11/22/2021
Librarian Liesl Weiss, the protagonist of Jurczyk’s underwhelming debut, is asked to return to Toronto from her sabbatical after the library director of the unnamed university where she works suffers a stroke. When a newly purchased manuscript vanishes from a locked vault and a missing female colleague is suspected of the theft, Liesl must dig deep into the university’s ugly underbelly to find the truth, despite her male colleagues’ attempts to bully her into silence. Jurczyk paints Liesl’s oppressors with a heavy hand, from Lawrence Garber, the triathlon-obsessed college president, to Percy T. Pickens III, the vulgar, glad-handing donor. Mystery readers are likely to be disappointed by the crimes and their solutions, and bibliophiles may feel that the rare books themselves are given short shrift, despite the author’s obvious research. This works best as an unflinching appraisal of the personal and professional effects of a woman’s aging into invisibility. Fans of women’s fiction may want to check it out. Agent: Erin Clyburn, Jennifer De Chiara Literary. (Jan.)
"Written for book lovers who will no doubt dive in and devour it. It's a literary read benefitting its theme...a keeper that could easily end up in someone's private collection." — New York Journal of Books
"Jurczyk's unique debut has plenty for bibliophiles to relish, from dark stacks to precious manuscripts. Readers will sympathize with Liesl and her desperation to keep her head above the demands of a position she didn't ask for while untangling the intricate threads of the mystery." — Booklist
"Toronto librarian Jurczyk's first novel is a valentine to librarians that doesn't shy away from their dark sides...[The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections is] the perfect gift for librarians and those who love them—and doesn't that include just about every reader?" — Kirkus Reviews
"With its countless revelations about the dusty realm of rare books, a likable librarian sleuth who has just the right balance of compassion and wit, and a library setting that is teeming with secrets, The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections is a rare treat for readers. I loved this book!" — Matthew Sullivan, author of Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore
"Filled with characters that resonate, glimpses into the reality of libraries and academia, and enchanting descriptions of rare books, this debut from a librarian will captivate bibliophiles." — Library Journal
"This intricately woven literary mystery brings readers into the cut-throat world of academia where rare book collections compete for money and prestige, and where those in power will do whatever it takes to protect their institution. A strong female protagonist and complex relationships drive this impressive, genre-bending debut." — Wendy Walker, international bestselling author of Don't Look for Me
"Who doesn't love a mystery involving rare books and bad librarians? This clever, deftly written story has all that and more. A great pleasure from beginning to end." — Karen Joy Fowler, New York Times bestselling author
"An unflinching appraisal of the personal and professional effects of a woman's aging into invisibility." — Publishers Weekly
12/01/2021
DEBUT When a rare book goes missing at a Toronto university library, Liesl Weiss is in the midst of a mystery that no one wants to solve. The director of the library is unconscious at the hospital after a stroke, and Liesl, now interim director, has been called in from her sabbatical to open the safe that should contain the book, a Plantin Polyglot Bible. But the safe is empty. Ordered to keep this information from the donors, the public, and the police, Liesl starts searching the stacks, pondering how to manage the scandal when she'd rather be writing her book and planning her retirement. Then another book disappears, carbon dating reveals a book to be a facsimile, and a library staffer goes missing. Suspecting that the culprit is a staff member, Liesl knows it's up to her to find the truth. VERDICT Filled with characters that resonate, glimpses into the reality of libraries and academia, and enchanting descriptions of rare books, this debut from a librarian will captivate bibliophiles.—Melissa DeWild, Comstock Park, MI
2021-09-29
Toronto librarian Jurczyk’s first novel is a valentine to librarians that doesn’t shy away from their dark sides.
The ceremonial display of a university library’s latest headline acquisition, a Plantin Polyglot Bible, to a select group of influential donors comes a cropper over two misfortunes. First, Christopher Wolfe, the director of the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections for the 40 years since 1969, suffers an incapacitating stroke before he can retrieve the Bible from the safe in which he stored it while awaiting an insurance evaluation (best guess: $500,000). Then, when Liesl Weiss, the longtime assistant who’s suddenly catapulted into Wolfe’s job, finally gets the combination from his distraught wife, she finds the safe empty. The donors are fobbed off with a Peshawar manuscript that may include the very first use of a zero, but the library is still in crisis. Was the Plantin simply misplaced or (gasp) stolen? How long can university president Lawrence Garber keep its disappearance secret? And how will the library ever recover the trust of major donors if the staff can’t keep track of the materials it purchases with their big-ticket donations? Liesl is especially distressed because her protégé, Miriam Peters, goes missing very shortly after the Platin, and the discovery of her corpse, an apparent suicide, weeks later in a nearby wood does nothing to derail the assumption that she was the thief. Even though, as Liesl’s colleague Francis Churchill points out, “Our entire job is finding information,” Jurczyk consistently subordinates the question of whodunit to the question of how to handle the case.
The perfect gift for librarians and those who love them—and doesn’t that include just about every reader?
06/01/2022
Liesl returns from sabbatical when a health issue puts the boss out of commission. Closer to retirement than a burning desire to take the helm, Liesl immediately discovers a very rare and expensive Plantin Bible set has gone missing. Then a librarian goes missing, too. Discouraged by the university president and her colleagues from going to the police about either disappearance for fear of alienating donors, Liesl begins her own investigation to determine whether the two incidents are related. Eventually the police get involved at the behest of the missing librarian's husband. The story has enough personal detail that the characters, their interactions, and their history are as intriguing as the mystery. The end result reveals the exciting life of librarians and is a study in leadership. Narrator Hannah Cabell does a great job conveying Liesl's frustration, stress, and exhaustion. She also voices the other characters with equal aplomb. VERDICT Jurczyk's debut will attract listeners who are also librarians, and is a great addition to public library collections.—Christa Van Herreweghe
The rare books department of a Toronto university library is the setting for this intriguing mystery audiobook. When the chief librarian has a stroke, his second in command, Liesl Weiss, is called back from sabbatical to cover for him. It’s a move not widely supported by her department. Narrator Hannah Cabell creates a cast of believable characters. She highlights Liesl’s internally voiced concerns when she discovers that a rare Bible has disappeared from the library. She feels it’s her responsibility to uncover what happened to it. Cabell’s characterizations are so finely tuned that it seems as if the listener is in the room with the characters. Her timing helps keep the story moving toward its slightly inevitable conclusion. K.J.P. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
The rare books department of a Toronto university library is the setting for this intriguing mystery audiobook. When the chief librarian has a stroke, his second in command, Liesl Weiss, is called back from sabbatical to cover for him. It’s a move not widely supported by her department. Narrator Hannah Cabell creates a cast of believable characters. She highlights Liesl’s internally voiced concerns when she discovers that a rare Bible has disappeared from the library. She feels it’s her responsibility to uncover what happened to it. Cabell’s characterizations are so finely tuned that it seems as if the listener is in the room with the characters. Her timing helps keep the story moving toward its slightly inevitable conclusion. K.J.P. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
