The Bookplate Killer: A Cozy Small Town Mystery (The Bookmarked Mysteries Book 14)
By Mandy Paige
When renowned bookplate expert Professor Edmund Hartley arrives at Mockingbird Books to research local collecting traditions, Lila Hart expects a quiet scholarly collaboration. Instead, she discovers Hartley’s murdered body clutching a stolen bookplate from her own shop’s collection.
As Sheriff Cooper Reid investigates, Lila teams up with librarian Emily Chen and maritime specialist Diana Blackwood to uncover a sophisticated forgery ring that’s been systematically stealing authentic bookplates to create fake rare books worth millions. But the deeper they dig, the more dangerous their investigation becomes.
When antiquarian book dealer Timothy Foster becomes the second victim and elderly collectors across coastal Maine face targeted attacks, Lila realizes the killer will stop at nothing to protect a network that reaches from small-town libraries to prestigious institutions throughout New England.
With the help of insurance investigator Phillip Crawford and authentication expert Dr. Judith Blackthorne, the team discovers that the mastermind behind the operation has been hiding in plain sight—using professional credentials and institutional access to coordinate the theft of cultural heritage on an unprecedented scale.
As the forgery network escalates to arson and attempted murder to destroy evidence, Lila and her community must protect both their neighbors and their irreplaceable literary collections from criminals who view cultural artifacts as nothing more than profitable commodities.
Racing against time and a killer who’s willing to burn down half the town to cover his tracks, Lila discovers that the strongest defense against sophisticated crime isn’t individual expertise—it’s a community that refuses to let outsiders exploit their cultural heritage.
Perfect for fans of Ellery Adams, Jenn McKinlay, and Lucy Arlington, this fourteenth installment in the Bookmarked Bay Mystery series combines bibliophile intrigue, community cooperation, and the deadly consequences of treating cultural preservation as a profit opportunity.
When renowned bookplate expert Professor Edmund Hartley arrives at Mockingbird Books to research local collecting traditions, Lila Hart expects a quiet scholarly collaboration. Instead, she discovers Hartley’s murdered body clutching a stolen bookplate from her own shop’s collection.
As Sheriff Cooper Reid investigates, Lila teams up with librarian Emily Chen and maritime specialist Diana Blackwood to uncover a sophisticated forgery ring that’s been systematically stealing authentic bookplates to create fake rare books worth millions. But the deeper they dig, the more dangerous their investigation becomes.
When antiquarian book dealer Timothy Foster becomes the second victim and elderly collectors across coastal Maine face targeted attacks, Lila realizes the killer will stop at nothing to protect a network that reaches from small-town libraries to prestigious institutions throughout New England.
With the help of insurance investigator Phillip Crawford and authentication expert Dr. Judith Blackthorne, the team discovers that the mastermind behind the operation has been hiding in plain sight—using professional credentials and institutional access to coordinate the theft of cultural heritage on an unprecedented scale.
As the forgery network escalates to arson and attempted murder to destroy evidence, Lila and her community must protect both their neighbors and their irreplaceable literary collections from criminals who view cultural artifacts as nothing more than profitable commodities.
Racing against time and a killer who’s willing to burn down half the town to cover his tracks, Lila discovers that the strongest defense against sophisticated crime isn’t individual expertise—it’s a community that refuses to let outsiders exploit their cultural heritage.
Perfect for fans of Ellery Adams, Jenn McKinlay, and Lucy Arlington, this fourteenth installment in the Bookmarked Bay Mystery series combines bibliophile intrigue, community cooperation, and the deadly consequences of treating cultural preservation as a profit opportunity.