Adam Diehl miraculously survives being wacked over the head before having his hands chopped off but only for a few days. His sister is distraught. Orphaned as children, they were very close, sharing a love of books – Meghan running a small bookshop, Adam collecting rare volumes and possibly dabbling in a little forgery or at least that’s what Meghan’s lover Will has surmised. Will excels in calligraphy, enhancing the value of rare editions by adding beautifully wrought inscriptions and autographs. He’s a reformed character after being caught and convicted, generously bailed out by a dealer who stood by him despite having been sold several pieces of Will’s work. When the police fail to solve Adam’s murder, Will sets about his own investigations all of which point him at one man with whom he becomes embroiled in a cat and mouse game which may well lead him back into his old ways.
You’re a Sherlock Holmes man, must drive you up the wall that there aren’t his kind around these days to make things right
Morrow narrates this enjoyable literary whodunnit through Will, a pleasingly unreliable narrator as you might expect from a man who’s made his living from pulling the wool over a multitude of eyes. Morrow has a great line in chapter openers while throwing in some teasing cliff hangers at their ends now and again. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s writing is Will’s favourite, both to read and to forge, and the great detective’s spectre hovers over the novel. As ever this is a spoiler-free zone, always tricky with crime novels, but suffice to say I enjoyed recalling the clues liberally scattered through the narrative.
A satisfying, undemanding way to while away a few reading hours, The Forgers is the kind of novel I’m happy to read electronically, something that I’ve resisted until our current predicament made print editions harder to come by. Good old-fashioned storytelling works reasonably well in this format for me but when it comes to reading for the joy of writing, there’s no substitute for paper. Any other readers turned to ebooks over the pandemic and if so, are you now a convert or do you find them wanting?
Grove Press UK: London 97816118546020 256 pages Paperback (Read via NetGalley)
Paper all the way for me. It is not just the words but the whole book package for me. And I do seem to have bought a lot this year! It just cheers me up. Planning a trip to Hay come December. Hope you are both well. Hopefully next year we can meet. No trip to Bath this year with my sister sadly.
I’ve thought of you and the lack of Christmas market this week. We’re fine, thanks. Hope you are, too. It’s looking increasingly hopeful for next year.
I do like the sound of this. I’ll have to look and see if there is a print copy available anywhere.
I think you’d like this one, Janet. A great mix of crime and books. You’ve not succumbed to NetGalley then?
It’s inevitable there are times when an e-book is available and print isn’t. I do still use my kindle if I feel I have to. But I found that during the pandemic I have tried harder to unamazon myself and to support smaller bookshops. They’re are always happy (ecstatic even) to post copies although with sometimes with delays.
Delighted to hear that! Indies need all the help they can get. I’ve avoided Amazon for quite some time for a variety of reasons.
I used to read ebooks a lot, but have found myself veering back towards print as my first choice. I feel like I get a different reading experience with a physical book and the story sticks in my head better!
Yes, that’s my experience, too. Impossible to savour a writer’s use of language, too, whereas for storytelling it’s fine now and again.
I’m being forced to read an e-book for book group in Jan, and it’s not a good experience for me.
It’s certainly not something I’d do by choice although I know lots of bloggers are keen NetGalley fans.
I have a netgalley ac, but I get little pleasure reading books on a screen, with less tactile involvement it sends me to sleep sooner.
I’ll bear that in mind for insomniac phases. I’ve found it useful to browse for picking titles I want to read in print. Probably not what Netgalley would like to know!
Not a fan of ebooks at all – only when there is absolutely no alterative! 😀
Not a substitute for print for me, either, even when going on holiday should such a thing ever happen again…
I find my ereader invaluable, and often buy books I won’t keep for it. I do prefer real books by far though. The grisly murder puts me off a bit, I prefer my murders to be a bit more off camera so to speak. The bookshop element sounds good though.
‘Real books’ is a telling phrase! I have several friends who follow the same strategy you do. If you like the sound of this one, don’t let the grisly bit put you off. It’s just a few sentences.
I turned to e-books in the spring when the library was closed but am not a convert. As you say, certain books are fine to be read on a device but others really need the tactical experience of paper!
I suspect we’ve had a similar experience, Karissa.
Who knew collecting books could be so dangerous? 😉
I’m a print reader still. I’ve only read a book by screen once, and I didn’t really enjoy it. During the lockdown I was very grateful for my own library of books.
Exactly! I much prefer print has to be said.
I’ve got issues with my vision which restrict the amount of time I can spend with a screen, so although I did go through an epub phase several years ago (as a complementary measure, for reading when I couldn’t manage with the proper book, or could get a library epub long before a print copy, that kind of thing) I’ve become re-devoted to print. (Maybe eventually it’ll be all about audiobooks for me, and, if so, I’ll be grateful for the improvements in that industry over the past couple of decades! :)) This sounds quite entertaining. Anything in the bookworld does, of course!
I’m sorry about your sight, Marcie. My partner’s father had the opposite experience. He was almost blind but the ability to adjust font size meant he could continue reading with an ereader.
It was the book world aspect that attracted me to this one, and you’re right, it’s an enjoyable piece of entertainment