PERIL IN PAPERBACK, Book 7 of the New York Times bestselling series Bibliophile Mysteries (August 7), returns us to the not-so-rarefied world of professional bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright. Brooklyn is surrounded by a quirky cast of characters, including today’s featured guest, Suzie Stein. Suzie and her partner Vinnie live next door to Brooklyn in her San Francisco condo. On this particular day, Suzie has received a very disturbing piece of mail…
“Oh, hell,” I muttered under my breath as I read the invitation.
Vinnie, used to my muttering, didn’t even look up from the sketch she was working on. But this was news I couldn’t let her ignore.
“Aunt Grace is having a birthday party,” I told her. Warned her. “For a week.”
“A weeklong birthday party?” Vinnie’s voice shot up. She has a beautiful, expressive face, with skin the color of steeped tea and deep brown Indian eyes that hold the truth of the world. Right now, her face was expressing distaste. “Typical.”
Grace gets on Vinnie’s nerves, and I can’t exactly blame her. I mean, I love my aunt, but the woman defines eccentric. And that’s coming from a lesbian chainsaw artist, so you know, I’m not exactly “normal,” myself. Aunt Grace is something like a kazillionaire. When she was younger, she designed this video game that really took off. She sold the company a while ago, and now she’s living in a mansion up in Tahoe. Vinnie says Grace is self-indulgent, with all the extra “features” she put in the mansion – trap doors, walls that move, lots of other little surprises for her unsuspecting guests. Vinnie says Grace should’ve used her money to do some good in the world… but I don’t think it would bother her quite as much if she hadn’t been caught in one of Grace’s traps last time we visited.
She was not as amused as I was.
“She invited Brooklyn,” I told her.
“She did not!”
Before I could respond, Vinnie rushed out to the hall and knocked on Brooklyn’s door. Her delicate fist sounded like a woodpecker against the wood – ratta-tatta-tatta. As I passed the table, I glanced at her sketch. Another baby. I so did not want to have that conversation again.
Brooklyn Wainwright answered the door holding the same invitation I had in my hand. She’s blond. Cute but surprisingly flaky, given that she’s one of the most renowned experts in her field. She’s a bookbinder. In her own way, she’s just as much of an artist as I am, so I guess I ought to cut her some slack for being a little forgetful sometimes… even if she did almost starve my cats.
Most people are intimidated when they meet me. I’m kind of butch, and my work makes my muscles pretty fierce looking. But Brooklyn takes people as they come. She grew up on a commune, and I suppose that exposed her to people a lot weirder than me because she jumped right from neighbor to friend without any hesitation.
“You do not have to attend this party if you don’t want to,” Vinnie assured her.
“It sounds fun,” Brooklyn said, glancing at me.
“It will be,” I said over Vinnie’s objections. “Grace goes all out for her birthday. About a dozen people are coming, and she has lots of fun surprises planned for us.”
“Dangerous surprises,” Vinnie said.
“I want to go.” Brooklyn showed Vinnie the handwritten note inside her card. “She asked me to bring my tools!”
Vinnie knew when she was defeated. Grace waved the magic carrot in front of Brooklyn’s nose – she had books that needed restoration. Brooklyn could never resist a book in need.
Vinnie’s voice dropped, and it was her turn to mutter. “I have a very bad feeling about this.”
FOR VINNIE’S POINT OF VIEW STOP BY KILLER CHARACTERS www.killercharacters.com TODAY!
** Thanks to the publisher, I have one (1) copy of PERIL IN PAPERBACK to give away. Contest open to residents of the US only. Contest ends August 17. Leave a valid-email address with your comment. The book will be shipped directly from the publisher. **
Meet the author
Kate Carlisle is the New York Times bestselling author of the Bibliophile Mysteries, featuring rare book expert Brooklyn Wainwright, a heroine dubbed “brilliant, feisty and funny” by RT Book Reviews.
Visit Kate online at www.KateCarlisle.com or on Facebook.
Books are available at retail and online booksellers.
Would love to win! Sarah2323 at gmail dot com
Good luck, Sarah!
I love Brooklyn and would love to win. grammyd 01 at comcast dot net
Thank you, Deanna! So nice to hear from someone who loves Brooklyn as much as I do!
thanx for the chance to win a copy!!!
definitely on my WishList!!!
Good luck, Cyn!
I’ve read the entire series and even own one of the books in the series. I’m a greedy old woman… I want to win this one for my over crowded home library.
NoraAdrienne(at)gmail(dot)com
LOL!!! Always fun to add books to your home library! There’s no such thing as “too” overcrowded. 😉
This should be a great story with all those characters!
kpbarnett1941[at]aol.com
Thanks, Karen! With mysteries, it’s all about the characters. As you read, you have to figure out whose quirks led to murder…
I have been enjoying this whole series. Thank you for the chance to win the newest in the series.
griperang at embarqmail dot com
Thank you so much, Angela! I’m so glad you’ve been enjoying the Bibliophile Mystery series. You might enjoy the bonus content I’ve put together at http://www.pinterest.com/booksbykate You can see a lot of the scenes from the books!
Would love a copy of PERIL IN PAPERBACK—love this series.
Thank you, Cheryl, and good luck!
I haven’t read any of the books in this series. I would like to though because it sounds really good!
mittens0831 at aol dot com
Thank you so much, Carol! You should read the free excerpts on my website to dip your toe in the Bibliophile Mystery water. Here’s a link with the books listed in order, and you can read Chapter 1 of each for free: http://katecarlisle.com/books.php
Love this series!!!
nlb1050(at)yahoo(dot)com
Thank you, Nancy!!! You don’t know how glad that makes me!
A week long birthday party—I like that idea! Thanks for the contest.
suefarrell.farrell@gmail.com
Wouldn’t that be fun?! I mean, of course, as long as no one died. 😉 Good luck, Sue!
This book sounds great!
wfnren(at)aol(dot)com
Thank you, Wendy! You can read Chapter 1 for free at http://www.katecarlisle.com!
I’ve bought the first book in this series and would love to have a copy of this one. Thanks for the contest. grandmabkr at yahoo dot com
Thank you, Brenda! I always love hearing from a new fan of the Bibliophile Mystery series. Good luck in the contest!
You had me at “lesbian chainsaw artist.” : ) I love good humor!
LOL!!! Suzie and Vinnie are such fabulous characters. I love them, and I was thrilled to give them a bigger role in PERIL IN PAPERBACK than they’ve had in previous books. They’re in for a big surprise!
I haven’t read #7 yet and I am already eager for #8 in this series.
LOL, Barbara! PERIL IN PAPERBACK is Bibliophile Mystery 6. I don’t count the PAGES OF SIN eNovella as a full-length book. It’s more like 4.5.
I can’t wait to see what happens at this party especially if Brooklyn is involved. It’s great that we’ll see more of Suzie and Vinnie. Thanks Kate for dropping by with words from Suzie and Vinnie over at Killer Characters. Have you guys stopped by there as well?
Thank you sooooo much again for hosting me here today, Dru! You always have such a lively, fun group of followers. Great to visit!
Wow! A week long birthday party, only a cozy author could think of that. Haven’t had a chance to read anything by this author but I would love it.
CarolNWong(at)aol(dot)com
PERIL IN PAPERBACK is my homage to the great Agatha Christie, Carol, with a group of strangers trapped together in a mansion during a snowstorm. One of them is a killer… but which one?
this is one of my favorite series…. Go glad that there’s a new one!
alicia
afarage(at)earthlink(dot)net
Thank you so much, Alicia!!!! That’s sooooo nice to hear!
This sounds like a fun new series to jump into!
pauley(dot)beth(at)gmail(dot)com
I hope you’ll love the Bibliophile Mystery series, Beth!
A book in need, indeed. I need this book, please put me in the draw. Thanks. judydee22002@yahoo dot com
Good luck, Judy!
Thank you so much for a wonderful day! I had a great time. Best of luck to everyone in the drawing!
I love this series. Brooklyn is one of my favorite protagonist. Looking forward to this latest adventure in the series. Thanks for the giveaway!
Scouts579(at)aol(dot)com
Congrats on the book! Very nice excerpt.
bn100candg(at)hotmail(dot)com
This is a great series and I love the cross promotion. I didn’t know about Killer Characters.
Hope I win!
What a great review – I haven’t read any of the books in this series – but I am going to look them up now. Thanks!
kayswederski at yahoo dot com
Here are your random numbers:
3
Timestamp: 2012-08-17 20:33:34 UTC
contest is closed
Congrats to Cyn