The Bookwoman's Last Fling: A Cliff Janeway Novel

by John Dunning

Hardcover, 2006

Status

Available

Publication

Scribner (2006), Edition: 1st, 337 pages

Description

Traveling to Idaho at the invitation of a wealthy horse owner, Cliff discovers a stunning collection of first-edition children's classics. The books are valued in the millions, which would be excellent news for their owner--if he hadn't suddenly been murdered. Considering the worth of the books, it's no secret why someone would kill to get near them. But to find out who that someone is, Cliff must pound a trail through the world of horseracing.

User reviews

LibraryThing member franoscar
This is the 2nd of these books I've read and they are both bad. They are stupid & ugly. This one had a plot contrivance that you could see coming from the beginning.
LibraryThing member SugarCreekRanch
A "just okay" mystery novel. It's about horse-racing and book-collecting, which are certainly appealing. But the characters have no personalities, and the overall tone is similar to a "hard boiled" detective story rather than a modern suspense/thriller.
LibraryThing member BeckyJG
Cliff Janeway was a homicide cop. Now he's a bookman--a rare book dealer--in Denver, who scouts out and sells rare books, appraises collections, and oh yes, investigates the occasional book-related murder. Indeed, a love of books can be that dangerous.

The Bookwoman's Last Fling finds Janeway
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called out to a horse farm in Idaho to assess a library. Patriarch H. R. Geiger has recently died and Junior Willis--for three decades Geiger's right hand man, horse trainer, and now executor of his will--has been tasked with tracking down several volumes from the late Candice Geiger's library which have gone missing over recent years. Candice has been dead for thirty years, but despite the missing tomes her library stands as one of the finest collections of classic children's literature to be found. Janeway learns, as well, that there is some mystery surrounding Candice's death, although it had been ruled an accident--she died of an allergic reaction to peanuts--at the time. Some called it suicide; after all, she knew what foods to avoid too well to have eaten any of them accidentally, and she kept an emergency kit at hand at all times, as well. Some whispered about murder, although who would have wanted to murder this lovely, bookish, horse-loving woman none could say.

To investigate the missing books Janeway immerses himself in the world of horse racing. He goes out on the circuit, getting himself hired on to walk hot horses, and in the process gets to know the people who knew the people who surrounded Candice Geiger, putting himself in danger more than once as he gets closer to the truth.

In addition to his deep knowledge of books and the book world, Dunning has first-hand knowledge of the world of horse racing, and writes of it with loving and fascinating detail. He tosses around horse and racing jargon (and thankfully defines it), and beautifully portrays the camaraderie of the shedrow, an insular world of horse lovers which is lavishly salted with misfits and eccentrics of all sorts. And he writes a damned good mystery in the process.
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LibraryThing member ahduval
A good solid mystery.
Centered around horse racing and book collecting.
The culprit was introduced early enough in the story that it was plausible, and there were enough red herrings that could have been the person of interest.

The one disagreement I have is actually the quote on the front of this
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edition, from the New York Times, "An exhilarating adventure that makes book-collecting seem as exciting as horseracing" This is obviously false as book-collecting is much more exciting.
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LibraryThing member shelleyraec
I am again dissappointed with this series - even though I like Cliff and the mystery is always interesting as is the behind scenes look at the book world - you could easily cut 200 pages or more and not notice. There are huge chunks where nothing happens to advance the story or the characters, and
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in the end I skimmed a large part of the middle and felt like I missed nothing. Even though I would really like to know what happens between Cliff and Erin - time to give up.
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LibraryThing member seasidereader
This was my first (and last) Dunning. I found the thread disjointed and unsatisfying. However, there is a well-written segment describing Janeway's return to full consciousness following a concussion.
LibraryThing member benjclark
It was ok. Not Dunning's best effort. It seemed like he had a few chapters sitting around on horseracing and a plot with the Dunning bad-guy twist laying around, so he just padded it out to a whole book.

It was filled with starts and stops, where things would get good and interesting, even
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exciting, then... .... several chapters where nothing happens... It also got a bit repetitive, which may be a better reflection of what real detective work is like, but it makes for dull reading. One other criticism, he could have streamlined his cast a bit. There are several (minor) characters who only add bulk, instead of move the story along, or are used in any real way.
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LibraryThing member legan
8/08 The voice of the narrator did not match the story - voice was old (60 or more) and the main character was suppose to be in his 30's. Just didn't match. The story was a typical murder mystery, but I finished it because the setting was book collecting and race horses - and there was enough
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information about both worlds to keep me interested. But I wouldn't recommend it as an audiobook.
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LibraryThing member cathyskye
Protagonist: Cliff Janeway
Setting: present-day Idaho and northern California
Series: #5

Cliff Janeway, a former Denver homicide detective, has found a second career
as an antiquarian bookseller, but he hasn't quite lost his taste for police
work. Janeway receives an invitation from wealthy horse
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trainer, H.R.
Geiger, to come to Idaho to appraise his book collection, but by the time
Janeway arrives, his host is dead. He winds up tracking down some rare
volumes that have vanished from the collection and probing the decades-old
death of Geiger's wife, a wealthy heiress who collected valuable juvenile
fiction. When a fresh body turns up and Janeway himself almost falls victim
to a killer, he finds that his decision to pursue the truth puts him at odds
with his significant other, Erin.

Once again, Dunning is adept at plotting and pacing, as well as his
characterization. For those who are not enthused about horse racing, there's
no need to despair--there's not an overabundance of equine detail.
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LibraryThing member Kathy89
Retired cop now antique book seller is hired by the executor of a wealthy man's estate to determine if some of his book collection has been stolen and the value of the collection. He meets the daughter who convinces him to look into the circumstances of her mother's death. This takes our hero into
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the horse racing world to investigate.
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LibraryThing member Blankenbooks
Excllent read, as usual. Never fails to weave a delightful story line. Kept me guessing until the last couple of chapters. Have already read it twice, and enjoyed it thoroughly.
LibraryThing member MusicMom41
When we are up at our Vallejo house we often listen to audio books instead of watching TV. I got this one from the library because the title intrigued me and I am a fan of George Guidall as a narrator.

Cliff Janeway is a former policeman who is now a book collector—with the instincts of a cop. He
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is invited to Idaho by a wealthy horse trainer to examine a collection of 1st edition children's classics which had been collected many years ago by his late wife. When his host is murdered Janeway decides to hire on with the crew who works with the horses to investigate not only this mystery but the possibility that the wife, also, had been murdered many years ago.

We found the story interesting, the characters well drawn and unique and, of course, the narration was excellent. This is the first mystery by Dunning we have tried and for most of the book we were very entertained and intrigued. However, for an avid mystery junkie the contrived ending was disappointing for me and even my husband was a little irritated by the ploy used to solve the mystery.
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LibraryThing member gypsysmom
I wasn't as taken with this book as I have been with the others in the series. Too many people flip flopped from nice guy to cranky guy back to nice guy without explanation.

Cliff Janeway has gone to Utah to appraise a collection of books, mostly first edition children classics. When he gets to the
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ranch where the books are stored he is told by the ranch manager that some of the books appear to be missing and second rate books put in their place. The collection was put together by Candice Geiger, wife of famed horse trainer H. R. Geiger. Candice died twenty years previously perhaps by accident when she ate some peanuts to which she was allergic. H. R. has died recently leaving a considerable estate to four children, three males from a first marriage and Sharon, Candice's daughter. H. R. was on the outs with all his children before he died and none of them really get along with each other. When Cliff talks to Sharon she tells him that she has always wondered if her mother was killed. Since the collection was put together by Candice he speculates that perhaps the person who has been stealing books also killed her. On this slim premise he sets out to California to try to uncover what he can about Candice's death by moving in the same horse racing circles that she and H. R. moved in during their marriage. While snooping around their California ranch Cliff is bonked on the head, stuffed in a car trunk and left to burn when the car is set alight. Of course he manages to escape. His lady, Erin, comes to be with him and she gets in on the action as well. Eventually, Cliff finds the book thief and solves the murder (because of course Candice was murdered). There is some interesting stuff about horse racing and a little bit of book lore but it all felt too contrived to me. Maybe someone else will enjoy it more so I'll release it soon.
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LibraryThing member cajela
An enjoyable read. I enjoy the background more than the plots with Dunning - a dip into another world.

The series features Cliff Janeway, a former homicide detective turned book dealer. He tends to stumble on murders while doing estate valuations.

This one includes a twenty year old suspicious death.
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Did Candice die by accident, suicide or murder? The answer may lie in the details of her life on the horse racing circuit, or perhaps with her strange family.
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LibraryThing member tjsjohanna
Lest readers get too comfortable with Janeway, Mr. Dunning throws a wrench into his personal life. Along the way we get to go behind the scenes in the horse racing & training business (kind of reminds me of Dick Francis). The idea of a cop turned book seller sounds "cozy", but Mr. Dunning always
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keeps an edge to his stories and a sense of realism (but not gratuitous gore or violence).
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LibraryThing member jdgarner68
You have to like Cliff Janeway, the tough-guy cop turned book dealer, in order to appreciate this last book in the series. If you have read any previous, and you are expecting more, you will be disappointed. If this is the first Janeway novel you have tried, you will probably not be impressed (the
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first two in the series is a long how-do-you-do that reels you in). If you are a Janeway fan as I am, it is another good read.

I like this character Dunning created: a tough-guy with a soft-spot for books. Janeway shows very little class with his smart mouth and his head-on way of solving problems (like smacking someone in the mouth). However, he is always taking up for the people that have better manners than he does. His cracks and one-liners during while he interviews his suspects is enough to entertain me. I learned quite a few good wisecracks from reading this series. I also like the information on the world of book collectors and horseracing that this book provides. I know many people weren't crazy about this book, but I thought it was just fine. But, it seems obvious that this is probably the last Janeway book we will read. Even Cliff Janeway is burnt out on the book collector/ private detective business.
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LibraryThing member dukefan86
This was an interesting story. I enjoyed learning a little more about the horse racing arena, and the children's books were an interesting part of it too. In fact, I wish the story had included a little more about that. The ending took me by surprise, almost to the point of being abrubpt. Still, it
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was another good John Dunning story in this series. George Guidall's voice was very well suited for the characters' voices and the story overall for this audiobook.
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LibraryThing member auntieknickers
I always feel I should like John Dunning's books more than I do -- not that I don't like THE BOOKWOMAN"S LAST FLING -- I definitely wanted to read to the end, there were characters both engaging and enraging, and the behind-the-scenes racetrack setting put me right there with the dust and horse
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manure. Perhaps the Cliff Janeway series is one I should have read at one gulp. As it is, several years go by between my readings and I may thus lose the thread of the main character.

Janeway leaves Denver in this book for Idaho, where he has a rather vague assignment dealing with the rare books which are part of an estate. The dead man left four children from two marriages, generally at odds with each other. Some books are missing from the collection (which had really been collected by the second wife, long dead) and probate can't be completed until this is cleared up. The investigation will lead Janeway to more horse barns than bookrooms, and if I have one problem with the book, it's how far out in left field the villain comes from. If you like a truly ingenious surprise ending, this book is for you. For me, it was a little unbelievable, yet it was a good solid few hours of entertainment. Recommended with reservations.
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LibraryThing member BookConcierge
3.5 stars
In a plot that mixes book collecting with horse racing, Cliff Janeway struggles to find the person who has pillaged a dead woman’s extraordinary collection of children’s books. He’s also struggling with whether he wants to be a book seller or a cop, and I think the character’s
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struggle may parallel the author’s struggle with what direction the series takes. Dunning is still able to craft a pretty good plot, but there are a lot of red herrings and the book just doesn’t capture the love of books and mystery that the earlier works did.
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LibraryThing member polywogg
BOTTOM-LINE:
Slow book, too much about horses and not enough detecting.
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PLOT OR PREMISE:
Janeway is hired to appraise part of an estate, a collection of first-edition children's books amassed by a woman who died 20 years before. Now the husband has died, and his children want to distribute the money,
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but first, everything has to be totalled up.
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WHAT I LIKED:
Early on, the case has some interesting bits including discovery that someone has been slowly replacing some of the books with cheap duplicates, but not in any strategic way. Someone who knows something about value, but skipping some obvious choice books. It doesn't take much for a daughter who also loves books to want Janeway to figure out if the mother was killed, and if so, by who. A bunch of brothers run around, and they're all a little bit crazy, but who is the craziest? The dead husband was a horseman, and Janeway works for one of the brothers as a stable boy / horse walker to get in with the horse crowd. Reads a lot like a vintage Dick Francis book.
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WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
As with most Janeway novels, there are two mysteries interwoven -- the death of the young wife 20 years before and the theft of the children's books. Unfortunately, the story spends a LONG time with the horse crowd with not much happening. It read more like a personal diary than a mystery novel. Huge stretches of time with NOTHING RELEVANT to the mystery. Equally, neither of the mysteries are unraveled in an interesting way, just plodding in one case and almost happenstance in another. And so obvious for one ending, yet it takes forever to get there.
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DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him on social media.
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LibraryThing member dono421846
Smart money says this will be the last of the Cliff Janeway novels. Janeway himself decides he'd rather be a cop than a bookman, and similarly one gets a sense that Dunning has exhausted his story ideas for this particular character. Last Fling is better than its predecessor, Sign of the Book, but
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not as good as the first two in the series. Those not only had books front and center as part of the mystery, but capitalized on Dunning's insider knowledge of the book trade by intriguing glimpses into bookstores (Booked to Die) and small presses (Bookman's Promise). Things fall apart when these two pieces don't mesh: In Sign of the Book, we learned a bit about book fairs, but books had nothing to do with the mystery, and finally here books serve ostensibly as an important motivation, but our real attention is on horse racing.

Much can be forgiven if the characterization is workable, but Dunning rarely is rarely able to use language sufficiently to distinguish his characters. The broken down drunk, the ivy league lawyer and the ex-cop all speak the same, using the same vocabulary. The language he does use, though, is easy going down, and I have always found these books a pleasant experience. I just wish the later ones were more book-y.
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LibraryThing member JBD1
Another good product from Dunning. Perhaps not quite as good as some of the early Janeway novels, but still a nice casual read.
LibraryThing member waldhaus1
Cliff Janeway is hired to assess the value of a book collection of a recently deceased eccentric. The story gets more complex as it turns out the collection was started by the young wife of the deceased. She had died of complications from a peanut allergy many years before. Janeway can’t work
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with the estate’s manager and contacts the daughter of the decedent. It turns out she is also a bibliophile and believes her mother was murdered. Race horses play a central role in the story. Janeway decides to investigate the death of the young Walkman even though it happened twenty years earlier. It turns out that he starts his investigation by working with the race horses. He gradually collects evidence and the solution to the mystery came as a surprise to me. Janeway tells his story in a way that brings the characters to life and keeps the reader engaged. I say Janeway because the story is told from his perspective. I thought I had read all of the Janeway stories but this one had slipped under my radar. Glad I finally discovered it in the process of rereading the series.
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Language

Original language

English
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