The Widow's Son: A Rare Book Mystery by Thomas Shawver

To become a rare book seller, you have to have good book stock, buyers for your books, and a stellar reputation.  You must be ethical, honest, and dependable.  Michael is most of those things but hasn't found a rare book monied enough to impress other rare book dealers.  And it takes letters of recommendation to move into the big league of booksellers, ABAA, The Antiquarian Booksellers' Association of America.  Now he has a chance...

Alibi, Net Galley and Enchanted Book Tours shared this book with me for a review (thank you).  It is being published today, so you can find a copy now.

Mr. Shawver doesn't write a traditional mystery.  I've read several book mysteries.  His discussion of books is fine and he does pick unusual books to highlight, but the actual mystery is not related to books; it's related to Mormon beliefs.  Every church has their radicals but this group is into blood atonement and they are worse than radical; they are fanatics!

The death they are avenging happened hundreds of years ago but they are determined to kill the last survivor of the offending family.  Unfortunately, the first "murderer" sent is a mild man who doesn't really believe the tales he's been told and manages to fall in love with the woman he's supposed to kill.  Failure is not accepted by the avenging family.

In the middle of this mess, Michael is offered a valuable first-edition Book of Mormon that bears a strange inscription hinting at blood atonement.  If he can sell it for a reasonable value, the Mormon and the targeted woman can disappear.  Michael thinks it will be his way in the door of the ABAA, so he returns to the lady he first spoke to about joining.  She asks to keep the book so she can have authenticated.  He agrees.  Her house burns down that night with her and her help both dying...

Now he has a missing valuable book, an obligation to make his offer good, and then Natalie gets kidnapped.  What more could happen?  It gets even more exciting before the story ends.  I think I would have liked it more if it didn't have so much Mormon history in it, but that addition was what created the mystery.  These books are always a bit intense and this one was also.  Not everyone gets out alive...

Left Turn at Paradise: A Rare Book Mystery by Thomas Shawver

Michael Bevan is struggling to keep his used bookstore alive.  The traditional mode of bookselling has been shaken up by the arrival of ebooks and companies like Amazon.  He's not sure if he can continue his business or if he's going to have to close his shop and go into another endeavor.  He doesn't want to close the shop.  When he finds an old document left to him by it's previous owner, he's suddenly a lot more hopeful.

Alibi and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you).  It has been published, so check with your bookstore for a copy.

Michael is a character that is a bit wishy-washy to me.  He has a woman he loves, a business he loves, and yet he's willing to take chances.  Does that mean he's weak or is he just human?

When he finds the old document hidden in other papers, he's amazed to see it's part of a journal written about Captain Cook.  When he takes it to the book show to see what he might be offered for it, he finds out that the journal is in three volumes.  He has volume one, another seller has volume two, and there is a purported volume three.  Unfortunately, that's in the middle of a jungle in a foreign country.  Here's where Michael shows his colors.  He leaves his girlfriend with the shop and goes off with the other sellers to find the third volume.  That in itself isn't so bad, but then he ends up sleeping with the female partner of the other shop.  Sigh...

The man that has the third volume is the female partner's father.  She hasn't seen her parents for years and has no desire to do so now, but will go along for the treasure to be recovered.  This trip is a tour through hell.  They have to hike through the jungle, avoid drowning in the rivers and being baked by the volcano, and attempt to be friendly with local natives.  Her father is crazy, the witch doctor is trying to take control, and the natives are superstitious and not friendly.  

This is about as far as you can get from a bookstore, folks.  It is an exciting and interesting tale.  And the ending is very ironic.  I liked it.  Why don't you give it a try?

The Dirty Book Murder, A Rare Book Mystery by Thomas Shawver

Auctions aren't something that a small local bookstore owner normally attends.  They don't usually have a lot of capital to invest and an auction environment might make them bid higher than they want to for the item.  However, this ad mentioned erotica and that sometimes brought in some good money...

Alibi and Net Galley let me download an ebook of this story and read it for review (thank you).  The book will be published May 6th, so you can grab a copy then.

When Michael gets to the auction, he only has a few minutes to look at what's for sale.  His competitors are there also.  When they see Japanese Shunga scrolls and a first edition of a novel by French author Colette with an inscription by Ernest Hemingway, they know the bidding is going up.  A unknown man arrives and begins bidding on the same books.  He's outdoing every bid put up no matter how high it goes.  He also takes the whole lot with him in one bulk price.  Who is he?

The plot in this story is a bit odd.  It's not just murder, there's porn, a mutiny, a father-daughter conflict, and a movie cast involved.  Michael is an interesting character.  He's not perfect but he's trying to do the right thing.  The problem is that killer is too close to him for him to see it.

This story will keep you reading and wondering just what is going to happen next.  It will be interesting to see what the author does next with Michael.