The Bookwoman's Last Fling

John Dunning

Cliff Janeway is in Idaho. He has been contacted to appraise the book collection that is part of an estate of H.R. Geiger, a horse trainer. The books belonged to his wife Candice who had died many years earlier. When Janeway arrives, he learns that he not only is to appraise the current worth, but see if he can discover what is missing from prior inventories.

The woman had collected children's books since she was a child. She had rare and special books. Her collection was kept in good shape, stored properly and treated with care. And it is obvious that there are books missing. Some have been replaced by copies that are not worth what the original is. Others have been replaced by holes on the shelf.

Janeway soon learns there are family troubles in the Geiger family. Candice was his second wife who had died from allergic reaction. His sons are from his first marriage. His daughter is from his second marriage. Upon her mother's death, Sharon Geiger had inherited part of the collection. Janeway visits her to learn more.

What Janeway discovers sends him in a new direction. Candice may have been murdered. Somehow the tale is tied up in horse racing so Janeway becomes a racing stables worker as he delves into the mystery. The search for the answer of the stolen books unwitting leads him into a murder investigation. If he digs too far, he'll be the next victim.

John Dunning's books pull me back into his world every time. Cliff Janeway is not only a bibliophile, but also, and primarily, a detective who would like to be a cop again. The Bookwoman's Last Fling takes the reader out of the book world into the racing stables and world of horses. The characters feel like people I could meet in the right circumstances.

The twists and turns of The Bookwoman's Last Fling keep the reader guessing. The first third of the book builds slowly; it kept losing my interest. Some of the key characters aren't introduced until later in the book (or so we think - we are talking about an excellent mystery writer...). By the end I was reading as quickly as possible to see what was going to happen.

The Series:

Booked to Die
A Bookman's Wake
A Bookman's Promise
The Sign of the Book
The Bookwoman's Last Fling