The Bookman's Wake by John Dunning -- BOOK BEGINNINGS

 

BOOK BEGINNINGS ON FRIDAYS

The Bookman's Wake by John Dunning

Thank you for joining me this week for Book Beginnings on Fridays where participants share the opening sentence (or two) from the book they are reading. You can also share from a book you want to feature, even if you are not reading it at the moment. 

MY BOOK BEGINNING

The man in St. Louis died sometime during the afternoon, as near as the coroner could figure it.

-- from The Bookman's Wake by John Dunning. This is the second book in Dunning's Cliff Janeway mystery series, featuring a Denver cop turned rare book dealer. I read the third book in the series, The Bookman's Promise, years ago and remembered liking it. That was back in the happy-go-lucky days when I wasn't so hung up on reading series in order. I am trying to get back to that approach. 

The Bookman's Wake involves the theft of a rare edition of "The Raven" by Edgar Allen Poe and a bail-jumping young women suspected of the theft. A mystery and a book about books -- that's a winning combination for me.  

YOUR BOOK BEGINNING

Please add the link to your book beginning post in the linky box below. If you participate or share on social media, please use the hashtag #bookbeginnings so other people can find your post.

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THE FRIDAY 56

The Friday 56 asks participants to share a two-sentence teaser from their book of the week. If your book is an ebook or audiobook, pick a teaser from the 56% point. 

Anna at My Head is Full of Books hosts The Friday 56, a natural tie-in with Book Beginnings on Fridays. Please visit My Head is Full of Books to leave the link to your post. 

MY FRIDAY 56

-- from The Bookman's Wake:

He got a stern, fatherly look on his face and said, “I think that's a pretty nice book, sweetie, I'm gonna want twenty to thirty bucks for it." ... The next day I called my friend in Seattle and he sent me a good wholesale price, four hundred dollars.

FROM THE PUBLISHER'S DESCRIPTION

Denver cop-turned-bookdealer Cliff Janeway is lured by an enterprising fellow ex-policeman into going to Seattle to bring back a fugitive wanted for assault, burglary, and the possible theft of a priceless edition of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Raven." The bail jumper turns out to be a vulnerable young woman calling herself Eleanor Rigby, who is also a gifted book finder.

Janeway is intrigued by the woman -- and by the deadly history surrounding the rare volume. Hunted by people willing to kill for the antique tome, a terrified Eleanor escapes and disappears. To find her -- and save her -- Janeway must unravel the secrets of the book's past and its mysterious maker, for only then can he stop the hand of death from turning another page....