Booked to die

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Certain unique books discussed in Booked to Die (Hawthorne’s copy of Moby Dick and Mencken’s copy of This Side of Paradise, among others) have been fictionalized for the sake of the story and may actually reside in real libraries, public or private. Dealers who would argue with the author over prices should remember that the story takes place in 1986. Values on some books have risen dramatically in five years. Catcher in the Rye, for example, is now a $1,500 piece. Interview with the Vampire is usually seen at $600 plus. And so it goes.

BOOKED to DIE

A MYSTERY INTRODUCING CLIFF JANEWAY

Bobby the bookscout was killed at midnight on June 13, 1986. This was the first strange fact, leading to the question, What was he doing out that late at night? To Bobby, midnight was the witching hour and Friday the thirteenth was a day to be spent in bed. He was found in an alley under one of those pulldown iron ladders that give access to a fire escape—another odd thing. In life, Bobby would never walk under a ladder, so it would seem ironic to some people in the Denver book trade when they heard in the morning that he had died there.

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