Once Upon a Spine (Bibliophile Series #11)

by Kate Carlisle

Overview

In this Bibliophile Mystery from the New York Times bestselling author of Books of a Feather, San Francisco bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright stumbles through the looking glass in a tale of murder, rare books, and a quest for the perfect pie…

Brooklyn's oh-so-proper future in-laws are traveling from England to meet her, and if that's not enough to set her on edge, rumors abound that the charming Courtyard shops across the street may be replaced by high-rise apartments. Their trendy neighborhood will be ruined unless Brooklyn and her fiancé, Derek Stone, can persuade the shopkeepers not to sell. 

But with a rare edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland causing bad blood at the Brothers Bookshop and a string of petty vandalism making everyone nervous, Brooklyn and Derek feel like they're attempting six impossible things before breakfast. Then the owner of the Rabbit Hole juice bar is felled by his own heavy shelves, and the local cobbler lies dead beside him. An accident . . . or something more sinister? Things get curiouser and curiouser when a second priceless copy of Alice is discovered. Will it stir up more trouble within the close-knit community?  

As the Brits descend, Brooklyn learns they're not so stuffy after all. Derek's dad is won over with chocolate cream pie, and his psychic mum would kill to help Brooklyn solve this murder—before another victim takes a tumble.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780451477729
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	06/06/2017
Series:	Bibliophile Mystery Series , #11
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	685,536
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.30(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

A native Californian, New York Times bestselling author Kate Carlisle worked in television for many years before turning to writing. A lifelong fascination with the art and craft of bookbinding led her to write the Bibliophile Mysteries featuring Brooklyn Wainwright, whose bookbinding and restoration skills invariably uncover old secrets, treachery, and murder. She is also the author of the Fixer-Upper Mysteries featuring small-town girl Shannon Hammer, a building contractor specializing in home restoration.

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Chapter One
(Continues…)

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Excerpted from "Once Upon a Spine"
by .
Copyright © 2017 Kate Carlisle.
Excerpted by permission of Penguin Publishing Group.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Editorial Reviews

04/24/2017
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. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Praise for the New York Times Bestselling Bibliophile Mysteries

“Kate Carlisle never fails to make me laugh, even as she has me turning the pages to see what’s going to happen next.”—Miranda James, New York Times bestselling author of the Cat in the Stacks Mysteries

“Carlisle’s dialogue is natural, her prose has great flow, and her striking descriptions bring Brooklyn’s world to life.”—Crimespree Magazine

“Captivating....The action builds to a surprising final showdown.”—Publishers Weekly

“A true whodunit...highlights Carlisle’s story line skills, her love for books, and her always-endearing heroine.”—Richmond Times-Dispatch

From the Publisher

06/01/2017
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

Library Journal

2017-05-02
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.

Kirkus Reviews

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