I wanted to like this one more than I did. The writer seemed to be more focused on building the world/characters than providing a plot with forward momentum. Wouldn't be surprised if this is conceived as the first part of a series. If it IS a standalone book, then some of the character choices are very odd/ out of place.

ARC from the publisher via NetGalley but the opinions are my own.

When her boss Christopher has a stroke, Liesl is called off her sabbatical and assigned to be the interim director of the rare books department at her university. Thrown into the role at the worst possible time...a priceless manuscript has gone missing right before a donor viewing, Liesl tries her best to appear controlled and confident in a male dominated role. But when other manuscripts go missing along with a librarian, Liesl is determined to get the police involved, but is forced to keep things quiet and investigate by herself for fear of scaring of the donors. Are the two incidents connected? How will she ever discover the truth without help?
I ultimately enjoyed the conclusion of this book and how everything came together, but it just took so long to get there. I debated giving up on the story several times, but pushed on. Too much university politics and the mystery wasn't really that great. I normally love books about books and libraries, but this one just fell flat to me.

I enjoyed this cozy mystery. As a book history student, it was so lovely to read a story about a topic so close to my heart. I also found it refreshing how the novel revolves around an academic environment without focusing on college-aged students. It fits into the subgenre of 'dark academia' without revolving around the same age group we always see represented in narratives set in universities.

This was an interesting page turner. I appreciated the library atmosphere intertwined with the intrigue and mystery. The characters took a little bit to warm up to, and were a tad frustrating with the way that they related to each other, but overall I still wanted to find out what happened!

While I really wanted to be sucked into this book, it just was not to my general taste. But it is so well written and I continued reading it for the characters, who the author really fleshed out so fully and realistically. This is a well written book, just not one that I was totally in love with.

Is there ever a setting more intriguing than a library? The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk is as rare a jewel as the books in the library. Liesl is an unlikely protagonist, but still shines, unraveling a mystery of missing rare books in a Toronto University library rare book department. The novel is layered tackling the topics of women in leadership, mental health, and gender politics. I enjoyed this novel and loved the descriptions of the books and how books can elicit strong emotions. I found some of the dialogue to be stilted but wonder if that was to create a sense of unease like what Liesel was experiencing. A great read-a-like to The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis. Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC all opinions are my own.

I am a sucker for books about books. Liesl has been promoted to the position of head librarian at the university's rare books department, as her boss has been hospitalized after a stroke. Her first day brings about the discovery that the library's most recent, and very expensive, acquisition is missing. With minimal support from her coworkers and the university president, pressure from investors to see their prized purchase, Liesl must determine where the manuscript has gone. And when another librarian disappears, the mystery deepens, and Liesl questions who she can trust.

I went into this book with high hopes. A book about books, set in a library, with mystery mixed in, and my book-loving heart blossoms. The premise of this book is strong, but the execution fell flat for me. I wanted Liesl to be so much more. I hoped that she would develop some internal fortitude and strength, and take on the situation with more force. Instead, she felt weak. The pacing of the book was slow, and I felt the flashbacks did not serve a strong purpose in the narrative. Additionally, the writing itself was gloomy and dark, and while this was a good reflection of my perception of a rare books library setting, it did not serve the overall story well I think that if the author had gone for a more fully gothic style, more completely dark and gloomy, the effect may have been stronger.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the complimentary eARC in exchange for my honest review. This book is available now.

In this cozy read Liesl is a hard worker in the rare books collection and tries to take care of any problems come up to make everyone happy. Then her boss as a stroke. Then, in another smaller crisis, she realizes that a very rare manuscript has gone missing. It gets even worse when a librarian goes missing. While you would think the higher ups would be on this case, they want her to keep the benefactors happy, and let it go. But like any good librarian (Librarians unite!), she just cannot do that. And so, the mystery begins, with too many suspects... more than she thought possible.

I have not read a book by this author before, and this will not be my last. I love books about books, so this made me very happy. I also like seeing my fellow librarians being total bad-a's..

Thank you so very much to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

👩 Liesl Weiss works in the rare books department of a large university. When her boss has a stroke, and she's left to run things, she discovers that the library's most prized manuscript is missing. She tries to inform the police but is told to keep quiet and not upset the donors. But then a librarian goes missing as well. Liesl must investigate both disappearances.⁠
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❤️ I liked:⁠
📚 Rare books and special collections. I loved the setting of this book. And I kept thinking, "I wish I was working with Liesl, studying and protecting pages that shaped our history and gave life to the world as we know it". ⁠
🔚 The story, I really wanted to finish the book, to know who the culprit was. It's quite an engaging mystery.⁠
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🤔 I wasn't sure about:⁠
👩 Liesl. I can't say I liked the main character. She never really stood up for herself or for what she believed was right. ⁠
✍️ The style. The pace of this book was so slow! And probably the dual timeline didn't help at all to speed things up.⁠
👨👩The characters. Not only I could not relate to the main character, but I didn't even like any of the others. ⁠
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⭐⭐ 2/5 The premise was interesting, and the mystery was good, but I didn't like the writing at all: too slow and a bit too depressing for my liking. Thanks to #netgalley for the preview.

'The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections' by Eva Jurczyk.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a digital ARC for my honest review.

I loved that the setting was in a university library. It was interesting to learn about some of the rare books and how they were acquired and protected in the collection. When the Director of the Library suffers a stroke, it's up to Liesl to fill in for him. She discovers that a newly acquired rare book is missing, not just misshelved; and it's a struggle between her wanting to report it to the police and the President of the University wanting to keep it quiet. It's up to her to solve the mystery of what happened to the missing book, and then more books and a Librarian go missing. The solving of the mystery was satisfying and I found the book entertaining.

#NetGalley #TheDepartmentofRareBooksandSpecialCollections

Liesl Weiss has worked for decades in the rare books department of the University of Toronto library. She has been happy working behind the scenes until the director (Christopher) is hospitalized with a stroke. The university administration makes Liesl interim head of the department. Soon after starting her new role, Liesl is shocked to find the library's most prized manuscript is missing. Liesl wants to call in the police but the university president and her librarian colleagues want to keep the theft quiet in order to keep the donors happy. But when a rare book library staff member goes missing, rumours start spreading that she (Miriam) was responsible for the theft and has fled. Liesl is determined to investigate both disappearances but she is not prepared to learn the truth about what some of her long-term colleagues are willing to do to preserve their beloved collections. The sub-plot involving the dynamics between Liesl, her artist husband, and teenaged daughter Hannah nicely helps to develop Liesl's character.

This was a good debut mystery which provided a fascinating view of the behind-the-scenes machinations and politics that affects decisions and actions in a university bureaucracy.

I received this digital arc from Netgalley and Poisoned Pen Press with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and provided this review.

This was an interesting book. I like that it takes place in the rare books and special collections library on a university campus. The book was a little slow to start but overall it was a good mystery. I like that the suspicion was thrown on many people and each with convincing reason. I was able to guess who the person of interest was before the reveal but only by a chapter.

I would read another book by Eva Jurczyk in the future.

“What holds more secrets in the library: the ancient books shelved in the stacks or the people who preserve them?”

I’ve always been drawn to books about books. In fact, I’d even venture to say there aren’t enough of them. So when The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections came across my path, I jumped at the chance to read it.

Unfortunately, what I envisioned the book to be and what it actually was weren’t matching in my mind. I found the first few chapters to be dry and verbose, despite the intriguing premise. Perhaps if I had pushed through I’d feel otherwise, but not every book is for everybody.

A mystery: who took the old, very expensive, book the library just purchased? It was supposed to be in the safe! The library director had a stroke, remained in the hospital in a coma and Liesl Weiss is now acting director. She’s having a hard time with colleagues undermining her authority and the university president strongly claiming police must not be called. Liesl has her hands full already, but now Miriam has turned up missing. Could the missing book be related?

The story has all the elements to be a great read, but it missed the mark for me. There are brief moments of “fifteen years ago” (or something similar) as an awkward way to bring in backstory. I was frustrated with Liesl’s way of dealing with the situation and it hardly got better for me with the main character. Turned out to be a mediocre read for me, despite loving the setting.

This is a great story for lovers of libraries and mystery. Female protagonist Liesl, works hard in this special library and doesn’t get the recognition she deserves, always overshadowed by male counterparts. When one falls ill, and some books go missing, will Liesl be able to solve the mystery in time to find her way to the top? Thanks NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This was creative and I was really looking forward to it! Ultimately, I could not get into the book. It could have been a reading slump, it could have been a bit of a slower beginning. I am looking forward to giving it another try at a later date.

Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This review is going to be short, and not so sweet. My excitement grew with each phase of my exposure to this book. First, about a year ago, the cover and title caught my eye. I read the summary and instantly added it to my list of review requests. When I began reading it, I learned that the main character is a middle age woman and thought "this is going to be so great."

If only.

There is so much focus on the other characters' backstories but NOTHING HAPPENS. Maybe it's a slow burn of a book with great final scenes. I'll never know. I was bored and I gave up. I read almost 40% and just could not make myself finish.

Thank you, NetGalley, for allowing me to read an ARC copy of this book for an honest review.

I'm not entirely sure what I expected going into this story, but it certainly wasn't what I wound up with! I was expecting fairly typical women's lit, but found myself in the middle of something different!

The premise of Liesl not being the typical young woman trying to find herself, but instead being a middle aged woman who knows who she is was nice, but it fell flat for me. Liesl was hard to like, and I found myself questioning her motives many times. She felt one-note and muddy and hard to connect to.

Overall, while I wasn't a fan of the book it does have potential. Just because it didn't tick all of my boxes doesn't mean it wont tick someone else's.

I love a book about books, and The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections is no exception. The mystery element was fun and I found a lot of ways to connect to Liesl. Like many books about books, this is a love letter to libraries and I found a lot to enjoy!

An interesting premise with a uniquely stylized voice. Our main character seemed so reluctant to get involved, which made reading this difficult. Overall, an interesting, if not slower pace mystery read.