Bibliomysteries Series

A boy comes of age among a family of grifters in this powerful story from a New York Times–bestselling “master” (Stephen King).   Never knowing a real home, Markus Novak’s only constant in life is his passion for paperback westerns. The child of a family of outlaws, he moves through the West town by town with his mother and two uncles, staying in a place just long enough to run a short con and move along.  After one job goes south and his mom gets locked up, Markus finds himself in the foster care of a rancher and his wife—with whom he’s strangely comfortable, yet torn by loyalty to the family he’s lost.   To distract himself, he spends his days working the farm and his nights fixing a rusty old ’55 Chevy. Then he discovers a note from his uncles hidden in a book at a local pawnshop and learns that they are hiding out in a mountain town near Yellowstone. Restoring the car soon becomes Markus’s only hope of finding them, and maybe finally finding himself, too.  

A book lover’s lust for acquisition drives him to murder in this short tale from the New York Times–bestselling author of Beautiful Days. Identified only by the hastily—and clumsily—chosen alias Charles Brockden, the narrator of this story finds a bookstore that instantly piques his desire. He must call it his own; he must add it to his already-extensive collection of bookstores. But surely the owner of such a fine shop wouldn’t easily part with it. Brockden forms a plan to acquire the store in such a way that no one would ever suspect foul play: untraceable murder. And he knows he will be successful—because he has done it before. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

An American spy in Paris solves a legendary mystery as the Pulitzer Prize–winning author’s “thrilling historical series” continues (The Wall Street Journal).   Former Chicago journalist turned globe-trotting spy Christopher Marlowe Cobb has already lived many lives—from London to Mexico to Berlin—when he returns to France in 1922. Where better to work on his novel than among such literary expatriates as Ezra Pound and Ford Madox Ford, who convene at the Shakespeare & Company bookstore in postwar Paris? Among them is Ernest Hemingway, fellow lone-wolf war correspondent, new friend, and confidante. Like Cobb, Hemingway is writing a novel. Unlike Cobb, however, Hemingway’s manuscript has just been stolen off a train to Lausanne by what he’s sure were foreign agents. To know what Hemingway knows is risky enough. But to write about it is positively dangerous. Never one to shy away from a challenge, Cobb volunteers to retrieve the manuscript—but he’ll need all of his spycraft skills to infiltrate the compound where it’s cached.  

A simple theft leads to unforeseen tragedy in this story from the New York Times–bestselling author of the Inspector Ian Rutledge Mysteries.   In a quaint antiquarian bookshop in the Midlands of England, a woman is captivated by a rare gilt-edged devotional nestled within an exquisite and equally tempting box. Her desire to pilfer it overcomes her scruples, and her guilt and terror at doing something so audacious, so unlike her. With a simple sleight of hand, it’s hers.   But this irresistible book of hours isn’t in her possession for long. By chance, desire, and cruel twists of fate, it soon falls into the covetous grip of others—from a pickpocket to a schoolboy to a priest—as one woman’s transgression sets in motion a dreadful chain of events.   This diabolically clever story from the New York Times–bestselling author proves Stephen King was right when he said, “You’re going to love Todd.”

Writer’s block shows up in person to terrorize a bestselling author. Zachary Gold, struggling to write his second novel after his first became an instant success, is suddenly confronted by a mysterious man claiming that Zach plagiarized his writing. In an effort to escape the crazed imposter, Zach flees to a nearby library and hides out amid the children’s bookshelves in the basement. Surrounded by fairy tales, fearing for his safety, the author endeavors to write while grappling with the question of whether to attempt a sequel to his smash hit or start anew with an original story. The Sequel, penned by none other than R. L. Stine, the man who made horror fun for young readers, is the latest installment in the Bibliomysteries series. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

An ancient scroll draws a bookseller into a chilling mystery. Monty Danforth finds the tin buried beneath a shipment of leather-bound classics. Inside is a millennia-old vellum manuscript written in an unfamiliar but unmistakably ancient language. Danforth tries to photocopy and photograph it, but he ends up with blank images, as though the ink were made of something impervious to modern technology. As the scroll’s mystery enchants him, this hapless bookseller falls into a cutthroat conspiracy that he may never escape. Soon a dead-eyed old man and his granddaughter come calling for the scroll. Danforth refuses to sell them the manuscript, but they will not be the last to demand it. Powerful forces crave the secrets locked within this ancient document, and Danforth will survive only if he can master its power. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

The lie that bought Jacob Weisen a new life cannot help him escape the past. Birkenau could not kill Jacob Weisen. He survived the death camp and made his way to America, where he became famous telling the story of Isaac Becker, an author who was tortured to death when the guards caught him writing down his story. Becker’s manuscript was lost, but by telling the tale, Weisen keeps his memory alive. No other witnesses survived—and Weisen is the only person who knows his famous story is a lie. In fact, Weisen was a collaborator, who led his countrymen to the ovens and gave Becker up to the SS. Decades after the war, as his lies begin to unravel, he must choose between admitting the truth and dying in a hell of his own creation. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

A pair of federal agents from either side of the US–Mexico border target a cartel kingpin. They call him “Cuchillo,” the Knife. Not because he kills with a blade—he has plenty of men to do that kind of work for him—but because his mind is so sharp. As Mexico’s government wages war on the drug cartels, it takes brains to survive, and Cuchillo has not just survived—he has prospered. But when Cuchillo begins to cut too deeply, the federal police of both the United States and Mexico step in to dull his blade. P. Z. Evans and Alejo Díaz know the Hermosillo cartel is planning an attack on a tourist bus in Sonora, and they know they will have to capture or kill Cuchillo to stop it. The cartel leader has one weakness: rare, old books. To destroy the intellectual’s evil empire, this unlikely pair of international police will have to appeal to his inner bibliophile. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors. 

A thief targets a local bookstore and it will take a bibliophile PI to save the shop. Tess Monaghan wants to like the Children’s Bookstore. It’s bright, cozy, and packed with the kinds of books that she is dying for her daughter to fall in love with. But no matter how badly she wants to support this adorable local business, the owner’s attitude stops her in her tracks. What kind of children’s bookseller hates children? What’s eating Octavia, the grouchy owner, is more than the pressures of running a small business. Each Saturday, someone steals a stack of her priciest, most beautiful children’s books, and the expense threatens to force her fledgling store out of business. Luckily, Tess is more than a book lover—she’s a private investigator who doesn’t mind working pro bono to help out an independent bookshop. Her simple act of kindness will make Octavia smile for the first time in months—and uncover a crime more suitable for the mystery aisle than the children’s section. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

As World War II draws near, a dying genius fights against hate to preserve his legacy. Cancer has ravaged Sigmund Freud. It is 1938, and the great doctor has fled Vienna for London, where he races to finish his final, most dangerous work: a radical reimagining of the origins of Judaism, which posits that Moses was murdered by his followers. Though his colleagues say that such a controversial text could only give grist to those who would do the Jews harm, Freud is adamant about releasing the book—until a Nazi named Sauerwald comes to visit. He has written a manuscript in Freud’s name, a hateful screed that claims to prove that all of Jewish history is based on falsehood, and asks that Freud help him have it published—lest something unpleasant happen to the doctor’s family in Austria. Horrified by this foul threat, Freud responds with the only weapon he has left. He picks up pen and paper and suggests that Sauerwald sit down on his couch. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors. 

With his hated father dead, a man’s life takes a dangerous turn. He doesn’t cry when his father, Frank, dies. The old man was an abusive, self-absorbed drunk, and when cancer takes him to his deathbed, his son is there to watch. At Frank’s final moment he leans over and whispers in his ear, letting the dying man know that he’s glad to see him go. His only inheritance is a heavy, leather-bound book. He has never seen it before, and has trouble believing that his brutal, ignorant father ever touched something so beautiful. But the volume is well-thumbed, full of aphorisms and advice written in the dead man’s hand. Soon after he reads it, the son finds his life spiraling out of control. If he doesn’t want to follow Daddy to the grave, he had best heed the lessons of the book. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

The most evil book ever conceived falls into the hands of the leader of the Spanish Inquisition in this ingenious bibliomystery from the bestselling creator of Repairman Jack. In the fifteenth century, the Spanish Inquisition spreads terror throughout the land, with Prior Tomás de Torquemada serving as the ultimate judge of who will live and who will be consigned to the purifying flames. Never has Torquemada questioned his own faith or his sacred duty to rid the world of heretics, blasphemers, and nonbelievers. Now, however, an extraordinary volume has come into his possession—an ancient book that radiates pure evil. The prior realizes this abomination must be destroyed along with anyone who has come into contact with it, for it is surely the devil’s work, corrupting and possessing all those who touch it. But whom can Torquemada trust to help him achieve his mission now that The Compendium of Srem has passed through numerous hands . . . including his own?  F. Paul Wilson is a writer who is at home working in many different genres, from medical thriller to science fiction to mystery to urban fantasy to horror. Now he travels back centuries in time to explore the secret history of a book of great and terrible power, an ancient volume of eldritch lore that plays a substantial role in the author’s popular Repairman Jack series of novels: The Compendium of Srem. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

A gripping novella from the New York Times–bestselling author of the Inspector Banks Mysteries and a “master of the art” (TheBoston Globe).   Retired Cambridge professor Donald Aitcheson loves scouring antiquarian bookshops for secondhand treasures—as much as he loathes the scribbled marginalia from their previous owners. But when he comes upon an inscription in a volume of Robert Browning’s poetry, he’s less irritated than disturbed. This wasn’t once a gift to an unwitting woman. It was a threat—insidious, suggestively sick, and terribly intriguing.   Now Aitcheson’s imagination is running wild. Was it a sordid teacher-pupil affair that ended in betrayal? A scorned lover’s first salvo in a campaign of terror? The taunt of an obsessive psychopath? Then again, it could be nothing more than a tasteless joke between friends.   As his curiosity gets the better of him, Aitcheson can’t resist playing detective. But when his investigation leads to a remote girls’ boarding school in the Lincolnshire flatlands, and into the confidence of its headmistress, he soon discovers the consequences of reading between the lines.   Praise for Peter Robinson “Robinson is equally skilled at reflecting procedural details and treating his flesh-and-blood characters—despite their flaws—with compassion and humor.” —The Miami Herald   “Robinson is good at producing ingenious mysteries and this one doesn’t disappoint.” —The Sunday Telegraph on Friend of the Devil

When a bibliophile is murdered, it takes a bookseller to solve the crime. Good Advice, New Mexico, is a sunny town with a gloomy bookshop. The store’s eerie corridors are the province of Avery Sharecross, an ex-cop who has made the transition from chasing killers to tracking rare books. One afternoon, the local sheriff interrupts his book club meeting, and Sharecross’s old career collides with his new one. The area’s premier book collector has been found bludgeoned to death on the floor of his family library. A fifth-generation resident of Good Advice, Lloyd Fister devoted his life to books, accumulating a collection of local history that date backs to the sixteenth century. In his library, a single volume is missing: a Spanish book with a sinister past. Is the missing volume a clue, a motive, or a murder weapon? It will take a collector’s eye to decide. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

In pursuit of the find of a lifetime, an academic confronts an old rival. Once visited by the likes of Charles Dickens, William Thackeray, and George Eliot, the London Library is a maze of books—a jumble of first editions and forgotten texts. For Tony, it is a refuge from the failure his life has become—and it is about to be invaded by a destructive old friend. Adam is a world-renowned novelist who spends so much time writing articles and appearing in documentaries that it seems impossible he actually has time to write books. He visits the library to research a nearly-forgotten English poet, Francis Youlgreave, who just happens to be Tony’s obsession. Tony has staked his career on the long-dead clergyman, and will do whatever it takes to keep Adam from stealing his research. In this ghostly library, scholarly conflict is anything but academic.  The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors. 

Attempting the perfect murder, a killer encounters the perfect cop in this short story by Special Edgar Award and Ellery Queen Award–winning author William Link. After years of get-rich-quick schemes, Troy Pellingham’s bank account is empty and his options are down to one: take a job in his uncle’s rare book shop, and spend his days working for an unpleasant man whose only redeeming quality is a mammoth bank account. Though well into his eighties, Uncle Rodney is the picture of good health, and the day when Troy will inherit the old man’s money seems very far away. But then Troy gets a brilliant idea—why shelve books for a living, when he can kill for a fortune? After the deed is done, a peculiarly shabby police detective comes to call. Lieutenant Columbo seems dimwitted, and Troy expects he will have no trouble putting him off the scent. But as the noose tightens around his neck, Troy realizes that no murder is too perfect for Columbo. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

A librarian is tormented by a lethal volume of black magic. When A. Davenport Lomax’s young daughter asks him whether spirits and faeries are real, the Edwardian librarian just pats the little darling on the head. But when a desperate man emerges from the winding passages of the library muttering about demonology, he gets Lomax’s attention. Theodore Grange is a member of the Brotherhood of Solomon, a secret society dedicated to unraveling the mysteries of black magic, and he believes he has found a book written by the Queen of Sheba herself. Said to hold the answers to one thousand demonic mysteries, the tome will poison any man who dares read it.   The next time Lomax sees him, Grange is at death’s door. To uncover the truth about The Gospel of Sheba, Lomax agrees to accompany Grange to a meeting of the brotherhood, where he will encounter darkness that threatens his life, his family, and his soul. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

Five decades after war’s end, a rare-books dealer receives a strange visitor. The guns went silent on November 11, 1918, never to fire again. Throughout the 1920s, unrest seethed across Europe, and Fascists battled Communists in the streets of Berlin, but democracy won out. For years, peace has prevailed around the world. But there is a part of Franklin Altman that misses the war. A rare-books dealer living in New York City, Altman has devoted his life to studying the history of the Weimar Republic, when all of Europe hung in the balance and it seemed it would take but a single spark to set the world ablaze. Why did that spark never come? Altman is musing on these questions one evening when a man comes into his shop. An aged German veteran with a limp and the faint shakes of Parkinson’s, he is about to teach Altman that in history, the devil is in the details. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

A puzzler of a tale about a dead bookshop owner, a priceless cache of first editions, and a deadly secret taken to the grave. It’s no mystery who killed Robert Ripple, owner of Precious Finds Bookstore in Pokesville, Pennsylvania. It was Agatha Christie—or rather, a large carton of valuable Christie hardcovers that the not-so-young Ripple was attempting to lift when his heart gave out. The real question is why the so-called Friends of England, who meet regularly in the back room of Ripple’s literary emporium, are so eager to keep the place open after its proprietor’s death. Certainly it must have something to do with the Friends’ past lives as the associates of a slain New York mobster. Whatever their plan is, they’ll need the help of Tanya Tripp, Ripple’s recently hired and completely unsuspecting assistant, if they want to pull it off. But despite her trustworthy appearance, Tanya may well be hatching a scheme of her own. For over four decades, Peter Lovesey has occupied an honored place as one of crime fiction’s best and brightest. With Remaindered, he offers his readers a delectable tidbit about books and those who live—and die—for them. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

In 1950s Hollywood, an actress is haunted by a bookseller’s death: A novella from the Edgar Award-winning author of Give Me Your Hand.   In 1953, Penny is just another washed-up, wannabe Hollywood actress who is past her prime. She has settled in to a quiet lifestyle, and when she finds a low-rent bungalow in Canyon Arms, it’s a dream come true; Penny takes to the place instantly.   But the dream cottage with its French doors and tiled courtyard may not be as perfect as it seems. Penny’s new neighbors start filling her head with stories about past tenants, whispering voices, and a suicide that may not have been a suicide at all. Soon enough, Penny starts hearing strange noises and she can’t help but wonder about the true fate of the bookseller who died in her home a dozen years earlier. Her suspicions are only fueled by the ominous inscription that she discovers in a book that’s closely guarded by her landlord . . .   From the national bestselling author of Dare Me and other thrillers, this is a spooky mystery set on the dark fringes of glamorous Los Angeles. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

After the death of his father, a literature professor is drawn into the murder investigation of a bookstore proprietor. Though Don and his father both love books, their tastes couldn’t be more different. Don is a scholar, and his father reads nothing but schlock. His house is full of dime paperbacks, battered thrillers, and case after case of western novels, none of which his son could ever bear to read. At his father’s funeral, Don is approached by a strange man, a rare book dealer named Lou Caledonia. Don assumes the man wants to buy his dad’s old westerns, but Lou explains that something far more important is on the line. Don finds the cramped confines of Lou’s used bookstore immensely comforting, but a surprise waits for him downstairs. Caledonia has been shot dead, and Don is in danger, too. The boy who was too smart to read pulp fiction is about to find himself trapped in a thriller of his own. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

In frigid Wyoming lies a mystery that stretches back to Nazi Germany. Lyle and Juan wait outside the lawyer’s house in ski masks, pistols hidden behind their backs. Shortly after dawn, Paul Parker, an aged lawyer, and his old dog step into the cold. The thugs kill the dog, and take the lawyer hostage. Parker’s day has started badly and is going to get much worse. Once a fine lawyer, Parker’s enthusiasm has slipped with age, and criminals like Lyle are part of the reason for his disillusionment. Years after they last saw each other in court, Lyle is convinced that Parker owes him something. At gunpoint, Lyle and Juan make Parker lead them to the old Angler ranch, to open up a hidden library whose volumes hold the secret to forgotten riches, and the strangest war profiteering scheme to ever come out of the Great Plains. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

Mike Hammer tears apart New York in search of a dead don’s ledger. For years, cops have whispered legends that Don Nicholas Giraldi, the gentleman godfather, kept a ledger going back decades, keeping track of every police officer, mogul, and politician who took even a cent of his dirty money. Finding the register would put mayors, senators, and even a president or two on the hook for prosecution—or blackmail. When old Nic finally kicks the bucket, one such official comes to Mike Hammer and begs him to find the book before it falls into the wrong hands. Mike has never believed the stories of the old don’s journal, but for $10,000, he is happy to play along. Every hood in town wants to get his hands on the book, and finding it will mean pushing to the very heart of Nic’s family. No matter how many years may have passed, Mike Hammer can still push harder. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

A long lost manuscript by Geoffrey Chaucer draws Professor Dominic Hallkyn through the streets of Boston and into a mysterious plot. When Professor Dominic Hallkyn receives an anonymous phone call late one night from a voice claiming to possess a priceless Chaucerian manuscript presumed lost forever, he doesn’t know how to react. He soon finds himself scrambling to meet the caller’s demands amid uncompromising suspense that culminates in a devilish plot twist. Perry takes his readers on a mad dash through the winding streets of Boston in pursuit of the unique artifact that may be doomed to disappear from history . . . this time, for good. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

In frigid Wyoming lies a mystery that stretches back to Nazi Germany. Lyle and Juan wait outside the lawyer’s house in ski masks, pistols hidden behind their backs. Shortly after dawn, Paul Parker, an aged lawyer, and his old dog step into the cold. The thugs kill the dog, and take the lawyer hostage. Parker’s day has started badly and is going to get much worse. Once a fine lawyer, Parker’s enthusiasm has slipped with age, and criminals like Lyle are part of the reason for his disillusionment. Years after they last saw each other in court, Lyle is convinced that Parker owes him something. At gunpoint, Lyle and Juan make Parker lead them to the old Angler ranch, to open up a hidden library whose volumes hold the secret to forgotten riches, and the strangest war profiteering scheme to ever come out of the Great Plains. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

The next story in the Bibliomysteries series, penned by MWA Grand Master Carolyn Hart. Everyone dreams of stumbling upon a long-lost treasure in the attic or inheriting a fortune from some distant relative. But for Ellen Gallagher, the impoverished owner of a thrift shop in South Carolina, that dream comes true. She finds in her possession a first edition of Agatha Christie’s Poirot Investigates that has been signed by the author . . . and inscribed to the Queen of England. When the book disappears from her shop, Ellen must call on her friend Annie Darling, owner of the mystery bookstore Death on Demand, to track it down. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.  

Elsa finds a book with strange powers and must face her tortured past. It’s been seven years since Else visited her tiny hometown on an isolated island off the coast of Scotland. After years of suffering bullying at the hands of the few other residents, she left to make a new life. But now that her mother has passed, Else has returned. And when her old tormentor Karen Little hands her the very book that sent her running all those years ago, the cruelties of her past have Else seeing red. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

Five thrilling tales of mystery, mayhem, and murder from an exceptional quintet of Edgar, CWA Dagger, and National Book Award winners.   Crime and literature make strange and sinister bedfellows in this winning anthology of book-themed whodunits by five acclaimed masters of mystery and suspense. Multiple award-winning, bestselling authors provide the literary thrills and chills in this masterful collection of five ingeniously puzzling mysteries that belong in the library of every crime fiction aficionado.   Dead Dames Don’t Sing by John Harvey: Looking for a big payday but finding big trouble instead, ex-London-cop-turned-private-investigator Jack Kiley attempts to uncover the true origins of a controversial, pseudonymously written pulp novel.   The Travelling Companion by Ian Rankin: A young Scotsman in Paris is drawn into a shocking mystery that resides within the pages of an unpublished manuscript allegedly penned by Robert Louis Stevenson.   Mystery, Inc. by Joyce Carol Oates: When an obsessive collector of bookstores discovers a charming new shop, he decides he must have it at any cost—even if he has to commit murder.   Remaindered by Peter Lovesey: For some nefarious reason, the widow and former associates of a slain gangster are determined to keep the Precious Finds Bookstore open following the unfortunate demise of the shop’s owner.   The Book Thing by Laura Lippman: Private investigator Tess Monaghan must help the irascible proprietor of a Baltimore children’s bookstore keep her business afloat by unmasking an elusive and utterly ingenious book thief.

Short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors   A thrilling Condor novella from the bestselling author of Six Days of the Condor.   Vin, a name of convenience for the agent known as Condor, has been released from psychiatric care and it’s back to work. Unfortunately, he’s been assigned the mundane job of sorting through books meant for the incinerator instead of the high-adrenaline rush of being a covert spy for the CIA. Struggling to separate hallucinations from reality, Condor attempts to immerse himself in the task at hand, but his acute sense of danger soon overwhelms him. While wandering the labyrinth of the Library of Congress’s subterranean tunnels, he encounters a damsel in distress. Someone is following her, and Condor can’t resist the lure of covert ops—or placing his own life in jeopardy.   James Grady revolutionized the thriller genre with his CIA analyst codenamed Condor, immortalized by Robert Redford in Three Days of the Condor, and currently portrayed by Max Irons in the all-new TV series Condor. The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.

A long-lost bookmobile opens a wild new chapter in the lives of dysfunctional Texas detectives Hap and Leonard—stars of the hit Sundance TV series.   Hap Collins is a straight, white, liberal, blue-collar tough guy. Leonard Pine is a gay, black, Republican combat veteran. Together, they’re the truest Lone Stars living in America’s most independently minded state. Best friends who’ve shared a succession of low-wage odd jobs that have gotten them into even odder situations dealing with lowlifes, now the duo delivers their own brand of ass-kicking justice as private investigators.   In this brand-new story, a day’s fishing lands Hap and Leonard their biggest catch ever: the Rolling Literature bookmobile. A pillar of rural African American communities in East Texas, the renovated school bus vanished fifteen years ago—along with its driver, Harriet Hoodalay, aka Hoodoo Harry—reappearing just in time to crash Leonard’s pickup into a creek. Behind the wheel was a twelve-year-old boy who didn’t survive the accident.   The kid was clearly running scared, but who was he running from and how did he end up in the driver’s seat of the missing bookmobile? The first solid lead in a case that started more than a decade earlier with Hoodoo Harry, this mystery of a small town’s dark and disturbing past will take all of Hap and Leonard’s wits—and fists—to solve.   Known for his “zest for storytelling and a gimlet eye for detail,” multiple award–winning author Joe R. Lansdale brings his rapid-fire dialogue, no-holds-barred action, and gut-busting humor to this original Hap and Leonard novella (Entertainment Weekly). The Bibliomysteries are a series of short tales about deadly books, by top mystery authors.