Synopsis
"The Bookman's Promise juxtaposes past and present as Denver ex-cop and bookman Cliff Janeway searches for a book and a killer." "The quest begins when an old woman, Josephine Gallant, learns that Janeway has recently bought at auction a signed first edition by the legendary nineteenth-century explorer Richard Francis Burton. The book is a true classic, telling of Burton's journey (disguised as a Muslim) to the forbidden holy cities of Mecca and Medina. The Boston auction house was a distinguished and trustworthy firm, but provenance is sometimes murky, and Josephine says the book is rightfully hers." "She believes that her grandfather, who was living in Baltimore more than eighty years ago, had a fabulous collection of Burton material, including a handwritten journal allegedly detailing Burton's undercover trip deep into the troubled American South in 1860. Josephine remembers the books from her childhood, but everything mysteriously disappeared shortly after her grandfather's death." With little time left in her own life, Josephine begs for Janeway's promise: he must find her grandfather's collection. It's a virtually impossible task, Janeway suspects, as the books will no doubt have been sold and seperated over the years, but how can he say no to a dying woman?
The Washington Post
The Bookman's Promise itself is a volume that fans of the "Bookman" series will be delighted to add to their crime libraries. In addition to serving up the familiar trademarks of this series -- Janeway's rueful worldview and the enlightening tidbits about rare books scattered throughout the story -- the novel ambitiously conjures up a lost journal about Burton's rumored espionage work in the American South on the eve of the Civil War. As gilding on the pages here, Janeway even finds romance in this latest outing -- with a woman who can quote James M. Cain, no less! — Maureen Corrigan