-
Your next favorite book
is waiting.
The Case of the Missing Books
by Ian Sansom
Introducing Israel Armstrong, one of literature's most unlikely detectives in the first of a series of novels from the author of the critically acclaimed Ring Road. Israel is an intelligent, shy, passionate, sensitive sort of soul: he's Jewish; he's a vegetarian; he could maybe do with losing a little weight. And he's just arrived in Ireland to take up his first post as a librarian. But the library's been shut down and Israel ends up stranded on the North Antrim coast driving an old mobile library. There's nice scenery, but 15,000 fewer books than there should be. Who on earth steals that many books? How? When would they have time to read them all? And is there anywhere in this godforsaken place where he can get a proper cappuccino and a decent newspaper? Israel wants answers!
"Israel's fish-out-of-water dilemmas and encounters with kooky locals will resonate with Alexander McCall Smith fans." - Publishers Weekly
"A buoyant series kickoff. Veteran Sansom (The Impartial Recorder 2004, etc.) writes with refreshing deftness and sharp wit." - Kirkus Reviews
"Starred Review. In a field crowded with unlikely sleuths, Israel Armstrong--chubby, nervous, clumsy, headache prone, underachieving stands out." - Booklist
This information about The Mobile Library was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Ian Sansom is a regular contributor to The Guardian and The London Review of Books. He lives in Northern Ireland. In addition to the Mobile Library series he is the author of The Truth About Babies: From A-Z (2002), Ring Road (2004), The Case of the Missing Books (2006), Mr Dixon Disappears (2006), The Delegates' Choice (2007) (US Title - The Book Stops Here), Paper: An Elegy (2012) and The Norfolk Mystery (2013).
He studied at both Oxford and Cambridge where he was a fellow of Emmanuel College. He is a professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies at the University of Warwick and teaches in its Writing Program.
If you liked The Mobile Library, try these:
The Making of Yolanda la Bruja
by Lorraine Avila
Published 2024
Elizabeth Acevedo has said that reading Lorraine Avila feels like an "uppercut to the senses." You've never encountered an author with prose of this sensitivity and fire.
by Angeline Boulley
Published 2023
Winner of the 2021 BookBrowse Award for Best Young Adult Novel
In Firekeeper's Daughter, debut author Angeline Boulley crafts a groundbreaking YA thriller about a Native teen who must root out the corruption in her community, for readers of Angie Thomas and Tommy Orange.
by Ibi Zoboi
Published 2021
From award-winning, bestselling author Ibi Zoboi and prison reform activist Yusef Salaam of the Exonerated Five comes a powerful YA novel in verse about a boy who is wrongfully incarcerated. Perfect for fans of Jason Reynolds, Walter Dean Myers, and Elizabeth Acevedo.
L.A. Women by Ella Berman
Two ambitious writers in 1960s LA face betrayal when one writes a novel based on the other's life.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
