From Publishers Weekly
In Sansom's wry second mystery to feature Northern Ireland mobile librarian Israel Armstrong (after
The Case of the Missing Books), Israel is suspected of robbing and kidnapping a local department store magnate, the titular Mr. Dixon, who dabbled in the magical arts. To clear his name, Israel must penetrate the bizarre world of Ulster magic. Dixon's wife seems curiously unmoved by her husband's absence, but perhaps all the alcohol she swills is masking her true emotions. If this isn't enough to ruin Israel's week, Linda, his boss at the mobile library, learns that Israel's been digging into the petty cash to pay his friend (and love interest), Rosie, to work for a few hours each week. Linda suspends him, and Rosie, who had thought her job was on the up and up, gets steamed about Israel's patronizing deception. Readers will enjoy the snappy dialogue and wacky cast of characters, particularly the lovable and winsome Israel.
(July) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
In
The Case of the Missing Books (2007), the first installment in the Mobile Library series, Sansom overcame a paper-thin plot with scene after hilarious scene, as Israel Armstrong, the unlikely librarian of Tumdrum, Northern Ireland, tried to both adapt to village life and solve the titular crime. With the second installment, the question is this: now that we're familiar with our fish-on-land protagonist, and he is familiar with the locals, will character carry the day? The plot here is just as slight (Israel is mistakenly arrested in connection with a department-store theft and the disappearance of the store's owner) and the crime solving just as haphazard (Israel's crime-novel posturing, gleaned from paperbacks, ends in pratfalls)--and yes, the whole affair feels a bit lacking. Sansom can still be awfully funny, but even readers who love a put-on may start longing for him to develop some plotting chops. It's one thing to pull a beard; it's something else entirely to grow one yourself.
Keir GraffCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
