Saturday, March 17, 2012

Review and Giveaway: One Book in the Grave

One Book in the Grave (Bibliophile Mystery - Book 5) by Kate Carlise

Publication Date: February 7, 2012
Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Genre: Cozy Mystery
Pages: Paperback, 304pp
ISBN-13: 978-0451236128
ISBN: 0451236122


(Received for an honest review from Berkley Prime Crime)


Purchase: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Book Depository, IndieBound


Kate Carlisle on the WEB: website, blog, facebook, twitter


Books in the series: Homocide in Hardcover (2009), If Books Could Kill (2010), The Lies that Bind (2010), Murder Under Cover (2011), One Book in the Grave (2012), Peril in Paperback (2012)


CoverArt: Click on the picture for a larger, clearer image of the covers in this series.






Excerpt from One Book in the Grave

Synopsis:


There may be grave consequences for bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright as she attempts to solve two murders tied to one book...
Brooklyn's chance to restore a rare first edition of Beauty and the Beast seems a fairytale come true—until she realizes the book last belonged to an old friend of hers. Ten years ago, Max Adams, a renowned, brawny 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.

Now she decides to find out who sold the book and return it to its rightful owner—Emily. She believes a rare book dealer can assist her, but when she arrives at his shop, she finds him murdered. Is it possible the same couple who may have killed Daniel is now after his edition of Beauty and the Beast? With the help of her handsome boyfriend, Derek Stone, Brooklyn must unravel the murder plot—before she ends up in a plot herself...


Thoughts:

Kate Carlisle brings readers the fifth book in her Bibliophile Mystery series, One Book in the Grave. This is series is a book lovers dream. It delves in the making and restoring of books while providing action packed whodonit's. Carlisle has a knack for characterization and the fun loving family in this book adds comic relief as well as insight into the case. Readers who love a good book will love this series.

There were several things that I liked about this book. I will admit that I had not read the other books in the series before starting this one, but that certainly did not take away from the overall appeal of the book. It can easily double as a stand alone, as well as, part of the Bibliophile series. First of all, it's a series and a book that will strike a cord with other book lovers, because the heroine is a bookbinder and restorer. I thought that really added a literary element to the story that isn't present in a lot of cozy mysteries. I liked learning about the process of restoring old books and the history behind first editions and their rarity.

The main character, Brooklyn was fun to read about. She was interesting and had a good head on her shoulders. She was a stickler for detail and very observant. She seemed to be getting a bit worried about all the dead bodies she keeps running into, but she made a great amateur sleuth. Her love interest, Derek is a security specialist and has his hands full trying to keep her safe. He was quite handsome and it was a bit distracting at times when Brooklyn kept going on about him, but I don't think it really took too much away from the story.

I loved Brooklyn's family. From her quirky parents who gave up the corporate life to join Guru Bob in building a commune to her brothers and sisters who are all named after cities they were born or conceived in. They added a lot of comic relief to the book and lightened the subject of murder. The one thing I prefer about cozies over mainstream mysteries is the lightness. Mainstream mysteries are very heavy and have a lot of gore most of the time and this book proves you dont' need that to have an entertaining, well written mystery.
One Book in the Grave is available NOW from your favorite bookseller.


I'm giving this one 4 out of 5 apples from my book bag!





Golden Heart and Daphne du Maurier Award winning author Kate Carlisle spent over twenty years working in television production as an Associate Director for game and variety shows, including The Midnight Special, Solid Gold and The Gong Show. She traveled the world as a Dating Game chaperone and performed strange acts of silliness on The Gong Show. She also studied acting and singing, toiled in vineyards, collected books, joined a commune, sold fried chicken, modeled spring fashions and worked for a cruise ship line, but it was the year she spent in law school that finally drove her to begin writing fiction. It seemed the safest way to kill off her professors. Those professors are breathing easier now that Kate spends most of her time writing near the beach in Southern California where she lives with her perfect husband.

A lifelong love of old books and an appreciation of the art of bookbinding led Kate to create the Bibliophile Mysteries, featuring rare book expert Brooklyn Wainwright, whose bookbinding and restoration skills invariably uncover old secrets, treachery and murder. Kate is a member of Sisters in Crime, Mystery Writers of America, International Thriller Writers and Romance Writers of America. She loves to drink good wine and watch other people cook.



GIVEAWAY DETAILS:

The publisher is sponsoring a giveaway for one copy of One Book in the Grave by Kate Carlisle.


~ You must be GFC follower or an E-mail subscriber to participate
~ US addresses only!
~ The deadline to enter this giveaway is Midnight EST March 31st.


1. Please leave a comment or question for Kate on this post, not the form.
2. Please fill out the FORM.

19 comments:

Jane said...

Congrats to Kate on the recent release. I'm a fan of Kate's category romances.

Wendy Newcomb said...

Thank you for the review on this book and for hosting the giveaway.

wfnren(at)aol(dot)com
wrensthoughts.blogspot.com

Booklady said...

I love this series. I'm behind on my reading, but I plan to use my spring break to catch up. My question for Kate is - did you take a lot of classes about bookbinding and repair? I love your descriptions of the books and the process of taking care/reparing old/rare books.

Beverly aka Booklady

Kaye said...

I've only read the 2nd in the series and really liked it. You're so right about it being able to stand on it's own. Well done plot, Kate!

Karen B said...

Thanks to many wonderful reviews this series is on my wishlist!
Email subscriber.
kpbarnett1941[at]aol.com

Renee said...

I love this book series and can't wait to read this one! I know it will not disappoint!

Carol M said...

This sounds like a great series! I'd love to start reading it!

Sue Farrell said...

I wonder if being a bookbinder and restorer will be a lost profession in the future with the popularity of ebooks.
Thanks for the contest.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com

lag123 said...

I have not read any of this series but I would love to start.

lag110 at mchsi dot com

Linda Kish said...

This does sounds like a fun mystery to read. I haven't read the other yet but may have to get busy on them soon.

lkish77123 at gmail dot com

My Recent Favorite Books said...

This looks like a great series, its on my to be read list. =)
I enjoyed the Review and article about the author!

I loved The Dating Game and Gong Show, they were great!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the giveaway. This sounds like a really good series I would like to read. Tore923@aol.com

Angela - Bookaunt said...

Thank for the chance to win this book.

Kate - I have enjoyed reading this series, keep up the good work.

griperang at embarqmail dot come

Susan S. said...

It sounds like a great read!

bn100 said...

I enjoyed your honest review. It sounds like a fun book.

Theresa N. said...

Your mystery sounds wonderf as a book lover the words first edition makes my heart rate go up.
Theresa N
weceno(at)yahoo(do)com

KMichelleC87 said...

Can't wait to read this one. Thanks for the giveaway. I'm a gfc follower

Kmichellec87(at)yahoo(dot)com

Chrisbails said...

Congrats on the new release. You are a new author for me and would love to win and read this book. I love to read and always looking for new books to check out.
My question for you is do you prefer to write series or stand-alones?
Thanks for the giveaway.
christinebails@yahoo.com

mamabunny13 said...

I love that there is a cat in this series!