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A review by doreeny
Booked to Die by John Dunning
3.0
Appropriately enough, I bought this novel at a used book sale. Set in Denver, this mystery features Cliff Janeway, a police detective cum bookman. The murder of a book scout, Bobby Westfall, is a case assigned to Janeway, but things soon go awry. Only the murder of two more people kicks the investigation into overdrive.
This is the first of five Janeway mysteries so this book introduces him. He makes an interesting protagonist. He is tough and determined, but has difficulty with authority and is known to break the rules. Sometimes he acts impulsively and recklessly and ends up in trouble. I most enjoyed his intelligence and wit. He is very knowledgeable about books; a competing book dealer says, “Janeway is the best bookman I’ve ever seen outside the trade” (144). His witty comments lighten the tone throughout. He derides a bookseller who specializes in Stephen King books: “He specialized in King and his followers – Dean Koontz, Clive Barker, et al., the little Kinglets. Behind every big ship you’ll find a dozen little ships atrailing. Most of their plots make absolutely no sense, but again, they stand tall where it really matters in today’s world, at the damn cash register. . . . The stupidity of some of these plots that sell in the billions is the scariest thing about them” (46). He admits his penchant for one-liners: “’Miss McKinley, I’m wasting a helluva lot of great one-liners on you. I’m starting to think you’ve got no sense of humor at all’” (197).
The mystery is a standard whodunit. What makes the book stand out is its examination of the antiquarian book trade. The ins and outs of this often cut-throat world are detailed. Janeway’s specialty is first edition fiction. Who knew that The Grapes of Wrath with a doodle by Steinbeck could be worth $2,000? Of course, this book was first published over twenty years ago, so much has changed with the used book business with the advent of the internet.
At one point, Janeway comments, “There’s nothing wrong with writing detective stories if you do it well enough” (14). Dunning’s detective story is written well enough and will certainly appeal to any bibliophile. I’m not sure I’ll read another book in the series, but should I come across it in a used book store, I’ll probably pick it up.
Please check out my reader's blog (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).
This is the first of five Janeway mysteries so this book introduces him. He makes an interesting protagonist. He is tough and determined, but has difficulty with authority and is known to break the rules. Sometimes he acts impulsively and recklessly and ends up in trouble. I most enjoyed his intelligence and wit. He is very knowledgeable about books; a competing book dealer says, “Janeway is the best bookman I’ve ever seen outside the trade” (144). His witty comments lighten the tone throughout. He derides a bookseller who specializes in Stephen King books: “He specialized in King and his followers – Dean Koontz, Clive Barker, et al., the little Kinglets. Behind every big ship you’ll find a dozen little ships atrailing. Most of their plots make absolutely no sense, but again, they stand tall where it really matters in today’s world, at the damn cash register. . . . The stupidity of some of these plots that sell in the billions is the scariest thing about them” (46). He admits his penchant for one-liners: “’Miss McKinley, I’m wasting a helluva lot of great one-liners on you. I’m starting to think you’ve got no sense of humor at all’” (197).
The mystery is a standard whodunit. What makes the book stand out is its examination of the antiquarian book trade. The ins and outs of this often cut-throat world are detailed. Janeway’s specialty is first edition fiction. Who knew that The Grapes of Wrath with a doodle by Steinbeck could be worth $2,000? Of course, this book was first published over twenty years ago, so much has changed with the used book business with the advent of the internet.
At one point, Janeway comments, “There’s nothing wrong with writing detective stories if you do it well enough” (14). Dunning’s detective story is written well enough and will certainly appeal to any bibliophile. I’m not sure I’ll read another book in the series, but should I come across it in a used book store, I’ll probably pick it up.
Please check out my reader's blog (http://schatjesshelves.blogspot.ca/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).