THE PAPER CAPER (BIBLIOPHILE #16)

San Francisco book-restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright is back with an intriguing new mystery in the New York Times bestselling Bibliophile Mystery series.

Joseph Cabot is a very popular wealthy San Franciscan who owns the main newspaper in town, as well as radio stations and TV. Years ago, Brooklyn’s husband Derek and his security team rescued Joseph from an assassination attempt and now the man and his wife are friendly with Derek and Brooklyn. The friendship is helped along by the fact that Joseph is a big book lover and contributes lavishly to the Covington Library. His favorite author is Mark Twain (another newspaperman) and he’s underwritten the first annual Mark Twain Festival at the Covington.

As part of the festival activities, Brooklyn will spend a few hours every day at the Library, giving demonstrations of her work at re-binding an old copy of The Prince and the Pauper. There will be events all week, all around town, celebrating the time Twain spent in the city. But the biggest event is being run by Joseph’s newspaper: a citywide contest based on The Prince and The Pauper—they want to find someone who looks like Joseph! The two men will trade places for a week as part of a huge publicity campaign to raise money for the Covington Library. But the fun turns frantic when a murder occurs right before Brooklyn’s eyes! Now Brooklyn and Derek will have to chase clues all over their beloved city to solve the murder before another death becomes front-page news.

Release Date: July 26, 2022

Bibliophile #16

Cozy Mystery

Berkley

Review copy provided by publisher

Liza's Review:

The Paper Caper is the latest book in the fantastic Bibliophile series by Kate Carlisle. I've loved this series from the very first book, and fall more in love with it with each new book. The Paper Caper kept me guessing right up until the very end.

Brooklyn and Derek are two of my favorite characters ever. I adore getting a glimpse of their lives together with each new installment in the series. Part of the reason I absolutely adore this series is the vast array of characters that pop up in each and every book. With The Paper Caper, we met a friend of Derek's for what seemed like the first time, and he was such a delightful person. Joseph is a very wealthy man, and yet he doesn't act like he is better than anyone else, and even has a contest giving away $100K to the person who most looks like him.

So generally, in this series, the murder occurs pretty early in the book. However, the first murder didn't occur until about partway through the book. When Joseph's butler Hobson is murdered, everything to do with the Festival gets a bit more complicated. Derek and his team have all hands-on deck to protect Joseph and the contest winner Tom following Hobson's murder. I want to say that I figured out the person behind everything, but Ms. Carlisle totally kept me guessing with this story. I keep reading these books because I find the series so charming. I love learning more about the book binding business in each new book, and the cast of characters in this series are so delightful, I want to spend more time with them. The Paper Caper was a really great addition to the Bibliophile series. I can't wait to read the book in this series!

Rating: 4 Stars (B+)