telephone pole and the MC in this book would think about banging it.

Seriously, every single damn man this woman comes across, she's like "Damn, boy, let me get up in there." INCLUDING THREE MEN WHO KIDNAP HER AT GUNPOINT. (Well…we find out later it apparently wasn't an actual gun, but she thought it was!) Legit this bitch gets pulled into a car with a gun in her back, and her first and nearly only thoughts are how hot the men are. Plus she's constantly drooling over and/or kissing like three other guys. I'm not trying to slut shame, do your thing girl, but please, for the love of God, either get this woman in a relationship or give her a vibrator so she can chill the hell out. There are characters less horny than her in the smut I've been reading.

Jiminy fucking crickets.

Okay, so anyway. This ended up being a real disappointment, because at first I was quite into it. The writing in general is better than most cozies—it's not as corny or wooden, the dialogue is a little more natural (though still stupid a lot of the time), and people actually curse, which, yes please. I thought the central plot involving this possibly-royally-scandalous unknown book of poetry by Robert Burns was fun, and I like that the bookish theme to this series is that Brooklyn is a book restorer rather than a bookseller or librarian. Plus, it takes place in Scotland, one of those places on my "Sure is too bad I can't leave my home and thus will never see [x]" list. (It's a long list.) I thought this might be a 4-star read. Instead, it ended up as a generous 2-star.

There's the ridiculousness on the part of Brooklyn's libido, for one thing. There's also the fact that she seems dumb as a box of rocks, and that one gets the feeling she doesn't actually care much about her work, considering she eats and drinks while looking at priceless rare antique books. The mystery regarding the Burns book quickly took a backseat to her needy vagina and her kooky parents (I promise those two things have nothing to do with each other, this ain't that kind of book.) A bunch of people either break into her hotel room, do threatening things to her, or outright try to kill her multiple times, but most of that ends up kind of as loose threads, because the resolution to the murders ends up having nothing whatsoever to do with the damn book! I was like, wtf, where is the manager, I want a refund.

There's also some serious fatphobic shit in here, which I'd forgotten about from the first book. Brooklyn's nemesis is a woman named Minka, and the author wants to make sure we know just how awful Minka is, so we're told multiple times that she's fat. Well, the word "chubby" is used more often, but then the way Brooklyn disgustingly thinks about her and describes her body makes it seem like she's way more than what I picture "chubby" to mean. WHY? Why do so many of these middle-aged-to-senior white lady cozy authors have to use fatness as a metaphor for "bad"? It's very clear this is the author's own thoughts, because it's never challenged, and the reader is in the POV of Brooklyn who is so sneering and nasty about Minka's body in a way that is portrayed as just obvious and normal. You can make someone clearly a villain without relying on the lazy and hateful trope of the mean fatty.

Also, Minka is described as goth but I don't think this author has ever meant a goth, because as a former goth myself, her outfits did not sound like anything we would wear. With the exception of her pleather pants, which Brooklyn first mistook as real leather and then in her head was like "OMG are those PLEATHER???" Um, listen, every single goth on the planet owns something, and probably multiple somethings, in pleather. Many of us are veggie types who don't wear real leather, pleather is cheaper and easier to get, and a fuck of a lot easier to keep clean. So not only is Brooklyn rude, she's also clueless.

I'm spending too much time on this book, LOL. It was promising to start out and went way downhill. I might possibly try the third book just to see if it improves at all, but I'm not eager for it. Unlike how Brooklyn feels about anyone with a penis and a pulse.

[Robin Loves Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

My Rating: 4.5 Stars

Brooklyn Wainwright, an expert book restorer, is excited to go to Edinburgh, Scotland to attend and run a few workshops and to participate in a bookbinding contest. She just had a terrible experience when her former mentor and friend, Abraham Karastovsky was murdered. This trip is just what she needs.

Brooklyn is looking forward to seeing her old friend Helen, but is also pleasantly surprised to be traveling along with security consultant Derek Stone. Why is he going to Scotland anyway? When she runs into her ex Kyle, he asks her to protect a rare book that might harm the history of the British monarchy. Before Brooklyn can get enough details as to what to do with the book, she finds Kyle dead.

Wondering why she has suddenly stumbled among dead bodies, seeing Kyle sends her into a frenzy. Fortunately Derek is around and he is highly respected and easily helps to prove that Brooklyn had nothing to do with Kyle's murder. Things are not right with Brooklyn on several levels. For starters, it seems that her bookbinding tools were used in the murder. Then her hotel room is broken into. Just as Brooklyn took things upon herself to investigate what happened to Abraham previously, she jumps into the fray with Kyle's murder.

In this fast-moving second title in the Bibliophile series, readers are treated with some familiar characters. Brooklyn's best friend Robin is back, as well as her parents. Her arch nemesis Minka is back too. Another likable feature to this book is the first-person narration. This was done exceptionally well.

I am loving this series and am eager to read the third book in the series, The Lies that Bind. There are currently 13 books in the series, and, having read the final book, The Book Supremacy, already, it will definitely be a pleasure to reach each title.

[Dasha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Leído (escuchado) porque está incluido en mi suscripción de Audible, ya que la editorial que lo está traduciendo ha decidido saltarse esta novela por "motivos" 🙄
Sí, confirmo que esta segunda novela tiene un pelín más de romántica. Cosa que no me pilla de sorpresa pues la parte romántica en este misterio cozy es notable en la primera novela de la serie. Y, por cierto, pasan cosas que tienen que ver tanto con el pasado de la protagonista, Brooklyn, como con la relación con el que se supone que es su interés romántico.
Tiene otras que sobran como, por ejemplo: el que se meta con el físico de su archienemiga constantemente.
Me ha gustado la ambientación en Edimburgo y todo lo relacionado con el libro protagonista de esta novela.
En cuanto al misterio, ha sido un poco predecible pero lo que yo disfruto de este tipo de novelas son los personajes, el salseo y cómo descubren el misterio poco a poco los protagonistas. El viaje, que no el destino.

******
Mal, muy mal Alma editorial.
Esa manera de engañar a las lectoras. Resulta que han publicado una traducción al castellano de The Lies That Bind (aka "Mentiras encubiertas") como si fuera el segundo libro de esta serie cuando en realidad es el tercero...
Y por las reseñas y las explicaciones que ha dado la editorial "no tiene la calidad del resto de las novelas de la serie" parece ser que es porque hay un pelín más de romántica en esta segunda novela. Aún tengo que leer ambos libros y comprobar si mis sospechas son ciertas. Pero, PERO, es que me da igual.
1.No sé quienes se creen que son para decidir por todas las lectoras lo que es de la calidad suficiente y más si tenemos en cuenta que es una serie.
2.Si se toma la decisión de hacerlo porque creen que tienen esa autoridad (🙄), lo mínimo es avisar y no colarnos la tercera novela como si fuese la segunda (nótese que incluso aquí, en Goodreads, aparece como edición de la segunda).
3.Ahí. Manteniendo la tradición española de traducir las series y sagas como les viene en gana.
Al final siempre somos las lectoras quienes perdemos.
Yo soy afortunada, entre muchas, por leer también en inglés. Y este es uno de los motivos por los que suelo pasar de las editoriales de mi país. Pero, ¿y mis compis lectoras que no saben inglés?
Estas cosas no se hacen y menos con estas formas.
Qué decepción. Yo que he defendido tanto esta editorial...

[Heidi Prockish · Rating 5 out of 5]

So good!

[JoAn · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Books Could Kill by Kate Carlisle is one of those books I didn't want to put down. Brooklyn, her quirky family, Derek and Robyn made this one a fascinating read from beginning to end. The mystery kept me totally in the dark until the reveal. On to the next one.

[Ingrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

lo justo y necesario para sacarme de un bloqueo

[Marysia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Although this is the second book in this series, I picked it up first at the library. Quick light read and generally fun, I started off enjoying this book but got seriously annoyed by some things by the time I finished. First the good, this book is set in Edinburgh, Scotland. I like "tourist fiction" as I will probably never get to visit most of these places myself and it's fun to imagine. I thought the MC/narrator, Brooklyn, was mostly funny and had an entertaining internal monologue. I liked the snippets of info about bookbinding and the parts about the scandalous Robert Burns book.

Now for the bad, I know there has to be some suspension of disbelief in these books, but:

1. Too much romance for me, I don't generally enjoy het romance as a main plot element, especially like this; almost all the men being hunky, lots of surprise kissing that is nonetheless welcome and not seen as assault; being primarily focused on the hotness of the men in inappropriate/dangerous situations; Derek being rude/demeaning and Brooklyn not really minding.

2. The mom and Minka were way too annoying. Mom in particular was a cartoony stereotype of a ditzy New Age follower of all things colon cleanse. It got extremely cringey pretty fast.

3. The "mystery" itself, had plot holes and I generally was unsatisfied with the ending. Spoilers ahoy:

So the murderer ends up being Martin because of jealousy and having nothing to do with the book, which was the actual interesting part! Also, on page 226, Brooklyn specifically asks about Martin and the cops say he had an alibi. I'm pretty sure this is a violation of mystery "best practices" especially as it is never explained.

We never actually find out if the book was genuine, because she falls asleep and then there's the drama with Gabriel breaking in. Why didn't she move to Robin's room right away when she arrived? For that matter, how did Robin even get herself and Brooklyn's parents rooms when the hotel was supposedly full (the reason Brooklyn's original room change request was denied?) So, no payoff for the whole genealogy research part.

I figured the murderer would have been connected to the hotel in some way because of the attempted vehicular assault with the shuttle cars, but no explanation for how a new maid got the access to those. Seems like a breach like that happening TWICE after the valet witnessed the first one is a stretch.

We are not told what the "international incident" is that conveniently removed all the cops and tourists from the castle during the final showdown.

I could go on and on, but that is probably enough.

[Carol · Rating 3 out of 5]

If Books Could Kill by Kate Carlisle
Bibliophile Mystery series Book #2
3.5★'s

From The Book:
Murder is easy-on paper. Book restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright is attending the world- renowned Book Fair when her ex Kyle shows up with a bombshell. He has an original copy of a scandalous text that could change history-and humiliate the beloved British monarchy.

When Kyle turns up dead, the police are convinced Brooklyn's the culprit. But with an entire convention of suspects, Brooklyn's conducting her own investigation to find out if the motive for murder was a 200-year-old secret-or something much more personal.

My Thoughts:
In spite of my continued avoidance of the cozy mystery genre I found that I did rather enjoy this one. Again I have to confess if it had not been for the sub-genre challenge on the Mystery & Suspense Extra group on LibraryThing I would never have picked the book up and would have missed this well written mystery that is populated with lots of devious suspects, daunting detectives, and a few humerus Scots. I even learned some very interesting information about book restoration.

[Peggy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a latecomer to this series but having enjoyed the first book I wanted to continue with the series. This book picks up right where the first book left off, with Brooklyn in Scotland for a book fair. Of course, once again she stumbles over the dead body of a friend and is considered a suspect in the murder. I like the characters and want to see where the author takes them in terms of their growth. Robin is a great complement to Brooklyn and their friendship feels genuine as it is written. I love Brooklyn's parents. They provide a breath of fresh air and some added humor. In this book, I just felt that perhaps Brooklyn was a bit superficial and more worried about the cute men. I also didn't think the mystery was as strong. I didn't guess the identity of the murderer but did guess the motive. There was also a nice twist when the identity of the killer was revealed that surprised me.

I like the series and plan to continue with it. I want to see where the author goes with the characters and how they develop.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

If Books Could Kill by Kate Carlisle is a fun mystery. I liked the heroine, Brooklyn Wainwright, and her eccentric family. I liked her friends. I liked her job as a book binder and restorer and learned interesting stuff about a subject I find interesting.

Although the characters and plot are sketchy as genre characters often her, I enjoyed the sketches and felt that Carlisle added sufficient telling details to make each character seem alive. I was grateful that the characters were likable and I look forward to reading all the books in this series.

If you like cozy mysteries, I'm sure you'll enjoy this book!

[Anastasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Books Could Kill by Kate Carlisle is the second book in the Bibliophile Mystery series. Attending the Edinburgh Book Fair, book restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright is asked by ex boyfriend Kyle McVee to authenticate an unpublished and controversial book purported to be written by Robert Burns, only to find Kyle's body the next day. An interesting mystery where we learn about book restoration and the difficulties with forgeries and the authentication pocess as well as learning about Scottish poet Robert Burns. Brooklyn and Derek make a wonderful couple and I love Brooklyn's quirky family and friends. An entertaining and enjoyable mystery.

[VickiLee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Book Restorers gather in Edinburgh and the bodies begin to pile up because of a book of Robbie Burns poetry that links him to a royal princess. Some humour, but the main character is far too shallow to really fill the role of a strong lead. She seems to spend far too much time ogling the men (who for some reason are all dripping in masculine irresistibility) around her and who seem unable to resist giving her surprise passionate kisses (which she never resists)! Yeesh!

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’m so glad I started this series!

Great 2nd book in the series! I enjoyed the Scottish setting and there was so much action going on. I really like Brooklyn and Derek. I enjoy the writing style of these books and it’s so entertaining! #readformimberly

[Anushka Sierra · Rating 1 out of 5]

This and other reviews at Feminist Quill

So I didn’t finish this book. This might be perceived as strange, because it has a great opening paragraph:

If my life were a book, I would have masking tape holding my hinges together. My pages would be loose, my edges tattered and my boards exposed, the front flyleaf torn and the leather mottled and moth-eaten. I’d have to take myself apart and put myself back together, as any good book restoration expert would do.

I haven’t gotten very far in the book, which must be why I don’t know what happened to Brooklyn – can I call her BW? – to make her feel this way about herself. She’s a successful young woman, one of the topmost experts in her field, and she’s recently come into a lot of money. While it’s true that she’s grieving, has her mentor’s death affected her so badly that her ‘pages are loose, edges tattered and boards exposed &c. &c.’?

Ridiculous rhetorical questions aside, let’s move onto the story. Not having read the previous book in this series, I have to take other GR reviewers at their word on the fact that the cast of the previous book has been imported into this one. On purportedly lazy pretexts. Since I don’t have this on my own authority, I’m going to give this potential Sin a pass.

“Aye, you do, love. And for that, the [Indian Pale Ale’s] on the house.”

She nodded judiciously. “Of course it’s jet lag if you say so.” Her eyes narrowed as she studied me. “But my woman’s intuition thinks ’tis a man you’re mulling over.”

Her eyes twinkled gaily. “Aye, I knew it.” She tapped the side of her head. “Can’t another woman tell when one of her ilk is suffering, then? And isn’t it always about a man. Damn their skins!”

“Haud yer wheesht!” she yelled over her shoulder, then smiled sweetly at me. “Enjoy your luncheon and take good care.” She turned and marched to the bar, where she bared her teeth at the burly bartender as she collected a tray of drinks.
I wasn’t an expert in the Scottish dialect, but I believed she’d just suggested to her boss that he shove a sock in his piehole.

Do the Scottish actually talk like that? I don’t know. Can’t comment.

The first character we meet is Helen Chin, one of BW’s friends.

Helen Chin grinned as she glided confidently through the bar, her glossy black hair cut in a short, sassy bob. She’d always been demure and soft-spoken, a brilliant, petite Asian woman with lustrous long hair and a shy smile. The haircut and the confidence were major changes since the last time I saw her.

Having to tell your readers that a character is doing something ‘confidently’ gives, in my opinion, the opposite impression.

I took a closer look at her, checking out the new hairstyle, her pretty red jacket, black pants and shiny black shoes. “You look amazing, and you’ve lost weight. Are you moonlighting as a supermodel?”

Commenting on someone’s weight gain or loss is not as much of a compliment as people would have you believe.

[Yes, I know I’m being nitpicky, but these things didn’t actually bother me until I began to sense a pattern.]

Helen was right. I’d never liked Martin Warrington, and I wasn’t the only one. When she’d announced her engagement in Lyon, I hadn’t understood how such a smart woman could marry such an annoying man. Then I figured, with my own stellar record of bad choices and broken engagements, I was hardly one to criticize.

At the time, I was more sorry for myself than for her, because I knew we wouldn’t be able to be friends once she married Martin. He didn’t like me any more than I liked him, probably because I’d tried to talk Helen out of marrying him and he’d caught wind of it.

Neither of these ladies are endearing themselves to me. Helen goes ahead and marries an ass, and BW feels bad for selfish reasons. Okay.

“Martin didn’t like me attending the book fairs.” She shook her head in irritation. “He said I flirted too much.”

Why would anyone put up with this?

[Martin’s] smile disappeared as he confronted Helen. “I told you I’d meet you on the conference level.”
“And I told you I’d try to make it but probably wouldn’t be able to,” Helen said defiantly.
“We have to talk now.” He pushed up the sleeves of his linen jacket.
“I’m off to meet a client,” she said as she glanced at her wristwatch. “I can try to see you at two thirty.”

If you still need to be ‘defiant’ towards your soon-to-be-ex-husband, that just implies that I was right with my comment earlier about the fake confidence. (4)

BW then has a run in with another figure from the industry – a Perry McDougal – who’s rude and pompous and has no issues with cutting ahead of a queue. He also doesn’t seem to have any problem with calling random women “silly wench” and “crazed bitch” when they call him out on his rudeness. Now, I know people like this exist out here in the real world. Yes, they can be terribly sexist, arrogant and entitled. But that doesn’t excuse the fact that a woman like BW, who is probably capable of recognizing said sexist entitlement, fails to call him out on it. (5) Indeed, I’m not even sure she does recognize the sexism, because she explains his behaviour as being a function of his narcissism and self importance. (6) And she’s constantly apologetic about her rather weak attempts at standing up for herself. (7)

Protagonist frightens herself with idea of turning into crazy-old-spinster trope. (8)

Protagonist tells herself standing up for herself isn’t such a bad thing. (8-0.5=7.5)

Without warning I was grabbed from behind, lifted off the ground and twirled around.
I screamed and swore loudly at my assailant. Then I realized who it was and swore even more.
“Despite that mouth of yours, you’re more beautiful than ever,” he said.
“Kyle McVee, you idiot!” I cried, and hugged him hard.
“Ah, you’ve missed me,” he crowed as he held me snugly in his arms.
“No, I didn’t miss you,” I said, burying my face in the crook of his delicious-smelling neck. “You’re a cad and a rat fink, remember? The Bad Boy Bookseller of Belgravia. I curse your name every morning.”
“I love you, too, my sweet,” he said with a laugh. “Besides, I’ve mellowed.”

Overkill much? (8.5) And whoa. Why would you be on friendly terms with someone with such little regard for personal space? (9.5)

Guy seems to think being foul-mouthed should detract from a woman’s beauty. (10.5)

“Oh, stop it.” I stood back and looked at the man who’d broken my heart three-or was it four?-years ago. My breath almost caught as I stared.

This breath-catching business comes up a lot – usually every time BW looks at a good looking guy. It’s an annoying stereotype. Can I offer you an inhaler, Brooklyn darling? (11.5)

I straightened my shirt and jacket and tried to find some trace of decorum, but it was useless. My cheeks heated up at his blatant perusal. I tried to remind myself that if I’d been so darling, why had he felt so compelled to cheat on me more than once during the six months we dated while I lived in London? A simple question.
I knew the answer: He couldn’t help himself.

Female protagonist who feels extremely self-conscious and gets flustered every time a good looking guy checks her out. I know this is supposed to convey the power in the guy’s stare, but honestly, she seems to respond to every attractive guy the same way (case in point: Derek Stone later in the novel). (12.5)

Charming Cheater (CC) condescendingly encourages protagonist to consume more alcohol when she’s clearly not in the mood. (15.5) Protagonist consumes alcohol even though she’s not in the mood because it’s what she thinks she’s supposed to do. (16.5)

CC is condescendingly impressed when BW proves to be good at her job, even though he purportedly came to her because of her expertise. (17.5) CC reveals that BW wasn’t his first choice for the job, thus making his condescending approval from a moment ago self-explanatory. (18.5)

Okay, I’m going to stop now. There’s no point, really.

Derek Stone seems to suffer from Christian Grey Syndrome, and BW is a veritable Anastasia Steele – except Ana wasn’t prone to fainting fits. I have an uncontrollable urge to slap Brooklyn Wainwright, and I’ve been swearing non stop at the book for a couple of hours now. The protagonist and her female friends are childish, immature, and downright pathetic. They show an alarming proclivity for bitchiness, shrill screaming, and fainting. I’m glad I didn’t invent a drinking game based on every time one of these idiots faints. None of the ridiculously hot men in the book cry, or otherwise show emotion or vulnerability. Derek keeps assuming that every time Brooklyn gets hurt or is otherwise in danger, it’s somehow her fault. (And this happens a lot.) Now, where have I heard that before?

Oh that’s right. Twilight.

A terrible book, and if this one’s anything to go by, the preceding book in the series is bound to be awful as well.

[Laura Pandorabooks · Rating 3 out of 5]

La ambientación en Edimburgo es interesante, pero la trama parece un poco confusa debido a la variedad de personajes que van apareciendo. Es verdad que al acabarlo lo haces con una sonrisa al entender de dónde vienen las motivaciones de cada uno de ellos (excepto de Derek, sigo sin entender algunas cosas), pero no puedo decir que sea una de mis series favoritas.

Espero que Alma corrija su error y traiga este libro en español en algún momento. No tiene sentido que se lo haya saltado.

Veamos qué nos depara el siguiente.

[Isabel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me ha tenido entretenida y enganchada, pero el misterio está un poco cogido con pinzas y el romance me ha sobrado en un 100 % de las ocasiones en las que se mencionaba/ocurría.

Es perfecto para pasar un buen rato sin demasiadas pretensiones; en mi caso, sé que será uno de esos libros que más pronto que tarde describiré con un está bien porque no podré recordar mucho más.

[Teagan · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be fair, I get a certain amount of enjoyment from reading this series. The books are short, they're fairly humorous the action is quick but honestly for me it all starts to go seriously downhill with the main character.

She makes the most dumb decisions it's unbelievable.

Before I get into those particulars, my general summary of the book is that the final 'whodunnit' reveal with a little disappointing. After leading up to a whole potential scandal and plot revolving around the Cathcart book, it ends up just being Martin after petty revenge on his wife. I mean really!?

To be honest, the only reason I didn't see it coming was because it would have been the dumbest plot. I was disappointed.

Back to dumb decisions by Brooklyn Wainwright:
Dumb decision number 1

When she 'forgets' to tell the police about the book when they ask her if she can think of any reason Kyle was killed.

You LITERALLY just saw this guy LESS THAN 12 HOURS AGO and he told you someone is trying to kill him because of a book THAT HE THEN GIVES TO YOU. HOW COULD YOU FORGET THIS!? HOW ARE YOU NOT JUMPING UP AND DOWN TO THE POLICE. The fact that at no point did she think the book was important enough to tell anyone else about, particularly when she becomes the prime suspect for the murder, is beyond me. And this isn't because she's smart enough to realise that maybe, the fact she has the book now means she's in danger. NO. In fact, she literally shows the book to the first person she already suspects of having killed Kyle. ROYCE. Lucky for us Royce wasn't the bad guy and so she didn't get murdered for the book on the spot.

This leads into -

Dumb decision number 2

After still having not told the police or Derek about the book that ALMOST CERTAINLY got Kyle killed. Or even the fact that the other super obvious reason he could have been killed was because he was having an affair with a woman who's EX-HUSBAND IS A CONTROLLING PHYSCHO (another fun fact she forgot to mention to the police).

After all this, she decides a great idea would be to jump up in front of the entire book convention having ALREADY admitted to herself that the killer is probably there, TO WAVE THE BOOK AROUND AND LET EVERYONE KNOW SHE HAS IT.

Wouldn't you think that whoever killed Kyle might still be out looking for the book? And now you've literally just made yourself a target by saying 'here it is, now come and kill me for it!'.

Christ woman, she seems to have no clue.

Let's not mention the fact she's then utterly surprised when she gets kidnapped and threatened about exposing the book.

And finally

Dumb decision number 3

When Brooklyn decides a great thing to do would be leave the book on a table in her hotel room when she goes to sleep. She ALREADY KNOWS that someone is breaking into her room at night to steal shit and frame her for murder. She ALREADY KNOWS that someone is now trying to kill her. So what the heckity heck is she thinking!?

Anyway, fuck me, the book gets stolen in the middle of the night. WHADDA YOU KNOW.

Anyway I think that's enough ranting. I don't even want to get into Derek, who's only sentences seem to consist of things related to, I STALK AND I PROTECT.

[Caroline Donahue · Rating 2 out of 5]

Like many others, I thought the first book in the series was fun and light and got this one from the library as something easy for insomnia bouts during the night on kindle. As much as I want to like a series about a bookbinder, there are too many things I object to. All the men are hunky and the narrator seems to judge everyone around her on looks, indiscriminately turned on by any attractive man who appears, yet supposedly developing an increasing connection with Derek, a mysterious investigator. Many of the characters are wooden and types rather than people, particularly Minka, Brooklyn’s archenemy, whose negative traits are summed up based on her being “chubby,” having an annoying voice and unusual taste in clothes. Interesting that Brooklyn mentions her weight so much as Brooklyn’s main motivation is finding new places to eat lots of food throughout the book.

I did enjoy the sections about actually restoring books, where the process of restoring was well described and quite fascinating, but it wasn’t enough to overcome my disappointment in the flaws mentioned above. Beyond that, the plot felt flimsy and implausible, with many of the same twists from the first book repeated in the second- how many times is someone going to break into Brooklyn’s place resulting in Derek pouting that she didn’t call him for help? I still don’t understand why she feels bad about this- a burglary is the sort of thing you call the police for, is it not?

So, despite my book nerd identity I’ll have to move on to another series.

[Cait S · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm still loving this series. I didn't enjoy this one quite as much as the first but it was still quite good.

I think the main problem I had with this one was that it felt very repetitive. Her days, other than the Big Plot Moments, were all much the same. Wake up confused, eat french toast, flirt with Derrek, PLOT HAPPENS, drink a lot of Scotch, go to bed, repeat. The whole book sort of plodded along that same set course.

But so it goes. Hopefully the third will be as good as the first.

[Chaitra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, Brooklyn is stupid. I hate her thing with Minka. Again just the tease of the cat and no cat that belongs to Brooklyn. At least a cat would have made it more bearable. Derek gets on my last nerve. But he’s better than in the first book I guess. And I’m all for a quirky family, but in this case, they’re a bit much. I suppose I could have read better books, but for an investment of a mindless few hours, this was fine.

[Lorraine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Light, cozy mystery for book lovers. The setting is Edinbugh, Scotland , a favorite city of mine.. Brooklyn Wainwright keeps finding dead bodies, but with the commander at her side, she does just fine. Her parents brought her up in a commune - shades of the 60's - and the parents make an appearance. Enjoyable !

[Carla · Rating 3 out of 5]

En esta segunda entrega, la encuadernadora de libros Brooklyn, es contratada para dar clases en un instituto de arte donde se subastan ejemplares valiosos, pero la directora es asesinada y ella hará todo lo posible para descubrir quién es el culpable.

Es un cozy mistery de ágil lectura que no aporta nada nuevo. Brinda muchos datos sobre encuadernación y restauración de libros.

[Nika [nikadiavazei] · Rating 3 out of 5]

No ha estado mal, pero tampoco ha sido la leche...

Rompo lanzas a favor de la protagonista y su 'crush', vamos a llamarlo así. Los golpes de ironía vienen de ellos dos. Y la mala suerte de no poder pasar un rato a solas por culpa de trágicos sucesos, también.

Por lo demás, lectura amena, pero a mitad de novela me empezó a aburrir un poco y perdí bastante el hilo.

[Patrizia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bel libro, con un buona storia gialla e una soluzione in parte inaspettata. Ma la cosa che ho apprezzato di più è stata l'ambientazione a Edimburgo: l'autrice è riuscita a rendere perfettamente l'atmosfera di quella città.