Betty Crighton Jones (called Crighton from here on out) is the press officer for the Werner-Bok Library in Washington, D.C. Some recent developments are making her job particularly stressful. Anonymous letters sent to various members of the media claim that several of the Werner-Bok's rare books are, in fact, fakes, and it's starting to put the Library's reputation at risk. Not only that, but Murchison DeVeer, the Head of the Manuscripts Division, claims he knows that something fishy is going on in the Rare Books Division.

In a effort to deal with the anonymous note situation as quietly and quickly as possible, the library director, Brooks, invites Dr. George, a respected retired librarian, to look into the situation in the guise of doing research for a book. Brooks assigns Crighton to be George's guide/assistant. Shortly before George arrives, however, DeVeer ends up dead in an apparent accident. Was DeVeer the one responsible for the notes, and is the problem now solved? Or is something more sinister going on?

This was originally published in 1977, and it shows. An actual card catalog, a physical shelflist, male librarians in all the most important positions, casual sexism (which leaves Crighton feeling more resigned than annoyed), and characters who've barely heard of smoke detectors before. The best point of reference I had was the semester I spent at the Newberry Library. Even today, a portion of their collection still can't be searched in the online catalog and must be found using the card catalog. Without the experience I'd had searching for research materials there, as well as the time I spent in some of their staff-only areas, I'm not sure how much sense parts of this book would have made.

I went into this expecting it to be a cozy mystery, but I'm not sure that's quite the right label for it. The first death, in particular, had gorier aspects than I'd normally expect from a cozy. Then there was the, uh, drawer full of blood. Ew. Still, the cutesy title and slight romance subplot fit, I suppose - there's a love triangle involving Crighton, a researcher named Carson, and Welles, the assistant chief of the Rare Books Room.

Although I enjoyed the Werner-Bok's messed up workplace politics, this was a bit of a struggle to get through. None of the characters particularly appealed to me or even made much of an impression. Almost all of them had the same "voice," and I found myself repeatedly having to flip back and forth in the book in an effort to figure out who people were and what their jobs were. It didn't help that nearly everyone was referred to by their last names, several of which began with the same letter. I kept mixing up Carson and Conrad, and the first few times Welles appeared on-page I couldn't even remember which division he worked in.

The romance aspect was painfully weak, and the mystery aspects were mediocre. I correctly guessed the identity of the murderer well before the end of the book - Goodrum made it so obvious I was sure I was going to turn out to be wrong. I will say this, though: the cat-and-mouse scene near the end, in the closed library, was really good, even if it did make me want to shake Crighton for not fully thinking everything through (she brought food but no flashlight!). Also, the title is fabulous, although it would have been more appropriate for a book set in a public library than a research library.

I have no plans to seek out the next book in this series.

(Original review posted on A Library Girl's Familiar Diversions.) ( )

Charles Goodrum served as a librarian at the Library of Congress for many years, writing books about the library and its collections. He also wrote mysteries, set at the fictional Werner-Bok Library in Washington, D.C., a repository for expensive and collectible books and manuscripts. Dewey decimated is the first novel and introduces us to Betty Crighton Jones, PR director for the library; Steve Carson, a researcher; and retired librarian Edward George. There is something strange going on at the library and the director asks his friend, Edward George, to investigate. Then the head of the manuscripts section is found dead. Things get worse from there and our three intrepid investigators try to make some sense of it all.

The time line for the second day of events seemed to be impossible. Crighton picked up Mr. George at Washington National about 11:30 A.M. There was a meeting with the library director. Next the three investigators discussed the events of the previous day. At lunchtime, Crighton went out with a colleague. With traffic in Washington, even in 1977, George could not have gotten to the library for at least 45 minutes. His meeting lasted quite a while. Yet all this happened in 90 minutes. Strange!

The names were a bit confusing. Except for Crighton, the characters usually were referred to by last name, except in dialogue. It finally occurred to me that Steve and Carson were the same person. Ditto with some of the other characters.

Goodrum understands how libraries operate, especially those with rare books, and this knowledge showed in the story. He also knows about the market for rare books, an important element of the plot.

Librarians and lovers of libraries will enjoy the book in spite of its flaws. ( )

I'll read almost anything set in libraries or with librarians. This book was written in 1977, the year I started college and declared my major as "library science", so I was reading it a little more critically than I do some other books.

Goodrum did a good job of painting the pictures of major libraries that have very old books and both manuscript and rare book collections. The descriptions of the closed stacks, the methods for tracking materials and they "how" of the murder all rang very true to me.

I did figure out the why of the book fairly early on but the who was a little more convoluted. It made perfect sense and I tumbled to the killer about the same time as the supporting cast but before the author came out and pointed out the killer.

I enjoyed this and am looking forward to reading more in the series (too short a series but I'll get them all read). ( )

When anonymous letters question the purity of the Werner-Bok's rare book collection, the director calls on Edward George, who finds all manner of ugly goings-on. With the help of a pretty publicist and a young historian, he must unmask a killer who seems willing to kill again. I found this just delightful. ( )

Set in a fictional library of rare books based on the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., amusing mystery among rare books, murder, and theft. Mediocre, but readable for librarians.