Fatal First Edition (A Library Lover's Mystery, Band 14) - Hardcover

McKinlay, Jenn

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0593639332 ISBN 13: 9780593639337

Verlag: Berkley, 2024

Inhaltsangabe

People are dying to get their hands on a rare, valuable book in the newest Library Lover’s Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of The Plot and the Pendulum.

Briar Creek Library director Lindsey Norris and her husband, Sully, are at a popular library conference in Chicago to hear book restoration specialist Brooklyn Wainwright give a keynote address. After the lecture, Lindsey looks under her seat and finds a tote bag containing a first edition of Patricia Highsmith’s Strangers on a Train, inscribed to Alfred Hitchcock. Brooklyn determines the novel is one of a kind and quite valuable, so Lindsey and Sully return the book to the conference director, not wanting to stir up any trouble.

But just hours after the pair boards the train back to Connecticut, rumors that the Highsmith novel has gone missing buzz amongst the passengers, and they soon find the conference director murdered in his private compartment. And worse—the murderer planted the book in Lindsey and Sully’s room next door, making them prime suspects. Now, they must uncover the murderer and bring them to the end of their line, before they find themselves booked for a crime they didn’t commit.

Featuring a cameo by a beloved character from the New York Times bestselling author Kate Carlisle's Bibliophile series!

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Jenn McKinlay is the award-winning, New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly bestselling author of several mystery and romance series. Her work has been translated into multiple languages in countries all over the world. She lives in sunny Arizona in a house that is overrun with kids, pets, and her husband's guitars.

Auszug. © Genehmigter Nachdruck. Alle Rechte vorbehalten.

1

How's the windy city?" Nancy Peyton asked.

Lindsey Norris glanced at the tiny faces of her friends on her phone. She was missing their weekly crafternoon meeting at the Briar Creek Public Library, where she was the director, and the group had just video called her to see how her archivist conference was going. They were all crammed together, peering into one phone.

"Windy is a very accurate description," she said. She was sitting in a conference room in a sectioned ballroom of the Chicago hotel where the Annual Archivists Convention was being held.

"Who plans a conference in January in Chicago?" Beth Barker asked. She was the children's librarian, and Lindsey could just make out the astronaut costume she was wearing, bubble helmet and all.

"Archivists choose to meet in the off-season so they can spend their money on rare books instead of conferences," Lindsey answered. "I assume outer space is the theme for story time this week?"

"You know it," Beth said. "On the story countdown, we've got Mousetronaut, by astronaut Mark Kelly; On the Launch Pad, by Michael Dahl; and Moon's First Friends, by Susanna Leonard Hill. It's going to be far-out."

The crafternooners behind her collectively groaned, and Lindsey laughed. Beth had been her roommate in library school, and her enthusiasm for children and reading hadn't waned one bit over the years.

"Where's that brother of mine?" Mary Murphy asked. She was squinting into the phone on their end.

"He's braving the mob at the coffee shop in the lobby," Lindsey said. Mike Sullivan, known to everyone in Briar Creek as Sully, was Mary's brother, but more importantly, to Lindsey at any rate, he was Lindsey's husband.

"Good man," Violet La Rue observed. She was a retired Broadway actress who now ran the local community theater and had been a crafternooner with her best friend Nancy Peyton since Lindsey had started the program several years before.

"Did I hear Violet talking about me?" Sully appeared, carrying two cups of coffee as he took the seat beside Lindsey.

Lindsey turned the phone so that their friends could see him. They all cried, "Hi, Sully!" and he toasted them with his coffee cup.

"What's the craft today?" Lindsey asked. Not being the crafty sort, this was the only part of the program that she didn't love, so she wasn't that upset about missing it, but she didn't want to be rude.

"We're working on coiled wire bookmarks," Paula Turner said. She held up a sample of her work in progress. It was the silhouette of a cat with a spiral for a belly. She deftly placed it on a page in the book of the week, which was A Gentleman in Moscow, by Amor Towles, and closed the book. It appeared as if the cat was sitting on top of the novel. It looked adorable but also complicated.

"That's amazing!" Lindsey wondered if her lack of enthusiasm was obvious.

"Right, I'll make one for you," Paula said. "I can try and make it look like your cat Zelda."

Lindsey grinned. It was clear she hadn't fooled Paula a bit.

"Not to give you a case of FOMO, but you're missing Violet's pulled pork sliders," Mary said. She held one up to the camera. It looked delicious on its fluffy bun, dripping with barbecue sauce and packed with shredded pork and coleslaw. Lindsey felt her stomach growl.

"Don't be a tease, Sis," Sully said. He grinned and added, "We're going to Monteverde for dinner tonight."

"Now who's the tease?" Mary chided him. "You know it's cruel to taunt a woman who owns a restaurant with the news that you are dining at one of the finest Italian restaurants in Chicago."

"Sorry not sorry," Sully said. Mary shook her head at him.

A man stepped onto the stage at the front of the room and Lindsey said, "We'd better go. The program is about to start. We leave on the train tomorrow, so we'll be home the day after!"

The crafternooners said good-bye and waved. Lindsey ended the call.

"Homesick?" Sully asked as he handed Lindsey her coffee.

"No . . . maybe just a little," she said.

"You're turning into a regular Creeker," he said. He looked pleased as he draped his arm around the back of her chair.

Creekers were what they called lifelong residents of their hometown, Briar Creek. Sully and his sister, Mary, had been raised on the Thumb Islands, an archipelago in the bay off the shoreline village in Connecticut. Lindsey had lived there for only a few years, but the quaint village had definitely become home sweet home to her.

Lindsey's friend Beth took the position of children's librarian in Briar Creek right after they graduated and had encouraged her to apply for the director's position when Lindsey lost her archivist job at the university in New Haven due to downsizing. It had taken some time and a lot of patience to get the small community to accept her. Marrying Sully, a native, had certainly helped.

"That might be one of the nicest things you've ever said to me," she whispered to him.

He smiled at her, and she marveled for the thousandth time that this man, with his reddish brown wavy hair and bright blue eyes, was her husband. They weren't a natural fit. He was a boat captain who ran tour boats and a water taxi in the bay around the islands, while she was petrified of water over her head, especially if she couldn't see the bottom. He was in his glory being outside all day battling the elements, whereas, other than walking their dog Heathcliff or bicycling to work and home, Lindsey preferred to be inside with a book. Still, somehow they clicked, and Lindsey couldn't imagine spending her life with anyone else.

"Good afternoon, everyone." The man on the stage spoke into the mic.

Lindsey recognized him right away. He was Henry Standish, the director of the archivist conference. Because her initial interest in a career in information science had been in preservation, Lindsey had known of him while in graduate school, as Henry Standish had been the curator of a very exclusive private collection on the Upper East Side of Manhattan.

Shockingly, a few years ago, he'd been let go from his elite post amid rumors of fraud. It had been quite the scandal in academic circles, but nothing was ever proven. The taint of the accusation remained, however, ending Standish's curatorial career. Somehow, Standish had landed the coveted position of conference director for the archivist society and had been in charge of the annual meeting ever since.

Lindsey hadn't attended the conference in ages, but having just acquired a rare collection of first editions when a former resident of Briar Creek donated them to the public library, she had felt the need to get back in the game. Sully had been more than happy to join her and had spent most of his time looking up his old Navy buddies in the Chicago area while she sat in on panel discussions about preserving the past.

"I am thrilled to present one of the best book restoration specialists in the country," Henry continued. "She's certified in book arts, conservation and authentication. She's internationally acclaimed and has won the Grand Prize in the Lawton-McNamara Contest. Also, she's come all the way from San Francisco to speak with us, so please give a warm welcome to Brooklyn Wainwright." Henry held out his arm, gesturing to the left side of the stage. The packed room applauded as a pretty blonde on the tall side of medium climbed up the short staircase, leaving a ruggedly handsome, dark-haired man in a bespoke sports coat standing at the base of the steps.

Brooklyn waved as she crossed to the podium, carrying what appeared to be an archival box. She shook Henry's hand and moved to stand in front of the microphone.

"Hi," she greeted the room. The microphone screeched, and she winced and moved back. She cast an exasperated...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Berkley
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2024
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0593639332
• ISBN 13: 9780593639337
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 304
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: BERKLEY; https://www.penguin.com/?s=BERKLEY; ; Unit 2 Limavady Business Park; Limavady; County Londonderry; BT49 0HR; Vereinigtes Königreich
• Verantwortliche Person: Buchpark GmbH; gpsr@buchpark.de; ; Krügerweg 1; Trebbin; Brandenburg; 14959; Deutschland