Category: Mystery
Publisher: Penguin Group
ISBN: 9780451226150
Series: Bibliophile Mystery, #1
Pub. Date: February 2009
Date Read: April 2009
"My teacher always told me that in order to save a patient you'd have to kill him first. Not the most child-friendly way of explaining his theory of book restoration to his eight-year-old apprentice, but it worked. I grew up determined to save them all."
In the first of a new series, Brooklyn Wainwright knows how to work a scalpel but not on people but on books, precious, one-of-a-kind books. She learned bookbinding and restoration under the tutelage of Abraham Karastovsky but the two didn't see eye-to-eye on the methods and approach so Brooklyn decided to open up her own studio.
Now that it's been six months since they've spoken she'll finally get a chance to see Abraham again at a private showing at the Covington Library. Abraham has been working on Goethe's masterpiece, Faust. The book, a part of the Winslow collection, was a rare copy commissioned in 1880. And it was cursed.
Brooklyn is a tad jealous of such a dream commission but very excited for her former mentor. When they finally see each other, the warmth and mutual respect and admiration they have for one another quickly makes them put aside their differences and Abraham is only to excited to tell Brooklyn about his work on the Faust. The celebration though will quickly come to a halt when later Brooklyn finds Abraham lying in a pool of blood in the studio. Before his last breath he'll only be able to tell her, "Remember the devil."
Despite the circumstances, the book still needs to be finished and now Kate will have the opportunity to work on it. As she goes about her work at the Covington Library she wonders about the supposed curse the book is said to have. Why was Abraham killed? Who could have done such a thing and why is the Faust book so important?
So not only is there the mystery of who killed Abraham but I also found that there was a mystery about the book itself which Kate will get a chance to solve as she works on the book. The details on bookbinding are interesting to read about which help to give this light mystery a bit more substance.
Like many cozy mysteries, this one features a wide cast of characters, from Kate's zany parents who live in a commune in Napa Valley, to her studio mates who are also artists. And, of course, there is a handsome police detective who hopefully will also be involved in the next installment.
For anyone who loves books, especially old ones, this should be a nice introduction to the world of restoration.