While Brooklyn
Wainwright and her handsome British boyfriend, Derek Stone
are having their lofts converted into one home, they are staying
in Dharma, in wine country. They'll be temporarily living
next-door to Brooklyn's parents, house- and dog-sitting for
the neighbors while they travel for a few months.
During a cave excavation under her parent's
commune, a long dead, yet well-preserved body is found. His
identification indicates that he is one Jean Pierre Renaud,
and he carries a ticket for passage on the Queen Mary, for
April 12, 1946. Also among his possessions is a rare first
edition of Jules Verne's “A Journey to the Center of
the Earth,” complete with an oath written in blood between
Jean Pierre and the grandfather of the commune leader, Guru
Bob. Not insignificantly, the cave is also full of treasures
and riches including paintings, candelabras, jewelry and figurines.
How did they get into the cave and to whom do they belong?
As the murder of Jean Pierre Renaud comes
to light, danger is also afoot in present day Dharma. A woman
is killed, and two more injured, including Guru Bob's Aunt
Trudy, and Brooklyn, herself. Time is of the essence in solving
the crimes and finding out the truth about what happened in
1946.
Just how does a rare book restoration specialist
like Brooklyn find herself involved in murder case after murder
case? Well, for one thing, there always seems to be a rare
book involved, and this time is no exception. As Brooklyn
works to restore “A Journey to the Center of the Earth,”
she's racing to put the clues together from some old correspondence
and some new villainous suspects before the killer can strike
again.
This is a unique mystery in that it brings
together the past and present, provides lessons in Nazi horrors
about how people survived and how some got their possessions
sent ahead to America. The dual stories are artfully woven
together and in the end it all makes perfect sense. While
people may change, over the course of history, human nature
often does not.
I really enjoyed reading this book and highly
recommend it to book lovers, mystery lovers and history lovers.
You can't go wrong with a Kate Carlisle mystery, and this
one is sure to capture your interest and spark your sense
of intrigue.
Reviews
of other titles in this series
Homicide
in Hardcover #1
One
Book in the Grave #5
Peril
in Paperback #6
A
Cookbook Conspiracy #7
The
Book Stops Here #8
Ripped
From the Pages #9
Books
of a Feather #10
Once
Upon a Spine #11
Buried
In Books #12
Reviewer
Note: Kate Carlisle also writes the Fixer-Upper mystery series.
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