5 out of 5 stars
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Synopsis
Excited to explore the secrets of wine country, Brooklyn attends an excavation of the caves hidden deep under her parents’ commune—and the findings are explosive. A room is unearthed, and it contains a treasure trove of artwork, rare books, a chest of jewelry…and a perfectly mummified body.
A closer examination of the murdered man’s possessions reveals a valuable first edition of Jules Verne’s A Journey to the Center of the Earth. Hidden in the book is a secret map that unveils an even greater hoard of treasures brought to California by French winemakers fleeing the Nazi invasion with the commune leader’s grandfather, Anton, among them.
As reporters and art appraisers flock to Sonoma to see the precious bounty, questions begin to rise—did Anton hide these items to protect them, or did he steal them for himself? Who is the mysterious man left for dead inside the cave? But not all crime is buried in the past. When a new presence threatens the town’s peace, Brooklyn decides to do a little excavating of her own and solve the mystery of the treasure before anyone else is written off.… (Source: Goodreads)
Review
Ripped From the Pages by Kate Carlisle is the ninth book in the Bibliophile Mystery series and I absolutely loved it. Now, I love this series in general, but I particularly enjoyed this installment in the series. This installment brought us more back story than we’ve had before as well as new chapters in relationships.
This story brought us a lot of great information about Robson and his family, as well as about the land that the Dharma vineyards/commune/town is on. I enjoyed that this book is set more in Dharma than it is in San Francisco. I enjoyed seeing more interactions between Brooklyn & Derek and the other members of the commune/residents of Dharma. In previous books, we’ve seen Brooklyn and Derek’s relationship with Brooklyn’s family and with their friends in San Francisco, but this branched out into working with other members of commune and it was a nice change of pace.
The mystery was entertaining and kept you guessing until the end. I had an inkling about who it was but I really wasn’t sure and in fact, I was wrong. The secondary characters are great. In fact, I hope a few of them stick around and join us again here and there. Finally, I can’t wait to see Brooklyn’s answer to Derek’s question at the end of the book in the next installment!
Valerie's Musings 