Booked to Die

Rating:
Summary: A terrific hard-boiled detective story for bibliophiles
Review: Cliff Janeway is a Denver detective who is extremely passionate about books. When a bookscout is murdered, Janeway is put on the case and he begins investigating the Denver antiquarian book community. Janeway ultimately ends up leaving the police force after tangling one too many times with an old enemy, and he opens a book store, though he continues to investigate the bookscout's murder. Along the way, Janeway encounters a number of fascinating characters, all of whom are involved in some way in the book trade.

At its heart, this is a `hard-boiled" detective story, and Janeway can be a bit of a thug at times, but that's part of his charm. The story is told in the first person (from Janeway's perspective, obviously), which I always enjoy. The action is pretty constant and Janeway's investigation is intelligent and doesn't insult the reader with obvious plotholes or pointless subplots. The dialogue is very natural, and often downright clever.

The cast of characters is truly outstanding and one of the greatest strengths of the book. Dunning has done a great job of crafting a Denver antiquarian book community that feels real. There are a few passages in the book describing how Janeway or one of the other characters feels about books that really hit home for me - Dunning truly "gets it" - he is clearly a bibliophile who understands what it is to genuinely *love* books.

This was the first John Dunning book I've read, but it certainly won't be my last. In fact, I liked "Booked to Die" so much that I've already bought the second Cliff Janeway novel. The book ends on a bit of a bittersweet note and I'm really looking forward to seeing how Janeway's new business and personal relationships progress. If you're a fan of detective stories and you love books, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up!

Rating:
Summary: A terrific hard-boiled detective story for bibliophiles
Review: Cliff Janeway is a Denver detective who is extremely passionate about books. When a bookscout is murdered, Janeway is put on the case and he begins investigating the Denver antiquarian book community. Janeway ultimately ends up leaving the police force after tangling one too many times with an old enemy, and he opens a book store, though he continues to investigate the bookscout's murder. Along the way, Janeway encounters a number of fascinating characters, all of whom are involved in some way in the book trade.

At its heart, this is a 'hard-boiled" detective story, and Janeway can be a bit of a thug at times, but that's part of his charm. The story is told in the first person (from Janeway's perspective, obviously), which I always enjoy. The action is pretty constant and Janeway's investigation is intelligent and doesn't insult the reader with obvious plotholes or pointless subplots. The dialogue is very natural, and often downright clever.

The cast of characters is truly outstanding and one of the greatest strengths of the book. Dunning has done a great job of crafting a Denver antiquarian book community that feels real. There are a few passages in the book describing how Janeway or one of the other characters feels about books that really hit home for me - Dunning truly "gets it" - he is clearly a bibliophile who understands what it is to genuinely *love* books.

This was the first John Dunning book I've read, but it certainly won't be my last. In fact, I liked "Booked to Die" so much that I've already bought the second Cliff Janeway novel. The book ends on a bit of a bittersweet note and I'm really looking forward to seeing how Janeway's new business and personal relationships progress. If you're a fan of detective stories and you love books, you owe it to yourself to pick this one up!

Rating:
Summary: Booked To Win!
Review: Cliff Janeway starts out as a Denver cop who loves books and winds up in this page-turner as an owner of a rare bookstore who doesn't forget his policing skills. The murders here all have to do with people in the book collecting business so booklovers get a double treat here. Although they are treated to a first class mystery, just as important is page after page of valuable information about collecting first editions. Ms. McKinley, whom Janeway has the hots for, remarks that when you buy "something unique, and pay twice what it's worth, it's a great bargain." And one of my favorite passages is about the worth of a good book. Ruby, a store-owner says: "A book has always cost about what a meal in a good restaurant costs. . . I get sick of hearing how expensive books are. Which would you rather have, a good book or a tender steak? I know what I'd take, seven days a week." I do not know one book lover who would disagree with that statement.

Mr. Dunning wastes no time in weighing in on the ongoing debate of "popular" fiction (Stephen King novels) versus the works of writers like Faulkner and Hemingway. (Remember the controversy over King's being given an award at last year's National Book Award Awards?) Janeway opines: "What the hell do I know? I sure can't explain it when a book like SALEM'S LOT goes from $10 to almost $1,000 in ten years. That's half again what a near-perfect GRAPES OF WRATH will bring, if you neeed a point of reference."

Oh, back to the story-- the plot twists and turns with surprise after surprise, right up to the last sentence of the novel.

I believe this one is a collectible.

Rating:
Summary: great Stuff for the Mystery/Bilbiophile Buff (Like Me)!~
Review: Here we have a nice tour thru the used book district of beautiful Denver, with one awful character, and many others of more than usual interest. Some nice tricks of the book trade also, though some of the values and tips are really dated with the internet now available. Still, this one's guaranteed to give you an intellectual and creepy ride, and is not to be missed!

Rating:
Summary: Thoroughly entertaining, excellent mystery
Review: In this story we are introduced to a tough homicide detective named Cliff Janeway. Cliff also has a soft side -- the side of him that has a passion for the printed word and collectible books. The story opens with an investigation of the murder of a Denver bookscout (a person who finds treasure at resale shops and Salvation Army stores, among other places, & sells it to used collectible book dealers). Cliff suspects a vicious criminal that he has been after for years, Jackie Newton. Cliff and Jackie enter a spiral that changes their lives forever. However, nothing in this book is quite as it seems .... one important part of the mystery isn't solved until the very last page!

The author made his characters thoroughly believable & thoroughly likeable. Mixed into this well written mystery are details about collectible books woven skillfully into the story.

A friend loaned me the paperback and I enjoyed it so thoroughly that I ordered the hardcover available on Amazon -- the book is that good! Buy it, if you love books as much as I do, you'll really enjoy and treasure this book!

Rating:
Summary: Read this book!
Review: John Dunning has written several fiction books, and also a couple of non-fiction books about old-time radio. He at one time was in the bookstore business, which gives him a knowledgeable insight into the world of 'Booked to Die', a story set in the world of secondhand book dealers and a book that has won the Nero Wolfe award. The 2001 paperback edition includes an update written by Dunning, which tells us what has happened since the original release of this book in 1992. Anyone who haunts used book stores and/or likes old-fashioned detective stories will love this book.

In 'Booked to Die' we find Cliff Janeway, a member of the Denver police homicide squad and a book collector, wanting nothing else but to take down his nemesis, Jackie Newton. Somebody kills Bobby the bookscout and Cliff is sure it was Jackie. He won't stop until he has pinned the murder on him. Other murders occur, Cliff thinks he has fallen in love (again), and ultimately the story is neatly tied up. This book is a hard-boiled detective story. It's simple, fast reading. I enjoyed following Cliff on his investigations, both lawful and unlawful. He's a great tough-guy.

My only complaint is that two of the four main female characters are just awful: Barbara Crowell, Jackie's current interest, says insipid things like, 'God, I hate having you hate me', and Rita McKinley, who everyone calls 'the ice lady', somehow throws all her stoicism out the window and hops into bed with Cliff. Maybe a tough-guy detective needs to bounce off characters like this, but it doesn't play well these days. On the other hand, maybe the fact that I wince is because there are, unfortunately, people out there like Barbara. I highly recommend 'Booked to Die'. Its a great book for sitting by the fire on a rainy day.

Rating:
Summary: Old-Fashioned, Hard-Boiled Mystery
Review: John Dunning, Booked to Die (Pocket, 1992)

This book's probably got a niche market in the same way that Christopher Morley's wonderful turn-of-the-century bookstore-themed mysteries did. You're going to get a lot more out of this book if you've ever trod the bibliophile's path yourself, or at least have some other kind of collecting bug in your bonnet. Otherwise, you might do well to avoid this one.

Okay, now that we've got rid of the riffraff, let's get down to brass tacks. This is a great little mystery that introduces us to Cliff Janeway, a Colorado cop who dreams of retiring from the force and opening his own rare bookstore. It doesn't matter that every other shop on the street where he wants to open his is a rare bookstore; competition doesn't apply to the types of folks who frequent rare bookstores. After all, most every copy of a rare book is different, and this gang is usually looking for that one specific typo that sets edition A apart from edition B and wants printing X; so many variables everyone's bound to hve different stock. But Janeway's bookstore dreams are a background to the novel, which is above all a mystery. There are two plotlines here. The first concerns the murder of a bookscout, onje of that class just up from the homeless who make their living buying books at Goodwill and selling them to people who know what they're worth. The second concerns a rather nasty person that Janeway's been trying to nab for years. Due to the American system of justice, the guy keeps evading capture. Everyone else in the novel wants to combine the two; they're convinced the nasty type did in the bookscout, and everyone's happy. Everyone, that is, except our fearless narrator. Things get out of hand. Complications ensue. If they didn't, it wouldn't be a mystery novel.

Where Dunning excels here is in the balance ebtween the book talk and the mystery talk. Separating the two out would make for a passable novel about the book trade (think Penelope Fitzgerald's The Bookshop as told by Mike Hammer) and a passable mystery novel (think My Gun Is Quick as told by Penelope Fitzgerald). Neither side suffers from the inclusion of the other, something which is rare indeed among novels that attempt to blend two such disparate streams of thought. Add to this Dunning's eye for detail-- the only stones that remain unturned are those necessary to set up the idea that these characters will continue on into other novels (a second Janeway novel, The Bookman's Wake, has already been published)-- and you've got a fun little read. It's not earthshaking, it doesn't break any new ground, and it's a niche. More people remember Agatha Christie than Christopher Morley, too, but that doesn't make Morley's books any less wonderful. As Morley, so Dunning. Highly recommended for those who find themselves in the first paragraph of this review. *** 1/2

Rating:
Summary: Terrific Bibliomystery
Review: There is a lot of talk among bibliophiles about this book and its subject matter. Rare books and their values are instrumental in its plot. What they leave out, however, is that this is a cracker of a good mystery.

Cliff Janeway is a cop with a problem. He knows who is pulling a string of derelict murders--his old nemesis Jackie Newton--but he can't pin the crimes on him. Up comes a new victim, a local bookscout that Janeway recognized from the street, and Janeway thinks he has Newton cold--except that Newton has an alibi in one Barbara Crowell, who was with him from 3:00 the previous afternoon.

To say much more would give too much away. But this is definitely a mystery worth reading. All the information on the book world is simply a bonus for bibliophiles.

Janeway is a very interesting character--a cop, and a book lover. The author also owned a book shop for ten years and still runs a first-edition-only business from his home.

I would recommend this book to people interested in books, but also to anyone who likes a good mystery. For once, I was satisfied with an ending.

Rating:
Summary: A treat for bibliophiles
Review: This is a thriller, yes, but what kept me on the edge of my seat was the marvelous book lore, nuggets of information about how the book world operates--or rather, how it operated at one time, before the internet.

We understand that there is a new novel in the series about to come out. This, too, has us on the edge of our seat.

Rating:
Summary: Book collectors dream!
Review: Without going into the details covered in other reviews about this well-written suspenseful mystery about a cop/book dealer, you will get a taste of the criminal world of cops, the beat, murders, etc. But the highlight is the information you will obtain about the world of dog/eat/dog world of avid first edition book collectors, dealers and scouts.

Many collectible titles are listed within the story. If you are into collecting first editions, this might give you some hints, tips, insight, etc.

Interestingly, the story takes place in Denver, in the eighties with the height of downtown Colfax avenue and its Book Row. The story is complete, plot easy to follow, proverbial nasty character is here. There isn't much rough language, it's easy on the ears and eyes. You get a good summation of the murder plot toward the end.
.......MzRizz.