Sure to please fans of Lawrence Block, John Dunning, and Christopher Fowler, the new Rare Book Mystery plunges readers into a centuries-old struggle of blood, faith, family, and revenge. In 1844, Joseph Smith, the Mormon prophet, died at the hands of an angry mob who stormed his jail cell in Carthage, Illinois. Shortly after, a radical faction of Smith's followers swore to avenge Smith's death by killing not only the four men deemed most responsible, but to teach their heirs to eliminate future generations of the prophet's murderers as well. One hundred and seventy years later, rare book dealer Michael Bevan is offered a valuable first-edition Book of Mormon that bears a strange inscription hinting at blood atonement. Within days of handing the book over for authentication, the volume disappears and two people lie dead. Michael soon learns that his friend Natalie Phelan, whose only crime is her genealogy, is the likely next victim. One of her would-be...

The author of The Dirty Book Murder returns to the surprisingly lethal world of rare books with a second enthralling novel featuring a most unlikely hero--antiquarian bookseller Michael Bevan. Michael Bevan is barely scraping by with his used bookstore and rare book collection when he discovers a timeworn journal that may change everything. Dating back to 1768, the tattered diary appears to be a chronicle kept during the first of legendary seafarer Captain James Cook's three epic voyages through the Pacific islands. If it's as valuable as Mike thinks it is, its sale may just bring enough to keep his faltering used bookstore afloat for another year. Then he meets a pair of London dealers with startling news: Adrian Hart and Penelope Wilkes claim to possess the journal of Cook's second voyage. Is it possible a third diary exists? One which might detail Cook's explosive final voyage--and his death at the hands of native Hawaiians? Together,...

In this smart, fast-paced mystery debut, Thomas Shawver introduces a charming, unlikely hero from the rarefied world of antique books.Book merchant Michael Bevan arrives at the Kansas City auction house hoping to uncover some hidden literary gold. Though the auction ad had mentioned erotica, Michael is amazed to find lovely Japanese Shunga scrolls and a first edition of a novel by French author Colette with an inscription by Ernest Hemingway. This one item alone could fetch a small fortune in the right market. As Michael and fellow dealer Gareth Hughes are warming up for battle, a stranger comes out of nowhere and outbids them--to the tune of sixty grand. But Gareth is unwilling to leave the auction house empty-handed, so he steals two volumes, including the Colette novel. When Gareth is found dead the next day, Michael quickly becomes the prime suspect: Not only had the pair been tossed out of a bar mid-fistfight the night before, but there is evidence...