First published 2004
Denver police officer Cliff Janeway knows books as well as he knows crime. When bookscout Bobby Westfall turns up murdered on Friday the thirteenth, dumped under a ladder in a dark alley, Janeway suspects he knows the killer. Bobby had a gift for finding valuable first editions hidden among ordinary collections. He could spot a thousand dollar Raymond Chandler or recognize that some Stephen King firsts outvalue Mark Twain editions. Now someone has killed him for it. Later, as an ex-cop running a rare book shop, Janeway takes a case involving a stolen 1969 Grayson Press edition of Poe's The Raven. The book may not exist according to official records, but if it does, collectors would pay a fortune. A young woman fugitive allegedly stole it during a burglary in Taos. Janeway travels to Seattle to find her, drawn by the mystery of the book but compelled to stay by her story and the tragic history of the small press that created beautiful volumes from paper and ink.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, books-about-books
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, investigation
Setting: Denver, Seattle, Taos
Period: 20th-century
704 pages · Hardcover · Scribner