Mystery Novel Reveals More About Ireland and Her People
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THE CASE OF
THE MISSING BOOKS
By Ian Sansom
Harper Collins
ISBN-10:
0-06-082250-3
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Reviewed by Sharon Greer
Sometimes it's hard to believe that anyone could be quite so naive and gullible as Israel Armstrong. He's the shy, sensitive 'detective' in Ian Sansom's recent book, The Case of the Missing Books. It's the first book in the "Mobile Library Series."
Initially a bit difficult to immerse oneself in, the story's character eventually captures your imagination.
Israel is seriously inept. Lured to Northern Ireland by a new job, he finds out on arrival that his expectations are all wrong. Instead of a stationary library, he discovers he is expected to drive a mobile library around town.
His encounters with the locals often prove to be disastrous, especially his relationship with Ted Carson, a local man instructed to show Israel around town.
However, as soon as Israel begins his new job he is informed that the 15,000 books in the library have disappeared. Now his job is to find out who and why anyone would want to steal them. As Israel struggles to solve his first mystery the reader gets the opportunity to explore Ireland and learn about its people.
Ian Sansom is a regular contributor to The Guardian and the London Review of Books. He lives in Northern Ireland.
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