Part of Alexandra Cooper, book 11
First published 2009
Assistant District Attorney Alex Cooper arrives at Tina Barr's Upper East Side apartment expecting a straightforward assault case. Instead she finds a terrified rare books conservator who refuses to talk and a neighbor insisting something terrible happened. When another woman turns up murdered in the same apartment alongside a stolen book of extraordinary value, Cooper realizes she's dealing with something far more complex than a simple crime. The investigation pulls Cooper into the rarified world of the Hunt family, wealthy New York Public Library patrons who collect priceless manuscripts. Their family feuds center around a unique edition of Alice in Wonderland that contains the world's oldest map. Cooper must determine whether one of these cultured benefactors would commit murder for literary treasure. Her search leads from Manhattan's most exclusive residences into the library's hidden passages and forgotten chambers, finally ending in a nineteenth century underground vault where Cooper confronts a killer who puts profit above human life.
Genres: fiction, mystery, crime, thriller
Vibes: fast-paced, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: amateur-sleuth, investigation
Setting: New York, New York Public Library, Upper East Side
Period: 19th-century
384 pages · Hardcover · Doubleday