Bookwomans Last Fling

This is the last book of the Cliff Janeway series. I loved the whole bunch because Dunning was able to weave rare book dealer's lore into them. For anyone who loves books, the antiquarian's tidbits are fascinating.

Cliff Janeway is a rare book dealer who was a police homicide detective -- years before. Sometimes, the jobs he's given require him to use both skills; this is one of those jobs. Janeway is hired to go through a fabulous children's classics collection. However, some of the selection's first editions have been replaced with reprints or later editions.

The collection originally belonged to a wealthy woman who died under mysterious circumstances (many years before). She married a horse racing enthusiast and trainer many years her senior. In order to learn more about the books and their owner, Janeway has to move into the close-knit circle of horse-racing. My only complaint with the story is with the amazing number of (available) people who knew things about someone who died 20+ years before.


Cliff Janeway? Series?
1. Booked To Die (1992)
2. The Bookman's Wake (1995)
3. The Bookman's Promise (2004)
4. The Sign of the Book (2005)
?**?5. The Bookwoman's Last Fling (2006)

This book just doesn't measure up to Dunning's past work. Very poorly edited (repetitve to a fault!) and the story drags. Sorry Mr. Dunning, but this one just doesn't cut it.

An Unfortunate Detour

There's a scene in TBWLF where the protagonist, staking out a suspect in thrift shop, is momentarily torn between surveillance and a possible rare MacDonald novel on the shelf next to him. These are the moments booklovers have grown to cherish in the Janeway series. In this latest installment, however, these "book moments" are all too few.

Like his hero Cliff Janeway (who mulls giving up books and returning to policework full time), the author seems to be fighting his own boredom and restlessness. He's exploring new territory here but strays from the formula we've grown to love. While I certainly respect an author's need to grow, there's plenty of Dick Francis wannabes out there and precious few bookmen.

We can only hope that Dunning and his hero rediscover their passion and once again roam dusty thrift stores and dark rooms in search of rare books and rarer stories.

Not Dunning's Best

Finished Bookwoman's Last Fling last night. It came out last year, and I must not have been paying attention, becuase I hadn't heard of it until a couple weeks ago. After reading it, I think I know why I hadn't heard anything about it.

My review: It was ok. Not Dunning's best effort. It seemed like he had a a few chapters sitting around on horseracing and a plot with the Dunning bad-guy twist laying around, so he just padded it out to a whole book. It was filled with starts and stops, where things would get good and interesting, even exciting, then... .... several chapters where nothing happens... It also got a bit repetitive, which may be a better reflection of what real detective work is like... but it makes for unexiting reading. One other criticism, he could have streamlined his cast a bit. There are several (minor) characters who only add bulk, instead of move the story along, or are used in any real way.