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Tess Monaghan #11.5
The Book Thing
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.
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.
41 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
About the author
Laura Lippman
133 books5,919 followersSince Laura Lippman’s debut, she has been recognized as a distinctive voice in mystery fiction and named one of the “essential” crime writers of the last 100 years. Stephen King called her “special, even extraordinary,” and Gillian Flynn wrote, “She is simply a brilliant novelist.” Her books have won most of the major awards in her field and been translated into more than twenty-five languages. She lives in Baltimore and New Orleans with her teenager.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 125 reviews
April 17, 2023
3.5 STARS
The setting was the best thing about this one. The mystery was very light and the conclusion seemed unrealistic and was a bit perplexing.
It is only 38 pages and did keep me reading straight through, so if enjoy a light and breezy little tale, this one may lure you in.
Part of the Bibliomysteries Kindle Short Tales (Thanks Jayme) There are many popular authors who wrote for this series (35 books).
The setting was the best thing about this one. The mystery was very light and the conclusion seemed unrealistic and was a bit perplexing.
It is only 38 pages and did keep me reading straight through, so if enjoy a light and breezy little tale, this one may lure you in.
Part of the Bibliomysteries Kindle Short Tales (Thanks Jayme) There are many popular authors who wrote for this series (35 books).
November 18, 2019
Well this wasn't a bad short story involving Tess. I liked the overall message about the importance of books, but think at times that Lippman via Tess was throwing way too much out there about how readers that use e-book readers, and or bookstores to help them find books as being less than other readers was a bit much. I definitely get the pangs one gets when small bookstores and the like close. There was a used bookstore up the street from me that closed that I felt guilty about, but the owner was a bit....he was just a bit, but also the books I donated he seemed to get annoyed by since he didn't have a lot of room for them. I just started taking books to the local library to donate instead and went to other bookstores in Old Town that didn't make me feel like an interloper. Anyway, I digress, back to the book, it's a clever little mystery, though it hurt my heart a bit when you find out what has been happening to the missing books.
"The Book Thing" is a perfect short story to whet your appetite a bit. It's now been two years or so since the events in the last book and Tess is still a private investigator. Now though she spends her days taking care of her daughter Carla Scout. Going to their local children's bookstore is something that they try to do to pass the time as well as pass on the love of books to her daughter. While there though, Tess gets caught up in a case of book theft when an employee explains to Tess that a lot of books are being stolen which is hurting the store's bottom line.
Tess is more settled in this one. She references the last book a bit when she mentions being on bed rest prior to her daughter's birth. And she mentions the books she read and how many books she has to go. Though Tess doesn't like the owner of the book store much, she feels obligated to help her out since she doesn't want businesses like this disappearing from Baltimore.
Tess also goes into The Book Thing which is an actual business in Baltimore where people can take as many books as they want. Check out the site, https://bookthing.org/. I am so going to visit this, maybe this upcoming weekend since I have free time. I love that the limit is 15,000 books at one time. I can't imagine hauling that much away. They are not taking donations right now, but I still want to see what books they have available. I definitely want to use this place as a resource.
As I said above, Lippman seems at time to be hinting at how e-readers ruined many bookstores. However, I have to push back on that. Having an e-reader actually allowed me to read more. I buy books via my local bookstores whenever possible. But since I travel a lot, I like to actually purchase books that I can read via that so I don't have to cart 10 plus books around with me. And you all laugh, but yes I packed books back in the day. The worst was probably when I went to Sri Lanka and brought 12 books with me. My thing though was to leave whatever books I found to just be okay at the front desk of the hotel I was at. Heck, I went to Jordan and they called me the girl with the books when I was there on R & R. I was in freaking heaven and just read books from sun-up to sun-down. Back to the case for e-readers, you can make the fonts larger so you can view the text and you don't have to worry about your book pages getting damaged or ripped. When I traveled that happened to me too many times to count.
The writing was fine and the flow was too. Lippman shows you can write a short story and actually develop the characters in it. I liked how she figured out what was going on and her resolution for things.
I do get what Lippman/Tess is saying in this one and how she fears as her daughter grows up she will have less use for books and less interest in classics, but I guess I don't see things that way. My nephews and nieces devour books and this past summer my nephew even asked me to send him classics. I posted about that here on Booklikes. I think kids do love books, but you have to sell it to them as an adventure and not a chore they must do. My parents were both big readers and my favorite memories is sneaking under my parents bed to find books they were reading that I secretly read and put back so they didn't know I was reading them too. How I found out about romance books and "throbbing members."
If I go to The Book Thing, will take pictures and post here.
"The Book Thing" is a perfect short story to whet your appetite a bit. It's now been two years or so since the events in the last book and Tess is still a private investigator. Now though she spends her days taking care of her daughter Carla Scout. Going to their local children's bookstore is something that they try to do to pass the time as well as pass on the love of books to her daughter. While there though, Tess gets caught up in a case of book theft when an employee explains to Tess that a lot of books are being stolen which is hurting the store's bottom line.
Tess is more settled in this one. She references the last book a bit when she mentions being on bed rest prior to her daughter's birth. And she mentions the books she read and how many books she has to go. Though Tess doesn't like the owner of the book store much, she feels obligated to help her out since she doesn't want businesses like this disappearing from Baltimore.
Tess also goes into The Book Thing which is an actual business in Baltimore where people can take as many books as they want. Check out the site, https://bookthing.org/. I am so going to visit this, maybe this upcoming weekend since I have free time. I love that the limit is 15,000 books at one time. I can't imagine hauling that much away. They are not taking donations right now, but I still want to see what books they have available. I definitely want to use this place as a resource.
As I said above, Lippman seems at time to be hinting at how e-readers ruined many bookstores. However, I have to push back on that. Having an e-reader actually allowed me to read more. I buy books via my local bookstores whenever possible. But since I travel a lot, I like to actually purchase books that I can read via that so I don't have to cart 10 plus books around with me. And you all laugh, but yes I packed books back in the day. The worst was probably when I went to Sri Lanka and brought 12 books with me. My thing though was to leave whatever books I found to just be okay at the front desk of the hotel I was at. Heck, I went to Jordan and they called me the girl with the books when I was there on R & R. I was in freaking heaven and just read books from sun-up to sun-down. Back to the case for e-readers, you can make the fonts larger so you can view the text and you don't have to worry about your book pages getting damaged or ripped. When I traveled that happened to me too many times to count.
The writing was fine and the flow was too. Lippman shows you can write a short story and actually develop the characters in it. I liked how she figured out what was going on and her resolution for things.
I do get what Lippman/Tess is saying in this one and how she fears as her daughter grows up she will have less use for books and less interest in classics, but I guess I don't see things that way. My nephews and nieces devour books and this past summer my nephew even asked me to send him classics. I posted about that here on Booklikes. I think kids do love books, but you have to sell it to them as an adventure and not a chore they must do. My parents were both big readers and my favorite memories is sneaking under my parents bed to find books they were reading that I secretly read and put back so they didn't know I was reading them too. How I found out about romance books and "throbbing members."
If I go to The Book Thing, will take pictures and post here.
January 21, 2023
Tess talks to the owner of a children's bookshop, who tells her that someone is stealing the books and she can't find out who. Tess investigates.
July 5, 2021
What a wonderful, whimsical mystery! I love it when a mystery doesn’t have to be gory and morbid, but is simply a curiosity for the sake of it. I wished the brothers would have allowed walk-throughs of the house.
August 5, 2023
Just a delightful single-sitting mystery populated by very human and recognizable characters. There’s a real warmth to this that made me feel like I’d just made the best possible use of a short hour. One of a series of small books from the Mysterious Bookshop, utterly delightful
August 21, 2023
A nice little story, but more a meditation on the meaning and value of books than a mystery. Get busy reading all those unread books, folks!
July 10, 2015
In the process of making a gift purchase of one of Laura Lippman's books, I came across this short story, part of a series of book-related crime or mystery short stories by writers in the genre. A couple of days later I downloaded it, sat down, and read it. It went down easy. It's sweet, not scary or bloody. And, as billed, it is about books and reading. Although slight, it was not entirely without substance. And it was just what the doctor ordered. I don't consider the three stars to be a negative review here.
In reading it I did tend to confuse the heroine with the author!
This could be good for my e-reading. It helps that the story was short.
In reading it I did tend to confuse the heroine with the author!
This could be good for my e-reading. It helps that the story was short.
January 24, 2018
The Book Thing is one of a series of bibliomysteries from Mysterious Press, all from well known writers. In this long story or short novella, Lippman's primary series character, Tess Monaghan, becomes involved in a problem of multiple thefts of books from a local children's book shop she frequents with her young daughter. The owner is worried about the shop's future. Tess decides to investigate. The story is slight but also interesting and provides a nice side note about Baltimore in its conclusion.
April 24, 2018
I'm so confused. I guess I missed that is was a short story. SUPER short.
January 1, 2013
I love this short novel by Laura Lippman – it’s about books –and we all love books, right? Otherwise you wouldn’t be reading this!
We have a mystery – who can be shoplifting kids’ books? Especially picture books? We have a life saved – who wants to do time for stealing books? And the title, I found out, is actually the name of a store – if you can call it that - that GIVES books away! A book lover’s dream!
This is one sweet short mystery that is like eating your favorite chocolate knowing you deserve every morsel.
We have a mystery – who can be shoplifting kids’ books? Especially picture books? We have a life saved – who wants to do time for stealing books? And the title, I found out, is actually the name of a store – if you can call it that - that GIVES books away! A book lover’s dream!
This is one sweet short mystery that is like eating your favorite chocolate knowing you deserve every morsel.
March 18, 2018
A good, short mystery! I enjoyed it! And now I want to go and see The Book Thing!
August 1, 2018
A stand alone novella featuring Lippman's character Tess Monaghan, it's also a musing on the state of bookstores and readers. Fun diversion from some heavier reading and political chicanery that's been weighing on my mind. Sometimes one needs a mental vacation.
February 27, 2013
This was a great little story. I have not read anything by Laura Lippman before but this was a great taste of her writing that has peaked my interest in this author.
This story is about a mother who takes her toddler to a children's book store and stumbles into an interesting mystery, and I don't mean a book. Theft is getting bad at his particular shop and Tess decided to take the case for free.
I can't say to much more about this story because I don't want to give anything away, and I would highly recommend you read this if you enjoy a good mystery. I am a big fan of books, and I love the small book shops as well as the big chains. If there are books to be bought I am there, I connected with this story, because I could see my wife doing this same type of sleuthing to save a small book store.
Something you will hardly ever hear me say, and my wife looked at me like aliens took her husband, but this was a cute story. The characters as are great, and the story was written so well I couldn't put this down. I flew through this in no time and I am so glad I read it. I will be checking out more by Laura Lippman in the future. I really liked her writing.
This story is about a mother who takes her toddler to a children's book store and stumbles into an interesting mystery, and I don't mean a book. Theft is getting bad at his particular shop and Tess decided to take the case for free.
I can't say to much more about this story because I don't want to give anything away, and I would highly recommend you read this if you enjoy a good mystery. I am a big fan of books, and I love the small book shops as well as the big chains. If there are books to be bought I am there, I connected with this story, because I could see my wife doing this same type of sleuthing to save a small book store.
Something you will hardly ever hear me say, and my wife looked at me like aliens took her husband, but this was a cute story. The characters as are great, and the story was written so well I couldn't put this down. I flew through this in no time and I am so glad I read it. I will be checking out more by Laura Lippman in the future. I really liked her writing.
November 13, 2014
I did not know it when I downloaded it, but this book is a part of a series of short mysteries about books. In this story, one of the surviving bookstoores is met with trouble when a thief starts steaing books just about every week. Tess, a patron who has crossed over to digital book world but still values a physical book, decides to help find out who is stealing, and, hopefully, stop the thief from continuing.
I loved this read. This was a engaging read, especially for book lovers. The story on the whole makes several thoughtful points about books, their value, and the changing world of books and bookstores. The characters were interesting, and the story was sufficiently suspenseful.
I am still trying to get the most of my Kindle Unlimited trial, so I tried out this whispersync ready, short read. This was well worth the read if you have an hour or so to kill. Although they all seem to be written by different authors, I will definitely be reading some of the others in the series.
I loved this read. This was a engaging read, especially for book lovers. The story on the whole makes several thoughtful points about books, their value, and the changing world of books and bookstores. The characters were interesting, and the story was sufficiently suspenseful.
I am still trying to get the most of my Kindle Unlimited trial, so I tried out this whispersync ready, short read. This was well worth the read if you have an hour or so to kill. Although they all seem to be written by different authors, I will definitely be reading some of the others in the series.
January 18, 2018
A 3+ . Pretty lightweight, but it has Lippman's characteristic Baltimore atmosphere and leaves you with a smile on your face.
Snap it up while it's free!
Snap it up while it's free!
January 31, 2018
I have read short books before but this one was very disappointing. I chose it because of the author mainly.
February 17, 2018
A unique and original short story that any book lover will appreciate and identify with.
September 17, 2020
This was kind of an odd story about a woman who tries to solve a mystery about books that go missing every Saturday at a local bookstore.
March 1, 2023
A satisfying short story (and I usually don’t care for short stories) by one of my favorite authors. You’ll especially like it if you’re from Baltimore as you’ll recognize all the locations she writes about (but that’s not a prerequisite. This is part of Amazon’s Hush collection of short mysteries by best-selling authors.
August 12, 2018
Interesting short story about book theft in a small Baltimore bookstore. I listened to the audio, and the narrator, Carol Monda, was very good.
May 12, 2014
Excellent novella featuring Tess Monahan and her 2-year old, Carla Scout. Tess is trying to support a local children's book store (fictional). She discovers the owner is suffering from abnormal shrinkage and volunteers her services. Lippman incorporates a real place into her story, Book Thing, where books are actually given away.
I found out about this from the Mystery Press newsletter.
I found out about this from the Mystery Press newsletter.
January 16, 2013
I need another full-length Tess novel, Laura Lippman.
January 13, 2024
The importance of books and reading in the lives of children provides the theme of this novella.
January 19, 2018
In this short story, Tess Monaghan is caught up in a local caper. Her local bookstore keeps having books stolen, expensive enough of books to start hurting the bottom line. The owner of the store is frustrated beyond belief and at wits end. Unfortunately that makes for a cranky owner and a cranky proprietor of a shop can mean the end of the shop with bad reviews.
Tess decides to step in and volunteer to figure out what is going on and help save this local bookstore.
This is my first foray into the Tess Monaghan books, apparently this is book 11.5 in the series so it and the author are well established. I have to say, I enjoyed my first foray into Tess’ world. The author is well written, no typos or grammatical errors that I could tell. The only thing that I thought was odd was continually including Tess’ daughters middle name every time she is mentioned.
The author was able to paint a vivid picture in my mind of The Walking Man, as somebody that I could have seen on the street in my local town and probably have seen our local version of The Walking Man which I am sure all towns have.
I really like how the author also wove in a local charity that does great work and promoted it naturally in the story and then gave more information about it at the end.
Now I’m very interested in picking up the rest of the Tess Monaghan series, and yes, digitally. I’ve moved way too much to want to move physical books around anymore.
Has DRM, -1.
Tess decides to step in and volunteer to figure out what is going on and help save this local bookstore.
This is my first foray into the Tess Monaghan books, apparently this is book 11.5 in the series so it and the author are well established. I have to say, I enjoyed my first foray into Tess’ world. The author is well written, no typos or grammatical errors that I could tell. The only thing that I thought was odd was continually including Tess’ daughters middle name every time she is mentioned.
The author was able to paint a vivid picture in my mind of The Walking Man, as somebody that I could have seen on the street in my local town and probably have seen our local version of The Walking Man which I am sure all towns have.
I really like how the author also wove in a local charity that does great work and promoted it naturally in the story and then gave more information about it at the end.
Now I’m very interested in picking up the rest of the Tess Monaghan series, and yes, digitally. I’ve moved way too much to want to move physical books around anymore.
Has DRM, -1.
January 18, 2018
Laura Lippman continues to impress me as she again shows her ability to draw the reader in immediately. This short-story mystery features Tess Monahan, who discovers that books are being stolen from a local children's bookstore, and the staff has no idea who is doing it or why. Tess, a PI, decides to donate her time to unravel the mystery.
The answer is one the reader would never suspect, and the reasoning behind the thefts is delightful.
Those who love books, mysteries and/or short reads will find this a wonderful read!
Many thanks to Goodreads who provided a link to Amazon where the book was available for free (limited time only).
P.S. I really wish I lived in Baltimore - I would love to visit the real shop named The Book Thing!!
The answer is one the reader would never suspect, and the reasoning behind the thefts is delightful.
Those who love books, mysteries and/or short reads will find this a wonderful read!
Many thanks to Goodreads who provided a link to Amazon where the book was available for free (limited time only).
P.S. I really wish I lived in Baltimore - I would love to visit the real shop named The Book Thing!!
March 5, 2022
"The Book Thing" is a short story about books and the people who collect them.
As a local bookshop faces difficult trading it is not being helped by rampant shoplifting of illustrated books.
Tess Monaghan sets out to find out what's happening - and she does, rather easily.
But it is also about The Book Thing of Baltimore - a group which aims to put unwanted books into the hands of those who want them, without charge.
I've collected books for over forty years and I am pretty sure that if The Book Thing existed in Dublin, Ireland, I would not have room to move in my house.
2.5 Stars raised to 3 Stars.
As a local bookshop faces difficult trading it is not being helped by rampant shoplifting of illustrated books.
Tess Monaghan sets out to find out what's happening - and she does, rather easily.
But it is also about The Book Thing of Baltimore - a group which aims to put unwanted books into the hands of those who want them, without charge.
I've collected books for over forty years and I am pretty sure that if The Book Thing existed in Dublin, Ireland, I would not have room to move in my house.
2.5 Stars raised to 3 Stars.
June 27, 2018
Laura Lippman is one of the most talented authors I know.
Tess and her toddler, Carla Scout, are in a lovely children's book store. The owner is not always charming, because some of the customers who find books in the store then order them on line. And then, of course there is the thefts. Every week more books are gone.
This is a wonderful story. In a small number of words, Ms Lippman tells an entire story, creates wonderfully well rounded characters and gives the reader a wonderful time.
I am a book lover, so of course I love this story.
Tess and her toddler, Carla Scout, are in a lovely children's book store. The owner is not always charming, because some of the customers who find books in the store then order them on line. And then, of course there is the thefts. Every week more books are gone.
This is a wonderful story. In a small number of words, Ms Lippman tells an entire story, creates wonderfully well rounded characters and gives the reader a wonderful time.
I am a book lover, so of course I love this story.
January 27, 2018
Books!
Short and sweet the story of books and how they are important to in different ways to different people. As I have read this book today and most of the books over the past ten years on my kindle or iPad, libraries, bookstores etc seem to be on the decline but walking man needs to preserve them in a most peculiar way! Murals on walls are stories and walking man is using books to create murals. Enjoy!
Short and sweet the story of books and how they are important to in different ways to different people. As I have read this book today and most of the books over the past ten years on my kindle or iPad, libraries, bookstores etc seem to be on the decline but walking man needs to preserve them in a most peculiar way! Murals on walls are stories and walking man is using books to create murals. Enjoy!
June 13, 2018
Weird book but interesting. Very short story. I don't know what I expected.
It made me think about the place of book stores in our society, how amazon has infringed on them yet, I love my kindle. I read much more than I did when I relied on regular books. I love going to the library and seeing the books and picking them up - but you cannot read them when you are on a walk or in the middle of the night when you wake up and cannot go to sleep. I try to use a variety of formats to keep my life interesting - made so by the wonderful variety of books available.
It made me think about the place of book stores in our society, how amazon has infringed on them yet, I love my kindle. I read much more than I did when I relied on regular books. I love going to the library and seeing the books and picking them up - but you cannot read them when you are on a walk or in the middle of the night when you wake up and cannot go to sleep. I try to use a variety of formats to keep my life interesting - made so by the wonderful variety of books available.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 125 reviews