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A Slepyng Hound to Wake

a novel

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

Praise for Hound:

"There's something charismatic and timeless about the way the story builds and McCaffrey opens Henry's life to the reader . . . McCaffrey is. . .just telling a compelling, old-school yarn, the kind of story a man who knows his literature tells."—Time Out Chicago

"For the true bibliophile, this is a book you'll love."—The Hippo

Geoffrey Chaucer said, "It is nought good a slepyng hound to wake." Henry Sullivan, bookhound, is ready to be that sleeping dog: to settle down in his new apartment and enjoy life with his new girlfriend.

But the underside of the literary world won't let him go. A bookscout sells Henry a book—and is murdered later that night. An old friend asks him to investigate a case of possible plagiarism involving a local best-selling author. To make matters worse, his violinist neighbor seems to have a stalker. And wherever Henry goes, there's a cop watching him.

Henry can read the signs: to save those he loves he has to save himself.

Vincent McCaffrey's novel Hound was chosen as a Must-Read Book by the Massachusetts Book Awards. He has owned the Avenue Victor Hugo Bookshop for more than thirty years. He has been paid to do lawn work, shovel snow, paint houses, and to be an office-boy, warehouse grunt, dishwasher, waiter, and hotel night clerk. He has chosen at various times to be a writer, editor, publisher, and bookseller. A Slepyng Hound to Wake is his second novel.

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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 2, 2011
      In McCaffrey's compelling second mystery to feature Boston book dealer Henry Sullivan (after 2009's Hound), Henry is unsettled by the murder of a fellow "book hound" down on his luck, Eddy Perry, who just sold Henry a rare volume of Lovecraft horror stories. Later, former girlfriend Barbara Krause, the owner of Alcott & Poe, an independent bookstore, asks Henry's help in investigating a plagiarism case. Sharon Greene, one of Barbara's employees, has accused a local literary heavyweight, George Duggan, of stealing from the work of the late James Frankowski, a little-known writer with whom Sharon lived for years. Meanwhile, Barbara struggles to keep Alcott & Poe afloat in an era of recession and e-commerce. A longtime bookstore owner himself, McCaffrey places less emphasis on crime solving than on the larger question of the printed word's place in today's world. Evocative prose and characterizations will remind many of Ross Macdonald's Lew Archer novels.

    • Kirkus

      February 1, 2011
      A bookhound has too many women interested in him and too many problems to solve.

      Henry Sullivan's old flame Barbara runs the failing Alcott & Poe bookstore, where he used to work before he realized he wasn't cut out for dealing with the public. Now he sells the fine volumes he collects on his website. Barbara's icy partner Sharon, looking for money to keep the store going, tells Henry that popular author George Duggan plagiarized his last bestseller from Sharon's lover, a murdered history professor. Henry ends up with a murder of his own when reformed junkie Eddy Perry, who sold him a book, is killed, apparently for the money Henry paid him, and his estate includes a manuscript of his own that Henry feels is worthy of publication. Meanwhile, Henry's current girlfriend, Della, gets involved in the mess Sharon's accusations have created. So do Duggan's lawyer and Nora Lynch of Tremont Press, who rejected the professor's manuscript but might have discussed it with Duggan. Henry finds himself in a great deal of danger just for helping an old friend.

      Henry's second (Hound, 2009) is not for those who require a fast and furious story line. The strong mystery is woven into a slow-paced, philosophical discussion of the painful demise of those special bookstores whose nooks and crannies once yielded fabulous finds.

      (COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

    • Library Journal

      June 1, 2011

      Yes, that's Chaucer's line in the title, and it's just a hint of the flavor of Henry Sullivan's (Hound) Boston, where he scouts out promising used books, sells them online, and ponders life. His introspection is interrupted when troubled book scout Eddy Perry sells him a title and then is murdered that very night. On the heels of that incident, Henry's old lover, bookstore owner Barbara, asks him to look into the possibility of a plagiarism problem involving her friend and a blockbuster-type author. (Still with me?) Longtime friend Albert and wannabe love interest Della provide the wherewithal for Henry's sleuthing, not to mention the wits to keep him alive. VERDICT There's a Woody Allen tone to this one, and you'll enjoy sharing it with bibliophiles or anyone who appreciates quirky characters. The plotting and weaving of story lines hide a clever puzzle, but most readers will forget they're reading a mystery until all the pieces fall into place at the very end. Lisa Lutz fans could like this.

      Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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