Today I'm joining 

Berkley Mystery

 in celebrating the release of  

LITTLE BLACK BOOK

Book 15 in the Bibliophile Mysteries

by Kate Carlisle

San Francisco book-restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright is on the case when a rare edition of Rebecca leads to murder in this latest installment of the New York Times bestselling Bibliophile Mystery series.

Brooklyn and her hunky husband, security expert Derek Stone, have just returned from a delightful trip to Dharma, where the construction of their new home away from home is well underway, when a little black book arrives in the mail from Scotland. The book is a rare British first edition of Rebecca, and there’s no return address on the package. The day after the book arrives, Claire Quinn shows up at Brooklyn and Derek’s home. Brooklyn met Claire when the two women worked as expert appraisers on the television show This Old Attic. Brooklyn appraised books on the show and Claire’s expertise was in antique British weaponry, but they bonded over their shared love of gothic novels.
 
Claire reveals that during a recent trip to Scotland she discovered her beloved aunt was missing and her home had been ransacked. Among her aunt’s belongings, Claire found the receipt for the package that wound up with Brooklyn and Derek. Claire believes both her own life and her aunt’s are in danger and worries that her past may be coming back to haunt her.
 
But just as Brooklyn and Derek begin to investigate, a man who Claire thinks was following her is found murdered, stabbed with a priceless jeweled dagger. With a death on their doorstep, Brooklyn and Derek page through the little black book, where they discover clues that will take them to the shadows of a medieval Scottish castle on the shores of Loch Ness. Under the watchful gaze of a mysterious laird and the irascible villagers who are suspicious of the strangers in their midst, Brooklyn and Derek must decode the secrets in Rebecca to keep their friend’s past from destroying their future....

It’s All about the Book

By Kate Carlisle, author of Little Black Book

Kate Carlisle is the New York Times bestselling author of two ongoing series: the Bibliophile Mysteries featuring San Francisco bookbinder Brooklyn Wainwright, whose rare book restoration skills uncover old secrets, treachery and murder; and the Fixer-Upper Mysteries (as seen on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries), featuring Shannon Hammer, a home contractor who discovers not only skeletons in her neighbors' closets, but murder victims, too.

When I sit down to start writing a new Bibliophile Mystery, I almost always start with the rare book at the center of the murder. For those who aren’t familiar, my heroine Brooklyn Wainwright is a bookbinder and a reluctant

amateur sleuth. She doesn’t want to keep finding dead bodies. She doesn’t want to solve murders. . . but someone’s got to do it. And when the murders are motivated by priceless first editions, Brooklyn is uniquely qualified.

The book at the center of the mystery is not an afterthought; it’s the first thing I need to nail down before I can start plotting the story. The modern-day mystery echoes the themes of whatever rare book Brooklyn is reviving—mood, setting, plot points, characters. It’s an extra layer of fun for readers to spot those connections as they read.

I’ve been a huge fan of Daphne Du Maurier’s gothic mysteries since I first stumbled on Rebecca as a teenager in a used bookstore. DuMaurier seduced me with the first line. Last night I dreamt I went to Manderley again.

Gets me every time!

In Little Black Book, my new Bibliophile Mystery, a first edition of Rebecca lands mysteriously on the San Franciscan doorstep of Brooklyn and her husband, Derek Stone, a British security expert, with no note and an anonymous return address from Inverness, Scotland.

Here’s a sneak peek:

Opening the book to the title page, I studied the information written there. “Derek, it’s a British first edition. First printing. 1938.” I turned the page. “And look. It’s signed by Daphne du Maurier.” I looked up at him. “Wow.”

“That is impressive,” he said with a nod.

“I’ll go through it more thoroughly later, but overall the book appears to be in very good condition. And that signature raises its value significantly.” I smiled. “Someone must like you a lot.”

“I’m a likeable fellow.” But his eyes narrowed slightly and that wonderful mouth turned grim as he pondered where the book had come from. He pushed the sleeves of his navy sweater up to his elbows and leaned against the table. “Is there a card or something inside the book that indicates who sent it? And why?”

While Derek studied the front of the manila envelope, I carefully leafed through the book, then held it upside down, gently fanning the pages open so that anything that might’ve been slipped inside would fall out. But there was nothing. “Is there anything else inside the envelope?”

He checked it thoroughly. “Nothing.”

“So it’s a mystery,” I said.

He raised an eyebrow. “Just what we need. Another mystery.”

Soon, a beautiful, haunted woman will appear on their doorstep just as mysteriously, looking for a package her beloved aunt sent to Derek immediately before she disappeared. As always, it all comes down to a book.

I’m looking for inspiration, so tell me—what are some of your favorite classic novels that I could feature in an upcoming Bibliophile Mystery?

 To get a limited edition signed bookplate, register your purchase of Little Black Book in the Secret Room at KateCarlisle.com! While supplies last.

ABOUT LITTLE BLACK BOOK

San Francisco book-restoration expert Brooklyn Wainwright is on the case when a rare edition of Rebecca leads to murder in this latest installment of the New York Times bestselling Bibliophile Mystery series.

Brooklyn and her hunky husband, security expert Derek Stone, have just returned from a delightful trip to Dharma, where the construction of their new home away from home is well underway, when a little black book arrives in the mail from Scotland. The book is a rare British first edition of Rebecca, and there’s no return address on the package. The day after the book arrives, Claire Quinn shows up at Brooklyn and Derek’s home. Brooklyn met Claire when the two women worked as expert appraisers on the television show This Old Attic. Brooklyn appraised books on the show and Claire’s expertise was in antique British weaponry, but they bonded over their shared love of gothic novels.

Claire reveals that during a recent trip to Scotland she discovered her beloved aunt was missing and that her home had been ransacked. Among her aunt’s belongings, Claire found the receipt for the package that wound up with Brooklyn and Derek. Claire believes both her own life and her aunt’s are in danger and worries that some complications from her past are coming back to haunt her.

But just as Brooklyn and Derek begin to investigate, a man who Claire thinks was following her is found murdered, stabbed with a priceless jeweled dagger. With a death on their doorstep, Brooklyn and Derek page through the little black book where they discover clues that will take them to the shadows of a medieval Scottish castle on the shores of Loch Ness. Under the watchful gaze of a mysterious laird and the irascible villagers who are suspicious of the strangers in their midst, Brooklyn and Derek must decode the secrets in Rebecca to keep their friend’s past from destroying their future....

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Murder by the Book - https://bit.ly/3rH3Yj4

Mystery Lovers Bookshop - http://bit.ly/3hyI1hC

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