Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Best of 2024 ezine!

Summary and Reviews of The Sign of The Book by John Dunning

The Sign of The Book by John Dunning

The Sign of The Book

A Cliff Janeway Bookman Novel

by John Dunning
  • BookBrowse Review:
  • Critics' Consensus (4):
  • Readers' Rating (1):
  • First Published:
  • Mar 8, 2005, 368 pages
  • Paperback:
  • Mar 2006, 544 pages
  • Rate this book

About This Book

Book Summary

Rich with the intricacies of book collecting that only an expert like John Dunning can offer, this is a beautifully crafted, enthralling novel of suspense from the consummate bookman himself.

From New York Times bestselling author John Dunning comes a riveting new Cliff Janeway Bookman novel, combining captivating book lore with page-turning suspense.

Denver bookman and ex-cop Cliff Janeway is enjoying the good life, buying and selling the books he adores as he ekes out a living in his store on seedy East Colfax. And it doesn't hurt that superstar lawyer Erin D'Angelo has joined him as a partner in both business and love.

Erin is a special lady, so it's hard for Janeway to refuse her when she asks a favor. Will he travel to the little mountain town of Paradise, Colorado, to check on one of Erin's girlhood friends who's in deep trouble? Laura Marshall sits in the county jail, accused of murdering her husband, Bobby.

The situation is delicate because Bobby and Erin were a couple before he married Laura. In fact, it was Laura's affair with Bobby that ended Erin's relationship with each of them, and the women have been estranged ever since. Now Laura has called on Erin for help, but Erin's not sure she even wants to see her onetime best friend, let alone get involved in her case. Could Janeway visit Laura on Erin's behalf and try to find out what happened the night Bobby died?

The clincher for Janeway: Bobby Marshall was a book collector, and Janeway can't resist a house full of books any more than he can resist Erin's uncharacteristic request. His normally self-sufficient girlfriend is clearly at loose ends. He drives to Paradise the next day.

Janeway soon discovers that neither he nor Erin is likely to be able to save Laura Marshall. The young wife and mother is terrified of something and has already admitted to the arresting officer -- a smarmy local deputy with a huge chip on his shoulder -- that she shot her husband and then tried to dispose of the bloody evidence.

But did everything really happen as Laura claims? And what about the books? Bobby had a vast library, but at a casual glance, the titles seem ordinary, even to a seasoned bookman like Janeway. Could they possibly be a motive for murder?

Janeway, Erin, and local attorney Parley McNamara discover that the case against Laura Marshall is far more complicated than it seems. Professionally, Erin must decide whether to represent Laura; and personally, whether a decades-old friendship can be resurrected. Janeway wants to know the significance of Bobby's book collection. He senses their importance, and under his careful scrutiny, the rows of unremarkable volumes could reveal a killer's motive.

Rich with the intricacies of book collecting that only an expert like John Dunning can offer, The Sign of the Book is a beautifully crafted, enthralling novel of suspense from the consummate bookman himself.

Chapter 1

Two years had passed and I knew Erin well. I knew her moods: I knew what she liked and didn't like, what would bore her to tears or light up her face with mischief. I knew what would send her into fits of helpless laughter, what would make her angry, thoughtful, witty, playful, or loving. It takes time to learn someone, but after two years I could say with some real confidence, I know this woman well.

I knew before she said a word that something had messed up her day. She arrived at our bookstore wearing her casual autumn garb, jeans and an untucked flannel shirt.

"What's wrong with you?"

"I am riding on the horns of a dilemma."

I knew she would tell me when she had thought about it. I would add my two cents' worth, she would toss in some wherefores, to which I would add a few interrogatories and lots of footnotes. I am good with footnotes. And after two years I was very good at leaving her alone when all the signs said let her be.

She picked...

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Reviews

BookBrowse Review

BookBrowse

This is the fourth volume in Dunning's series about Cliff Janeway, antiquarian book dealer and occasional private investigator.  After writing the first two books in the series, Dunning took almost a 10 year break, during which time he added to his true crime series, and wrote two books (one fiction, one non-fiction) about the early days of radio (see sidebar for more on these).  In 2004 he resurrected Cliff Janeway in The Bookman's Promise, and now is back again with a fourth volume, The Sign of the Book.  While some reviewers are a little critical of the plot - describing it as 'neither dense nor twisty enough to rank with Dunning's best work' and 'arbitrarily grafted onto the main narrative', all appear to agree that this is a must for booklovers.  As Booklist puts it, 'This is the kind of thing Janeway fans love: juicy nuggets of bibliophile gold. That these tasty morsels come wrapped in serviceable crime plots involving tough guys, gutsy gals, and snappy patter makes the pleasure of devouring them all the sweeter.'..continued

Full Review (215 words)

This review is available to non-members for a limited time. For full access, become a member today.

(Reviewed by BookBrowse Review Team).

Media Reviews

Kirkus Reviews
The clever mystery is neither dense nor twisty enough to rank with Dunning's best work and the final revelation is one too many. But Janeway is as resourceful as ever, and the usual irresistible asides on the book trade will make this the most enthusiastically hand-sold title of the season.

Publishers Weekly
Starred review. The book-related plot is somewhat arbitrarily grafted onto the main narrative, but Dunning writes with such confidence and assurance the reader cannot help being drawn into this compelling whodunit.

Booklist - Bill Ott
This is the kind of thing Janeway fans love juicy nuggets of bibliophile gold. That these tasty morsels come wrapped in serviceable crime plots involving tough guys, gutsy gals, and snappy patter makes the pleasure of devouring them all the sweeter.

Reader Reviews

Cloggie Downunder

great climax
The Sign of the Book is the 4th book in the Cliff Janeway series by John Dunning. Cliff agrees to help Erin determine if her estranged childhood friend, Laura Marshall, really killed her husband, or confessed to protect her troubled son. The tempter ...   Read More

Write your own review!

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Beyond the Book



John Dunning is an expert on rare and collectible books and for many years owned and ran the Old Algonquin Bookstore in Denver with his wife, Helen. In 1994 he closed the bookstore in order to be able to spend more time writing, but he and Helen continue to do business online.

Bibliography

Cliff Janeway series

  • Booked To Die (1992), The Bookman's Wake (1995), The Bookman's Promise (2004), The Sign of the Book (2005), The Bookwoman's Last Fling (2006).
Other Novels
  • The Holland Suggestions (1974), Looking for Ginger North: One Man's Violent Journey Into His Past-a High Voltage Novel of Suspense. (1980), ...

This "beyond the book" feature is available to non-members for a limited time. Join today for full access.

Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Read-Alikes

Read-Alikes Full readalike results are for members only

If you liked The Sign of The Book, try these:

  • The Poet's Funeral jacket

    The Poet's Funeral

    by John M. Daniel

    Published 2006

    About this book

    A romp rich with poetry, publishing, book collecting, and literary gossip. A story of ego, love, art, and murder during four hot days at the 1990 ABA.

  • The Sunday Philosophy Club jacket

    The Sunday Philosophy Club

    by Alexander McCall Smith

    Published 2005

    About this book

    More by this author

    Filled with thorny characters and a Scottish atmosphere as thick as a highland mist, The Sunday Philosophy Club is irresistible, and Isabel Dalhousie is the most delightful literary sleuth since Precious Ramotswe.

Read-Alikes are one of the many benefits of membership. To see the complete list of this book's read-alikes, you need to be a member.
More books by John Dunning
Search read-alikes
How we choose read-alikes
Membership Advantages
  • Reviews
  • "Beyond the Book" articles
  • Free books to read and review (US only)
  • Find books by time period, setting & theme
  • Read-alike suggestions by book and author
  • Book club discussions
  • and much more!
  • Just $45 for 12 months or $15 for 3 months.
  • More about membership!

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
    The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern
    by Lynda Cohen Loigman
    Lynda Cohen Loigman's delightful novel The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern opens in 1987. The titular ...
  • Book Jacket: Small Rain
    Small Rain
    by Garth Greenwell
    At the beginning of Garth Greenwell's novel Small Rain, the protagonist, an unnamed poet in his ...
  • Book Jacket: Daughters of Shandong
    Daughters of Shandong
    by Eve J. Chung
    Daughters of Shandong is the debut novel of Eve J. Chung, a human rights lawyer living in New York. ...
  • Book Jacket: The Women
    The Women
    by Kristin Hannah
    Kristin Hannah's latest historical epic, The Women, is a story of how a war shaped a generation ...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
In Our Midst
by Nancy Jensen
In Our Midst follows a German immigrant family’s fight for freedom after their internment post–Pearl Harbor.
Who Said...

Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Big Holiday Wordplay 2024

Enter Now