"The world of rare books will lead into a dangerous world."
Left Turn at Paradise
By: Thomas Shawver
Genres: Mystery | Mystery Amateur Sleuth
Posted: October 29, 2014
He goes to a convention to validate what he believes the journal to be. While there he meets two other rare book sellers who not only validate his findings but own one of the other journals by the same man.
The sailor who wrote the journal traveled on each of Captain Cook's three voyages. Intimate details are given despite the fact that the sailor could have been killed for what he revealed.
When both journals are stolen, the three booksellers set off on a journey that will hopefully lead them to the third journal. Mike, Adrian Hart, and Penelope Wilkes will form an uneasy and distrusting alliance in their desire to find the journals again.
I picked up the first Thomas Shawver book since the protagonist owned a used and rare bookstore. My love for books coincides with Mike's. While I enjoyed it, it didn't leave me anxiously waiting for more. The second book started off well but the machinations of the rare book world and the lengths to which the three owners go to achieve their goals left me greatful that I don't have to deal with the underhanded manueverings that Mike faced.
I really would like to give LEFT TURN AT PARADISE an outstanding rating. It started off with such exciting events but the ending fell flat for me. If you like your detectives fatally flawed, this might be the series for you.
Book Summary
Michael Bevan is barely scraping by with his used bookstore and rare book collection when he discovers a timeworn journal that may change everything. Dating back to 1768, the tattered diary appears to be a chronicle kept during the first of legendary seafarer Captain James Cook’s three epic voyages through the Pacific islands. If it’s as valuable as Mike thinks it is, its sale may just bring enough to keep his faltering used bookstore afloat for another year. Then he meets a pair of London dealers with startling news: Adrian Hart and Penelope Wilkes claim to possess the journal of Cook’s second voyage. Is it possible a third diary exists? One which might detail Cook’s explosive final voyage—and his death at the hands of native Hawaiians? Together, all three would be the holy grail of Pacific exploration. But before Mike can act, the two journals are stolen. Chasing them down will sweep Michael, Adrian, and Penelope across the globe—past a dead body or two—and into a very sinister slice of paradise. High in the Southern Alps of New Zealand, in a remote and secretive Maori compound, a secret rests in the hands in of a man daring enough to rewrite history . . . and desperate enough to kill.
by: Thomas Shawver
A Rare Book Mystery Random House, Inc.
September 1, 2014
On Sale: August 26, 2014
Featuring: Penelope Wilkes; Adrian Hart; Michael Bevan
246 pages
ISBN: 080417928X
EAN: 9780804179287
Kindle: B00IQROTNS
e-Book