If Books Could Kill by Kate Carlisle

I picked this up while randomly walking through the central library. I like mysteries, and I like books, so obviously I was going to take a "gamble" and read this.

When I cracked open the book, the first line made me smile and put me in a good mood for the rest of the book:

"If my life were a book, I would have masking tape holding my hinges together. My pages would be loose, my edges tattered and my boards exposed, the front flyleaf torn and the leather mottled and moth eaten, I'd have to take myself apart and put myself together, as any good book restoration expert would do."

For some reason, that paragraph made me so happy I enjoyed the whole book. Then I started thinking about it.

If Books Could Kill follows book restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright at the Edinburgh Book Fair. After she's shown a controversial book, the guy that shows it to her is found murdered. So you would expect looks of bookish-related things in this book right?

But no.

First off, the controversy was not something I understood. But then again, I'm not British, so I suspect that's only natural (it involves the past of the British monarchy).

But more importantly, the bookish aspect was minimal. In fact, this felt like a romance-mystery book. The whole book has Brooklyn getting into trouble, and various men get her out of it. Along the way, there's a secret wife, the police inspector likes her friend, and a catty rival shows up. Not much bookish stuff in here, apart from two seminars and a contest that I didn't even know she entered. It was more like a series of events that resulted in the murderer revealing himself to her, rather than her deducing who it was (she doesn't actually figure out anything).

So while this was a fun book, don't go into this expecting a strong bookish aspect. If you like romance with a bumbling heroine that always gets into trouble, then this will be the book for you. If you want conspiracy and mystery and murder, you may be disappointed.