Brooklyn has been happily settling into married life with her hunky husband, security expert Derek Stone, when a little black book arrives in the mail on a quiet Saturday afternoon. The book is a rare British first edition of Rebecca, and inside, Brooklyn finds a note from her old friend Claire Quinn, asking her to restore it to its former luster. The two women met while working as expert appraisers on the television show This Old Attic. Brooklyn appraised books on the show and Claire's expertise was in antique British weaponry, but they bonded over their shared love of gothic novels.

The day after the book arrives, Claire shows up at Brooklyn and Derek's home--in disguise. She believes her life is in danger, and as soon as Derek sits her down and questions her, Claire reveals that in the last few weeks she has experienced two near-fatal attacks, along with weird notes left in her mailbox, hang-up phone calls, and one very scary car chase. She's afraid that her past is catching up to her. When Claire was only nine years old, she witnesed several men, one of whom was her father, planning a terrible crime. And now it seems that she's been followed, bringing the threats against her literally to Brooklyn's doorstep. Can Brooklyn page through the clues to keep her friend's past from destroying their future? ( )

This is the 15th book in the Bibliophile Mystery series and it is the first book I have read from this author. With that said, you can jump right into the series and you don't feel lost as Kate Carlisle does a great job of introducing you to the characters. I will definitely look at reading more of this series in the future. ( )

The author really knows how to craft a mystery and it took me a long time to narrow down the solution to two of the characters. The settings were also good, San Francisco, Dharma, and Scotland. The only unbelievable part of the story is just how bad ass almost every character in the story is, and why is the lovely commune under such tight surveillance? ( )

Little Black Book is the next book in the popular Bibliophile Mystery series, and while I really think that cover is beautiful and was excited to have Brooklyn and Derek visit Scotland, I was a bit disappointed in this book overall. Brooklyn is starting to really get on my nerves and I am getting a bit bored with the fact that everyone seems to be an 'expert' in everything. Derek can just about call up anyone and voilà, problem solved. You need a private plane? No problem. You need a decoder? No problem. You need this? No problem. For me, this aspect is getting a bit out of hand and I am having difficulty just focusing on the story.

Let's start with Brooklyn. I normally love her character and in the earlier books, loved how eccentric she was. She was also smart and while she did jump into situations, it wasn't because she was silly. I get that she is married and is worried about Derek, but being married doesn't mean you lose your brain or your common sense. She constantly ignores good advice from Derek and follows him into dangerous situations when she knows that he is quite capable of dealing with them and is only putting herself, and him, into danger by doing so. I rolled my eyes a few times in this book over Brooklyn. Derek however, I still love as a character. He was a lot more fun though, when he was mysterious and we didn't know a lot about him.

The writing style is usually crisp, with a lot of twists and turns, and while I enjoyed the mystery, I did find it a bit muddled at times, as if the author wasn't sure where she wanted to go with an idea. I loved the fact that part of the story took place in Scotland, but am also concerned that people are going to expect Brooklyn and Derek to have to go to all these places to make things more exciting. I don't mind a trip here and there, but this is a cozy mystery novel, not a spy novel, you know? And I feel like some of the elements I really enjoyed in the earlier books are missing from the past couple of novels. And there were some things that both Brooklyn, and Derek, missed that were so obvious which didn't really ring true to their personalities.

Verdict
Little Black Book is one of those books that I liked, but didn't love. Something has been off these past couple of books where both character and story development has been lacking. I used to really enjoy Brooklyn's personality and her bookbinding experiences, but now feel they are overshadowed by other things happening around her, but those things are starting to slowly turn me off from these books. Everyone is so perfect, everyone has money, everyone is paring off together, and it is starting to get cloying. When done well, the writing is really, really good though, so I will probably read one more in this series to see what happens next. I really miss the feel of the earlier books in this series. ( )

Derek has received a rare first edition of REBECCA but the sender is unknown. Brooklyn assumes that it was really meant for her because the book needs some TLC, however when Claire Quinn arrives at their door asking about the package, matters take a different turn. Claire , an expert on antique weapons that Brooklyn worked with on THIS OLD ATTIC, is concerned about her missing aunt and the only clue she has is the receipt for the package sent to Derek. Claire becomes a target of several burly men (who later turn up dead) and she has no idea why. Derek and Brooklyn believe that a code found in the book could be the answer but the code has to be broken. Enlisting not just Brooklyn's family in Dharma but Derek's in UK, the three head to Scotland to try to find the missing aunt and solve the mystery.

Great mystery with characters coming back from previous adventures and more reveals of Derek's past. GREAT! ( )