Booking In

October 30, 2017
In Bratten’s entertaining seventh series entry (following Keeper of the Flame), Crang, a too-curious-for-his-own-good criminal lawyer and investigator, takes on a literary mystery. Toronto bookstore owner Fletcher Marshall hires Crang to locate stolen literary letters and a suspected forgery of the manuscript of Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s Sonnets from the Portuguese, both of which were taken from a safe in Marshall’s bookstore. It’s a convoluted tale involving the children of the wealthy entrepreneur poised to buy the Browning manuscript, the daughter of the author of the stolen letters, and bookstore staff. Readers also get to know some of Crang’s associates, including the retired safe-cracker Freddie Biscuit. There is the serious and unfortunate matter of a murder along the way, but Batten gives the book the light tone of a caper, with Crang and his girlfriend and sidekick, Annie, playing it for laughs—until Crang faces a gunman in his backyard. Too many convenient connections between characters strain the plot’s credibility, and it doesn’t take a mastermind to identify the guilty parties, but Crang’s wit and brass pull the story off and make it fun for readers.

November 1, 2017

Toronto lawyer Crang's innate inquisitiveness and connections to the criminal underworld tend to stir up trouble. In this seventh series outing (after Keeper of the Flame), he is asked by antiquarian book dealer Fletcher Marshall to investigate the theft of two valuable manuscripts. Part of the puzzle is determining which manuscript was the main target of the burglary. One may be the product of Victorian forgers, while the other concerns a noted Canadian author and his macho conflicts with writer Norman Mailer. As Crang probes further, the case turns deadly. Meanwhile, he and his associates also must cure Marshall of his horrendous halitosis. Fascinating lore about forgeries and fraud in the rare-book world make for engrossing reading, as do the likable characters and a story line leavened with humor. Crang's personality may remind some readers of iconic private investigators such as Robert Parker's Spenser. VERDICT Mystery buffs interested in exploring Canadian crime fiction can't go wrong with this Arthur Ellis Award-nominated series.--ACT

Copyright 2017 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

October 1, 2017
Crang, the jazz-loving Toronto criminal attorney who finds his best cases in the dirtiest corners of the city, is trying to track down a book thief, find a murderer, and help a guy score with women, all at the same time. Ranging from high comedy to dark drama, the Crang novels (this is the seventh) are tightly plotted crime stories with a morally questionable hero facing off against rogues and villains who are entertainingly written and only slightly larger than life. Batten, who gave up being a lawyer to take up the literary life, is an accomplished storyteller, and it is impossible to read a Crang novel without cracking a few smiles and experiencing a few shudders.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)