The third book in an amazing series that features crime à la library at America’s most famous institution of higher reading. A note from bartender Brian McNulty, Raymond Ambler’s friend, confidant, and sometimes adviser, sets the librarian sleuth off on a murder investigation, one that he pursues reluctantly until a second murder upends the world as he knows it. The second victim is a lady … victim is a lady friend of McNulty’s–and the prime suspect is McNulty himself.
As Ambler pursues his investigation, he discovers that the murdered woman had a double life. Her intermittent visits to the city–a whirlwind of reckless drinking and illicit liaisons with men she met in the cocktail lounges–had their counterpart in suburban Fairfield County Connecticut where, as Dr. Sandra Dean, she practiced dermatology and lived in a gated community with a doting husband and a young daughter.
While Ambler looks into the past of Dr. Sandra Dean to understand the murder of Shannon Darling in the present, NYPD homicide detective Mike Cosgrove investigates the men in Shannon Darling’s life. She might have been murdered because she frustrated the wrong man. It could have been a jealous wife. In fact, any number of people might have murdered Shannon Darling. Or, as Ambler suspects, did someone murder Dr. Sandra Dean?
Yet, no matter which way he turns, McNulty emerges as a suspect. Ambler’s dilemma seems insurmountable: Should he keep searching for the truth behind the murders if the deeper he probes, the more evidence he finds that points to the morally rumpled bartender as a murderer?
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I enjoyed a story which has a mild-mannered amateur detective in the plot. I also thought the other characters were interesting. However, much of the interaction between the characters was very subtle so it took me a while to discover what the relationship was between them.
I used the word subtle previously and I think it’s the right terminology to use for the whole story. This was a plot that you really had to pay attention in order to create your own mental image of what was happening. I wouldn’t say any of this was bad; more like a mystery for intellectuals. Or maybe you might call it a “softcore” mystery genre.
I’m not familiar with the LeHane books and I must admit I was a little confused at first. I think it was because there were a lot of side stories or subplots going on at the time. Maybe it was more that I was not used to LeHane’s writing style or possibly it’s not wise to read this as a stand-alone. Nonetheless, it was still an enjoyable book worth my reading time.
This is Book 3 in a series titled “The 42nd Street Library Mysteries” . Con Lehane also has another series called “Bartender Brian McNulty Mysteries”. Be sure to check them out.
Raymond, a librarian in the crime fiction reading room of the 42nd Street Library in New York City, is intrigued by Shannon, a woman using resources in the crime fiction section. Shannon doesn’t appear to be an experienced researcher and it seems she was fibbing during the Special Collections screening interview. Ray and Adele, his friend and co-worker, quickly become immersed in a murder investigation when a body is found in Shannon’s hotel room and she and their friend McNulty disappear, presumably together, implicating them in the murder.
I love mysteries that center libraries. Ray is very cerebral and I enjoyed that his investigations didn’t turn toward the stereotypical strong-arm, alpha male tactics you see not infrequently in mysteries/thrillers. Mike, a cop, and Adele, have occasional point of view chapters which help round out the story. The storyline involves investigating Shannon’s past/current lovers and there are some misogynistic comments from those characters; I appreciated that Adele’s perspective in particular provided some balance in opposition to that. I also liked the way the book ended, with no one morphing into a superhero as happens too often during book climaxes.
Although this book can be read as a standalone I believe it would be best to read the series in order to understand the character relationships and backstories.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC. The opinions in this review are honest and my own. #MurderOffThePage #mystery
Raymond is a librarian working in the crime fiction section of the 42nd street branch of the New York library. Sounds like a nice safe job, to be surrounded by books of the criminal sort.. He works with Adele who is more than just a co-worker. He manages to balance his job, his love life, his family life and his relationships with friends very well…..most of the time, as this new mystery by con Lehane shows us. We meet Raymond in the library delivering some research materials to a woman who, it seems, has no experience in doing research in a library. He has crossed paths with her before, at his favorite haunt, the Library Tavern. It was a memorable encounter on several levels, not the least of which was the fact that she managed to break his very, very new reading glasses. (They are now held together with electrical tape.) One thing leads to another and Raymond is thrust into another murder mystery, this one centering on the mysterious lady in the library and her connection to his friend, bartender Brian McNulty. She was not who she appeared to be, having two very different identities. How does her researching the journals of a mystery writer, Jayne Galloway progress to the death of a man in her hotel room, then her death and Brian in jail, accused of murder? I won’t say any more for fear of spoilers slipping out.
This is the third in the series and can easily be enjoyed as a stand alone. The puzzle is full of twists, turns and red herrings and had me engaged to the last page. I hope I don’t have to wait too long for book #4.