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A review by saareman
Reconciliation Day by Christopher Fowler
4.0
Searching for Stoker - Bibliomysteries #31
Review of the Mysterious Press/Open Road eBook (May 2, 2017) of the Mysterious Press hardcover & paperback (June 1, 2016).
An obsessive collector of editions of Bram Stoker's [b:Dracula|17245|Dracula|Bram Stoker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387151694l/17245._SY75_.jpg|3165724] (1897) thinks he has located the elusive single existing copy of the blue cover edition. This single printing contains a chapter which was excised from the final published version. In it, Jonathan Harker is cataloguing the library of Count Dracula and discovers the exotic and erotic contained within it.
Christopher Fowler neatly toggles the story between the collector's search and excerpts from the actual lost chapter itself. Both the collector and Harker discover that the book has its own powers and the local villagers are not about to allow outsiders to leave with it.
This was overall well done and the only thing keeping it out of 5 star territory was that the fictional chapter did not seem in keeping with Bram Stoker's style.
Other Reviews
My thanks to GR Friend Berengaria for the discovery of the Mysterious Press Bibliomysteries series. You can read her review of Reconciliation Day here.
Trivia and Links
Christopher Fowler (1953-2023) was a writer of mystery & crime novels, especially those in the Bryant & May: Peculiar Crimes Unit (2003-2021) series. He is also the author of [b:The Book of Forgotten Authors|34100964|The Book of Forgotten Authors|Christopher Fowler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486027349l/34100964._SY75_.jpg|55122706] (2017), which I especially enjoyed discovering last year.
The Bibliomysteries series are short stories commissioned by Otto Penzler's The Mysterious Press to be written around the theme of deadly books. They are individually published in limited edition hardcovers, paperbacks and ebooks, and periodically collected in anthology editions such as [b:Bibliomysteries|32191848|Bibliomysteries|Otto Penzler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1478278696l/32191848._SY75_.jpg|56893092] (2013, containing stories 1-15) and [b:Bibliomysteries: Volume Two|36327114|Bibliomysteries Volume Two|Otto Penzler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507842055l/36327114._SY75_.jpg|58003435] (2018, containing stories 16-30). There does not appear to be a Goodreads Listopia for them, but on Library Thing the current listing (as of mid-September 2024) includes 40 short stories.
Review of the Mysterious Press/Open Road eBook (May 2, 2017) of the Mysterious Press hardcover & paperback (June 1, 2016).
For the strength of a library exists in the sum of its books. Only by studying it as a whole—indeed, only by reading every single edition contained within—can one hope to divine the true nature of its owner.
An obsessive collector of editions of Bram Stoker's [b:Dracula|17245|Dracula|Bram Stoker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1387151694l/17245._SY75_.jpg|3165724] (1897) thinks he has located the elusive single existing copy of the blue cover edition. This single printing contains a chapter which was excised from the final published version. In it, Jonathan Harker is cataloguing the library of Count Dracula and discovers the exotic and erotic contained within it.
Christopher Fowler neatly toggles the story between the collector's search and excerpts from the actual lost chapter itself. Both the collector and Harker discover that the book has its own powers and the local villagers are not about to allow outsiders to leave with it.
This was overall well done and the only thing keeping it out of 5 star territory was that the fictional chapter did not seem in keeping with Bram Stoker's style.
Other Reviews
My thanks to GR Friend Berengaria for the discovery of the Mysterious Press Bibliomysteries series. You can read her review of Reconciliation Day here.
Trivia and Links
Christopher Fowler (1953-2023) was a writer of mystery & crime novels, especially those in the Bryant & May: Peculiar Crimes Unit (2003-2021) series. He is also the author of [b:The Book of Forgotten Authors|34100964|The Book of Forgotten Authors|Christopher Fowler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486027349l/34100964._SY75_.jpg|55122706] (2017), which I especially enjoyed discovering last year.
The Bibliomysteries series are short stories commissioned by Otto Penzler's The Mysterious Press to be written around the theme of deadly books. They are individually published in limited edition hardcovers, paperbacks and ebooks, and periodically collected in anthology editions such as [b:Bibliomysteries|32191848|Bibliomysteries|Otto Penzler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1478278696l/32191848._SY75_.jpg|56893092] (2013, containing stories 1-15) and [b:Bibliomysteries: Volume Two|36327114|Bibliomysteries Volume Two|Otto Penzler|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507842055l/36327114._SY75_.jpg|58003435] (2018, containing stories 16-30). There does not appear to be a Goodreads Listopia for them, but on Library Thing the current listing (as of mid-September 2024) includes 40 short stories.