Librarian Liesl's life gets turned upside down when a colleague and a priceless manuscript disappears.

Meh...I did not like this. Hard Pass.

3 stars

A rather depressing book with a lackluster MC. I was dissatisfied with the ending. It is cool having a mystery set in an academic library, though.

[What I liked:]

•It was interesting reading about the academic library, the special collections, & the book fair.

•There are a few twists to the mystery, & enough of a plot to keep the story going.


[What I didn’t like as much:]

•This is a depressing book. None of the characters are nice people, except for a few minor ones. There isn’t much of a happy ending, & justice isn’t truly served in the end, imo.

•I didn’t like the MC. She doesn’t stand up for herself, she lets others use her hard work for their own promotion, she abuses alcohol instead of asking for help, & avoids the one person who actually has her best interest in mind (her husband).

•I used to work in an academic library during grad school, & most of the librarians were actually really nice people, not all petty, backstabbing narcissists like in this book :/

CW: sexual assault, sexual harassment, sexism, queer phobia, mental illness, suicide, infidelity, substance abuse

[I received an ARC ebook copy from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for the book!]

I really liked the premise of this book. As a library director, I’m naturally drawn to stories about libraries—especially if there’s a murder mystery. Unfortunately, the pacing of this story threw me off, and I had a hard time getting into it. I tried to stay invested, but after 3-4 chapters, I had to set it aside. It could be that the plot gained momentum later, and I didn’t hold on long enough, but the book simply didn’t work for me at this point in time. I do plan on picking it up later and trying again. Again, great premise!

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and Netgalley for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to the publisher, NetGalley, and the author for a copy of this book in exchange for honest feedback. I absolutely loved this book. It isn't my usual go-to genre, but I was interested in the title and the cover was eye-catching. I love "books about books" and contemporary fiction that resonates with bookish nerds is always a win. There's something about that nerdy aspect of academic settings in books that is relatable and fun. I really found this book easy to read, engaging, quaint, and fun. I would suggest it to anyone who likes academic settings, books, libraries, etc or ever dreamed of working in a library setting.

Liesl Weiss works in the rare book department of a big university. There are many working parts to this department, and Liesl has her special jobs. But one day, an extremely old and important manuscript goes missing. It's up to her to find out what happened to the manuscript and to realize that the people she works with may not be anywhere near who they seem to be. This was an intriguing read and had me wondering what would happen if something like this happened today? Liesl is told not to alert the authorities and, in fact, to keep the place running and the donors happy. Then one of her coworkers doesn't show up and no one knows where she is. Liesl is left to try and solve both mysteries while questioning all that goes on around her. A really good read!

The premise hooked me - I’m a sucker for stories about books and libraries. While the mystery was intriguing at the start, the storyline moved SO slowly and I just couldn’t bring myself to care about the characters. I had to push myself to finish this one. .

I had high hopes for reading The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. The plot sounded intriguing, especially with it taking place in a collegiate library. However; around the 45 percent mark I lost interest and decided to not finish this read. More intriguing characters and less blame placed fully on a main character would've made this read more enjoyable.

Repetitive and the characters didn't grasp me. I thought for sure a mystery about books would be awesome. This read as if bored coworkers in a book store have only one thing to talk about. That missing book and person.

Wine flows freely in The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections set in a Toronto university library where rare books are missing. Liesl Weiss is named interim director of the library when the director has a stroke. As she uncovers the invoices and paperwork left unsettled, Liesl learns that several million dollar rare books purchased with donor money have gone missing. Liesel works to manage the day to day operations of the library and find the books. Eva Jurczyk provides readers with a good novel that shows the inner workings of university libraries and their donors. No wonder Liesel needs wine. A good literary mystery that is highly recommended.

I thought this one was going to hit it out of the park for me but it just didn't work. I found the mystery to be somewhat intriguing but the storyline was too slow. Also all of the characters were boring and lacked depth.

I received this an ARC through Netgalley. I found The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections to be a very delightful cozy mystery. The characters were easy to connect with and I found the story totally plausible, which made it all the more enjoyable.

There is nothing better then books about books. But books about books with a twist of a famous missing book!? You pulled me in and I didn’t want to leave!

Liesl finds herself at the helm of the department of rare books and special collections at a large university library when her mentor and supervisor, Christopher, takes ill and is in a coma. Uncertain of herself and her role, having "more authority and less control" than at any point in her career, Liesl discovers that a rare manuscript that is supposed to be shown to wealthy donors to the university has gone missing. It's just a little bit of a mystery, as Liesl and her colleagues and several detectives try to find out where the priceless artifact has disappeared to; it's much more of a look at women and aging, as she tries to balance her life as a librarian, as a wife, and as a mother, and also as an older woman whose career is gradually coming to a close. I really liked the story and the library setting; I'm not sure I felt deeply attached to any of the characters other than Liesl and her daughter Hannah, although I read this a little while ago so my memory of them has faded a bit. If you love rare books and library study carrels, carbon-dated manuscripts and petty infighting among archivists, then this is a good book for you. There is also a subplot with one of the librarians involving mental health, which made me consider a lot about how the workplace supports or doesn't support people who are struggling.

I was very excite to read this one as I just love books about books. And a mystery about a missing book? Sign me up! I couldn't have been more into this one as it followed this mystery as to where a famous book has gone too - the only person who may know of its whereabouts unresponsive in the hospital.

So many players - all quirky and interesting in their own right (although none particularly likable) - I was initially very invested. And when more books begin to go missing - and then a person goes missing well... it started to get really interesting.

Buuuuut.... then it kinda fell fell flat. It dragged a bit, felt like it was going nowhere... side stories that felt like they didn't really add to the story, some pretty depressing bits.... and then an ending that just kinda, well - ended. The culprit was kinda of a snoozy reveal and I just didn't get much satisfaction out of the end. I wish it had gone in a bigger and more 'wow' direction - but it just kinda wrapped up.

I did love the character development and all the fun bookish details but the mystery just kinda fizzled out for me.

This was such an interesting mystery/thriller. I really liked how it took place within the book collection and unfolded from there. I may be partial to this as a librarian but I really really enjoyed this book.

As someone who spent 15 years in higher ed administration, I can attest that academia attracts some quirky, flawed people--and some sociopaths. I thought I'd enjoy this book about an older heroine and a rare-book-library mystery more than I did, though. The characters were often one-note and hard to care about, and the unusual narrative structure didn't add much to the story. But it might be someone else's cup of tea.

Thank you so much to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the ARC of this book, all opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I like a mystery that centers around a library. Reading about how special collections are developed and how important they are to the whole of a university was intriguing for me. I really wanted to know where the books kept going missing. I really didn't expect it to be who it was in the end.
The way the book was written was slightly odd. I found at times it distracted from the story, mini chapters within chapters. I don't think that it added to the story, regular line breaks would have been satisfactory. Outside of this it was well written. I don't think that the relationship between Liesl and Francis "needed' to be added. Yet, I liked the bits about the background of how she came to her position within the library. Maybe there were clues that I missed.

A captivating mystery among the forest of books.


Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for giving me the opportunity to read this.

I'm not sure what I was expecting with this book. The title makes it sound super exciting, kind of like a Dan Brown-esque thriller. Only it is more like a cozy mystery, though not your typical cozy.

I was able to visualize the library and its special department. It kind of made me want to go back to school to get the necessary credentials to get such a job. Or to at least scour local university ads for a starter position. I do love antique books.

I also thought about how a local friend of mine would handle such a situation, as he owns a used bookstore and deals with antiques and rarities. But how would I have handled it? I wish Liesl would have been a little more forceful, though I understand it's difficult to fight the patriarchy at times. I'd like to think I would have been.

And is it sad to say that the theft of such a rare book gives me a bit of anxiety? I was almost more concerned about that than the missing person.

Back to Liesl. Her relationships with the men in her life seem oddly complciated. We do get frequent flashbacks involving the characters that I think are supposed to provide more insight. I'm not sure how much they helped me. Sometimes I wasn't sure how one of these flashbacks fit into the story as a whole.

Even though I found the story somewhat odd, I still read it relatively quickly and appreciated some of the twists. It's not going to be for everyone, but just might give you a good enough escape for a weekend.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me a requested review copy via Netgalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A book about books!? Count me in! The concept intrigued me. The suspense of a missing book. A missing person…but ultimately the plot dragged a bit for me. Perhaps I expected more suspense. What I did enjoy was the writing. Beautiful prose.