So first of all I have to say that I fell in love with our main character Leisl and this cast of librarians fairly quick. To have that kind of knowledge for rear and special books is so fascinating to me. The amount of research that must go into all of that is incredible to me. Overall this was a bit underwhelming. I was really excited about this book because I love anything dealing with librarian and libraries. This really needed more character development all the way around for there to be any kind of empathy or compassion for these characters. As the story unfolds we get some random and vague flashbacks to some of the other librarians, which was helpful, but I just needed more. But I did thoroughly enjoy all the behind the scenes of the book acquisitions and the mystery surrounding the missing books.

I’ll be honest, this was not a favorite. I wanted to like it but the characters were just so unlikeable to me. I felt like most of them were horrible people and the few who weren’t were treated horribly instead.

The beginning was also a drag. There were a lot of little side stories that really felt wholly unnecessary to the overall plot.

The book did start to pick up toward the end and I liked the ending, but I think part of that was the relief that the book was finally done.

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk is a mystery novel.

First, let me thank NetGalley, the publisher Poisoned Pen Press and of course the author, for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.


My Synopsis:   (No major reveals, but if concerned, skip to My Opinions)
Liesl Weiss was on sabbatical from the university library to write her own book, but was called in to handle Christopher's job while he recovers from a stroke.  No one is really happy with the choice of Liesl being his replacement. Even Liesl isn't sure.  She has always worked behind the scenes to ensure Christopher looked good, but taking the reins is not very comfortable.

Everyone wants to see Christopher's new acquisition...a rare multi-volume Plantin Polyglot Bible, which was printed between 1568 and 1572.  However, the newly acquired manuscript is stuck in the safe.  Christopher, the keeper of the combination, had his stroke before telling anyone of the new combination.  When the safe is eventually opened, it is empty.  The manuscript is missing.

Liesl wants to involve the police, sure it has been stolen.  No one wants her to do this, especially the president of the university who is in the middle of a major fund-raising campaign.  It won't look good if they can't hold onto their inventory.

When an employee of the library goes missing, Liesl has her hands full.  Between trying to find the missing manuscript, the missing employee, the nit-picking of the other employees, and another department wanting to carbon-date another valuable manuscript, she is at a loss as to what to do next.


My Opinions:   
I was so excited to read the debut novel of a fellow Canadian.

First, I'm not a big fan of the cover....and the title is a little long.  Yes, I am nit-picking.

Then, I could not relate to the main character (although kudos to the author for picking one who is close to retirement age), and I didn't like any of the other characters either.  I wanted to quit 10% in.  I kept setting it down so that I could pet the dogs, or check my email, or clean.....this continued until about the 55% mark, at which point I began to be at least a little interested in the conclusion.  This is too long to be bored and disinterested in a book.

The book frequently touched on mental illness, anxiety, and women trying to assert themselves in a male dominated world (it didn't happen).  It was about secrets and lies, and judgemental people.  It is about drinking to excess, and affairs.  It also looked at being so self-centered that you don't notice the world around you.  I still didn't like the characters, and I struggled to even feel sorry for them.  It was a rather depressing read.

The premise was great, and the mystery was good.  The book went back and forth in time lines, and that was done well.  To most mystery readers, the identity of the perpetrator will be a no-brainer early on, but there were enough suspects to keep some guessing.  If only I had cared...

So yes, I was disappointed.  However, the writing was okay, and the explanations given for the uneducated in rare books (me), was well done.  I will watch this author.


For a more complete review of this book and others (including the reason I chose to read/review this book, author information and contact details, as well as a favorite quotation from the book), please visit my blog: http://katlovesbooksblog.wordpress.com/

Fun mystery set in a library that book lovers will enjoy. Fascinating look at rare book collections.

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections comes alive when describing precious manuscripts and the donors that make their appearance on university library shelves possible. The characters, on the other hand, don't shine nearly as brightly.

Liesl Weiss has spent so many years working in the shadows behind unreliable men that she tends to be gray and lackluster-- except when she fights to protect a fellow librarian's reputation. Each time she tries to do the right thing, especially when it involves having the police brought in to find the thief and the missing book, she's slapped down. The university president would rather whitewash everything that might make the donors unhappy.

It doesn't take much to deduce who is responsible for the missing book. No, what I am taking away from Jurczyk's book is her decidedly jaundiced view of donors. Of how much time must be spent in massaging their fragile egos. Of how a university's infrastructure can be geared toward reaping donor money than it is to keep the buildings themselves standing. Of how, when one university went so far past its goals it had to tear down a perfectly good building and build a new one rather than spend the extra money on badly needed maintenance and other programs because, well, everyone knows how donors love to see their names plastered all over buildings. As you can see, my own view of rich donors tends to be a bit jaundiced, too.

As a mystery, The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections is relatively easy to solve. As a character study, it's done in varying shades of gray. But come to life it does when describing wonderful old books and what must be done in order to have them on a university's shelves. I'm glad I spent some time with Liesl Weiss. She and I see eye-to-eye on many things.

“John didn’t love the idea of her, he loved the reality of her.”

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections is, in the end, a love letter to books and bibliophiles.
Liesl, the assistant director of the university rare books library, nearing retirement, finds herself called back to the library from sabbatical to become acting director after the long term director has a stroke. Used to being behind the scenes, she is now foisted into the the public facing role in which she must glad hand donors and deal directly with the university president who only cares about getting more money from said donors. When a newly acquired, very expensive, very rare book is discovered missing it falls to Liesl to find the missing tomes and maintain the library’s reputation for excellence.

The characters are flawed and very real. I love that the MC is a woman of a “certain age” thrust into a leadership role that she at once coveted but felt she wasn’t right for. I enjoyed reading the book which is written as a mystery but with its flashbacks and heavy allusions was not mysterious at all. I did not love the characters but I appreciated the reality of them. My favorite part of the book was the books described within, each having their own unique qualities that make them special. I recommend for any book collector.

Overall 3.5 🌟
TW: suicide, depression, alcoholism

I would like to thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for an advanced copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

I love book set in a libraries and I love books that talks about ancient or rare books.
This book was right for me: a well written, riveting and fascinating book that mixes mystery and rare books.
The author is talented, the plot is well developed, the mystery part is solid.
I liked the characters and found them fleshed out.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this ARC, all opinions are mine

A literary whodunnit whose sleuth is a woman in her sixties, this debut novel could be shelved in multiple departments. Is it literary fiction, is it crime fiction, is it books-about-books fiction? It's all those and more, because the main character's voice is one we don't often get to hear in traditional fiction. When Liesl Weiss must take over the responsibilities of her venerable boss after he suffers a stroke, she finds herself more visible than she's accustomed to being -- with more authority yet less control than she's ever had in her quiet life. As the plot progresses, the library's characters and their passions and flaws come forward. Secrets are revealed, illuminating themes, such as the invisibility older women often experience, mental illness, and gender disparity in the workplace. The bits about rare book acquisition and restoration are delicious, as is the library setting in general. Eva Juraczyk, herself a librarian, clearly knows -- and loves -- that which she writes about in this rare and special debut.

[Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for an opportunity to read an advanced reader copy of this book.]

It might seem on the surface that this is a mystery about a missing rare book but it's more a novel about a woman in mid-life finding herself and confronting the challenges of academia. Liesl finds herself on the spot when her boss Christopher Wolfe has a stroke, leaving her, his long time assistant, in charge just a group of important donors are about to view a rare book- and it has disappeared. And then another manuscript is determined to be a forgery, a colleague dies, and well, something's very odd with the college President (a deeply annoying man). Liesl finally reports it all to the police. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's an interesting and informative read with a sharp eye turned on the rare books business.

Digital ARC provided by the publisher on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Slow pace. Things happened and you were like, wait, what? I wanted more explanation about Francis and Liesl’s rendezvous and what transpired between Christopher and Miriam. And what happened to Vivek. And what Miriam wanted to tell Liesl. Too many unanswered questions by the end for me.

I had such high hopes for this book, however, I struggled to read it. I was mostly disappointed in the likability of the main character Leisl. The storyline was very appealing and I wish I had enjoyed it more.

The library is in a panic. The Library Director has had a stroke and the new acquisitions that are supposed to be being shown to donors are locked in his safe and nobody knows the combination.
That's how the story starts and as the book progresses we find that there is more to it than that.
Liesl Wiess is deputy to Christopher Wolfe, larger than life character who is currently unconscious and holds the key to a lot of mysteries in the library of rare books and special collections.
The Head of the University is a bully and determined that the Police are not involved, but when a member of staff goes missing, Liesl has no choice but to involve them.
This is really the story of how Liesl solved a mystery and stood up to the bullies.
It is very readable and a nice story

A bit of a mystery wrapped into a self-discovery novel. Liesel doesn’t really want the job of head of the department but when he boss has a stroke, she doesn’t really have a choice. Not only that but their latest purchase with donor money is missing and of course she’s the one who now has to figure out if they are stolen or misplaced.

There are secrets and the there are secrets and the staff of this library have a lot of them. Although sometimes they aren’t really secrets but just truths you don’t want to deal with.

This is a novel for book lovers who will appreciate the search for missing artifacts.

Liesl Weiss, a librarian at a University (presumed to be University of Toronto), is just about to start her sabbatical, when her boss suffers a stroke and she is called back to be interim director. It is at this time that Liesl discovers the Plantin bible, a newly acquired collection, is missing. Who could have taken it?

I was really excited for this book when I was approved for the ARC and while I did enjoy it, it didn’t blow me away like I had hoped. I think the author did a really good job at exploring University politics and appreciated that she addressed the sexism in academia. I also liked that the main character was older and that the book brought up the discussion of mental health, particularly in the workplace. I found that the book focused more on Liesl and her own struggles versus the mystery of the missing books. As a lover of mystery books, the mystery aspect of this book didn’t live up to my expectations. That being said, it was quite well written, the characters at the library were quirky, and the book had some lovely descriptions of books.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poison Pen Press/Source Books for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. 3.75 stars rounded up to 4.

In a Canadian university library the chief librarian has a heart attack. Sadly his deputy Liesl has to pick up the pieces as a mystery unfolds. Where is the newly purchased and very valuable book disappeared to? No one has actually seen it and no one can get into the safe. Only the chief has the code and he cannot help. Liesl has to turn detective to solve the mystery. The other members of staff all have their own work to get on with and the day to day work of the Library is well described and entertaining to read about. The staffs are all so earnest and focussed on their own jobs but the story is told with great humour and it is a really enjoyable read. If you have used university libraries it is even more of a good story for you. The professors and the senior university staff are portrayed with making money for the University and the library their main motivation and Liesl has to deal with them and keep them happy as well.
This is an entertaining mystery told in an unusual setting for a crime to take place in. It is a clever first novel by Eva Jurczyk

Liesl Weiss has been suddenly thrust into a position of leadership at her Toronto university’s Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, following the debilitating stroke that put its previous head, Christopher Wolfe, in a coma. While her colleague in charge of religious acquisitions, Max Hubbard, is unhappy that he wasn’t given the position – never mind its interim nature – her other closest colleague Francis Churchill is far more supportive, though perhaps a little too solicitous. If Miriam Peters, the rather withdrawn head of the modern manuscripts division, has an opinion, she’s keeping it to herself.

So Liesl isn’t sure who to turn to for support when she finally figures out the combination to Christopher’s safe and discovers that the valuable manuscript that they’d only lately acquired at auction is not inside as it’s supposed to be. Christopher’s deep, donation-lined pockets had scared off all other presumptive bidders on the Plantin Polyglot Bible, paying only half a million dollars for it in the end, to the grumbling of the auction house. Now the department’s generous donors are clamoring to see for themselves the valuable multi-volume work they’ve helped acquire.

At first, Liesl convinces herself that the Plantin was merely misplaced, perhaps shuffled off into the stacks by accident. She fobs off the donors for as long as she can, but as the days pass, the strength of her conviction that the Plantin was stolen only grows. Despite knowing how devoted University President Lawrence Garber is to maintaining their institution’s infallible image, she goes to him for advice in recovering it, and is told:

QUOTE
“Of course. I agree. You should explore every possible inroad.”

“Including the police,” Liesl looked at the dust, not at Garber. “Including the possibility that the book was stolen.”

“Not this again,” Garber said.

“President Garber.” Liesl tried to sit on the edge of the desk. “Do you really not think a theft is a possibility?”

He leaned over. She thought he was going to put his head in his hands, but he stretched out and touched his toes. “I never said I didn’t think it could be a thief. I said it was up to us to solve this internally.” He gave a quiet grunt as he leaned into the stretch. “We are trying to raise a billion dollars for this university.”
END QUOTE

Hampered by this devotion to maintaining reputation, Liesl is ready to just go along to get along – in this and in pretty much all other aspects of her life – until one of her colleagues abruptly disappears. Suspicion for the theft quickly falls on the missing librarian, and President Garber is ready to close the case when the alleged thief is found dead, though with no sign of the missing book. Half a million dollars is nothing, after all, compared to the ongoing largesse of trusting donors. Liesl, however, refuses to believe in such a tidy ending, and that’s even before she discovers more foul play afoot within her department’s walls. Will she be able to get to the bottom of what’s going on despite the odds stacked up against her?

This modern cozy mystery is a bibliophile’s dream, set primarily in a building devoted to the protection and exhibition of rare tomes. There’s a lot of great writing here on the imperative to not only restore but also to disseminate knowledge: what is the point of preservation, after all, if the materials are therefore rendered inaccessible to all but a select few? The love of books is palpable throughout, but especially when Liesl is considering how her department stores their volumes:

QUOTE
Liesl had always loved the basements. There was no intellectual arrangement of materials here; the books were shelved by size so that shelf space could be used to its maximum capacity and so the fragile old volumes could act as supports to their neighbors. The result was that Darwin might sit next to Shakespeare, and in Liesl’s imagination they might convene and brew new ideas that would be impossible under the limits of the Library of Congress classification system. Each stack sat on a roller so it could be pushed flush with its neighbor, leaving the books alone to their secrets once a visitor pushed them aside to view the next bookshelf and then the next.
END QUOTE

Liesl herself is a complicated creation, a woman who spends far too much time caring about how others view her, yet in the end the strongest proponent for choosing to do what’s right over upholding an unimpeachable facade, at least in the case of the university and its grandees. With chapters shifting forward and backward in time, the narrative elegantly seeds its subplots and mysteries, culminating in a satisfying conclusion that none of our characters might have been able to foretell, but which does right by both the majority of its cast and also, as with any book worth preserving, the public good.

When Liesl's boss in the rare books department of their university's library has a stroke, Leisl takes over his duties. While preparing for a high profile event to feature one of their newest aquisitions, it is discovered that the book is missing. Liesl wants to go to the police right away, but is bombarded by opposition at every turn. When one of the other librarians also goes missing, Liesl tries to uncover the truths about both disappearances on her own, not realizing that every question that is answered leads to more truths she may have never truly wanted the answers for.

This was an amazingly and intricately woven story. While there were no huge twists and turns or fantastic elements involved in the plot, I very much enjoyed the realistic portrayal of an older woman trying to do her job the best she can while constantly being convinced that she should let everything go for appearances sake. This book details the terrible misogony that still exists in some facets of higher learning, it authentically involves mental illness and the pain caused to those who suffer and those who are affected by loving a person with mental illness, and it lovingly and beautifully describes the art of rare book acquisitions. This was the kind of mystery that inspires reading on a rainy day, and cozying up with a blanket and a cup of tea.

Thank you so much to Poisoned Pen Press for providing me a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Liesl Weiss has worked for the department of rare books and special collections for many years. Something that was only suppose to be a temporary position has turned more into a life passion. Yet when the head of the department is placed in the hospital with very little hope of recovery Liesl is left to run the whole department. At first she is not very concerned about running the department as she has been second in command for quite a long time. In fact she is super excited to start playing a more pivotal role in the acquisition of new titles for their collection. But it is quickly found that their newest acquisition, one of which only 17 others are in circulation and mostly in private collections, has gone missing. Will Liesl be able to find out what happened to this precious book, or is there a thief among her staff?

Overall this book had a lot of highs and a lot of lows. I will say that it is a very slow read. Also very predictable, at least when it comes to what happened to the books. There are some twists and turns in there that I wasn't quite expecting. It also could have ended a lot sooner. I understand why Eva continued the tale so as to tie up a couple of last lose ends, but the last couple of chapters just truly drag in my opinion. I do think though that readers who enjoy a light mystery will enjoy this book.

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read an advance copy of this text.

Leisl has stepped in as interim director of the rare books department at a Toronto university. The director and her boss before she took time off to write a book has had a stroke. One of her first items of business is to finish processing a rare Plantin Bible set. While putting the office in order and getting down to work, she realizes the Plantin is missing. This is just the beginning of a series of occurrences that make Leisl realize she may have more authority than ever, but her sense of control is much less. The president of the university is hounding her for results while emphasizing the need for funding. Staff members at the library point fingers at one another over the missing items. Should Leisl get the police involved? Opinions are mixed and she is left to make the final call. While I am not in the know on rare books, I do love books and can appreciate the tension between sharing rare books and the need to preserve them. In addition, with so many books and documents in a collection, there is a clear need to have trustworthy staff. Finally, the book explores the topic of mental illness and the need for family, friends, and coworkers to be advocates for those struggling in this way. All in all, a wonderful book for groups to discuss and a guide is included as well as an interview with the author.

3 stars

As someone who lives and works in academia, this book hit a little too close to home—which is to say, it portrayed (and skewered) academia with deadly accuracy.

This is a book both about and for people who love books—specifically, books as physical objects, as possessions, as artefacts, as relics, and as witnesses of the worlds they inhabit. As a book about books, it succeeds; books are not only at the heart of the mystery plot but imbue every aspect of that plot.

As a mystery, it’s fine. I personally found Liesl, our main character, somewhat exhausting. One the one hand, the woman cannot catch a break; however, she’s not the most fun to spend our time with. She cannot concentrate on any conversation, and it can be dizzying cycling in her own head as she gets overwhelmed—not necessarily in an artful way, but just a tiring one. Because the side characters are glimpsed from Liesl’s rather warped, tunnel-vision point of view, they all read as thin sketches rather than fully realized characters.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who likes a tongue-in-cheek view of academia, anyone who loves books, or anyone who is yearning for an older woman as the protagonist of their mystery fiction (though one who is, like the rest of us, tired and overwhelmed, rather than a savvy Miss Marple).