First published 1992
Denver police officer Cliff Janeway collects books with the same intensity he brings to solving murders. His apartment overflows with volumes, and he knows that a Stephen King first edition commands the same price as Mark Twain, while Raymond Chandler's Lady in the Lake fetches nearly a thousand dollars. When bookscout Bobby Westfall turns up dead in an alley on Friday the thirteenth, Janeway suspects flashy businessman Jackie Newton. Newton despises drifters and has dodged murder charges in New Jersey and California. Janeway nearly nailed him before, but his key witness backed down. Now the detective sees another shot at the man who has become his obsession. Bobby made his living hunting valuable books hidden among ordinary collections, earning just enough to feed himself and his cats. His death on the most superstitious night possible seems like cruel irony for such a superstitious man. As Janeway digs deeper into the case, he discovers that the rare book trade holds secrets that will shake both his career and his personal world.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: investigation, obsession
Setting: Denver
Period: 20th-century
321 pages · Hardcover · Charles Scribner’s Sons