I found this book to be an interesting read. The characters were an assortment of love them or not love them types. The plot flowed along and held my interest for the most part.

I will read almost and book with any form of literary word in the title. I’m also very intrigued by rare book collections. So this title sounded right up my alley. Unfortunately it was just okay. The mystery surrounding the rare book that goes missing had potential but the reveal was lacking any element of surprise.

The reading experience was fine, it just could have used a little bit more sparkle in some of the plot points.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

As someone who loves history and learning about books, the premise of this book is really intriguing and immediately drew me in. I found many aspects of learning about rare books really interesting, and plan to do more research on my own as well. I like the idea of a book about books, and a mystery surrounding them too.

However, with that said, on a personal level, this book, unfortunately, just wasn't for me. I often found it very difficult to connect with the characters, and felt that certain heavier topics were not handled with as much care as they could have been. I also felt that the time-jumps back in time were sometimes confusing, and I wasn't always clear on when the plot was back in the present tense.

I hope that others will take the opportunity to read this book if the plot sounds like something they would be intrigued by, but, it just was not the right fit for me.

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.

A fabulous read about the rare collections of books kept at universities.

How do you keep up with the things no one looks at and few know of their existence? If some go missing, how long would it take you to discover the loss? Is it misplaced? Was it borrowed? Was it stolen?

All of these questions come into play when the newest addition to the collection of rare books is due to be inspected at a gala reception. And yet it can't be found.

This book takes you in and out of the various aspects of rare and special books and what becomes of them after acquisition by various universities. A fun and educational read taking you into areas unfamiliar yet intriguing.

Liesl Weiss has worked for years as second in “command” at the university library of rare books and special collections. Planning now on a retirement in the not distant future, she has taken a sabbatical to write a book on horticulture, one of her major interests. Her entire plan is disrupted by the sudden illness of her boss, Christopher, the library director. Now she is back in the library waiting for Christopher’s recovery when shoes begin to drop in the rare book department: the most recent acquisition is not where it should be and, of course, Christopher can’t answer questions. He's had a stroke, apparently.

And so the novel, that is partially a mystery, begins. I say partially because it’s also about Oldboy networking, campus politics, the place of women in certain groups—especially middle-aged women. And marriage and family. And the difficulties of friendship with men and women for a middle aged woman.

Liesl begins what investigation she can muster, with very limited assistance so no word of the potential major problem will leak out to deans or donors, etc, all the while wondering about her retirement, her husband's art future, their daughter, the police who are searching for a missing co-worker. Life isn't dull though it is out of her control.

The story does inevitably tackle and resolve the problems of the library and Liesl is integral in that process. She is an interesting woman for what she is not: not loud or showy. Not the "type" to lead a novel perhaps one might say. I say she did a great job considering who she had to work with!
I recommend this book to those who enjoy quiet novels about books, libraries, academe, and managing in the old boy network.

A copy of this book was provided by the publisher through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This novel was very well written. The author knows books, especially rare ones, with great adequacy. For me, personally, this book was really hard to get into. It took me a long time to read. I enjoyed the characters and the storyline, it was just a little slow.

I would definitely be willing to read more books by this author!

I just found this to be okay. I loooove special collections and rare books (it's what I got my library degree in) so I really enjoyed the setting and concept of this. However, the narratives and mysteries weren't enough to wow me. They were fine and I don't regret reading it. Plus, I know a ton of patrons I can very easily recommend this to who will love it.

I was really intrigued by this book's premise, but it was so boring - the plot and the writing. It was so detailed with very little plot movement. I was also a bit annoyed by the classism and anti-union sentiment through out the book. The stereotypes about blue collar workers was obnoxious and I really could've done without the "lazy" character who is active in the union.

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections is a lovely mystery debut mixing ancient books that go missing, a colourful cast of library workers with complicated relationships, who have noodles everyday. I thoroughly enjoyed the slow-brewing cozy story where books constitute the main theme even though it felt a bit long and dragging at times. Liesl’s quite assistant librarian life turns into chaos when the head librarian has a stroke, and a special acquisition goes missing and as the university donors start questioning where their money is spent and the dean silences everyone against going to the police to keep up the good looks, things start to get out of hand. I loved the variety of characters, witty conversations and beautiful book descriptions but some parts of the book felt a bit missing especially about Miriam and her disappearance. Overall an enjoyable read and if you are a fan of books about books and libraries, then this is your cup of tea.

DNF.
This book was difficult for me to get into from the very beginning. I was surprised at some of the sexual innuendos considering it is a book about books, a library, and librarian/researchers.
Then, it just never took off. It was the same boring conversation and series of events in every chapter. I tried to force myself to finish so I could provide a thorough review, but finally had to call it quits. Just wasn’t for me.

Whilst it was nice to have an older protagonist, this did not work well for me: the setting was immediately intriguing, the eponymous Department of Rare Books and the missing volumes were a great plot. What the novel lacked for me was any real sense of urgency or tension, even when a colleague goes missing.

I wanted to like this book more then I did. I found the 'mysteries' to be predictable and not surprising at all. The 'politics' while could be true for a university, just....didn't sit right with me. It was boring and I skim read them. I could've just been me when reading this book, but I found it to be very jumpy and not realistic.

I honestly expected to like this book a little bit more than I ended up doing. The title and the description really did a lot to draw me into to the book and made me think that this story would be a little bit more than what it turned out to be. This story is a mystery story with a strong mixing of academic politics and a little bit of academic misogyny as well.
By the end of the book, I thought that the story was just fine. Fine but not something that I would seek out to read again.
The writing and formatting of this book did not help draw me into the story at all, but instead kept breaking my immersion into it. which I have found to be a pattern with this particular style of writing. The characters also did not keep my interest or draw me in in any way. I found them to be rather dry, superficial and insufferable.
I did finish the book and found the conclusion to be satisfying if not particularly surprising. The story was overall fine, but not really something I will seek out again or recommend.

I love a book about books and things of that nature!
Great story!

Description
Midnight at the Bright Idea Bookstore meets The Bookshop of Yesterdays in a stunning debut following a librarian whose quiet life is turned upside down when a priceless manuscript goes missing. Soon she has to ask: what holds more secrets in the library—the ancient books shelved in the stacks, or the people who preserve them?

Liesl Weiss long ago learned to be content working behind the scenes in the distinguished rare books department of a large university, managing details and working behind the scenes to make the head of the department look good. But when her boss has a stroke and she's left to run things, she discovers that the library's most prized manuscript is missing.

Liesl tries to sound the alarm and inform the police about the missing priceless book, but is told repeatedly to keep quiet, to keep the doors open and the donors happy. But then a librarian unexpectedly stops showing up to work. Liesl must investigate both disappearances, unspooling her colleagues' pasts like the threads of a rare book binding as it becomes clear that someone in the department must be responsible for the theft. What Liesl discovers about the dusty manuscripts she has worked among for so long—and about the people who care for and revere them—shakes the very foundation on which she has built her life.

This was an enjoyable story and there was a lot that I liked. The author’s style was smoothly readable and I enjoyed learning more about the special collections world. I love when a book leads me down a bit of a research rabbit hole about things I never thought about. How interesting to know there are these historic products out there in libraries and universities and how lucrative the business of trading and possessing them is.

I didn’t particularly connect with any of the characters, but I liked the complexity and ambiguity in many of the relationships - it felt very authentic, particularly given that the characters were older and therefore had a more significant shared history.

I was engaged in the mystery - and enjoyed being led down a few different paths (and was highly relieved when one of them proved false).

I felt so sad for Miriam - and the whole idea that you can spend your entire life working with the same people in a shared space and go so unnoticed.

Overall, I liked this one, and would recommend to anyone who enjoys a good (believable) mystery, or anyone who enjoys a look into the world of rare manuscripts.

This was a slow paced mystery that took me a little while to become engaged with. The mystery was good however with characters that I liked. I enjoyed trying to pick up on the clues.
Many thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

When Liesl is asked to fill in as chief librarian in the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, she has no way of knowing the problems she will be taking on. What should have been a simple job covering for the ill chief librarian turns into a hunt for a thief as she finds rare books missing and no real suspect in sight.

You will know that The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections is written by a librarian because it is full of librarian-ish details that at times enhance, and other times detract from the novel. To be sure, I'm drawn to libraries and books and mysteries, and this sounded perfect for my palate. However, halfway in, things got slow, characters got annoying and I wanted to start skimming. I didn't! And I'm grateful, because the ending was just what I needed.
I found the writing to be good, although maybe in need of some downsizing. Perhaps not necessary were the flashbacks? But then, maybe I just found them to hinder my progress in getting to the conclusion.
I do thank NetGalley and Poisoned Pen press for the ARC of The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections.

Thank you so much to @poisonedpenpress for the complimentary digital review copy of The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. This book came out on January 25, 2022 - available now!

The Department of Rare books and Special Collections is a university mystery. A rare manuscript goes missing at Liesl's employer, and she is trying to figure out who did it and where it is now. The book is set at University of Toronto, so it was nice to read about a place that I am familiar with.

Overall, the answer to the mystery makes sense, but I was not able to pinpoint that this is where it was going throughout the book - it felt like it came out of nowhere.

I think this book could have been a lot shorter, there were times that it felt too slow and the plot was slow. This book could use a suicide trigger warning, we do not specifically see it in the book we do hear about it from the characters.

I really enjoyed the interesting facts about rare books that were sprinkled throughout the book as well as the details about university fundraising. The need to keep the missing manuscript secret so as to not tip off the donors was a fun plot point.

A delightful book full of adventure, action, and thrills. Fun to read, engrossing world building, and very descriptive imagery made it feel like it was cinematic. It's hard to resist the story as it drives forward. Would recommend.