This is on top of receiving a Nero Award nomination. The First of the Cliff Janeway novels was nominated for an Anthony Award. And when a crime in the book collecting world reaches the ears of Cliff Janeway, he does not hesitate to investigate it, driven as much by a desire to put his detective skills to good use as he is by his love of rare books. So it isn’t unheard of for people as passionate and determined as the ones that surround Cliff to commit murder, theft or one of several other crimes. People less fortunate that Cliff Janeway spend their days rummaging through garbage piles and stalking the dinky halls of suspicious bookstores hoping to find that rare volume that just might transform their fortunes overnight. People like Cliff amass entire fortunes in rare books, not for the contents of those books but because they elicit a strange sort of pleasure from merely owning these items.īut life as a book collector, small shop owner, and even a book scout is hard. John Dunning, the author, is commended as much for his exploration of the book collecting world as he is for the mysteries and puzzles he crafts.Īnd from what Dunning writes, book collecting is a far more dangerous business than most people credit it. The Cliff Janeway series follows the detective around as he maneuvers the murky waters of book collecting even as he investigates the crimes that permeate his community. And the ex-cop wastes little time in opening a shop, ingratiating himself into the collector business and carving out a new life for himself. Most cops in his position would fold and crumble under the weight of a life suddenly devoid of purpose.īut as it turns out, while Cliff loves pummeling bad guys to a pulp, readers learn that he enjoys collecting rare books and, in particular, first editions even more. Cliff goes a little too far when it comes to delivering justice and he has no qualms about breaking the rules to put the bad guys away.Īn encounter with the wrong sort of criminal brings to light Cliff Janeway’s wrathful approach to solving crime and he is summarily dismissed from the police force. Tough-talking and short-tempered, while Cliff has a great mind for solving crimes, his enthusiasm keeps getting in the way of his career.

When he is first introduced to readers in Booked to Die, the first of the Janeway novels, Cliff Janeway is a police officer in Denver. The series follows the exploits of a book collector that also solves crimes.

Cliff janeway