This book ostensibly follows on from an earlier work with the same characters from 2014, The Forgers, but I found it worked very well as a standalone. The only troubles I had with following the current work was due to the alternating plot narration which often switched mid-chapter without any forewarning. Chapters beginning in Will's voice would suddenly switch mid-stream to Meghan (Will's wife) speaking about her husband. I didn't find the character voices distinct enough that it was easy for me to tell without contextual clues - both are in first person, and they blended together.
Apart from that, the plot moved along at a good clip and I loved the dichotomy of the rarefied and refined world of antiquarian bibliophiles listening to classical music and then rubbing literal elbows with seriously disturbed thugs who threaten violence (and some of whom wouldn't hesitate at murder). The denouement came rather suddenly from a long buildup and, to me, was somehow incomplete, more implied than overt. There were some nice suprise twists at the very end and the entire ending felt like foreshadowing for the next episode.
Quite capably written and entertaining, it compares favorably with other "serious" modern bibliomysteries and reminds me stylistically in a lot of ways of Amanda Cross' wonderful Kate Fansler books - fans of that series will find a lot to like here. Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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