This book had me at “[Liesl] discovers that the library's most prized manuscript is missing”.
Although I honestly thought that this book would have more of a mystery solving plot line that it actually had, it was a really great read.

The characters felt real and believable in their motivation, but a lot of the times it felt like they talked in circles instead off the real problem and thus letting the problem continue instead of finding a solution earlier on.

But all in all, it was an interesting read with insight into the inner workings of a college library and its rare book collection

Liesl Weiss is called back to the library where she works early in her year’s sabbatical. She had taken a year off to write a book about ancient landscaping practices, but the library needed her. The director of the university library has had a stroke, and his latest acquisition hasn’t even been insured yet, and the university president is wanting to show it off to the donors.

Liesl believes the acquisition, a six-volume Plantin Polyglot Bible, is in the safe. But her boss had just changed the combination to the safe, and he hadn’t told her the new combination before he fell into a coma. But Liesl is smart enough to know that she couldn’t tell the university president that, so she defers and deflects until she can get her hands on the Bible. But when the director’s wife shows up at his office with the new combination for Liesl, she is met with worse news—the safe is empty.

Liesl wants to go to the police, but she is discouraged by most everyone from the university. The president and her coworkers in the library tell her not to report the missing books, despite their half-a-million-dollar price. They’re worried about embarrassing the university and the library in front of their colleagues, and (more importantly, at least to the president) to the donors.

There is the possibility that the Plantin was just shelved somewhere by accident, so Liesl starts looking through the stacks, one shelf at a time, to try to find them. But the more she looks, the more she is convinced that the volumes are not in the library. They were stolen.

So when the quiet librarian Miriam stops showing up for work, Liesl is concerned. There have been no calls from her and Liesl’s calls go unanswered. Finally, her conscience can hold out no longer and she calls the police. She tells the detective about the missing books, in case that helps the police find her. But the police can’t investigate the missing books, as there is no official report of a crime on it, and there won’t be unless the university president goes to them about it.

As the school semester ebbs away, Liesl has to face the idea that one of her colleagues has taken the books. But who? Francis, the ex-spy and the man Liesl had an affair with decades ago? Or Max, the former priest who had to give up his collar when he’s been caught stealing money from the church? Or was it awkward Miriam, who had been getting increasingly distant from her colleagues and has since gone missing? Liesl is the one who has to figure out what’s been happening in the library, or she could lose everything she’s worked so hard for her entire career.

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections is a unique mystery, smart and moving, part chilling whodunnit and part women’s fiction about a woman trying to figure out who she is now that her depressed husband is better and their daughter is in college. Her quiet year of sabbatical writing a book is thrown into chaos, and she has to figure out how to leave the library in good shape before she heads into retirement.

If you’re expecting this to be a book about bespectacled librarians in buns and tired suits from decades past, shushing library patrons over half-glasses and offering stern looks to anyone who might dog-ear a page in a book, then you are in the wrong library. These characters are real and uncertain, quick with the wine and slow to call the police. They spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in the blink of an eye and worry more about their reputation with the university donors over a thief being in their midst.

Now, if you read that and think that I was disappointed in this book, please hear me when I say that this book is amazing. It’s just unexpected, and that makes it a great choice for a book club or to read with a friend. The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections brings up a lot of feels and thoughts, and you’ll want to have someone to talk to them about, probably over a glass or two of wine. And that will just make the book twice as fun.

Egalleys for The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections were provided by Poisoned Pen Press through NetGalley, with many thanks.

A very cool mystery about a missing text. This had lots of bonus points of following Liesl who honestly is kind of unlikeable and the pro of being set in Toronto! I really like how this played out and how it ended as well.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review!

Visit the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. You will learn a lot about ancient manuscripts, the appearance of a beautiful library and the (not always savory) ways of academia, especially when donations are needed.

Spend time with Liesl who has (finally) moved up from second in command to temporary head of the collection. Her boss, Christopher, has had a stroke and is unable to help Liesl with the many problems that she faces. Those she works with may or may not be trustworthy and one of these employees, Miriam, has disappeared just as mysteriously as the library’s newest acquisition. Will Miriam be found and found alive? Will everything be solved? Read this book by an accomplished first time novelist to find out. The author creates a good story and, at times, skewers university life.

One thing that I liked about the recently published novel, The Maid, was that the main character was so very much herself. I felt the same way about Liesl. She is of a certain age and temperament, deals with life and relationships in her own way. I hope to see her again.

Note that there both a reading group guide and a conversation with the author at the end of the book. These added to my enjoyment and understanding.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections gives us a realistic hero in Liesl Weiss. She is good at her job, a stickler for detail and organization as any good librarian should be, but she worked mostly behind the scenes, making her boss look good as he sought donors and exciting acquisitions for the library. When he has a stroke just before an event showing of his newest star in the collection and Liesl is thrust into leadership, there are far more challenges than she expected.

While having to spend more time with donors and dealing with jealous colleagues are to be expected, opening the safe to find it empty was not. Has it been stolen or misplaced? It hardly seems fair to blame Liesl when she never even saw the books, but she is in charge and no one wants to blame a man in a coma in the hospital. It’s imperative Liesl find the missing books and the suspiciously absent colleague who now seems a likely book thief. But Liesl isn’t so sure.



I enjoyed The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections very much. Liesl is my kind of hero, the one who would not go down in the basement if they thought someone broke into their home but who would, instead, sensibly call the police. In fact, one of the central conflicts is between Liesl, who wants to call the police, and all the people who urge her not to, certain that it is better to lose books secretly than to get the books back with the help of the police. Appearances are everything in fundraising.

There are plenty of complications for her to deal with. Additional missing books, the absent colleague, the echoes of past romance, her drinking, her husband, the dean, and most of all her boss in the coma, exuding power just by existing. There are no car chases and killers in the basement, but there is plenty of intrigue and suspense. It’s a fun book for book lovers.

I received an e-galley of The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections from the publisher through NetGalley.

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections at Poisoned Pen Press | SourceBooks
Eva Jurczyk author site

A book about the behind-the-scenes world of books, academia, and libraries! As a former university employee and now librarian, it never dawned on me that the setting and characterizations might not appeal to everyone, but it felt familiar and engaging to me.

I've read a number of the 4 and 5 star review, and many of the 2 stars, and agree with them all. Yes, many of the characters are unlikable and odd, but they're spoofs of university stereotypes (and that clown of a university president might be a little overdone). Yes it's slow going and not a edge of your seat thriller, but it's a plausible workplace mystery. Yes, Liesl is a bit of a dishrag and is bullied by her male colleagues, but we have an older female protagonist who is quietly subversive and doesn't spend pages lamenting her looks or weight.

And, yes, there's a lot of drinking and depressive episodes. Which I didn't enjoy, but life. But now I need to go find a falafel truck.

THE DEPARTMENT OF RARE BOOKS AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS by Eva Jurczyk is a debut work which seemed to move a bit slowly for me, but which was yet another a LibraryReads Selection for January. Professional reviewers tended to enjoy it as well, with Kirkus describing this mystery story as "The perfect gift for librarians and those who love them—and doesn't that include just about every reader?"

As the story begins, Liesl Weiss has assumed responsibilities as acting as head of the Department and soon discovers that a recent rare book acquisition has gone missing. Was it somehow mis-shelved or stolen? The university President actively discourages police involvement while requiring a reluctant Liesl to "schmooze" with the donors. Soon a fellow librarian goes missing and theft looks more likely as the donors apply increasing pressure. Poor Liesl struggles to gain respect and find the valuable text. Book groups might well enjoy debating her predicament in the face of ageism and male chauvinism.

Jurczyk's characters are all delightfully "off"--which makes for great fun in trying to determine whodunnit. The setting is also particularly well-drawn: a large university rare books room where the staff are all dedicated and proficient at procuring important and unique books, but not so adept at dealing with people. The pressures of academia--in particular the constant drive for fund raising, the need to cater to wealthy donors, and an incompetent university president--all make for a fascinating (and often wryly humorous) mystery.

I wanted to like this book. I'm always going to want to read something about books/libraries/academic libraries. This book did not work for me, at all.

But I had to stop reading this. 25% of the way through. This book was making me not want to turn on my kindle.

I work in academia, I have a more than passing understanding of how higher ed administration works. This book does not represent that world in any kind of accurate way. A university president who only spends his days training for the Ironman? Nope. (And then blames Liesl for not trying harder to make an appointment with him, are you kidding me?) A half million dollar artifact goes missing, and he says don't call the police? No freaking way. Characters who gaslight Liesl, and are guilty of insubordination, and harassment of same? Oh no no no, that's a quick call to HR to sort out.

One of the things that drove me crazy throughout the part I did read is how no one actually talks to anyone about anything. They just sort of talk around the problem, or not say anything at all. Honestly, a few come to Jesus meetings would sort things out pretty quickly.

Now, let's talk about characterization. It is so cliche. Liesl has spent a considerable amount of time being the deputy to the director of this library. Yet apparently all she's done is pay the bills and write some catering orders? Seriously? No! She doesn't get to that position without at least a Master's degree, and she doesn't get that without an actual knowledge of the library. I know these things! So when she becomes the acting director, everyone reminds her of how little she knows, how she's not the Director. The men in the book are quite terrible to her, they put her down, remind her she's not in charge (when actually she is), belittle her, and she just sits there and takes it. She does try to push back once or twice, but it's half-hearted at best.

I honestly couldn't do this anymore. I was looking for reasons to do anything but read this book, including cleaning out my kitchen cabinets.

I love books. New books. Old books. Owned books. Borrowed books. Common books. Rare books. I love the smell of books... even the old moldy ones. Eva Jurczyk might not have set out to do this, but I could smell the books on every page (even though I was reading on my Oasis)! I could smell the library, the basement stacks, the grease of the rolling shelves (yes we use them in pharmacies!), the falafel cart, the noodle scenes (why does Liesl eat noodle so much??? tell me more!), the wine, the whisky, the damp umbrellas, the faculty club $38 salad, the overpriced aftershave on on a pompous millionaire, the melancholy, the despair, the regrets, and the burning ire of when secrets are discovered. This slow-burn bookish mystery is not a book for everyone. If you need a fast pace thriller or happy endings, there are other books out there to satisfy your needs. If you love slowly revealed mysteries and self-discovery with a hint of feminist values, I invite you to snuggle in on a rainy/snowy day and delve into the secrets within the #deptofrarebooks. Thank you NetGalley and @poisonedpennpress for the opportunity to read and review this ARC.

In this novel, it seems everyone has secrets. Even Liesl. Especially Liesl.

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections is not the most gripping book I've read so far in 2022, but it has an allure to it nonetheless. There are mysteries in the story—misunderstandings, conspiracies, secrets—that you badly want to unravel. The resolve of these are mostly satisfying. Not every secret is laid bare by the end (even though the reader knows the truth of them), but that's realistic.

The characters are particularly notable for their dimension. Each person has a history, flaws, and reactions that make them unique, singular. I would not say that Liesl, the main character, is particularly likeable. At least to me, the secrets she has chosen to keep make her less than sympathetic. That aside, she's an interesting main character, if only for the uniqueness of her perspective. It's nice sometimes to have a heroine who is not a 20- or 30-something old at the cusp of obtaining their dream career, isn't it? But I did spend half this book cringing at Liesl's meekness and her incompetence, the other half glad when something in her finally clicked.

Rare Books builds a definitive mood; it's like a cloud hanging over you. The negativity of Liesl's situation, that spiral of bad news after bad news until you're no longer able to see the good—that is relatable and is addictive to read. I'll admit I flew through this book, as I often do with any plot resembling a thriller. All that said, unfortunately, though there was an abundance of drama, there was no real shock. I'm not sure there was supposed to be, and that's fine. Still, I'm not sure how long this one will stick with me.

I really wanted to love this book. It had all the elements that I love - a bit of mystery, a strong female character, an old library, and BOOKS. The first couple of chapters had me intrigued, but that was about it. I had a really hard time getting into the story and getting through the book. I almost DNF, but pushed through because I wanted to get to the resolution of the missing books. The ending was good, and what I had hoped, which was good.

Overall, I will say the premise of the story was interesting. While it wasn't the most exciting thing I've read, I know it will appeal to someone out there.

3/5 stars

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

Liesl is unexprctedly appointed interim director of the university Library the current library director, Christopher Wolfe, suffered a stroke. She’s been Christopher’s right hand for years, doing ALL the administrative and “boring” things Christopher has never wanted to do, making sure things ran properly.

The library just bought a very rare set of books, and there’s some worry because Christopher left the books in the library safe without leaving the combination anywhere, and the volumes need to be assessed for insurance. Also, Liesl finds the staff upset about a variety of things, including Christopher’s condition, and Liesl finds them not terribly supportive of her being interim director.

Then, if things weren’t already tough, Liesl opens the safe to find no books, followed soon after by a missing, longtime staff member, and to Liesl’s dismay, another rare book missing from the stacks. The university president remains adamantly against involving the police, for fear of upsetting rich donors and the flow of money to the university (and the library). Liesl finds herself undercut by the president and her staff, drinking too much to deal with her stress and longtime questions about her marriage.
The only bright spots in Liesl’s tense and increasingly unsupportable days are a new math professor who doesn’t seem phased by the personalities of the donors or the president, and a chance to add to the library’s collections when an interesting and hard-to-find item appears in an upcoming book auction.

Eva Jurczyk knows libraries, and the types of people and concerns they have. I’m assuming she has firsthand experience, as the conversations and in-fighting and deep love for rare and ancient books felt so real, including her sadly realistic characterizations of the type of men, primarily, involved at the higher levels of management in institutions with their privilege, and misogyny, racism and homophobia.

The mystery of the missing books wasn’t hard for me to figure out, but getting there was fun. The tension and somewhat unhinged conversations Liesl had with the university President were great, and I liked that Liesl didn’t always make the greatest decisions about how to handle staff, but I liked how she grew into the interim position, and how she resolved the missing books situation.

Thank you to Netgalley and to Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC in exchange for my review.

When Liesl Weiss’s boss has a stroke, she must take over running the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections. First order of business, find the missing, very expensive book. With uncooperative co-workers, a demanding college president and the ever-present entitled donors, Liesl’s job just went from satisfying to stressful.

In every job I’ve had, the more trying the situation, the more people knuckled down and worked together. Not the bunch at this library. Avoiding blame and placing it seem to be everyone’s strategy. Sounds like politicians. The result was a bunch of characters that left me unsympathetic. Which means I didn’t get engaged in the story. Liesl, the heroine, struggles through the entire book to gain my sympathy, but always falls short – as a manager, as a wife, as a friend. I’m not saying that heroines have to be strong and nearly perfect. However, I would have enjoyed Liesl a little more if she had a bit more backbone.

Not everyone who reads this book will feel the same way. Others might get excited about university politics and departmental infighting. Some might be into rare books. I prefer accessible books. Other readers may really like solving the mystery to find the thief. Half-way through the book, I knew who the culprit was, so there wasn’t even much of a puzzle.

There were a couple of themes that the author put out there. One of the side-stories was about mental illness. There was also the subject of good old boys doing things their way while those that disagree (women) have to find a way to work around them.

This was a disappointing book for me, though was good enough to read to the end. And in the end, Liesl did the right thing.

Through Netgalley, the publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

I always see books about libraries but it is usually after they've been out for a while and the hold lists is long at the digital library. Many of them are historical fiction or have elements of fantasy or magical realism. I saw The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections and accepted it for review but when I started to read it I had forgotten what it was about so I expected it to be like the other recent books about libraries. But it wasn't it.

I don't think a year was actually given, but the story is set in present-day with a few chapters flashing back to the past to give some background on the various characters. No name of the university is given, but it is in Canada. Though it could be any large, research university. I pretty quickly ruled out historical fiction, but still, I wondered if magical realism would be included. Especially when all the characters seemed a little odd. But it is because they are all hiding secrets and not due to any tropes of fantasy or magical realism. The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections is a character-driven mystery. While I enjoyed the book, I'm not sure I actually liked it.

It starts off with Liesel being called back from a sabbatical that has just begun because the director has had a stroke and as the assistant director (I'm not sure what her actual title but it was something like that) she must lead the department. She has handled the administrative tasks - invoices, budgets, shipping, etc while the director Christopher has been the public face - glad-handing donors and handling acquisitions. Liesel is a bit out of her element as she steps into this new role and it doesn't help that the other employees don't think she can (or should) be the interim. Things quickly go downhill when a newly acquired book goes missing. And everyone at the library becomes a suspect.

I didn't particularly like any of the characters. I didn't totally dislike them either. They are all hiding something which made them hard to get to know which is strange for a character-driven story. Some of the secrets are fully revealed while others you have to read between the lines to figure out. At times, the mystery of the missing book took a position on the back-burner as we devel into the personal lives of the characters through flashbacks, which is typical with a character-driven story.

As I work in academia, I could identify with the setting. Particularly Liesl's sentiment, "The students interfered greatly with Liesl's enjoyment of the campus." We have a special collections library at my university and while we are proud of it, I'm not sure it plays as big of a role in fundraising as the library in this book. Perhaps at the more Ivy league-type schools, they do.

I enjoyed the mystery. About halfway through I suspected a particular character which in the end I was proved to be correct. However, I didn't get a satisfying answer as to why the person did it.

Overall, I enjoyed the book. Each time I picked it up I was immediately pulled into the story and got lost in the pages.

My review is published at Girl Who Reads - https://www.girl-who-reads.com/2022/01/the-department-of-rare-books-and.html

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk is a wonderful, library-based mystery that will appeal to bibliophiles everywhere. The story revolves around Liesl, a librarian working in the rare books department of a large university. One day, she discovers that an expensive manuscript is missing. Then, a colleague goes missing. Is the missing woman connected to the missing rare book? Liesl will have to solve the case!

Here is an atmospheric excerpt from the beginning of Chapter 3:

"She sat staring at the screen, listening to the library go quiet around her as the voices retreated one by one into the elevator and back onto the street. First the clinking Sancerre glasses at the donor event ceased, then readers went quiet, then the rumble of book trucks as materials were packed away, and finally the voices of the staff went dim and Liesl was left alone in the darkened building with only the hum of the air conditioner to keep her company."

Overall, The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections is a dark academic mystery that will appeal to book-lovers everywhere. One highlight of this book is the setting in the rare books department of a university. I was captivated by the lovely setting, and I enjoyed reading about Liesl's everyday routine as much as I did the mystery. I did take off 1 star, because I was expecting the mystery to be a bit more exciting. Instead, this felt about the same as a cozy mystery. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of books about books, I recommend that you check out this book, which is available now!

I love quick banter. Those back and forth conversations you can watch like a tennis match, those are my favorite.
And the tale of this little (big) library's missing, priceless, historically significant books, has plenty of that to go around.

As a theatre lover, I instantly imagined every conversation as a stage show. The tossing of verbal wit between two familiar co-workers, more like family members, was both hilarious and smooth. It felt like a real conversation, things being stated and ignored by the other party with no follow up, no closing the gap. It was raw and emotional and our main character, Liesel, was the queen of it all.

I enjoyed learning about the everyday drama this library holds and its equally priceless employees and how their lives circle around each other just as much as their daily duties to their books do. The mystery of both the missing book (books?), the sudden disappearance of one of their own, and a fearless leader on their deathbed, all makes for an intriguing plot line that delivers a fun ride.

A lively read that grabs the reader's attention from the first page, and holds it throughout... especially if that reader is a librarian. I have already ordered this for my library's collection and expect it to be often-borrowed.

3.5

A steadily paced look through the stacks of a university library housing thousands of priceless tomes. Liesel is thrust into a position of authority when her boss falls ill. Unfortunately Liesel must also contend with fundraisers, donors, missing manuscripts and a possible thief in their midst.

I feel like this book perfectly encapsulates what it means to work with books. It's kind of a steady, albeit slower paced story. As when reading, oftentimes you become enthralled within the story, and even though there are books that you can read quickly, I always kind of like the ones where you take your time to become fully immersed. It's not exactly full of stop-you-in-your-tracks twists and turns, instead things feel brought on in a more methodical way.

I loved the descriptions of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections and seeing this group of people who have worked together for literal decades. With all their secrets. Especially I liked that Eva Jurczyk writes from Liesel's point of view. Liesel who is near retirement age and was supposed to be on sabbatical writing her own book is called back after her boss suffers a stroke.

So we have this woman who has kind of put up with a lot in her job over the years and has certainly experienced her share of sexism in the work place. She's gotten to the point where she was happier in the background taking care of the more mundane things, but now she's front and center. And to top it all off, a recent library acquisition has just gone missing.

Liesel's the type of person who cares deeply, but you also get this sense that she's tired. She's ready to be done with all the day-to-day of the Department. She's ready to retire. She knows what's right and what should be done, but receives pushback from those in higher authority than her wanting to preserve the university's reputation. I love when we get to the point where Liesel just doesn't really give AF anymore. It certainly makes for some very satisfying turns toward the end.

Overall, the story is very languid. I wish there was a bit more mystery about the whole thing, but nothing truly comes as a shock. Like a classic book it kind of follows a pattern.

With that being said, however, I'd happily spend more time amongst the stacks of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections.

*ARC provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The name of the book tells you a lot that you need to know. Reading about libraries always makes me wonder if I should have gone that way. Working with books always sounds so good. And then you read on and realize this does not sound like a great place to work. This is a place of secrets. A lot of affairs. A lot of dishonesty.

The story is mostly told in the present timeline, but there were interesting flashbacks to the day each main character started working in the library or college. Every time I hoped to find something that would lead to why the thefts of the priceless manuscripts took place. Some of the secrets were pretty obvious in the beginning. Some were hinted at but unsure. Nothing was really much of a surprise and there were times I got into the story only to get pushed out again by minutia.

The book was good and it was kind of light considering the subject matter.