I really wanted to like this since I loved the idea and focus but the details of the story just felt off putting and not well developed.

I love books that involve libraries and a librarian that focuses on crime fiction is just about the perfect main character. Unfortunately, this didn't quite work for me. I liked the New York setting and the grittier characters but the writing style is heavy on the Noir fiction style - lots of atmosphere and surly characters - which just doesn't work for me. The focus on the Islamic scholar seemed like an extreme jump and the intelligence division kind of comes off as a comic book villain. If you are a fan of Noir style mysteries you'll probably like this much more than me. If you're not than you may want to pass. This is the first and only book in this series that I'll be picking up.

A great book by a fantastic author. The writing is excellent and the mystery keeps you turning the pages. Characters are well developed. Highly recommend.

Based on the description I was really excited to read this book! A murder in the library? An amateur detective? Yes please!

I hadn’t read the first book in the series before this one and I think I missed out in quite a bit. I’m not sure if it was the would plot, the characters or something else, but this book just wasn’t for me. Maybe if I’d read the first book I would have enjoyed this one more.

But thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book!

Spies can be found anywhere including the library but when an undercover agent is found murdered and stuffed on the shelf, Raymond Ambler knows he needs to figure why his library was "targeted"

I have to admit that this second installment was a bit easier to read than the first and I got the beginnings of an interest in the characters. They seemed more real this book, but still have need to grow. I do think that the plot was a bit to convoluted and the book could have withstood a bit more editing..

"The second in Con Lehane's 42nd Street Library mystery series, Murder in the Manuscript Room is a smart, compelling mystery in which the characters themselves are at least as interesting as the striking sleuthing.

When a murder desecrates the somber, book-lined halls of New York City’s iconic 42nd Street Library, Raymond Ambler, the library’s curator of crime fiction, has a personal interest in solving the crime. His quest to solve the murder is complicated by personal entanglements involving his friend―or perhaps more-than-friend―Adele Morgan. Not only does Adele’s relationship with the young woman staffer who was murdered get in the way of Ambler’s investigation, more disturbing for him is Adele’s growing interest in a darkly handsome Islamic scholar.

Soon the Intelligence Division of the New York Police Department takes over the case from NYPD homicide detective Mike Cosgrove, Ambler’s friend and sometimes partner-in-crime solving. Ambler suspects that the murder of the young woman, who’d been working at the library under an assumed name and the curious intervention of NYPD’s intelligence division are connected. The trail of intrigue leads to a seemingly unrelated murder in an upstate prison and a long ago murder of a trade union reformer.

No one else sees the connections Ambler is sure are there―not an unusual state of affairs for Ambler. But with the city’s law enforcement establishment determined to stop his investigation, the inquisitive and intrepid librarian faces challenges that may put his very life at risk."

Murders and libraries always iconic books to me.

Murder in the Manuscript Room by Con Lehane is a mystery set in the 42nd Street Library. The second book in this series, this book features the library's curator Raymond Ambler who wants to solve the murder. He has a connection to the victim which makes him invested in the outcome. I usually love books like this, but I found it very hard to get into this book. I found the writing to be disjointed and the plot moved a bit slowly. I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher. These opinions are entirely my own.

Raymond Ambler, the curator of the crime fiction section of New York City’s 42nd Street Library, finds himself embroiled in a murder, but he is determined to tie the threads together and solve the mystery. When his friend Adele is drawn in because of her relationship with a scholar doing research at the library who is suspected of involvement in the murder, Raymond isn’t sure how safe Adele is, while she is convinced her friend had nothing to do with the killing.

Working to find the links among a decades-old murder, the former head of the NYPD intelligence division, a private security company, police confidential informants and more, Raymond and his NYPD homicide detective buddy Mike Cosgrove endeavor to figure out who committed murder in Raymond’s beloved library and why.

As past and the present crimes are connected, the answers to more than one murder come to light.

The pace can be slow at times in this story.

I think if you work in a library you will find this book good because of the setting. It is a mystery in New York City with the murder in the library.
This is the second in a series. I have not read the first book but I didn’t feel this hurt this story. It was an enjoyable mystery.

Manhattan 42nd street crime fiction curator/librarian Raymond Ambler is approached by writer Paul Higgins who wants to donate his papers to the library. Since Higgins served for more than 30 years on the NYPD Intelligence unit before retiring to write thrillers, the cache of material is potentially red-hot. Higgins makes an embargo of some especially sensitive material a condition of the donation but Raymond is particularly interested in finding information related to the murder of union leader Richard Wright in Brooklyn in the 1980s because a good friend of his has been imprisoned for years for killing Wright. Meanwhile, the discovery of the body of new library research assistant Leila Stone in Raymond’s office leads to the arrest of Middle Eastern scholar Gobi Tabrizi, whose research Leila secretly examined. But Raymond and fellow librarian Adele Morgan believe that freelance security chief Brad Campbell and the Department of Homeland Security are casting Gobi as a convenient culprit. Raymond’s homicide detective friend Mike Cosgrove is puzzled by this high-level interference in Leila's murder investigation and heads off in pursuit of Higgins, who has disappeared.

The story was an interesting, enjoyable read.

I received an eARC via Netgalley and Minotaur Books with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book and provided this review.

A complex mystery with very unique characteristics. This next in series has a focus throughout on current Islamic politics as well as a unique mystery. I enjoy the descriptions of New York and especially the New York public library. The characters are richly defined and interesting. This is a mystery of depth to be savored.

I had a hard time getting through Murder in the Manuscript Room.  Don’t get me wrong, it is well written.  The problem I had was that it dealt too much with contemporary politics for it to be an escapist read.  An Arab scholar is automatically accused when a young woman working under an assumed name at the library is murdered.  Due process is thrown out the window and the police are excluded from the investigation - an investigation led by a shady intelligence contractor who has his own motivations.  The tension rises quickly, and the situation appears hopeless.  Everything that could be done to frame an innocent, but convenient target is done.  The more I read, the more anxious and uncomfortable I became.  Based on the description, I expected a complex mystery but what I didn’t expect was the heavy and pertinent political content.  

If you are interested in a realistic mystery that touches heavily on the prejudice foreigners face and the corruption of private for-profit intelligence groups, you will probably enjoy Murder in the Manuscript Room.  If you are looking for a lighter, more escapist read, you would probably be happier with another choice.

3 / 5

I received a copy of Murder in the Manuscript Room from the publisher and Netgalley.com in exchange for an honest review.

--Crittermom

Fun mystery

I enjoyed this book. The characters were well developed and the story well placed. The politics in the book were interesting. Although this is the first book of the series that I've read, it isn't the first book of the series. This isn't the first time I've jumped into a series but in most cases the backstories will filled in more quickly than in this book. This let me confused for the first third of the book. But once I got caught up, everything was fine. I can recommend this book for fans of mysteries.
Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book via Netgalley for review purposes.

Con Lehane presents Murder in the Manuscript Room, the second 42nd street library mystery. Raymond Ambler, curator of crime fiction is readying a display on crime in New York when a library employee is found murdered in the library and she was working under an assumed name. Ambler and his friend Sergeant Cosgrove of the NYPD engage to untangle several interconnected crimes and murders that go back far into the past and imply police corruption and possible Arab terrorist plots. New York streets and the library are all unsafe playing fields. Can you solve the case? Read on and find out.

Fun cozy, that draws you in, great characters that make you want to read more. I look forward to more!

Con Lehane's second installment in this most entertaining series is a wonderful novel that is suspenseful and intriguing. It held my interest the entire way through. This is due, in large part, to Lehane's deft characterizations--his characters jump off the page, they are real, breathing people! And rarely have I read an author who does New York City so effortlessly in a manner that rapidly draws you in. Lehane makes great use of the NYPL setting, but he also weaves in other NYC haunts--and scenarios--that add rich layers of complexity and fascination to the plot. Lehane is a great storyteller and you really can't miss with this MURDER IN THE MANUSCRIPT ROOM!

Unfortunately this was a DNF for me. I just couldn't get into it, even after reading over a quarter of it. There was just so much going on that it all felt like too much, with each separate storyline not developed enough, and the book got confusing. I just didn't find myself invested at all. It may just be that it wasn't my kind of mystery.

Murder in the Manuscript Room is the second book in A 42nd Street Library Mystery series by Con Lehane. I had not read the first book in the series and felt I missed out a little but overall this was an enjoyable read. Raymond Ambler, the curator of New York City’s 42nd Street Library, teams up with homicide detective Mike Cosgrove to solve the murder of a young woman found murdered in the library.
I went ahead and got the first book and read it, so I would have more of the backstory. I love books that are set in libraries and bookstores, and the New York Library is one of the most famous. Worth a read, thank you Net Galley

A murder! In a library! This one practically screamed my name. Unfortunately this one wasn't for me.