THE DEPARTMENT OF RARE BOOKS AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS (2022) - Review

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
January 25, 2022

How could a retired librarian choose not to read a mystery called "The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections"?

FIRST SENTENCE: "From the first spin of the lock, she knew she wouldn't be able to open the safe."

THE STORY: When the revered head of the university library suffered a stroke, Liesel Weiss, barely days into her sabbatical year, was called back to be Interim Director. Uncomfortable in this new role, her first shock is that a set of extremely valuable books has disappeared. Are they misplaced or stolen?

Dealing with higher ups, colleagues, detectives, her family, and solving mysteries, Liesel pursues doing what she thinks is right and ultimately learns who she is, what she wants, and who dunnit.

WHAT I THOUGHT: A very literate mystery, the engaging writing style drew me in to this slower paced story. There's more depth to it though touching on a myriad of issues including mental illness, feminism,and alcoholism. The author has created clever, interesting characters for Liesel to deal with and I loved the fact that the rare books mentioned actually exist!

BOTTOM LINE: HIGHLY RECOMMENDED Especially for librarians. Others might not be as enthralled.

DISCLAIMER: Thank you to NetGalley / Poisoned Pen Press, and the author for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

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