Death of a Bookseller

About this book

>A title dedicated to the book trade, moving between various London bookshops, with humorous and astute observations about booksellers and rare book collectors. >*“Some dealers and collectors have no conscience whatever. Do you know, Sergeant, there are men and even women who would cheerfully kill me to get what I have found today?”* >When Sergeant Wigan stops to escort a swaying reveler home at the end of his late shift, he is spun a tale of the ups and downs of a life spent collecting and selling rare books. His new companion, Michael Fisk, has been celebrating the acquisition of a signed copy of Keats’ *Endymion*, and a trip into Fisk’s library is enough to convince Wigan to begin his own collection. After developing a love for antiquarian books and a friendship with Fisk, Wigan is called upon by the C.I.D. when tragedy strikes and Fisk is found murdered in his library. >Suspecting another book collector, seller, or agent of murdering his friend and stealing a precious volume, Wigan dives into the antiquarian book trade where pleasantries and a kind of collector’s code mask simmering jealousies and ruthless desires.