The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk
Liesl, the protagonist of Eva Jurczyk’s debut literary mystery The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections (Poisoned Pen Press), leads the stereotypically quiet life of a librarian, happily remaining in the background where nobody can notice her. That is, she did until recently. Introverted and self-conscious, she’s thrown for a bit of a loop when interim directorship of the affluent university library she’s at worked for years falls on her shoulders just as she’s preparing to retire and write a book of her own.
To add weight to her own doubts about her ability to manage her sudden responsibilities, the library staff are none too happy with the new leadership arrangements. If that weren’t enough, a valuable collection of manuscripts called the Plantin, just purchased for the library and scheduled to be showcased for the wealthy donors who made the purchase possible, has gone missing.
The pressure falls on Liesl to get the library through this turmoil without too much damage to their reputation — at the very least, without letting the library sink on her watch before she can pass the reins over to someone else. But it’s hard to know what the right move is when everyone has an opinion on what happened to the Plantin and how she should be handling it.
Was the collection merely misplaced, as some are fervently insisting? Or is there a more nefarious explanation behind the loss?
The remarkable aspect of Jurczyk’s novel turns out to be the plot itself, which is deserving of significant accolades. The solution to the mysteries surrounding Liesl’s library are ingeniously devised, with a resolution improbable that the readers will ever deduce. In the world of mystery literature, that is the essential piece of the puzzle.
With a full cast of characters, all flawed and all, at some point in time, under suspicion, Jurczyk builds for us that tension so vital in mysteries that invariably causes both characters and readers to look around them in befuddlement wondering who, if anybody, they can trust. This key element was crafted to perfection, and it is this which makes the novel enjoyable, worth the read, and deserving of applause.
If you’re looking for a good mystery to read next, this is one you’ll want to pick up. You’ll enjoy the string of clues as you attempt to figure out what happened before Jurczyk can reveal it to you, and you’ll appreciate the intricate nature of the answer.
