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Cliff Janeway #5
The Bookwoman's Last Fling
As a young man, "New York Times" bestselling author John Dunning earned his living for several years working behind the scenes on the racetrack circuit. Now he brings his memories of the horse world and his expertise in collectible books to this mesmerizing new Bookman novel rich with the lore of both books and horses. . . . Denver bookman Cliff Janeway would have liked Candice Geiger. She loved books with a true bookwoman's passion. Her collection of first-edition children's books is the best that Janeway ever hopes to see. Sadly, Janeway and Candice Geiger will never meet. She died much too young. Now, twenty years later, her books remain a testament to an extraordinary woman's remarkable vision.
Janeway first learns about the juvenilia collection when Candice's elderly husband, H. R. Geiger, passes away and Janeway travels to their Idaho home to assess the collection. The estate can't be distributed until the books are valued, so there's pressure on Janeway to do the job quickly. But one look at the books tells Janeway something's wrong. Valuable titles are missing, replaced by cheap reprints. Other hugely valuable pieces remain. Why would a thief take one priceless book and leave an equally valuable volume on the shelf?
The answer may lie in Candice's story. The daughter of a wealthy industrialist, she married horse owner and trainer H. R. Geiger at a young age. They traveled the racetrack circuit with some success, as evidenced by winner's-circle photographs -- in which Candice is always a mysterious background figure dressed in white.
Two decades after Candice's strange death, Janeway finds himself deep in a book mystery that may turn out to be much more than acataloging exercise. It may even involve murder. Candice's daughter, Sharon, may be one of the few people who can help Janeway discover the truth. Sharon has her own Idaho ranch where she takes in sick and injured horses. Janeway worries that her house contains something that could make her very vulnerable: half of her mother's fabulous book collection.
The trail of Candice's shadowy past leads Janeway to California's Golden Gate and Santa Anita racetracks, where he signs on as a racehorse hot walker. A novice at racetrack life, he tries to remain inconspicuous while listening to the chatter among the hands. He doesn't like what he hears. And when he goes to the house where Candice died to look for answers, he finds more than he bargained for.
With its rich mix of books and horses, "The Bookwoman's Last Fling" is a classic entry in John Dunning's acclaimed Bookman series of suspense novels, sure to bring this superbly talented author even more accolades.
Janeway first learns about the juvenilia collection when Candice's elderly husband, H. R. Geiger, passes away and Janeway travels to their Idaho home to assess the collection. The estate can't be distributed until the books are valued, so there's pressure on Janeway to do the job quickly. But one look at the books tells Janeway something's wrong. Valuable titles are missing, replaced by cheap reprints. Other hugely valuable pieces remain. Why would a thief take one priceless book and leave an equally valuable volume on the shelf?
The answer may lie in Candice's story. The daughter of a wealthy industrialist, she married horse owner and trainer H. R. Geiger at a young age. They traveled the racetrack circuit with some success, as evidenced by winner's-circle photographs -- in which Candice is always a mysterious background figure dressed in white.
Two decades after Candice's strange death, Janeway finds himself deep in a book mystery that may turn out to be much more than acataloging exercise. It may even involve murder. Candice's daughter, Sharon, may be one of the few people who can help Janeway discover the truth. Sharon has her own Idaho ranch where she takes in sick and injured horses. Janeway worries that her house contains something that could make her very vulnerable: half of her mother's fabulous book collection.
The trail of Candice's shadowy past leads Janeway to California's Golden Gate and Santa Anita racetracks, where he signs on as a racehorse hot walker. A novice at racetrack life, he tries to remain inconspicuous while listening to the chatter among the hands. He doesn't like what he hears. And when he goes to the house where Candice died to look for answers, he finds more than he bargained for.
With its rich mix of books and horses, "The Bookwoman's Last Fling" is a classic entry in John Dunning's acclaimed Bookman series of suspense novels, sure to bring this superbly talented author even more accolades.
507 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 9, 2006
99 people are currently reading
1088 people want to read
About the author
John Dunning
64 books319 followersJohn Dunning was an American writer of non-fiction and detective fiction. He was known for his reference books on old-time radio and his series of mysteries featuring Denver bookseller and ex-policeman Cliff Janeway.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 272 reviews
May 21, 2021
The cover is a dead giveaway for fans of Dick Francis: this is probably the best Dick Francis thriller not written by Dick Francis. I should know, since I’ve read a whole bunch of them. They are all linked, somehow, to horses and the racing world. This connection was absent in previous Cliff Janeway books, but apparently John Dunning has had some previous experience with horses in his youth, and he puts it to good use in this fifth (and last so far) episode.
“I’m a book dealer and I used to be a cop. You don’t find that combination every day.”
Cliff Janeway gets an offer he can hardly refuse. Five grand for an appraisal job on a private library in Idaho, left behind by the death of a once famous horse trainer. His rare books boutique in Denver barely breaks even, but there is more in play when Cliff Janeway decides to get in his car and head to the H R Geiger farm.
... I would help recover stolen books, I would try to unravel a delicate book mystery, I would do things, and not always for money, that got me out in the sunshine, away from my bookstore in Denver and into another man’s world.
One of the first surprises in the case is that this is actually a woman’s world. The collection he is asked to evaluate belonged to Geiger’s wife Candice, a rich heiress who got a taste for first edition children’s books from her father and who later used her considerable fortune to amass a unique library of very valuable and very rare books. Complicating matters is the fact that Candice died more than twenty years previously, from a suspicious allergic reaction to food, and that somebody has been stealing priceless books from her library and replacing them with cheap lookalikes.
These difficulties only serve to raise the interest of the professional bloodhound in Janeway. An appeal from the daughter of Candice after a few days tending sick horses with her will send our bookworm/detective chasing leads in California, in and around stables and racecourses where he poses as a groom in order to ask his questions.
Pretty soon Cliff Janeway has proof that his questions about the cold case of Candice Geiger’s death have ruffled some serious feathers, as dead bodies begin to crop up and a couple of attempts to terminate the investigation by killing the detective occur. Erin, his girlfriend in Denver is none too pleased with the dangerous developments, but Cliff Janeway feels the old rush coming back
I felt my heartbeat in the middle of the night and finally I had to admit it. Erin was right. This was what I had missed like crazy and would never get in kind from the book trade. The life-and-death rush. The slow, steady building of a case. The questioning, the tightening noose, the hot nights in the box downtown. Duelling with the professional badass, the frightened stonewaller, the killer with the sweet face. You get a hunch and you ask your questions until the hunch gets stronger, hardens, becomes a fact, and the perp cracks.
>>><<<>>><<<
This was, as usual, an excellent crime thriller from John Dunning, very informative about the book trade and immersive, convincing in the portrayal of the racing world. I guessed the identity of the perp quite early on, but the overall development of the case and the psychological profile of a man driven over the edge by his passion for books were sound.
I wish there will be more Cliff Janeway novels in the future, but I also admire the author’s restraint in not squeezing his winning formula dry.
“I’m a book dealer and I used to be a cop. You don’t find that combination every day.”
Cliff Janeway gets an offer he can hardly refuse. Five grand for an appraisal job on a private library in Idaho, left behind by the death of a once famous horse trainer. His rare books boutique in Denver barely breaks even, but there is more in play when Cliff Janeway decides to get in his car and head to the H R Geiger farm.
... I would help recover stolen books, I would try to unravel a delicate book mystery, I would do things, and not always for money, that got me out in the sunshine, away from my bookstore in Denver and into another man’s world.
One of the first surprises in the case is that this is actually a woman’s world. The collection he is asked to evaluate belonged to Geiger’s wife Candice, a rich heiress who got a taste for first edition children’s books from her father and who later used her considerable fortune to amass a unique library of very valuable and very rare books. Complicating matters is the fact that Candice died more than twenty years previously, from a suspicious allergic reaction to food, and that somebody has been stealing priceless books from her library and replacing them with cheap lookalikes.
These difficulties only serve to raise the interest of the professional bloodhound in Janeway. An appeal from the daughter of Candice after a few days tending sick horses with her will send our bookworm/detective chasing leads in California, in and around stables and racecourses where he poses as a groom in order to ask his questions.
Pretty soon Cliff Janeway has proof that his questions about the cold case of Candice Geiger’s death have ruffled some serious feathers, as dead bodies begin to crop up and a couple of attempts to terminate the investigation by killing the detective occur. Erin, his girlfriend in Denver is none too pleased with the dangerous developments, but Cliff Janeway feels the old rush coming back
I felt my heartbeat in the middle of the night and finally I had to admit it. Erin was right. This was what I had missed like crazy and would never get in kind from the book trade. The life-and-death rush. The slow, steady building of a case. The questioning, the tightening noose, the hot nights in the box downtown. Duelling with the professional badass, the frightened stonewaller, the killer with the sweet face. You get a hunch and you ask your questions until the hunch gets stronger, hardens, becomes a fact, and the perp cracks.
>>><<<>>><<<
This was, as usual, an excellent crime thriller from John Dunning, very informative about the book trade and immersive, convincing in the portrayal of the racing world. I guessed the identity of the perp quite early on, but the overall development of the case and the psychological profile of a man driven over the edge by his passion for books were sound.
I wish there will be more Cliff Janeway novels in the future, but I also admire the author’s restraint in not squeezing his winning formula dry.
February 15, 2022
Not sure of the point, save for an angry, condescending rich man, tons of books and a weak end. 3 of 10 stars
August 19, 2014
John Dunning's Cliff Janeway series ranks among my top favorites in mystery/detective series. When I think of Dunning an inevitable comparison takes place in my little grey cells: if you like Dick Francis you will love John Dunning. Why the comparison? What I often find delightful in fiction is not just the story itself; what delights is the acquisition of knowledge on a particular subject. Dick Francis in addition to handing his readers a well crafted mystery delights his readers with his thorough examination of the horse racing world. There is no doubt that when one thinks of horse racing, one thinks of Dick Francis. John Dunning accomplishes the same by delivering to his readers a thorough insider's knowledge of the art of collecting books. When one thinks of antiquarian books; when one thinks of book scouts; when one thinks of avid book collectors, book scams, and book shops across this great nation: one thinks of John Dunning.
When one stumbles across a writer who not only delivers a great story but also infuses one with knowledge than this writer has the power to influence one's life personally. For example: it was due to Ayn Rand's novels that my philosophical perspective on the world and my life in it changed. In the case of John Dunning I became engrossed in book collecting: how can one forget an author when my glass encased book cases, filled with signed first editions of my favorite authors, are filled to the brim as a direct result of reading Booked To Die.
John Dunning is not a man of the computer age. His is a world of typewriters. He says: "Unlike a computer, a great old manual typewriter was an honest machine. You did your work, it did its work." Is it any wonder than that his sentences are among the best crafted? No room for mistakes. Syntax, clauses, and style fuse together in a Dunning book with absolute clarity. Dunning is a writer that appeals to the intellect while simultaneously attracting mystery lovers with his behind-the-scenes look at the world of books: the moral and ethical circumstances that drive any great mystery, including death.
Cliff Janeway, our hero, is in many ways a reflection of the writer. Here the comparison with Dick Francis continues. Where Francis writes about the Queen's sport (horse racing) as a result of having spent a good deal of his life as a jockey himself, Dunning writes about books as a result of having owned his own book store in Denver. Where Francis writes about the racing world in England where he spent his jockey years, Dunning's protagonist Cliff Janeway, a former cop, owns a book store in Denver as well. The adage that one write "about what one knows" is never more true with these two writers. Francis's heroes are a reflection of the writer himself: in the case of Francis we empathize with a thoroughly honorable, ethical and objective human being and in the case of Dunning we face our own conflicts through a conflicted hero not averse to violence but compelled by a proper moral ethic that guides the hero through his various delimmas. As with Dunning who struggled with ADD, being a poor student, and taking the hard road to his own calling, so does Janeway struggle with authority, with finding his true calling as one reads about a cop turned book collector in the Cliff Janeway novels.
And finally I have to wonder about the formula in play here. Did Dunning stumble upon the perfect subject inadvertently or did it come about as a reflection of his own life? Let's face it, what more compelling subject matter for a mystery/detective series could have been chosen than to appeal to the reader himself: it is our love of reading, our love of books that draws us to these pages. And in the case of Dunning, our satisfaction is doubled because what we are reading about is the very thing from which we draw our pleasure: the world of books.
As with all my series reviews, if you've read this review of the Cliff Janeway series, you've read 'em all.
When one stumbles across a writer who not only delivers a great story but also infuses one with knowledge than this writer has the power to influence one's life personally. For example: it was due to Ayn Rand's novels that my philosophical perspective on the world and my life in it changed. In the case of John Dunning I became engrossed in book collecting: how can one forget an author when my glass encased book cases, filled with signed first editions of my favorite authors, are filled to the brim as a direct result of reading Booked To Die.
John Dunning is not a man of the computer age. His is a world of typewriters. He says: "Unlike a computer, a great old manual typewriter was an honest machine. You did your work, it did its work." Is it any wonder than that his sentences are among the best crafted? No room for mistakes. Syntax, clauses, and style fuse together in a Dunning book with absolute clarity. Dunning is a writer that appeals to the intellect while simultaneously attracting mystery lovers with his behind-the-scenes look at the world of books: the moral and ethical circumstances that drive any great mystery, including death.
Cliff Janeway, our hero, is in many ways a reflection of the writer. Here the comparison with Dick Francis continues. Where Francis writes about the Queen's sport (horse racing) as a result of having spent a good deal of his life as a jockey himself, Dunning writes about books as a result of having owned his own book store in Denver. Where Francis writes about the racing world in England where he spent his jockey years, Dunning's protagonist Cliff Janeway, a former cop, owns a book store in Denver as well. The adage that one write "about what one knows" is never more true with these two writers. Francis's heroes are a reflection of the writer himself: in the case of Francis we empathize with a thoroughly honorable, ethical and objective human being and in the case of Dunning we face our own conflicts through a conflicted hero not averse to violence but compelled by a proper moral ethic that guides the hero through his various delimmas. As with Dunning who struggled with ADD, being a poor student, and taking the hard road to his own calling, so does Janeway struggle with authority, with finding his true calling as one reads about a cop turned book collector in the Cliff Janeway novels.
And finally I have to wonder about the formula in play here. Did Dunning stumble upon the perfect subject inadvertently or did it come about as a reflection of his own life? Let's face it, what more compelling subject matter for a mystery/detective series could have been chosen than to appeal to the reader himself: it is our love of reading, our love of books that draws us to these pages. And in the case of Dunning, our satisfaction is doubled because what we are reading about is the very thing from which we draw our pleasure: the world of books.
As with all my series reviews, if you've read this review of the Cliff Janeway series, you've read 'em all.
October 1, 2018
This hardcover is 337 pp from Scribner, 2006 Library Loan (not 500 pp)
I have not read the Janeway books in order, so I am missing a bit of background info with regard to his relationship with Erin, his lawyer partner in the Denver bookstore. Otherwise, not a real problem in reading this as stand alone if you love books and horses. Dunning knows his subject matter in both areas.
The first 150 pages were really engaging as the characters were introduced. The initial contact to hire him on a book valuation for estate purposes came from a memorable crotchety man who sent Janeway a cashier's check to come to Idaho. Their initial meeting was one of the better and most amusing exchanges of the book. The relationship went on as it started, untenable.
Another interested party to the settling of the estate hired him, and it was not just about missing valuable books but included a murder investigation - from 30 years in the past. The "bookwoman" of the title had a peanut allergy, and along with her beloved book collection she had secrets.
Janeway works with the race horses to be in place to investigate on behalf of the bookwoman's daughter. Interesting twists...Janeway is nearly killed and Erin is displeased with the danger he subjects himself to on these side jobs away from the bookstore.
I have not read the Janeway books in order, so I am missing a bit of background info with regard to his relationship with Erin, his lawyer partner in the Denver bookstore. Otherwise, not a real problem in reading this as stand alone if you love books and horses. Dunning knows his subject matter in both areas.
The first 150 pages were really engaging as the characters were introduced. The initial contact to hire him on a book valuation for estate purposes came from a memorable crotchety man who sent Janeway a cashier's check to come to Idaho. Their initial meeting was one of the better and most amusing exchanges of the book. The relationship went on as it started, untenable.
Another interested party to the settling of the estate hired him, and it was not just about missing valuable books but included a murder investigation - from 30 years in the past. The "bookwoman" of the title had a peanut allergy, and along with her beloved book collection she had secrets.
Janeway works with the race horses to be in place to investigate on behalf of the bookwoman's daughter. Interesting twists...Janeway is nearly killed and Erin is displeased with the danger he subjects himself to on these side jobs away from the bookstore.
October 7, 2008
Fans of previous "Bookman" novels by John Dunning will be equally captivated by The Bookwoman's Last Fling: A Cliff Janeway Novel (Cliff Janeway Novels). This offering is just as witty, literate and informative a tome as his previous ventures. This time out the reader not only gets a lesson in the appraisal and valuation of rare juvenile books (from Winnie the Pooh to Nancy Drew) but we are also treated to an inside look at the racing game (seems Dunning worked behind the scenes at a few racetracks in his youth and is more than will to share his knowledge of what goes on behind the scenes at the track).
Once again, former cop turned rare bookseller/appraiser, Cliff Janeway, becomes embroiled in a fascinating mystery when he is hired by the majordomo of one H. R. Geiger (noted horseman who has recently passed on) to evaluate the a rare and valuable collection of first edition children's books that had belonged to Geigers late wife, Candice. Janeways job is to determine not only the value of the collection but also to ascertain if any of the collection is missing or has been tampered with. The missing book angle of the mystery turns out to be just the tip of this iceberg.
There are a multitude of questions to be answered and horses to be tended. There is the question of what really happened to Geigers late wife (was her death an accident as had been reported, or was she cleverly murdered?). Is Geiger's daughter Sharon, a protector of abused horses, in imminent danger (since she is the owner of one half of her mothers valuable book collection). Are Sharon's half-brothers as unprincipled and dangerous as they appear?
This mystery has as many potential suspects as a purple onion has layers but Janeway is up to the task of following the clues and peeling away those layers. There are book collectors, horse trainers, stablehands, horse owners, and dysfunctional family members to choose from and Janeway discovers that the culprit will do anything (including turning Janeway into a "crispy critter") to achieve his (or her) ultimate goal.
Readers will find Janeway a hard character to forget, and Bookwoman's Last Fling an engrossing page turner. So saddle up and get ready for a great ride.
Once again, former cop turned rare bookseller/appraiser, Cliff Janeway, becomes embroiled in a fascinating mystery when he is hired by the majordomo of one H. R. Geiger (noted horseman who has recently passed on) to evaluate the a rare and valuable collection of first edition children's books that had belonged to Geigers late wife, Candice. Janeways job is to determine not only the value of the collection but also to ascertain if any of the collection is missing or has been tampered with. The missing book angle of the mystery turns out to be just the tip of this iceberg.
There are a multitude of questions to be answered and horses to be tended. There is the question of what really happened to Geigers late wife (was her death an accident as had been reported, or was she cleverly murdered?). Is Geiger's daughter Sharon, a protector of abused horses, in imminent danger (since she is the owner of one half of her mothers valuable book collection). Are Sharon's half-brothers as unprincipled and dangerous as they appear?
This mystery has as many potential suspects as a purple onion has layers but Janeway is up to the task of following the clues and peeling away those layers. There are book collectors, horse trainers, stablehands, horse owners, and dysfunctional family members to choose from and Janeway discovers that the culprit will do anything (including turning Janeway into a "crispy critter") to achieve his (or her) ultimate goal.
Readers will find Janeway a hard character to forget, and Bookwoman's Last Fling an engrossing page turner. So saddle up and get ready for a great ride.
November 28, 2007
Like the other Goodreads reviewers who commented on this book, I really enjoyed John Dunnings previous books---what could be more compelling for a mystery fan and avid reader than a good suspense story centered around books?
This novel is entertaining, but wasn't as interesting to me as Dunning's other books because he veered away from the bookseller's world and entered the racing circuit.
I highly recommend The Bookman's Promise and the Sign of the Book----then, if you can't get enough of the protagonist, Cliff Janeway, go ahead and pick up this book. It won't disappoint, but if it was your first Dunning novel, you might not reach for the others and they are well worth reading.
This novel is entertaining, but wasn't as interesting to me as Dunning's other books because he veered away from the bookseller's world and entered the racing circuit.
I highly recommend The Bookman's Promise and the Sign of the Book----then, if you can't get enough of the protagonist, Cliff Janeway, go ahead and pick up this book. It won't disappoint, but if it was your first Dunning novel, you might not reach for the others and they are well worth reading.
August 19, 2014
I had been putting off reading this one for quite a while because I knew it was the last (so far) novel by John Dunning and of the Bookman series. To be honest I had also put it off a little due to many reviews that said it just wasn't quite up to the standards of the previous novels in the series.
My experience, however, was a little different. I thought it got off to a great start, with lots of scenes where we readers get to wallow in the book collecting world that is so paramount in Cliff Janeway's life. Now it is true that we take a long departure from that world and move into the world of horse racing but the author has experience with this too and it shows in this novel. And near the end, we re-renter the world of books and bibliomania.
But fundamentally, this is a mystery novel, in a mystery series and I think it succeeds quite well. There are quite a lot of characters and therefore lots of suspects for this who-dunnit caper. There is action surrounded by very competent character building. In fact our main character, Janeway, undergoes a bit of a change himself through this novel, coming to understand his own inner self a little more and what really motivates him. We readers have realized it for quite some time, stretching back a least a couple of novels. And the ending was quite a surprise for me. The clues were there but I didn't put them all together until the exact moment that Janeway did. I did mark it down one notch because the middle part of the story did bog down a little too much, introducing us to a few too many characters that just didn't seem to play into the larger story. Also the ending had a mild cliff hanger concerning Janeway's future plans, obviously designed to lead into the next book. But those are really small complaints considering the overall read.
I do worry that this will be the last of the Janeway books as health issues have prevented Mr. Dunning from getting back at 'em. His website is optimistic, however, and so must I be.
My experience, however, was a little different. I thought it got off to a great start, with lots of scenes where we readers get to wallow in the book collecting world that is so paramount in Cliff Janeway's life. Now it is true that we take a long departure from that world and move into the world of horse racing but the author has experience with this too and it shows in this novel. And near the end, we re-renter the world of books and bibliomania.
But fundamentally, this is a mystery novel, in a mystery series and I think it succeeds quite well. There are quite a lot of characters and therefore lots of suspects for this who-dunnit caper. There is action surrounded by very competent character building. In fact our main character, Janeway, undergoes a bit of a change himself through this novel, coming to understand his own inner self a little more and what really motivates him. We readers have realized it for quite some time, stretching back a least a couple of novels. And the ending was quite a surprise for me. The clues were there but I didn't put them all together until the exact moment that Janeway did. I did mark it down one notch because the middle part of the story did bog down a little too much, introducing us to a few too many characters that just didn't seem to play into the larger story. Also the ending had a mild cliff hanger concerning Janeway's future plans, obviously designed to lead into the next book. But those are really small complaints considering the overall read.
I do worry that this will be the last of the Janeway books as health issues have prevented Mr. Dunning from getting back at 'em. His website is optimistic, however, and so must I be.
August 30, 2010
Dunning does a great job re-creating the environment found around a racetrack. In this case, a major portion of the bookman's snooping takes place at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco area and Santa Anita in Los Angeles. Dunning does a WONDERFUL job of describing racetrack life, horses, people who work around horses, owners, etc. Dunning gets the horse stuff especially right. In fact, he does it so well that I could almost smell the straw, the manure, the equine sweat, etc. I could see and in some cases HEAR the vehicles run. (Cameron's car especially).. IN other words.. Dunning gets the details and he gets them right.
A decent mystery lies underneath all of the wonderful environmental and sensory details Dunning offers. What happened to the matriarch of this racing family? Did she commit suicide by ingesting peanuts (she was deathly allergice) or did someone feed them to her? Who was plundering her library of valuable old classic and antiquarian books one book at a time? The author does an excellent job of dropping piecemeal clues that later cause the reader to look back and say- HECK!! How did I miss that???
I really, really enjoyed this particular novel. Cliff Janeway is an interesting hero, though once in awhile he has the need to simply ask as a tough guy, sometimes tougher than it appears is necessary.
A decent mystery lies underneath all of the wonderful environmental and sensory details Dunning offers. What happened to the matriarch of this racing family? Did she commit suicide by ingesting peanuts (she was deathly allergice) or did someone feed them to her? Who was plundering her library of valuable old classic and antiquarian books one book at a time? The author does an excellent job of dropping piecemeal clues that later cause the reader to look back and say- HECK!! How did I miss that???
I really, really enjoyed this particular novel. Cliff Janeway is an interesting hero, though once in awhile he has the need to simply ask as a tough guy, sometimes tougher than it appears is necessary.
May 31, 2024
Horses and books.
What's not to like.
Clunky storytelling and a weak ending a bad exacta.
Lady Luck "not tonight honey I have a headache."
There's always another race.
What's not to like.
Clunky storytelling and a weak ending a bad exacta.
Lady Luck "not tonight honey I have a headache."
There's always another race.
October 18, 2019
4* Again, a most engaging audiobook. I expected to continue enjoying the bibliophile aspect, wasn't disappointed there, and was pleasantly surprised at the insights into the world of racing and rescuing horses.
Good one!
Good one!
September 14, 2008
The main appeal surrounding John Dunning's books is the insight into the darker aspects of bookstores and book collecting. Dunning's protagonist, Cliff Janeway, is a retired cop-turned-bookseller; he is often searched out for his detective work in solving cases involving book theft, forgery, etc.
In the most recent Janeway book Dunning takes a slightly different turn. Instead of dealing primarily with the book world he ventures into California to throw in this new plot twist - horse racing. There is a book mystery but more time is spent on the track and in the shedrows than in the library, and at times it felt that the initial mystery of the books in this story was forgotten about, only to be thrown back into the mix when it seemed convenient to move the story along. Dunning's books always read like crack to me, and this one was no exception. However, had I wanted to read a Dick Francis mystery, I would have picked one up on my own.
Still, I can not say that this diversion of Dunning's makes me adore him any less and I will of course read the next Janeway book whenever he decides to publish it.
In the most recent Janeway book Dunning takes a slightly different turn. Instead of dealing primarily with the book world he ventures into California to throw in this new plot twist - horse racing. There is a book mystery but more time is spent on the track and in the shedrows than in the library, and at times it felt that the initial mystery of the books in this story was forgotten about, only to be thrown back into the mix when it seemed convenient to move the story along. Dunning's books always read like crack to me, and this one was no exception. However, had I wanted to read a Dick Francis mystery, I would have picked one up on my own.
Still, I can not say that this diversion of Dunning's makes me adore him any less and I will of course read the next Janeway book whenever he decides to publish it.
July 14, 2014
A Sad Surprise, August 1, 2012
By Ellen Rappaport (Florida)
This review is from: The Bookwoman's Last Fling (Cliff Janeway Novels) (Paperback)
I've read several of the cliff Janeway novels and thoroughly enjoyed them. They not only held my interest all the way through...I became involved in the plot and with cliff Janeway on his journey's. The unraveling of his mysteries regarding rare book collections had depth and the information given by this talented author added to the suspense.
Unfortunately, all of the marvelous situations I named for Dunning's other works in this series were sadly lacking in this particular entry. It quite simply didn't hold my interest. I was unable to get involved with Janeway as I had in the previous books. It was a sad surprise for me as I was already to get into another great adventure with cliff Janeway.
So all I can say to this gifted author is...nice try but no cigar.
BTW...I did listen to this book on CD read/narrated by George Guidall. Even G.G.'s excellent performance could not save this book.
By Ellen Rappaport (Florida)
This review is from: The Bookwoman's Last Fling (Cliff Janeway Novels) (Paperback)
I've read several of the cliff Janeway novels and thoroughly enjoyed them. They not only held my interest all the way through...I became involved in the plot and with cliff Janeway on his journey's. The unraveling of his mysteries regarding rare book collections had depth and the information given by this talented author added to the suspense.
Unfortunately, all of the marvelous situations I named for Dunning's other works in this series were sadly lacking in this particular entry. It quite simply didn't hold my interest. I was unable to get involved with Janeway as I had in the previous books. It was a sad surprise for me as I was already to get into another great adventure with cliff Janeway.
So all I can say to this gifted author is...nice try but no cigar.
BTW...I did listen to this book on CD read/narrated by George Guidall. Even G.G.'s excellent performance could not save this book.
October 7, 2008
I did not enjoy this book as much as the other two Cliff Janeway novels I have read. I would have given this book only 2 stars except that I like the Cliff Janeway charater so much.
This book has much less to do with the book trade than the others, and seems to have Cliff going off in a different direction in the end. You can almost sense the author going off in a different direction also, and one that is much less appealing to me. Darker, more hard-boiled, more Sam Spade, less Perry Mason. This book seems more formulaic; I was able to figure out "whodunnit" very early. I don't necessarily mind figuring a book out early, but the reason I figured this one out early was by assuming the plot followed the same formula as an earlier book. That is just bad form.
This book has much less to do with the book trade than the others, and seems to have Cliff going off in a different direction in the end. You can almost sense the author going off in a different direction also, and one that is much less appealing to me. Darker, more hard-boiled, more Sam Spade, less Perry Mason. This book seems more formulaic; I was able to figure out "whodunnit" very early. I don't necessarily mind figuring a book out early, but the reason I figured this one out early was by assuming the plot followed the same formula as an earlier book. That is just bad form.
June 27, 2025
This book finished up a solid and well-written mystery series. A former cop turned bookseller hit all the marks for me and I feel certain would do the same for like-minded readers. Cliff Janeway is tough, caring and smart. And the man loves books. The different supporting characters throughout this 5-book series are fleshed out nicely.
This final book, however, spends more time behind the scenes with horse racing, and not so much time on books. But the mystery element is well developed (as it is in the entire series) and it has a nice twist.
I’m sure I’ll be rereading this series; I highly recommend it!
This final book, however, spends more time behind the scenes with horse racing, and not so much time on books. But the mystery element is well developed (as it is in the entire series) and it has a nice twist.
I’m sure I’ll be rereading this series; I highly recommend it!
October 4, 2019
I've read 3 other of John Dunning's Cliff Janeway novels and enjoyed them all. This one got 3 stars because I just couldn't get into it like the others. It could have been all the information about the life of horse racing stable hands was more than I really wanted to know but I think it was really because it wasn't that great a storyline. It seemed to me that the story was repetitive and dragged boringly along in places.
November 8, 2019
Another excellent story by Dunning. Sadly this series comes to an end. I really enjoyed all five books in the Cliff Janeway series. Maybe I'll see if his other books have the same impact with me. But in each of these I can say I learned something about the rare book business as well as enjoyed a well told story. That indeed is a rarity these days. I highly recommend it.
September 17, 2022
What a super fun adventure!
September 26, 2022
Pretty fair tale, classic whodunnit but with the interesting backdrops of California racetracks, Idaho ranch and Denver bookshop. Takes place over a couple of decades, with lots of family dysfunction and colorful characters. Cop turned book dealer always retains his need to get to the bottom of things.
March 26, 2024
.
The Bookwoman's Last Fling
by John Dunning, over 300 pages, pub. in 2006. The 5th and final book in the Cliff Janeway bookman series.
George Guidall expertly narrates the audio version.
About the story:
Denver bookman Cliff Janeway would have liked Candice Geiger. She loved books with a true bookwoman's passion and she's remembered as a lovely, classy and kind woman. Her collection of pristine first-editions, including children's books, is the best that Janeway ever hopes to see. Twenty years ago when her daughter Sharon was just 11 years old, Candice died as a victim of a peanut allergy, when she was alone at their California farmhouse. The book collection she began as a young teen has been split up with half the collection going to Sharon, her hubby HR retained half, a number of editions containing a decorative book plate were sold by Candice and some high value books were stolen by an unknown thief.
Janeway learns about the collection when Candice's elderly husband, H. R. Geiger, passed away about a month ago. The old man's trusted assistant Junior Willis hired Janeway to assess the collection which is at the Geiger's Idaho ranch house, where HR kept and trained race horses. The estate can't be distributed until the books are valued and certain missing books are identified. So, there's pressure on Janeway to do the job quickly to satisfy the requirements of the executor. Junior and Damon, one of HR's three sons, hope to race the horses once the executor signs off on it.
The valuable titles that were stolen went unnoticed for some time since the thief replaced them with cheap editions. It isn't known when the thefts occurred, but once it was discovered, HR fired all the hired help at the ranch. Sharon is now a grown woman, a horse veterinarian operating her own horse rescue ranch where she nurses sick and injured horses back to health. She lives not far from the Idaho ranch where she grew up. The fired servants had been like family to her, so Sharon hired them to work for her.
Candice Ritchey was the only child of a filthy rich industrialist and when her doting dad died she married Harold Ray Geiger a successful racehorse owner and trainer who was old enough to be her father. They traveled the racetrack circuit with some success, as evidenced by winner's-circle photographs, in which Candice is always a noticeable figure standing in the background and always dressed in white. HR continued acquiring and training horses, but quit racing them after loosing his beloved trophy wife.
It's probably 1995, two decades after Candice's accidental death, when Janeway finds himself deep in a book mystery that soon involves much more than a cataloging exercise. It's rumored Candice may have been murdered or may have been unhappy enough to suicide. Janeway worries that Sharon may be vulnerable since half of her mother's fabulous book collection is in her renovated basement. After all her ne'er-do-well, foul-mouthed, racist half brother Cameron came by when only the servants were in the house and tried to force his way in insisting Candice owed him a book. They chased him off with the shotgun.
The trail of Candice's shadowy past leads Janeway to California's Golden Gate and Santa Anita racetracks, where he's undercover as a racehorse hot walker while listening to the chatter among the hands and questioning old timers who remember Candice. When Cameron disappears from his job at the track Janeway goes looking for him. At the Geiger's California farmhouse Janeway finds Cameron's car and much more than he bargained for.
As he's looking about someone clouts Janeway on the head with the fireplace poker. Janeway wakes addled and locked in the trunk of Cameron's car. After a couple of hours of driving, the car stops, gas is poured over it and it's set on fire. He escapes by kicking out the backseat and getting out the door with minor burns. Once he recovers, Janeway heads back to the California farm and this time finds Baxter in the farmhouse.
The three brothers had lost their mother early on and after their dad HR married Candice they soon had a very young half sister, Sharon. Cameron was the disinherited reprobate, Damon the successful horse trainer and supposedly normal brother, Baxter was said to be crazy and they were all involved in the racehorse business mostly in California. When Janeway finds Baxter at the farmhouse he turns out to be reasonable and the most forthcoming in answering his questions. - edited & expanded
•
Following are revealing story details and exactly how it ends, only if you're interested.
The book first mentions biblomania, those suffering from an obsessive-compulsive disorder that can result in severe book hoarding and the ongoing problems with Cameron who's a first class jerk and a crook. Of course those two, the bibliomaniac and the crook will play predominantly in the story.
The story begins with Janeway at the Geiger's Idaho ranch house having been paid five grand by the assistant Junior Willis who turns out to be a surly and antagonistic sort. He's such a problem that Janeway contemplates quitting even before he got started. Junior expects him to evaluate the books, figure out what's missing and who took them and how to get them back, if possible. Since Janeway was such a hotshot homicide detective in Denver he might even put Sharon's mind at ease if he can figure out whether her mother Candice had been murdered or not. Furthermore, it all needs to be done lickety-split so, Junior can receive his inheritance of stacks of cash and some of the horses which he'll enter in the racetrack circuit before they get any older.
Yup, Janeway walks out, but he doesn't officially quit until after he meets Sharon, examines her half of the books, hears her story and she offers to hire him instead. Candice had been far richer than her husband HR having inherited her father's wealth, the Ritchey Steel fortune. Sharon too is filthy rich since she inherited half of her mom's family fortune, but she contents herself with saving horses that would normally be put down. The hired help that her father HR had fired now make a better living working for Sharon and are treated like family: Louis Young, aka Louie; Rosemary, Louie's younger sister; Lillian Wheeler and Billy Young who's attended college with plans to become a cop.
As part of his stolen book investigation Janeway calls a book specialist he knows in California, Carrol Shaw a director at the Blakely Library. He's very interested in Sharon's books and has Janeway convince her to let him stop by to examine her collection.
After Cameron and his muscled pal Rudy had been chased off the property with the shotgun they turned up at the Golden Gate racetrack in California. Sharon's old friend Sandy Standish, a talented horse trainer, agrees to hire Janeway as a horse walker while he snoops about looking for clues concerning the stolen books, keeping an eye on Cameron the black sheep and investigating Candice's life. Turns out Sandy was likely Candice's first fling and there's the possibility that he's also Sharon's biological father. Janeway insists Sandy should tell Sharon about the possible relationship, but the old guy balks.
Janeway wanted a look at the Geiger family farm and that's where Rudy said Cameron went 3 days ago to meet some guy who would be giving him a bunch of cash until he was back on his feet. Whatever Cam was up to he'd often been broke one day and flush the next. That farm is where Janeway had been clobbered and later luckily escaped from the burning car. After being rescued by a passerby on the road he was treated at the hospital and gave the details to the cops.
His girlfriend Erin d'Angelo, a Denver lawyer and partner in Janeway's book business, comes to California to help out. At the farm she meets the next door neighbor, 60 year old Gail Ronda, who had been Candice's BFF 30 years ago. They were the same age and Candice confided in her about the affair and her unhappiness being married to HR the control freak and Gail once saw her in the woods kissing the mystery guy. His description sounds like Sandy the horse trainer.
When Janeway encountered Baxter at the farm they come across Cameron's body, his head blown open and lying half in the canal. So, who killed him and who tried to burn Janeway inside the trunk of Cam's car?
Some details of the story and some fairly long sections are mostly superfluous. For example there's an old stable hand named Rick who grew up with Candice in New York, loved her and was quite disappointed when she married. When she died he turned into a hapless drunk.
Another dodge. Long time racetrack worker Martha tells Janeway she knows who murdered Candice. It's Baxter. Apparently some years ago after his horse lost an important race, Baxter was overheard threatening to put the horse in the ground just like he did to Candice. What follows is some spying on Baxter and trying to record him admitting guilt. Eventually he tells Janeway about Martha accusing him of murder because of a joke years ago when he made that statement as Martha was eavesdropping. He does admit that he actually did put his half-sister Candice in the ground since he was one of the pallbearers.
Sandy the horse trainer has a new client, the wealthy Barbara Patterson and her hubby Charlie. After Baxter is no longer a suspect Janeway suddenly focuses on Charlie since he thinks the guy is spooky and doesn't seem to talk to anyone. The other stablehands tell Janeway he often talks, but warns him to not upset their boss. Some of them have also done work for Charlie helping him move the piles of books at some of his houses. Apparently he's more than just a book collector, he's a hoarder and maybe a bibliomaniac. While talking to his wife Barbara , Janeway learns Charlie left the racetrack and is actually headed for Idaho.
It seems a bit farfetched that Janeway suddenly believes Charlie is the guy who tried to kill him, killed Cam and is now headed to Idaho to do what? Kill Sharon, steal her books or the books from the Geiger's ranch house? It just doesn't seem like a logical progression for the former detective.
Janeway lets the local cops in Idaho know a possible killer is on the way. Sharon and her staff refuse to leave the ranch since they have sick horses to care for. Janeway arrives and they are all on alert in case Charlie shows up. That same day Carrol Shaw, director of the Blakely Library is scheduled to arrive for his appointment to look over Sharon's book collection. Since Charlie could be arriving later that day Carrol's visit will have to be cut short. When Sharon lets the trusted book specialist in, Janeway recognizes Shaw's voice from there many conversations over the phone, but the guy speaking is the spook Charlie. In all their book dealings over the phone, Janeway had never met director Shaw in person.
The jig is up and Charlie, also known as Carrol Shaw pulls his gun. Before he can do anything, Billy Young the wannabe police officer shoots Charlie using Janeway's pistol. Carrol is a long time recovering and Janeway visits him while he's in custody. He provides the details and location of all the high value books Cameron stole for him. Being a hoarder he never sold any of them. Hostile Cameron had wanted more money and so was killed. Carrol had been in love with Candice and all those years ago she was ending her last fling, so he ground up peanuts to put in her cereal. Carrol said: "At least now she’s beyond all that hurt. I gave her that. I set her free. Wherever she is, you can bet she’s thanking me."
Janeway and his gal Erin may not stay together. It's left undecided. His passion is no longer just the book trade, he'd like to be a detective again. Erin wants him to be safe, especially since his last couple of adventures seemed to attract killers and he's got a number of bullet scars. If it doesn't work out with Erin, Sharon invites him to come stay with her.
Last of all, Janeway packs up a case of books from his bookstore, things that he'll probably never sell, to send to Carrol, aka Charlie. " . . . the beginning of an exciting new stash for Charlie. The perfect gift for a bibliofreak." Charlie had asked if Janeway could visit him. It doesn't say, but I guess this is the promise Janeway made in exchange for getting the stolen books back and all the details.
•
..
The Janeway novels:
Booked to Die - 1992
The Bookman's Wake - 1995
The Bookman's Promise - 2004
The Sign of the Book - 2005
The Bookwoman's Last Fling - 2006
ALSO BY JOHN DUNNING
Two O’Clock, Eastern Wartime
Deadline
Denver
Looking for Ginger North
The Holland Suggestions
.
The Bookwoman's Last Fling
by John Dunning, over 300 pages, pub. in 2006. The 5th and final book in the Cliff Janeway bookman series.
George Guidall expertly narrates the audio version.
About the story:
Denver bookman Cliff Janeway would have liked Candice Geiger. She loved books with a true bookwoman's passion and she's remembered as a lovely, classy and kind woman. Her collection of pristine first-editions, including children's books, is the best that Janeway ever hopes to see. Twenty years ago when her daughter Sharon was just 11 years old, Candice died as a victim of a peanut allergy, when she was alone at their California farmhouse. The book collection she began as a young teen has been split up with half the collection going to Sharon, her hubby HR retained half, a number of editions containing a decorative book plate were sold by Candice and some high value books were stolen by an unknown thief.
Janeway learns about the collection when Candice's elderly husband, H. R. Geiger, passed away about a month ago. The old man's trusted assistant Junior Willis hired Janeway to assess the collection which is at the Geiger's Idaho ranch house, where HR kept and trained race horses. The estate can't be distributed until the books are valued and certain missing books are identified. So, there's pressure on Janeway to do the job quickly to satisfy the requirements of the executor. Junior and Damon, one of HR's three sons, hope to race the horses once the executor signs off on it.
The valuable titles that were stolen went unnoticed for some time since the thief replaced them with cheap editions. It isn't known when the thefts occurred, but once it was discovered, HR fired all the hired help at the ranch. Sharon is now a grown woman, a horse veterinarian operating her own horse rescue ranch where she nurses sick and injured horses back to health. She lives not far from the Idaho ranch where she grew up. The fired servants had been like family to her, so Sharon hired them to work for her.
Candice Ritchey was the only child of a filthy rich industrialist and when her doting dad died she married Harold Ray Geiger a successful racehorse owner and trainer who was old enough to be her father. They traveled the racetrack circuit with some success, as evidenced by winner's-circle photographs, in which Candice is always a noticeable figure standing in the background and always dressed in white. HR continued acquiring and training horses, but quit racing them after loosing his beloved trophy wife.
It's probably 1995, two decades after Candice's accidental death, when Janeway finds himself deep in a book mystery that soon involves much more than a cataloging exercise. It's rumored Candice may have been murdered or may have been unhappy enough to suicide. Janeway worries that Sharon may be vulnerable since half of her mother's fabulous book collection is in her renovated basement. After all her ne'er-do-well, foul-mouthed, racist half brother Cameron came by when only the servants were in the house and tried to force his way in insisting Candice owed him a book. They chased him off with the shotgun.
The trail of Candice's shadowy past leads Janeway to California's Golden Gate and Santa Anita racetracks, where he's undercover as a racehorse hot walker while listening to the chatter among the hands and questioning old timers who remember Candice. When Cameron disappears from his job at the track Janeway goes looking for him. At the Geiger's California farmhouse Janeway finds Cameron's car and much more than he bargained for.
As he's looking about someone clouts Janeway on the head with the fireplace poker. Janeway wakes addled and locked in the trunk of Cameron's car. After a couple of hours of driving, the car stops, gas is poured over it and it's set on fire. He escapes by kicking out the backseat and getting out the door with minor burns. Once he recovers, Janeway heads back to the California farm and this time finds Baxter in the farmhouse.
The three brothers had lost their mother early on and after their dad HR married Candice they soon had a very young half sister, Sharon. Cameron was the disinherited reprobate, Damon the successful horse trainer and supposedly normal brother, Baxter was said to be crazy and they were all involved in the racehorse business mostly in California. When Janeway finds Baxter at the farmhouse he turns out to be reasonable and the most forthcoming in answering his questions. - edited & expanded
•
Following are revealing story details and exactly how it ends, only if you're interested.
The book first mentions biblomania, those suffering from an obsessive-compulsive disorder that can result in severe book hoarding and the ongoing problems with Cameron who's a first class jerk and a crook. Of course those two, the bibliomaniac and the crook will play predominantly in the story.
The story begins with Janeway at the Geiger's Idaho ranch house having been paid five grand by the assistant Junior Willis who turns out to be a surly and antagonistic sort. He's such a problem that Janeway contemplates quitting even before he got started. Junior expects him to evaluate the books, figure out what's missing and who took them and how to get them back, if possible. Since Janeway was such a hotshot homicide detective in Denver he might even put Sharon's mind at ease if he can figure out whether her mother Candice had been murdered or not. Furthermore, it all needs to be done lickety-split so, Junior can receive his inheritance of stacks of cash and some of the horses which he'll enter in the racetrack circuit before they get any older.
Yup, Janeway walks out, but he doesn't officially quit until after he meets Sharon, examines her half of the books, hears her story and she offers to hire him instead. Candice had been far richer than her husband HR having inherited her father's wealth, the Ritchey Steel fortune. Sharon too is filthy rich since she inherited half of her mom's family fortune, but she contents herself with saving horses that would normally be put down. The hired help that her father HR had fired now make a better living working for Sharon and are treated like family: Louis Young, aka Louie; Rosemary, Louie's younger sister; Lillian Wheeler and Billy Young who's attended college with plans to become a cop.
As part of his stolen book investigation Janeway calls a book specialist he knows in California, Carrol Shaw a director at the Blakely Library. He's very interested in Sharon's books and has Janeway convince her to let him stop by to examine her collection.
After Cameron and his muscled pal Rudy had been chased off the property with the shotgun they turned up at the Golden Gate racetrack in California. Sharon's old friend Sandy Standish, a talented horse trainer, agrees to hire Janeway as a horse walker while he snoops about looking for clues concerning the stolen books, keeping an eye on Cameron the black sheep and investigating Candice's life. Turns out Sandy was likely Candice's first fling and there's the possibility that he's also Sharon's biological father. Janeway insists Sandy should tell Sharon about the possible relationship, but the old guy balks.
Janeway wanted a look at the Geiger family farm and that's where Rudy said Cameron went 3 days ago to meet some guy who would be giving him a bunch of cash until he was back on his feet. Whatever Cam was up to he'd often been broke one day and flush the next. That farm is where Janeway had been clobbered and later luckily escaped from the burning car. After being rescued by a passerby on the road he was treated at the hospital and gave the details to the cops.
His girlfriend Erin d'Angelo, a Denver lawyer and partner in Janeway's book business, comes to California to help out. At the farm she meets the next door neighbor, 60 year old Gail Ronda, who had been Candice's BFF 30 years ago. They were the same age and Candice confided in her about the affair and her unhappiness being married to HR the control freak and Gail once saw her in the woods kissing the mystery guy. His description sounds like Sandy the horse trainer.
When Janeway encountered Baxter at the farm they come across Cameron's body, his head blown open and lying half in the canal. So, who killed him and who tried to burn Janeway inside the trunk of Cam's car?
Some details of the story and some fairly long sections are mostly superfluous. For example there's an old stable hand named Rick who grew up with Candice in New York, loved her and was quite disappointed when she married. When she died he turned into a hapless drunk.
Another dodge. Long time racetrack worker Martha tells Janeway she knows who murdered Candice. It's Baxter. Apparently some years ago after his horse lost an important race, Baxter was overheard threatening to put the horse in the ground just like he did to Candice. What follows is some spying on Baxter and trying to record him admitting guilt. Eventually he tells Janeway about Martha accusing him of murder because of a joke years ago when he made that statement as Martha was eavesdropping. He does admit that he actually did put his half-sister Candice in the ground since he was one of the pallbearers.
Sandy the horse trainer has a new client, the wealthy Barbara Patterson and her hubby Charlie. After Baxter is no longer a suspect Janeway suddenly focuses on Charlie since he thinks the guy is spooky and doesn't seem to talk to anyone. The other stablehands tell Janeway he often talks, but warns him to not upset their boss. Some of them have also done work for Charlie helping him move the piles of books at some of his houses. Apparently he's more than just a book collector, he's a hoarder and maybe a bibliomaniac. While talking to his wife Barbara , Janeway learns Charlie left the racetrack and is actually headed for Idaho.
It seems a bit farfetched that Janeway suddenly believes Charlie is the guy who tried to kill him, killed Cam and is now headed to Idaho to do what? Kill Sharon, steal her books or the books from the Geiger's ranch house? It just doesn't seem like a logical progression for the former detective.
Janeway lets the local cops in Idaho know a possible killer is on the way. Sharon and her staff refuse to leave the ranch since they have sick horses to care for. Janeway arrives and they are all on alert in case Charlie shows up. That same day Carrol Shaw, director of the Blakely Library is scheduled to arrive for his appointment to look over Sharon's book collection. Since Charlie could be arriving later that day Carrol's visit will have to be cut short. When Sharon lets the trusted book specialist in, Janeway recognizes Shaw's voice from there many conversations over the phone, but the guy speaking is the spook Charlie. In all their book dealings over the phone, Janeway had never met director Shaw in person.
The jig is up and Charlie, also known as Carrol Shaw pulls his gun. Before he can do anything, Billy Young the wannabe police officer shoots Charlie using Janeway's pistol. Carrol is a long time recovering and Janeway visits him while he's in custody. He provides the details and location of all the high value books Cameron stole for him. Being a hoarder he never sold any of them. Hostile Cameron had wanted more money and so was killed. Carrol had been in love with Candice and all those years ago she was ending her last fling, so he ground up peanuts to put in her cereal. Carrol said: "At least now she’s beyond all that hurt. I gave her that. I set her free. Wherever she is, you can bet she’s thanking me."
Janeway and his gal Erin may not stay together. It's left undecided. His passion is no longer just the book trade, he'd like to be a detective again. Erin wants him to be safe, especially since his last couple of adventures seemed to attract killers and he's got a number of bullet scars. If it doesn't work out with Erin, Sharon invites him to come stay with her.
Last of all, Janeway packs up a case of books from his bookstore, things that he'll probably never sell, to send to Carrol, aka Charlie. " . . . the beginning of an exciting new stash for Charlie. The perfect gift for a bibliofreak." Charlie had asked if Janeway could visit him. It doesn't say, but I guess this is the promise Janeway made in exchange for getting the stolen books back and all the details.
•
..
The Janeway novels:
Booked to Die - 1992
The Bookman's Wake - 1995
The Bookman's Promise - 2004
The Sign of the Book - 2005
The Bookwoman's Last Fling - 2006
ALSO BY JOHN DUNNING
Two O’Clock, Eastern Wartime
Deadline
Denver
Looking for Ginger North
The Holland Suggestions
.
January 28, 2021
This is a slow-burn book but I enjoyed, it was an entertaining read.
November 24, 2021
Narrated in a more hard-boiled voice than I generally enjoy, but a fun audio mystery. The solution comes from nowhere and there’s a twist that occurred to me only moments before it was revealed, so…very satisfying.
April 13, 2018
Another great Cliff Janeway detective novel! I was engaged the entire time and found the plot well done. It was a little disappointing that it didn't take place in Denver and focused more on horses then books, but I still greatly enjoyed it (also, I like horses too!) I was sorry to finish it because this is the last Cliff Janeway and I've now read all of them!
April 27, 2018
John Dunning’s style - Very Entertaining
Mr. Dunning makes me feel as if he is an old friend. All his characters are well thought out and seem very real to me. I would rank his work among the very best in the mystery/thriller genre.
Mr. Dunning makes me feel as if he is an old friend. All his characters are well thought out and seem very real to me. I would rank his work among the very best in the mystery/thriller genre.
April 23, 2018
This is the final book in the Cliff Janeway series written by John Dunning. I have really enjoyed the series and am sad there aren't anymore. This is one of those cases why I wonder why these books weren't on the best-seller lists. Why do people read books by James Patterson (not really by him anymore) when they could be reading John Dunning? Why? This one aspect of the publishing arena that I just don't understand.
September 7, 2014
This is the fifth and last Cliff Janeway mystery, a series I've enjoyed immensely. Cliff Janeway is an ex-Denver cop who has become a book dealer in Denver who also hunts down antique books and is often hired to estimate costs of antique books. He also still becomes involved in mysteries, often with a book-theme. In this story, he travels to Idaho to help estimate the value of an estate's books and also to solve a mystery; some of the books have been disappearing and being replaced by cheaper editions. Throw in an old death in the family that might have been a murder and bring in the horse - racing world and you've got the makings of a great mystery. It's an excellent series and I highly recommend.
September 30, 2012
A review on the back cover refers to Dick Francis and I can certainly see the similarity in this Dunning book. Given the earlier Bookman stories, I don't know where it came from! It got a bit slow in the middle but was still very good and had a rather surprising conclusion. However, I do prefer the earlier books in the series where the book business is primary to the story rather than secondary or tertiary.
December 27, 2011
This was my last fling with a John Dunning novel, I was a drag until last few pages & relief to finish.
April 8, 2019
BOTTOM-LINE:
Slow book, too much about horses and not enough detecting.
.
PLOT OR PREMISE:
Janeway is hired to appraise part of an estate, a collection of first-edition children's books amassed by a woman who died 20 years before. Now the husband has died, and his children want to distribute the money, but first, everything has to be totalled up.
.
WHAT I LIKED:
Early on, the case has some interesting bits including discovery that someone has been slowly replacing some of the books with cheap duplicates, but not in any strategic way. Someone who knows something about value, but skipping some obvious choice books. It doesn't take much for a daughter who also loves books to want Janeway to figure out if the mother was killed, and if so, by who. A bunch of brothers run around, and they're all a little bit crazy, but who is the craziest? The dead husband was a horseman, and Janeway works for one of the brothers as a stable boy / horse walker to get in with the horse crowd. Reads a lot like a vintage Dick Francis book.
.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
As with most Janeway novels, there are two mysteries interwoven -- the death of the young wife 20 years before and the theft of the children's books. Unfortunately, the story spends a LONG time with the horse crowd with not much happening. It read more like a personal diary than a mystery novel. Huge stretches of time with NOTHING RELEVANT to the mystery. Equally, neither of the mysteries are unraveled in an interesting way, just plodding in one case and almost happenstance in another. And so obvious for one ending, yet it takes forever to get there.
.
DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him on social media.
Slow book, too much about horses and not enough detecting.
.
PLOT OR PREMISE:
Janeway is hired to appraise part of an estate, a collection of first-edition children's books amassed by a woman who died 20 years before. Now the husband has died, and his children want to distribute the money, but first, everything has to be totalled up.
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WHAT I LIKED:
Early on, the case has some interesting bits including discovery that someone has been slowly replacing some of the books with cheap duplicates, but not in any strategic way. Someone who knows something about value, but skipping some obvious choice books. It doesn't take much for a daughter who also loves books to want Janeway to figure out if the mother was killed, and if so, by who. A bunch of brothers run around, and they're all a little bit crazy, but who is the craziest? The dead husband was a horseman, and Janeway works for one of the brothers as a stable boy / horse walker to get in with the horse crowd. Reads a lot like a vintage Dick Francis book.
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WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
As with most Janeway novels, there are two mysteries interwoven -- the death of the young wife 20 years before and the theft of the children's books. Unfortunately, the story spends a LONG time with the horse crowd with not much happening. It read more like a personal diary than a mystery novel. Huge stretches of time with NOTHING RELEVANT to the mystery. Equally, neither of the mysteries are unraveled in an interesting way, just plodding in one case and almost happenstance in another. And so obvious for one ending, yet it takes forever to get there.
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DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him on social media.
March 26, 2024
Cliff Janeway, former detective and rare book expert, is contacted to review a remarkable collection of rare books from the H.R. Geiger estate. He eagerly flies to Idaho to assess the books and decide whether or not he can except the job. The collection was amassed by Geiger's deceased wife, Candice, a bookwoman after his heart.
His meeting with Junior Willis, however, does not go well, and regardless of how thrilled Janeway is with the collection, there are problems to be resolved.
One of the problems: several of the original books of astounding value have been replaced with reprints. Another is that Junior Willis wants this done more quickly than is reasonably or responsibly practical. How can Janeway locate and return the missing books in the time allowed? Is he expected to just sign on the line?
Janeway is fascinating with Candice Geiger and her collection, but also with the suggestion that Candice was murdered twenty years ago. The deal with Junior goes south, but new possibilities arise with his meeting with Candice's daughter, Sharon. The former detective and the rare book expert in Janeway combine--leading through many twists and turns, including spending time as ginney (groom or stable hand in horse racing terms), a murder, and attempts on Janeway's life.
I learned a great deal about horse racing and shedrows (Dunning himself spent time as a ginney in his youth) and the plot kept me in the dark. Near the end, I thought I had it figured out by the Mad Hatter clue, then an abrupt shift through me off again. It wasn't until the concluding chapter that the bad guy was revealed.
The Bookwoman's Last Fling was engrossing, but I will certainly miss Cliff Janeway.
His meeting with Junior Willis, however, does not go well, and regardless of how thrilled Janeway is with the collection, there are problems to be resolved.
One of the problems: several of the original books of astounding value have been replaced with reprints. Another is that Junior Willis wants this done more quickly than is reasonably or responsibly practical. How can Janeway locate and return the missing books in the time allowed? Is he expected to just sign on the line?
Janeway is fascinating with Candice Geiger and her collection, but also with the suggestion that Candice was murdered twenty years ago. The deal with Junior goes south, but new possibilities arise with his meeting with Candice's daughter, Sharon. The former detective and the rare book expert in Janeway combine--leading through many twists and turns, including spending time as ginney (groom or stable hand in horse racing terms), a murder, and attempts on Janeway's life.
I learned a great deal about horse racing and shedrows (Dunning himself spent time as a ginney in his youth) and the plot kept me in the dark. Near the end, I thought I had it figured out by the Mad Hatter clue, then an abrupt shift through me off again. It wasn't until the concluding chapter that the bad guy was revealed.
The Bookwoman's Last Fling was engrossing, but I will certainly miss Cliff Janeway.
July 6, 2022
The profession of a bookseller or someone who knows about old books and rare editions is fascinating! How do you learn about all of this? The combination of a former cop and a current bookseller is a novel one, and makes for some interesting stories. This is a convoluted book, combining book collection, greed, and hoarding with the horse racing world and a family with more than its usual share of secrets, jealousies and fighting over the family fortune. Cliff Janeway is called to a family ranch (it is in the West, so it is called a ranch and not a farm) to look at a valuable book collection for the executor of the estate of the family patriarch. From there, he is pulled into a long-standing family mystery about the cause of death of the patriarch's second wife, a knowledgeable and successful book collector. From there, Janeway is pulled into the life at the track, trying to find the connection between it and the world of expensive, collectible books. Almost too many suspects at times bogs this story down, but otherwise it is well-written, challenging to figure out and provides a look into two fascinating worlds.
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