Don't see why this got published. Anemic mystery, iffy writing, and does not use library setting in any way that enhances the plot or embellishes the narrative.

Better written that the first in the series, the author seems to have found a better level of comfort in his writing; which is not to say that I really liked this book.

The woman Adele is really screwed up and she screws everything up by thinking that she can investigate on her own, causing the person she is protecting to be kidnapped... She doesn't think beyond her emotions which puts people in danger.

The premise of this book is Adele befriends a new employee who is spying on, Gobi, a young Middle Eastern (Palestinian/Syrian) man, who is doing research in the Library. The new employee, Leila, isn't who she says she is and is soon found dead, stuffed into one of Ray's bookcases in the Manuscript Room.

Ray accepts several boxes of personal files from a former cop, one which is sealed & not to be opened. The former cop ran undercover informants for the NYPD. One of whom was Trey. Trey's brother, Devon (a friend of Ray's), is now in prison for the murder of a non-corrupt Union President which he believed that Trey committed.

As Ray begins to investigate the former cop, Gobi, & the murder of Leila; his friend, Devon, is murdered by a contract with connections to the former cop.

With Adele's interference things quickly spin out of control... NYPD is being told to stay out of the investigations.... and too many people have too much in common with the murdered Union President.

Another convoluted story line, with more than enough unlikable & rather stupid characters. The one constant that I like is McNulty, the bartender at the Library Tavern. ( )

Although well written, this mystery, which takes place a few years after the first volume of the series, strikes me as pushing the envelope of the credible. Many of the themes are relevant and contemporary, especially the ugliness of anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim paranoia. But the deep strains of secret police actions and complex motivations seem a bit strained. As if that were not sufficiently off-putting, the ongoing should-I-or-shouldn't-I let the other one know how I feel became a tad tiresome. So while I rate this as less successful than its predecessor, the book was still a good read. ( )

Much intrigue surrounds this murder in the library. Raymond Ambler, librarian of crime fiction, has a vested interest in solving the murder. He also has an interest in coworker Adele Morgan, who, in turn, is intrigued by an Islamic scholar doing research in the library. The scholar is a person of interest in the murder, and when Adele befriends him, she becomes a target of a violent attack. Because is this part of a series, some of the backstories of the characters are missing from this installment, making it somewhat difficult to get a handle on all the truly interesting characters if the reader has not read the previous book. Adding to that confusion is the meadering style of this book, vascilating from various story threads and people. A more direct path from the crime to its solution may have made it easier to follow. It was easy to get distracted by the personal relationships and the myriad of problems that surround them instead of focusing in the murder and its solution. The abrupt end of the mystery tells me there another book to follow. A good mystery, just not a great one. ( )