Murder Off the Page is the third installment in this series by Con Lehane, based in and around the 42nd Street Library in New York. It was preceded by Murder at the 42nd Street Library and Murder in the Manuscript Room. All three books are spin-offs from another series, The Bartender Brian McNulty Mysteries.

I volunteered to read and review this book because, as a former librarian myself, I enjoy reading stories set in and around people in the profession. My favorites have been from authors Laurie Cass, Jo Dereske, Miranda James, Jess Lourey and Miriam Grace Monfredo, to name a few. I wondered if I would be given the chance here to find a new author to add to the list.

Main character Raymond Ambler is in charge of the crime fiction collection at the library. It's a special research collection that includes the papers of Jayne Galloway. One of the patrons dipping into this archive is Shannon Darling, who says she's writing a book on women mystery writers. But she doesn't seem to know how to do basic research. And after hours, she's seen at the nearby Library Tavern, getting drunk and getting hit on by every able-bodied man at the bar.

Before you know it, we learn that a man has been murdered at the same hotel where Shannon is staying. Shortly afterward, Ray's favorite bartender and friend, Brian McNulty, goes missing. And Shannon Darling herself is murdered. But she's not really Shannon Darling after all; she's Dr. Sandra Dean, who has a husband and daughter back in Connecticut. She signed into the library under an assumed name and intention.

What's going on here? Ray has connections with Mike Cosgrove of the NYPD, and he tries to lend a hand with the official investigation -- without getting too much in the way. Fellow librarian Adele Morgan, Ray's friend and romantic interest, helps him puzzle out the entanglements surrounding the murders. Eventually all of the threads lead to the one right answer, both for the authorities and for Ray and Adele. It doesn't really come as any surprise.

Three things bother me in this book. My first complaint is about the writing style. Every few pages, we encounter at least one compound sentence that goes on and on with inconsistent fragments that don't follow the basic rules of grammar. Maybe this strategy is supposed to be folksy or casual or the way people really think, but it doesn't come off that way. I spent more time re-reading sentences and phrases to figure out how I would edit them for improvement, than I did in enjoying the read. This tedium interfered with understanding the action and the plot.

My second complaint is about Raymond Ambler's research abilities. As a librarian, he should know how to search for information online. Yet when he looks for a college professor with a unique name, it takes him hours to find out what school the man works for and which books he has written. These references would have popped up on the first search screen. He should have discovered these details in only a few minutes. So Ambler lost professional credit with me at that moment. If he can't find basic facts, how the heck is he going to solve a real-life murder mystery?

Later, when Ambler wants to track down this professor in the towns of Amherst and Greenfield in western Massachusetts, he takes a plane from Newark to Bradley International Airport, north of Hartford, and rents a car from there. Seriously? In the time he wastes going from Manhattan to Newark to Bradley, he could have just rented a car and driven north up the parkways and I-91 himself. Or taken a train to Springfield. Any of these options would have taken less time and money. The drive would have probably taken about four hours. Travelers throughout New York City and New England would shake their heads at the decision to fly. I've even asked some of these folks about this option, and they looked at me in amazement. Next time, Ray, rent a car and do the driving yourself.

I'm also put off by this character's name. "Raymond Ambler" sounds too much like "Raymond Chandler," and this is not a Chandler-like detective story. And why is he referred to as "Ambler" in scenes with Adele? She doesn't call him by his last name. He's "Ray" in the scenes with Mike Cosgrove. Why not opt for consistency and call him "Ray" on every page? I see too many problems here.

The bottom line for me: If I had not been given this book and been assigned to write a review of it, I would have closed the covers long before the last page. I was frustrated by sentences that made no sense. Then I stopped caring about who killed Shannon Darling and why she behaved the way she did. I stopped caring about Ray and Adele and where their relationship was headed. Maybe other readers' results and preferences will differ.

Normally when I come upon a book in a series, I like to go back to read and review the previous volumes. I have to admit that I did start into Murder in the Manuscript Room, the second installment, just to see if the writing style was the same. It was. And yet another woman associated with the library was murdered. This time, I bailed out by page 85.

[ visit Con Lehane's website ]