Readers may be familiar with the TV show "Father Brown", based on G. K. Chesterton's stories, featuring a priest who doubles as an amateur sleuth, and frequently gets in the way of the local police investigating a crime. Con Lehane's new book, "Murder Off the Page", reminded me of the Father Brown series, except instead of a local parish priest being the amateur sleuth, it's now a NYC librarian, Raymond Ambler, who wants to help the police investigate a murder.

Ambler's friend and bartender, Brian McNulty, befriends a woman in his bar, and before long, becomes a prime suspect in the murder of a man in the woman's hotel room, and later in the murder of the woman herself.

The investigating homicide detective, Mike Cosgrove, finds Ambler's advise and suggestions to be alternately helpful or harmful. But together, along with Ambler's co-librarian and sometime love-interest Adele Morgan, they discover that the murdered woman leads something of a double-life, typically being Sandra Dean, Long Island dermatologist, mother, and wife, and at other times disappearing into NYC as Shannon Darling, drinking and carousing with strangers in NYC hotel bars.

While the bartender appeared to be the prime suspect, any of a variety of men that Shannon Darling/Dr. Sandra Dean has met up with in the past, as well as her cuckolded husband, appear to be suspects as well.

Eventually, one suspect emerges as the probable killer, and Ambler and the police must find a way to corral the suspect before harm comes to any more innocent victims. ( )

Raymond Ambler is a librarian at the New York Public Library, curator of the Crime Fiction Collection, and an amateur sleuth. The bartender at the nearby Library Tavern, favorite watering hole of at least some of the librarians, is a good friend, Brian McNulty. Another friend is Mike Cosgrove, an NYPD homicide detective. Adele Morgan is another librarian, a friend, and a potential love interest, if Ambler can figure out how human relationships work.

Ambler also has joint custody of his grandson, Johnny. His son, John, is in prison for second degree murder. Johnny's mother is deceased (apparently unrelated to John's case--hey, it's book three, and the first one I've read.) So Ambler has a lot on his plate without getting involved in a murder at a local hotel, that McNulty wants him to solve. But why? It seems a woman called Shannon Darling is involved.

Ambler and Adele first saw her at the Library Tavern, drunk, wild, and attracting men she didn't necessarily want to attract. The next time, she came into the Crime Fiction reading room, saying she was doing research on women crime writers. In particular, Jane Galloway, a favorite of Ambler's, who has recently donated her papers to the library. Yet Shannon Darling seems to have no idea how to do research, which seems inconsistent with her claim that she's a writer.

When she become connected to a murder, Ambler doesn't want to get involved. When it becomes clear that she and McNulty are involved, and worse yet, when the two of them disappear together, Ambler's resistance remains strong. Well, pretty strong.

When Shannon is murdered and McNulty is the prime, no, the only suspect, that resistance crumbles.

Shannon turns out to have another name, and a complicated past, and a connection to Jane Galloway. And a daughter about the same age as Johnny.

It's a pretty interesting plot, but I found Ambler hard to warm up to. He's not an unpleasant person; just, for me, not an engaging one. He has no sense about human relationships at all, even with his grandson, whom he loves and is devoted to. He's maddening even to his friends, and has no idea why.

The narrator is also--not good. All the women sound like hysterical ditzes, even when the author intends them to sound intelligent and strong. It's a disservice to the book.

It is, nevertheless, an interesting mystery, and others are likely to find Ambler more likeable, or at least more engaging, than I do. But I would recommend reading, not listening.

I bought this audiobook. ( )

Murder Off the Page is the 3rd book in the 42nd Street Library Mystery series. Ray Ambler is curator of the NY Public Library's Crime Fiction Collection. Along with his trusty assistant, Adele, he often ends up investigating crimes as well as curating the collection.

This time, a researcher comes in to use the collection, but it seems she is not who she says she is. The woman doesn't really seem to know how to properly research, but spends days gathering information on a particular writer. Later, they come across the same woman drunk in a bar. A friend of Ray's, Bartender Brian McNulty, seems to know the drunk woman and takes her back to her hotel. Later when a dead body is discovered in the room, the woman and McNulty are nowhere to be found. When the woman herself is killed, McNulty is immediately a suspect. Ray and Adele are on the case to solve two murders and to discover facts about the woman's past, plus prove McNulty is not a killer.

I had to read a couple chapters of this book twice to fully understand the characters. I realize this is because this book is the third in this series.....but the first I have read. I still enjoyed the story very much .... the investigation is complex and interesting! And, it all works into Ambler's specialty -- crime fiction and crime authors. I liked how Lehane worked that into the plot. I think I would have understood the setting and characters a bit better if I had started this series from the beginning. But with careful reading, a reader could jump in at this book and thoroughly enjoy the characters and story.

The mystery unravels at a nice page. There are plenty of clues, side investigations and suspects to keep the plot interesting. Ray and Adele work together perfectly.

I enjoyed this story! I am definitely back-tracking to start this series from the first book. Then I will re-read this one with a better understanding of the characters, the Crime Fiction Collection and past events.

Great book! I'm definitely reading more by this author!

**I voluntarily read a advance review copy of this book from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.** ( )

Solid. But the lack of any development in the relationship between Ambler and Adele is tiresome. They keep acting like preschoolers who are embarrassed by any suggestion that the other person might be interested in them.

The mystery itself in this volume was solid, but it could have ended stronger. [SPOILER] Having it be the husband was a bit predictable; I was convinced it would be the aunt, which would make it a surprise ending, but no, after a long and winding path, it finally ended in the obvious outcome.

One thing I like about this series is that whereas other book-themed mystery series tend to lose the book focus as the series goes on, this one does a credible job of maintaining that hook in a satisfying way. ( )