If you like books about libraries and books then this title is for you. Mystery and disappearances will keep you turning the page. It's been awhile since I read this but I do remember reading late into the night and that it was very detailed.

As a librarian, I was very excited about this book. It didn’t quite live up to expectations though. I felt that Liesl was a bit of a doormat for most of the book. She is called back from sabbatical to take over as interim director of the library after the director has a stroke. She soon finds out that a half a million dollar acquisition has gone missing. She want to go to the police but the president says “no”. Another librarian goes missing and is assumed the thief. She is later found dead of a suicide. There are several different themes including mental health, homophobia, ageism, and infidelity. I felt that Liesl never stood up for herself but had potential to be a great character. It was very anticlimactic.

Thank you Netgalley for allowing me to read this book.

There are several keys to a good mystery. It includes an enticing problem to solve, suspects, clues scattered for the detective - and reader - to solve, and a satisfying conclusion. The problem is solved, the clues used to figure out what happened are revealed, and the solution is satisfying.

The Department Of Rare Books and Special Collections is a good mystery.

Liesl Weiss is called back from sabbatical after her boss suffers a stroke, and she temporarily takes over supervising the rare books department at a large university library. She quickly discovers that the library’s most recent acquisition is missing, The university president doesn’t want donors upset by the disappearance of the Plantin and does not allow Liesl to bring in the police. It’s up to Liesl to find the book and keep the donors from finding out about the missing book and library scandals that are uncovered in her investigation. The staff, including Liesl, are hiding big secrets, but do any of their secrets connect to the mysterious disappearance?

The mystery makes sense. The characters’ actions and motivations make sense and are consistent. The plot unfolds well and leads to a solid tying up of loose ends. It succeeds as a good basic mystery.

What keeps the book from being a great story is the amount of exposition. I’ll read a paragraph of lovely exposition…but there’s another one. Then another one. I ended up skimming some of those passages because I was tired of saying “we get it” during a lengthy exposition. The author has a nice writing style that I easily connected with, but I think it would have been more effective in smaller doses. Too much exposition draws attention away from the plot.

Overall, I liked The Department Of Rare Books and Special Collections, and I look forward to reading more of Eva Jurczyk’s books.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for a copy of the book.

I'm not sure how I felt about this novel. It's billed as a mystery set in a Rare Books Library (I'm pretty sure from the description that it's the Thomas Fisher, but that's never stated), but it's really more of a character study about a group of deeply flawed humans who happen to be dealing with a mystery. Either of these premises are fine, but the execution wasn't really there for me in ways I'm having difficulty putting into words. It's almost like the book wants to be a a cozy mystery, but a Serious Literary Fiction version of a cozy mystery.

Liesl, our main character, is near retirement (yay for an older female MC), and has been called back from her sabbatical to take over when her boss has a stroke. The big buzz in the library is that there's a new acquisition, but when Liesl tries to get it out of the safe, it's gone. Shortly after, an employee goes missing. Now Liesl is left trying to handle her boss' job and two mysteries, and everyone has an opinion on how it should be handled. I found the flashbacks slightly odd, like the author took "show don't tell" a bit too far. I understand that these people have decades of experience with each other, but there must be other ways to share the information.

In the end, the book explores themes of infidelity, homophobia, ageism, sexism, racism, mental health, depression, and suicide. The themes are handled honestly, although not always sensitively. I also found there was very little uplifting in the end of the novel - spoilers in the goodreads review - so it's not a good book if you're looking for a happy ending.

I thank Netgalley and the publisher for the eARC I received.

A must read for librarians and book loves this debut novel by Eva Jurczyk, takes place in an unnamed Toronto university library. Who would have ever thought there was a dark side to librarians in their quest for books, but interim director, Liesl Weiss, feels way over her head in responsibilities when a recently purchased Bible is discovered missing from the safe. The donors want answers, but the President refuses to call the police. When a staff librarian is discovered missing and more books are discovered missing the staff member is considered the thief and police become involved, but it’s the detective work of Liesl that discovers who the thief is. This is a clever, original whodunit.

The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections follows Liesl as she finds herself the interim director of a university library. This book cover and title captured my attention, and I love books with the backdrop of a library and book-lovers. I loved how this novel started because it built up so much tension around the safe. It was exciting, and I was invested in the story.

Once the story started to explore Liesl a bit more, I fell out of love with the book. I wanted more character development from Liesl. I felt like she was always on the precipice of a significant breakthrough, but then it did not have the follow-through. I love watching someone struggle with their identity and self-discovery, but it is only worth it if we see her transformation.

Finally, this story was a very mild mystery. It only glazed the surface to be a good mystery because the elements were there. Like Liesl's character development, the mystery was intriguing. Still, the reader trudged through the plot points so slowly that I didn't particularly care about the ending by the end of the novel.

The title intrigued me. Unfortunately, I did not like any of the characters or the way they were presented.

I requested The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections for a couple of reasons:
1. I’m a librarian and love visiting special collections.
2. The description mentioned a mystery of a missing book and person.
With this in mind, I began reading the book with the expectation that I’d love it. Instead, I had to convince myself to keep reading. Nothing pulled me in.

The writing gave me the feeling of walking into someone else’s seemingly boring life and I kept expecting something to change. I decided to stop reading the book because the Liesl’s fellow librarians were annoying me and I couldn’t see the author’s writing getting any more intriguing. I was bored.

Liesl works in the University's Rare Books Library and is happy being behind the scenes and assisting the Director. When her boss suffers a stroke she is asked to run the collection till arrangements are made. She discovers some missing books and can't believe that Christopher could have stolen them. She tries to begin and investigation but University politics make it difficult and it would effect donations. When a librarian in the department goes missing it can't be covered up and more and they discover that there was indeed some thefts. A good story, not quite what I thought it would be. I received a copy of this ARC in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Liesl Weiss has been (mostly) happy working in the rare books department of a large university, managing details and working behind the scenes to make the head of the department look good. But when her boss has a stroke and she's left to run things, she discovers that the library's most prized manuscript is missing.
The synopsis sounded very promising but unfortunately this book wasn't for me.

Those who have worked in a university library will appreciate a novel about the ins and outs of rare books when mixed with questionable academic directives. The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections (fiction) by Eva Jurczyk delivers that well enough, though sometimes feels exaggerated. Of course, readers will root for Liesl Weiss, the middle-aged librarian who must battle a series of male bosses and colleagues (and her own demons) when a priceless manuscript goes missing.

Was happy to include this book in my latest “Thrills and Chills” round-up for Zoomer magazine, highlighting winter’s best suspense and mystery reads. (see mini-review at link)

The pace of this story was very, very slow. The one thing that kept me reading was the setting, the faculty politics, and the mystery of where the rare book was and who took it. A good resolution to the mystery is provided if you invest in reading to the end. I’m grateful that I never worked in a library with this awful staff. 3.5 stars.

An unusual crime story, but one that I found very engaging, centred around rare books and those with power and/or money.
I liked the way the female roles were shaped

I wanted to like this one more than I did. The writer seemed to be more focused on building the world/characters than providing a plot with forward momentum. Wouldn't be surprised if this is conceived as the first part of a series. If it IS a standalone book, then some of the character choices are very odd/ out of place.

ARC from the publisher via NetGalley but the opinions are my own.

When her boss Christopher has a stroke, Liesl is called off her sabbatical and assigned to be the interim director of the rare books department at her university. Thrown into the role at the worst possible time...a priceless manuscript has gone missing right before a donor viewing, Liesl tries her best to appear controlled and confident in a male dominated role. But when other manuscripts go missing along with a librarian, Liesl is determined to get the police involved, but is forced to keep things quiet and investigate by herself for fear of scaring of the donors. Are the two incidents connected? How will she ever discover the truth without help?
I ultimately enjoyed the conclusion of this book and how everything came together, but it just took so long to get there. I debated giving up on the story several times, but pushed on. Too much university politics and the mystery wasn't really that great. I normally love books about books and libraries, but this one just fell flat to me.

I enjoyed this cozy mystery. As a book history student, it was so lovely to read a story about a topic so close to my heart. I also found it refreshing how the novel revolves around an academic environment without focusing on college-aged students. It fits into the subgenre of 'dark academia' without revolving around the same age group we always see represented in narratives set in universities.

This was an interesting page turner. I appreciated the library atmosphere intertwined with the intrigue and mystery. The characters took a little bit to warm up to, and were a tad frustrating with the way that they related to each other, but overall I still wanted to find out what happened!

While I really wanted to be sucked into this book, it just was not to my general taste. But it is so well written and I continued reading it for the characters, who the author really fleshed out so fully and realistically. This is a well written book, just not one that I was totally in love with.

Is there ever a setting more intriguing than a library? The Department of Rare Books and Special Collections by Eva Jurczyk is as rare a jewel as the books in the library. Liesl is an unlikely protagonist, but still shines, unraveling a mystery of missing rare books in a Toronto University library rare book department. The novel is layered tackling the topics of women in leadership, mental health, and gender politics. I enjoyed this novel and loved the descriptions of the books and how books can elicit strong emotions. I found some of the dialogue to be stilted but wonder if that was to create a sense of unease like what Liesel was experiencing. A great read-a-like to The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis. Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC all opinions are my own.