Fabulous Fiction Firsts #804, Unlikely (and mostly reluctant) Sleuths

Sat, 04/30/2022 - 8:10pm by muffy

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Toronto librarian Eva Jurczyk (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook)

Librarian Liesl Weiss at the rare books department of a large university is recalled from her well-earned sabbatical when the library director, Christopher Wolfe suffers a stroke, and is in a coma.  Now the interim director, Liesl discovers that a newly purchased priceless manuscript, a Plantin Polyglot Bible, is missing from a locked vault. Her attempts to bring in the police are repeatedly rejected by the president of the university. Then a female colleague goes missing and another rare book, a Peshawar manuscript that may include the very first use of a zero, is found to be a facsimile under unscheduled carbon dating. Liesl begins to suspect her trusted colleagues.

“Filled with characters that resonate, glimpses into the reality of libraries and academia, and enchanting descriptions of rare books, this debut from a librarian will captivate bibliophiles.” (Library Journal)

 

The Verifiers, * * *  “thoughtful, well-constructed debut” (Publishers Weekly) by Jane Pek, is one of the most anticipated mystery & suspense of 2022. (Electric Lit)  (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook). It has just been named by Kirkus Reviews as one of 32 Books That Celebrate Diversity.

Claudia Lin is the new hire at Veracity, a New York City dating detective agency - an ideal job for a lifelong mystery reader who wrote her senior thesis on Jane Austen. Claudia’s job is to check information for clients who want to know whether the people they meet on online dating sites are telling the truth.  As Claudia notes, "Matching only fully succeeds if the dating platforms have access to accurate, complete information about the people on them. Problem is, people lie. All the time, especially on the Internet, and extra especially where anything with the potential for romance is concerned." 

Then her client Iris Lettriste is found dead, and the real Iris shows up, looking for answers. Despite warnings from her bosses to drop the case, Claudia decides to investigate.

“A cool, cerebral, and very funny novel…. Beautifully complemented by entertaining secondary characters that include Claudia’s artistic roommate, Max, and Lionel, Claudia’s sister’s boyfriend, Claudia is the seductive protagonist in a tale that delves into the dark heart of contemporary technology, not to mention the foibles of the human heart….With an inquisitive, clever, and curious narrator, this adventurous mystery is both scary and hilarious.” (Kirkus Reviews)

The Violin Conspiracy *  by Brendan Slocumb (also in downloadable eBook and audiobook) is “a galvanizing blend of thriller, coming-of-age drama, and probing portrait of racism ... This flawless debut will do for classical music what The Queen's Gambit did for chess.” (Booklist) 

The novel opens with Ray McMillian, a Black virtuoso violinist on the cusp of his biggest challenge yet - competing in the prestigious International Tchaikovsky Competition that no American has won before, when he discovered that his violin had been stolen from his New York City hotel room.  It’s no ordinary violin -  the beat-up old fiddle, a gift from his grandmother, once belonged to his great-great-grandfather is actually a priceless Stradivarius.  Ray suspects the Marks family, descendants of the man who once enslaved his  great-great-grandfather, and assert that the instrument is rightfully theirs, and his own extended family who see it as their ticket to easy street. 

When the police, the FBI, and the insurance company's investigator hit dead ends, Ray will have to piece together the clues to recover his instrument, or come up with $5 million ransom demand. 

“This novel brings an unflinching eye to the sometimes-cutthroat world of classical music, its very white culture, and the challenges a talented young Black violinist might face in that world. But in Ray, a man who strives toward honor and kindness despite the racist acts (some of them violent) he endures, the story also finds its heart.” (Library Journal) 

“Such a page-turner . . . a musical bildungsroman cleverly contained within a literary thriller. . . Slocumb isn’t too different from his protagonist: a natural. He easily conjures the thrill of mastering a tough musical passage and the tinnitus-like torture of everyday racism.” (The New York Times)

A word about the audiobook - unless you are a trained musician, the classical pieces played throughout the recording are helpful and informative,  certain to enhance your listening pleasure.

 * = Starred review

 * * *  = 3 starred reviews