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+) 

THE GRIM READER (BIBLIOPHILE MYSTERY #14)

San Francisco book-restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright was hoping for a fun, relaxing weekend at a local book fair, but a murderer made other plans in the latest in this New York Times bestselling series.

Brooklyn and her new hunky husband, Derek, are excited to be guests at Dharma’s first annual Book Festival. The entire town is involved and Brooklyn’s mom Rebecca is taking charge. In addition to all of her other event related duties, she’s got Brooklyn doing rare book appraisals and is also staging Little Women, the musical to delight the festival goers. If that wasn’t enough, she and Meg—Derek’s mom—will have a booth where they read palms and tarot cards.

Brooklyn couldn’t be prouder of her mom’s do-it-all attitude so when a greedy local businessman who seems intent on destroying Dharma starts harassing Rebecca, Brooklyn is ready to take him down. Rebecca is able to hold her own with the nasty jerk until one of her fellow festival committee members is brutally murdered and the money for the festival seems to have vanished into thin air. 

Things get even more personal when one of Brooklyn’s nearest and dearest is nearly run down in cold blood. Brooklyn and Derek go into attack mode and the pressure is on to catch a spineless killer before they find themselves skipping the festival for a funeral. 

Release Date: June 23, 2020

Berkley Penguin Publishing House

Bibliophile Mystery #14

Cozy Mystery

Review copy provided by publisher

Liza's Review:

The Grim Reader was another winner in the Bibliophile series from Kate Carlisle. I've loved this series from the moment I read the first book featuring Brooklyn Wainwright. I love books, so it isn't surprising how much I love reading about a character that works with restoring books all day. Add in Brooklyn's hunky husband Derek and all of her family in Dharma, and I was hooked from the very first page.

I love each new adventure with Brooklyn and Derek, and love even more when we get time with their families. I have mad love for their parents and their siblings. The town of Dharma is also another character in itself, and I wish it was real so I could visit it. Brooklyn is usually the one to find all the dead bodies in this series, and I loved the switch up where instead it was Brooklyn's mom and Derek's mom finding the dead body. Brooklyn is always protective of her friends and family, but I loved she was in overdrive mode to solve this murder since their moms were involved. 

I can usually follow the trail a bit better than I did with The Grim Reader. I tend to figure out the who done it before Brooklyn and Derek announce it. Ms. Carlisle totally kept me guessing this time, and I loved it. Seriously, even knowing all the clues were there all along, I was still surprised. The Bibliophile books are my favorite cozy mystery series of books. I usually not only read, but listen to the audiobook from the library as well. Fourteen books into this series and I still check for the next book in the series several times a year. Fans of cozy mysteries should totally check this series out! I promise you won't be disappointed at all!

Rating: 4 Stars (B) 

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THE BOOK SUPREMACY (BIBLIOPHILE MYSTERY #13)

In the latest in this New York Times bestselling series, San Francisco book restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright investigates a mysterious spy novel and a string of murders... 

Newlyweds Brooklyn and Derek are enjoying the final days of their honeymoon in Paris. As they're browsing the book stalls along the river, they bump into an old friend from Derek's spy days, Ned, and Brooklyn finds the perfect gift for Derek, an old first edition copy of a James Bond novel, The Spy Who Loved Me.

Once they're back home in San Francisco, they visit a spy shop Ned told them about. Owen, the owner, is thrilled to see his old buddy Derek. Brooklyn tells Owen about the spy novel she found in Paris and Owen begs them to let him display the book as part of the shop's first anniversary celebration. Brooklyn is hesitant--she's shocked to find that the book is valuable!--so before agreeing, Derek checks out Owen's security system and finds it acceptable.

Derek is dismayed when he receives a mysterious letter from Paris announcing the death of Ned. Then late one night, someone is killed inside the spy shop. Is the writer's murder connected to Brooklyn's valuable book? Is there something even more sinister afoot? The police are called in, but Owen begs Derek to look into it as well. Little do Brooklyn and Derek realize how deeply they will have to delve into Derek's past in order to unmask an enemy who's been waiting for the chance to destroy everything they hold dear.

Release Date: June 4, 2019

Berkley Penguin Group

Bibliophile Mystery #13

Cozy Mystery

Review copy provided by publisher

Liza's Review:

Kate Carlisle once again pulled me in from the first page with The Book Supremacy. It picks up on Brooklyn and Derek's honeymoon in their final days in Paris. I loved getting to meet some people from Derek's past, and I also loved Brooklyn found the perfect gift for Derek in The Spy Who Loved Me. Of course anytime Brooklyn finds an amazing book, you know if will also figure into their latest mystery.

I really enjoyed this latest installment into the Bibliophile series. I loved that Brooklyn and Derek as always got to work together to solve the latest mystery, and for once it was more about Derek's past and presence than Brooklyn's. While we only had limited time with Brooklyn's family, I have to say they always bring a smile to my face when I see we get to spend time with them. I absolutely loved getting to know some of Derek's current work colleagues and hope we spend more time with them in the future. I had my suspensions as to who was behind everything, and while I had guessed the individual, I was so off on the why. 

 I love a good mystery that makes me think outside the box, and Kate Carlisle tends to do this with each of her stories. Ms. Carlisle is one of my go-to authors for cozy mysteries, and I have to say her Bibliophile series of books remain my absolute favorite series of books in the cozy mystery genre.

Rating: 4 Stars (B+)

BURIED IN BOOKS (BIBLIOPHILE MYSTERY #12)

In the latest in this New York Times bestselling series, matrimony and murder collide as San Francisco book-restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright walks down the aisle. . .

Brooklyn has done everything she can to prepare for her nuptials with Derek and simply can't wait to start her new life with him. But things don't go as planned when Brooklyn's college frenemies, Heather and Sara, surprise her with a last-minute bridal shower. However, Brooklyn is touched when the women gift her rare copies of The Three Musketeers and The Red Fairy Book.

When one frenemy is found murdered and one of the rare books is deemed a forgery, Brooklyn can't help but wonder if the victim played a part in this fraud or if a murderer is still out there scamming and killing. Wedding jitters, counterfeit books, and a killer on the loose could ruin Brooklyn and Derek's big day. Can they make it down the aisle before more bodies start stacking up?

Release Date: June 26, 2018

Berkley Books/Dreamscape Media 

Bibliophile Mystery #12

Cozy Mystery

Review copy provided by publisher

Liza's Review:

The Bibliophile books remain some of my favorite cozy mysteries ever. I know I'm in for a treat as soon as I start reading each book and I love I learn a little about history in each new book as well. With Buried in Books, we were finally getting the payoff of Brooklyn and Derek's wedding and it was so worth the wait.

I was pulled into Brooklyn and Derek's world once again from the very first page. I enjoy the mysteries in each story as they aren't overly gory yet keep me wanting to figure everything out before Brooklyn and Derek can. As it is Brooklyn and Derek's wedding week, I of course hoped they could keep the murders away from their happy day, but no way murder isn't going to continue to follow them around.  Sadly just as Brooklyn is reconnecting with 2 best friends from college, she finds Sara dead, which puts Brooklyn in the middle of yet another murder case.

I found Buried in Books to be a very fast-paced read that kept me guessing almost right until the end. I say guessing as I'd figured out part of the puzzle but not everything. I love we got to spend time with so much of Brooklyn's family in this book as well. I seriously have mad love for both Brooklyn's and Derek's parents and when the 2 moms get together; there is nothing but laughter from me. I love the amount of humor mixed in with each book as it keep them from being too dark and the romance between Derek and Brooklyn is always spot on. 

Buried in Books was another winner in the Bibliophile series for me. Twelve books in and I'm still loving the stories and anxiously awaiting each new release. I can't wait to see where Ms. Carlisle takes this series in the future.

Rating: 5 Stars (B+)