Tina Barr, a conservator of rare books and maps, has been assaulted in her New York City apartment by a man in a fireman’s uniform and mask. Assistant District Attorney Alexandra Cooper, from the DA’s office of Sex Crimes Prosecution Unit, has been summoned, although the police are not sure if Tina’s assault was sexual. Tina is clearly terrified but refuses to cooperate with Cooper.
The next day, a body is found in Tina’s apartment with an extremely valuable rare book. It is not Tina who has been murdered, but someone who looks like Tina’s landlady, Minerva Hunt. Cooper learns that Hunt’s father is a passionate collector of rare books and maps who once employed Tina. Cooper believes there must be a connection between the Hunts and the assault Tina endured the day before. She is further convinced when Tina is later found murdered in Bryant Park, next to the New York Public Library where she worked in the library’s underground conservation laboratory doing free-lance work. In the course of the investigation, Cooper interviews influential benefactors to the library and learns of family rivalries among rich “bibliomaniacs” who have nothing better to do than collect rare books and maps and play power games with each other.
I can’t say that the novel was great as a mystery/thriller — the characters were just as one-dimensional and the resolution just as contrived as in many best sellers — but I absolutely loved reading about the New York Public Library and about the rare books.
According to reviews of her other books, Fairstein packs a lot of interesting facts into her novels, and reading this was an entertaining way to learn about the history of the library and about tunnels and chambers in the library that the public does not see. The premise of this taking place in the NYPL was irresistible. This is Fairstein’s eleventh thriller with Alex Cooper. I have not read her others. I may now read some of her previous books, especially if she packs as much interesting information about the settings as she did in this.
Check the WRL catalog for Lethal Legacy
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