The Grim Reader: A Bibliophile Mystery

Bestseller Carlisle’s delightful 14th Bibliophile mystery (after 2019’s The Book Supremacy) takes San Francisco book restorer Brooklyn Wainwright and her hubby, former MI5 agent Derek Stone, to the town of Dharma in Sonoma County, where Brooklyn’s parents operate a winery. Her mom, Becky, is in charge of Dharma’s first book festival, which will include a musical staging of Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and booths devoted to local wineries. Brooklyn and Derek offer to protect Becky after obnoxious Jacob Banyan makes numerous threats in an attempt to force Becky to allot him a booth to promote his tacky box wine. When a festival committee member is murdered, Becky suspects Banyan, but others soon emerge as possible culprits. A diverting subplot involves a difficult actor in the Little Women production, and fascinating booklore enhances the whodunit plot. This long-running cozy series shows no signs of losing steam. Agent: Christina Hogrebe, Jane Rotrosen Agency. (June)