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Books about a crime-fighting book lover!
What is the Bibliophile Mystery series about?
Coming from American author Kate Carlisle, the Bibliophile Mystery series is about a book lover who solves crimes.
This cozy mystery series resolves around Brooklyn Wainwright, a rare book expert in San Francisco, California. It’s her bookbinding and restoration skills that lead her to uncover old secrets, treachery, and murders.
Indeed, some of the old books Brooklyn restores are strangely linked to modern murder and, with the help of her beau, British security expert Derek Stone, she feels compelled to investigate.
How to read the Bibliophile Mystery Series in Order?
Each book in the Bibliophile Mystery series is offering a standalone story, but the lives of the different characters evolve from one book to the other.
- Homicide in Hardcover – The streets of San Francisco would be lined with hardcovers if rare book expert Brooklyn Wainwright had her way. And her mentor wouldn’t be lying in a pool of his own blood on the eve of a celebration for his latest book restoration. With his final breath he leaves Brooklyn a cryptic message, and gives her a priceless—and supposedly cursed—copy of Goethe’s Faust for safekeeping. Brooklyn suddenly finds herself accused of murder and theft.
- If Books Could Kill – Book restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright is happy to be attending the world-renowned Edinburgh Book Fair. But then her ex, Kyle McVee, shows up with a bombshell. He has an original copy of a scandalous text that could change history—and humiliate the beloved British monarchy.
- The Lies That Bind – When it comes to rare books and antiquities, Brooklyn Wainwright is a master. Which is why she’s returned home to San Francisco to teach a bookbinding class at Bay Area Book Arts. Unfortunately, BABA director Layla Fontaine is a horrendous host who pitches fits and lords over her subordinates. With the help of her beau, British security officer Derek Stone, Brooklyn manages to put up a brave face and endure.
- Murder under Cover – When she receives an exquisite copy of the Kama Sutra from her best friend, Robin, to appraise and restore, bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright anticipates recreating a beautiful book and spicing up her love life. But before Brooklyn can get started, Robin winds up in big trouble: her apartment’s been ransacked, and the great guy she recently met lies murdered in her bed. Now Robin is the #1 suspect.
- Pages of Sin (short story) – After Wanda Frawley’s tragic suicide, rare book expert Brooklyn Wainwright makes an intriguing discovery in one of Wanda’s old books—a copy of Pride and Prejudice contains a very interesting letter addressed to the deceased’s spouse. In it, Wanda’s sister professes her love for Wanda’s husband. Soon, additional pieces of correspondence are discovered between the covers of other Jane Austen titles, each hinting at sordid secrets—and, perhaps, murder…
- One Book in the Grave – Brooklyn’s chance to restore a rare first edition of Beauty and the Beast seems a fairy tale come true–until she realizes the book belonged to an old friend of hers. Ten years ago, Max Adams, a brawny renowned papermaker, fell in love with a stunning beauty, Emily, and gave her the copy of Beauty and the Beast as a symbol of their love. Soon afterward, he died in a car crash, and Brooklyn has always suspected his possessive ex-girlfriend and her jealous beau.
- Peril in Paperback – Rare books and antiquities expert Brooklyn Wainwright is thrilled to be invited to the fiftieth birthday party of her neighbor Suzie’s aunt Grace. A retired founder of a major video game corporation, Grace is a larger-than-life character who’s turned her Lake Tahoe mansion into a fun house, full of everything from pinball machines and giant props to secret passageways and trap doors. Brooklyn is most excited to catalog Grace’s extensive collection of rare paperback pulp fiction. Part of the fun involves a séance, but after the lights flicker, one guest is dead, poisoned by a cocktail intended for Grace.
- A Cookbook Conspiracy – Brooklyn’s sister Savannah and her former culinary school classmates all became successful chefs, especially Savannah’s ex-boyfriend Baxter Cromwell, who went on to culinary superstardom. When he invites the old gang to the gala opening of his new restaurant in San Francisco, Savannah asks Brooklyn to restore a rare antique cookbook as a present for him. The night they all gather, Baxter is found dead, the cookbook has disappeared, and Savannah becomes the suspect du jour.
- The Book Stops Here – Brooklyn is thrilled to be appearing on the hit TV show This Old Attic as a rare-book expert and appraiser. Her first subject is a valuable first-edition copy of the children’s classic The Secret Garden. After the episode airs, a man storms onto the set claiming that the owner of the book, a flower seller named Vera, found the book at his garage sale, and he wants it back—or else. Afterward, Randolph Rayburn, the show’s host, confides in Brooklyn that he’s terrified by the man’s threats and fears that he is being stalked.
- Ripped From the Pages – While Brooklyn has temporarily relocated to her parents’ place in Sonoma, she attends an excavation of the caves hidden deep under their commune. A room is unearthed, revealing artwork, rare books, cases of wine, a chest of jewelry…and a perfectly mummified body. A closer examination of the murdered man’s possessions reveals a valuable first edition of Jules Verne’s A Journey to the Center of the Earth containing a secret treasure map.
- Books of a Feather – Brooklyn’s friend runs the Covington Library, which is hosting an exhibit featuring John James Audubon’s massive masterpiece, Birds of America. During the gala celebrating the book, she is approached by Jared Mulrooney, the president of the Bay Area Birdwatchers Society, to repair a lesser known book of Audubon drawings. At the same party, Brooklyn is flying high after she’s asked to refurbish a rare copy of Poor Richard’s Almanack when Mulrooney’s body is discovered in the library.
- Once Upon a Spine – 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.
- Buried in Books – Brooklyn has done everything she can to prepare for her nuptials with Derek and simply can’t wait to start her new life with him. But things don’t go as planned when Brooklyn’s college frenemies, Heather and Sara, surprise her with a last-minute bridal shower. However, Brooklyn is touched when the women gift her rare copies of The Three Musketeers and The Red Fairy Book. When one frenemy is found murdered and one of the rare books is deemed a forgery, Brooklyn can’t help but wonder if the victim played a part in this fraud or if a murderer is still out there scamming and killing.
- The Book Supremacy – Brooklyn and Derek are enjoying the final days of their honeymoon in Paris. As they’re browsing the book stalls along the Seine, Brooklyn finds the perfect gift for Derek: a first edition James Bond novel, The Spy Who Loved Me. When they bump into Ned, an old friend from Derek’s spy days, Brooklyn shows him her latest treasure. Once they’re back home in San Francisco, they visit a spy shop Ned mentioned. The owner begs them to let him display the book Brooklyn found in Paris as part of the shop’s first-anniversary celebration. As it turns out, the unassuming book is worth a great deal more than its sentimental value.
- The Grim Reader – Brooklyn and her new hunky husband Derek are excited to be guests at Dharma’s first annual Book Festival. The entire town is involved, and Brooklyn’s mom Rebecca is taking charge. She’s got Brooklyn doing rare-book appraisals and is also staging Little Women, a musical to delight the festival-goers. Brooklyn couldn’t be prouder of her mom’s do-it-all attitude, so when a greedy local businessman who seems intent on destroying Dharma starts harassing Rebecca, Brooklyn is ready to take him down.
- Little Black Book – Brooklyn and Derek have just returned from a delightful trip to Dharma when a little black book arrives in the mail from Scotland. The day after the book arrives, Claire Quinn shows up at their home. Brooklyn met Claire when the two women worked as expert appraisers on the television show This Old Attic. Claire reveals that during a recent trip to Scotland she discovered her beloved aunt was missing and her home had been ransacked. Among her aunt’s belongings, Claire found the receipt for the package that wound up with Brooklyn and Derek. Claire believes both her own life and her aunt’s are in danger.
- The Paper Caper – During Covington Library’s first annual Mark Twain Festival sponsored by newspaper owner Joseph Cabot, a citywide contest based on The Prince and the Pauper is organized: one lucky look-alike will trade places with Joseph for a few days—with access to all the money and power that Joseph commands. Brooklyn and Derek worry that the contest might be generating some dangerous attention. And when someone is mysteriously poisoned right before Brooklyn’s eyes, she’s not convinced that the victim was the intended target. Now she and Derek must frantically chase clues and suspects through the streets of San Francisco before another murder becomes front-page news…
- The Twelve Books of Christmas – In the middle of a wonderful Christmas holiday in Dharma, Brooklyn and Derek receive a frantic phone call from their dear friend Claire in Loch Ness, Scotland. The laird of the castle, Cameron MacKinnon, has just proposed to her! They plan to be married on New Year’s Day, and they want Derek and Brooklyn to be their witnesses. And while they’re visiting, Claire hopes that Brooklyn will be able to solve a little mystery that’s occurred in the castle library—twelve very rare, very important books have gone missing.
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