The Sinister Booksellers of Bath by Garth Nix (The Left-Handed Booksellers of London book 2)

 

SPOILER ALERT! If you haven’t read the first book in the series, The Left-Handed Booksellers of London, Stop! I don’t want to ruin the story for you.

“There is often trouble of a mythical sort in Bath. The booksellers who police the Old World keep a careful watch there, particularly on the entity that inhabits the ancient hot spring.

This time trouble comes from the discovery of a sorcerous map, leading left-handed bookseller Merlin into great danger, requiring a desperate rescue attempt from his sister, the right-handed bookseller Vivien, and art student Susan Arkshaw, who is still struggling to deal with her own recently discovered magical heritage.

The map takes the trio to a place separated from this world, maintained by deadly sorcery and guarded by monstrous living statues. But this is only the beginning. To unravel the secrets of a murderous Ancient Sovereign, the booksellers must investigate centuries of disappearances and deaths. If they do not stop her, she will soon kill again. And this time, her target is not an ordinary mortal.” - taken from Goodreads.

Our story now finds us in Bath and Susan Arkshaw is trying to find her way after discovering who her father is. After rescuing Merlin from a mysterious map, Susan, Merlin, and Vivien realize that a magical serial killer is lurking and will soon strike again. As the Booksellers work to uncover the killer’s motives, Susan’s father begins reaching out through her dreams. When the Booksellers discover that Susan is the serial killer’s next victim, will they be able to save her and what does her father want with her? 

After that ending, there has to be another book in this series.

Visit Garth Nix’s website.

The Left-Handed Booksellers of London by Garth Nix

 

“Authorized to kill ...and sell books”

“In a slightly alternate London in 1983, Susan Arkshaw is looking for her father, a man she has never met. Crime boss Frank Thringley might be able to help her, but Susan doesn’t get time to ask Frank any questions before he is turned to dust by the prick of a silver hatpin in the hands of the outrageously attractive Merlin.

Merlin is a young left-handed bookseller (one of the fighting ones), who with the right-handed booksellers (the intellectual ones), are an extended family of magical beings who police the mythic and legendary Old World when it intrudes on the modern world, in addition to running several bookshops.

Susan’s search for her father begins with her mother’s possibly misremembered or misspelt surnames, a reading room ticket, and a silver cigarette case engraved with something that might be a coat of arms.

Merlin has a quest of his own, to find the Old World entity who used ordinary criminals to kill his mother. As he and his sister, the right-handed bookseller Vivien, tread in the path of a botched or covered-up police investigation from years past, they find this quest strangely overlaps with Susan’s. Who or what was her father? Susan, Merlin, and Vivien must find out, as the Old World erupts dangerously into the New.” - taken from Goodreads.com

How could I not love this book? It’s not very often that I find a story where the main character shares my name. This was a fun-filled, light-hearted fantasy that romps through jolly old England as Susan is determined to discover who her father is even after she stumbles across the Booksellers of London. Teaming up with Merlin and Vivien, who are on a quest of their own, the three find themselves on an unexpected adventure of a lifetime.

Visit Garth Nix’s website.