Once upon a Spine

April 24, 2017
Carlisle’s discursive 11th Bibliophile mystery (after 2016’s Books of a Feather) finds bookbinder and heiress Brooklyn Wainwright coveting a rare edition of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland in a San Francisco book shop. But her main concern is the imminent arrival from England of the upper-class parents of her tall, dark, and handsome fiancé, Derek Stone, a former British secret agent who now runs an internationally renowned private security agency. How will these toffs get along with Brooklyn’s own hippy-dippy family? Meanwhile, during a visit to the Rabbit Hole, a health food shop, she discovers the owner unconscious and the bare feet of a dead man poking out from beneath a section of heavy shelving. Detailed instructions on how to make handmade paper and remove bookplates, as well as digressions on shopping and descriptions of every meal, compensate for the perfunctory sleuthing and unlikely resolution of the murder case. Carlisle rounds out this cozy with recipes for such dishes as “hot buttered rump bites” and “perky breast nibbles.” Agent: Christina Hogrebe, Jane Rotrosen Agency.

May 15, 2017
A San Francisco bookbinder maintains her strange knack of finding dead bodies.Brooklyn Wainwright is nervously awaiting the arrival from England of her prospective in-laws. Having never met Derek Stone's mother and father, she worries about how they'll get along with her own parents, solid citizens of a Sonoma wine commune whose actions often harken back to their hippie past. While she waits for their arrival, she occupies herself by coveting the beautiful early edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland that's among the current offerings of the Brothers Bookshop, one of the charming stores in the Courtyard, right across the street from the home she shares with Derek. While going out for an early morning latte, she passes another courtyard store, the Rabbit Hole, where she finds owner Will Rabbit badly injured under a pile of heavy shelves. When the shelves are lifted, the police discover something even worse: the body of Joey, the local cobbler. Bonnie, Will's aunt and owner of the Courtyard, is devastated by the death of Joey, whose corpse smells of her distinctive perfume. Both Brooklyn and Derek, a former British agent who runs a security company, have had prior dealings with Inspector Janice Lee, and with her permission, the two of them decide to do a little detective work of their own, hoping their knowledge of the neighborhood and past successes in uncovering killers (Books of a Feather, 2016, etc.) will help. Brooklyn, relieved when the in-laws hit it off, takes time from her sleuthing to tour San Francisco with considerably more emphasis on gourmet food than detection. Light on mystery, heavy on the charms of San Francisco and the joys of food and wine.

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June 1, 2017

Bookbinder and amateur sleuth Brooklyn Wainwright is obsessed with a rare edition of Alice in Wonderland, but the arguments among the store's owners are disturbing. Their fights, and then a murder are disruptive enough to distract Brooklyn from a visit from her parents and her future in-laws. Carlisle (Books of a Feather) successfully combines family, a tight-knit community, and booklore in the entertaining 11th cozy outing.--LH

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