Clare Henry works in her family business of The Rescued Word, where they repair books, fix old typewriters, and print personalized stationery in Bookman Dead Style by Paige Shelton. Clare works with her grandfather, Chester, and niece, Olympic- hopeful in snowboarding, Marion, in Star City, Utah, host of the Star City Film Festival. When major film star Matt Bane comes in to order personalized cards that he plans to use for handwritten thank you notes, Marian has her own fangirl moment, hardly able to talk while around her movie star idol. Unable to get any privacy, Matt has two visitors follow him into the shop, his “assistant” and a young woman dressed like a traditional stereotype of a polygamist wife. Not long after the trio leaves the shop, Clare îs visiting with her best friend, police officer Jodie, and, hearing Matt Bane’s name over Jodie’s police radio, Clare follows Jodie to the hotel, where Matt is arrested for the murder of his sister.
Clare finds herself involved in Matt Bane’s case, getting Jodie to let her visit Matt despite orders from above not to let anyone near him. She begins to wonder if the actor may not be guilty after all, despite his having been found covered in his sister’s blood. He gives her tickets to a secret party from the festival and hopes she will use them to look for the truth. This, Clare gets involved in yet another murder case.
This book is interesting, with a creative premise found in The Rescued Word. I did find the depictions of the movie stars at the festival to be pretty sad, as their careers are so dependent upon whom they know and a break each year. Clare gets asked by Matt to help him prove his innocence, getting her involved in the case and involving her in various movie stars’ lives.
The characters in Bookman Dead Style do not stand out as strongly as they did in the previous book. I did not enjoy this book for either its plot or its characters as much as the prior book.
I did enjoy the narration of Marguerite Gavin, whose performance helps to make the book more enjoyable. Listening to this book helped to relax me during my migraine, giving me some pleasure amid the pain.
Bookman Dead Style was overall a reasonably enjoyable book. It didn’t stand out as particularly special, but it was still fun. I give the book three stars.
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