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Who Wrote the Book of Death?
In Who Wrote The Book of Death? someone wants to finish the author instead of the book. When PI Greg Nines agrees to protect a woman from death threats, he assumes that her name isn't really Taliesyn Holroyd. Unfortunately, he also assumes she's really a romance novelist with a book in progress. She assumes he's stopped drinking after his own wife's murder. As Nines digs into the past for suspects, he knows he's falling in love with a woman who doesn't even exist. Unless he can find the truth, nobody will have a happy ending.
274 pages, Paperback
First published May 15, 2010
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8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
March 1, 2019
“Who Wrote the Book of Death?” was my first experience of reading Steve Liskow’s work and it will not be my last. I was hoping to see him when he did a mystery author talk at one of my local bookstores recently but illness prevented me, so I purchased a couple of his titles for my Kindle instead. I was not disappointed.
Connecticut private detective Zach Barnes, used to be a cop in Hartford, CT, until he retired after his wife's death caused him to spiral off the rails. He got himself sober and set up as a private investigator and is called in as security for a beautiful romance writer named Taliesyn Holroyd who has received death threats. What makes his task difficult is the fact that Taliesyn Holroyd does not exist. She is a fictitious person fabricated by the real author and his webmistress as a smokescreen to disguise the identity of who really writes the novels. Beth, who also a writer, is hired to go on tour and be the public face of Taliesyn.
When someone tries to kill Beth, nobody knows who the real target is. Is it Beth? Or is it Taliesyn? More importantly, why anyone would want to kill either of them? As the story unfolds, secrets are revealed.
The story is set in my backyard and the author, also from my home town, describes them well. If you’re looking for a fast-paced read with ‘real’ characters, all with secrets to tell, this is the book for you. Now I have to read it again to work out where Barnes’s office is situated!
Great work, Steve. I’m ready for “Cherry Bomb,” which is book two in the Zach Barnes series.
Connecticut private detective Zach Barnes, used to be a cop in Hartford, CT, until he retired after his wife's death caused him to spiral off the rails. He got himself sober and set up as a private investigator and is called in as security for a beautiful romance writer named Taliesyn Holroyd who has received death threats. What makes his task difficult is the fact that Taliesyn Holroyd does not exist. She is a fictitious person fabricated by the real author and his webmistress as a smokescreen to disguise the identity of who really writes the novels. Beth, who also a writer, is hired to go on tour and be the public face of Taliesyn.
When someone tries to kill Beth, nobody knows who the real target is. Is it Beth? Or is it Taliesyn? More importantly, why anyone would want to kill either of them? As the story unfolds, secrets are revealed.
The story is set in my backyard and the author, also from my home town, describes them well. If you’re looking for a fast-paced read with ‘real’ characters, all with secrets to tell, this is the book for you. Now I have to read it again to work out where Barnes’s office is situated!
Great work, Steve. I’m ready for “Cherry Bomb,” which is book two in the Zach Barnes series.
October 2, 2012
Who Wrote the Book of Death? is a book about a book. It's a bodice ripper about hidden identities, a murderer no one would suspect, and true love where least expected. And, yes so is Who Wrote the Book of Death? Two of its main characters are writers and two others are computer geeks. The remaining member of the group is a private detective with a penchant for drama.
The private detective Greg Nines, is called in as security for the beautiful romance writer Taliesyn Holroyd. What makes this most difficult is that there is actually no Taliesyn Holroyd. She is a fabrication devised by the actual writer and his webmistress to cover who is really writing the novels. They have hired Beth, who also a writer, to go on tour and otherwise fill Taliesyn's shoes.
When someone tries to kill Beth, no one is sure if the target is Taliesyn or Beth, or why anyone would want to kill either of them. As the story unfolds, people fall in love, bodices are ripped, and secrets are revealed. One fact that remains constant through-out is that the killer has it in for Beth/Taliesyn, no one knows why, and they manage to stay one step ahead of the ever-vigilant Nines.
The story is set very convincingly in central Connecticut; the author knows the locations and describes them very vividly. People from the area will recognize the haunts, and even those who are unfamiliar with New England will feel at home.
The private detective Greg Nines, is called in as security for the beautiful romance writer Taliesyn Holroyd. What makes this most difficult is that there is actually no Taliesyn Holroyd. She is a fabrication devised by the actual writer and his webmistress to cover who is really writing the novels. They have hired Beth, who also a writer, to go on tour and otherwise fill Taliesyn's shoes.
When someone tries to kill Beth, no one is sure if the target is Taliesyn or Beth, or why anyone would want to kill either of them. As the story unfolds, people fall in love, bodices are ripped, and secrets are revealed. One fact that remains constant through-out is that the killer has it in for Beth/Taliesyn, no one knows why, and they manage to stay one step ahead of the ever-vigilant Nines.
The story is set very convincingly in central Connecticut; the author knows the locations and describes them very vividly. People from the area will recognize the haunts, and even those who are unfamiliar with New England will feel at home.
July 31, 2012
Zach Barnes used to be a police officer in a Connecticut city. He was forced into retirement after his wife's death caused him to behave poorly in a stressed situation. Since then he has tracked job applicant back round checks and divorcees. Until he answered a phone call from Taliesyn Holroyd, romance novelist, saying she needs round the clock protection because she has received death threats.
Taliesyn is currently living with her "fact checker" - Jim. He won the lottery a few years ago and has a house in town a few blocks down from the hospital and the other member of the book team is the web manager, Molly.
Zach looks into many things -- the premise of the new story, angry ex-husbands and possible enemies. He calls in help from his brilliant college friend Svet and his old colleague at the police station, Art.
The characters are very realistic and the movement is fast paced. Everyone has a secret which adds to the story nicely and the book is one which is hard to lay down.
Though this book took a long time to get to the top of my 'to read' pile, I am very glad it got there. I can't wait to the next adventure of this detective.
Taliesyn is currently living with her "fact checker" - Jim. He won the lottery a few years ago and has a house in town a few blocks down from the hospital and the other member of the book team is the web manager, Molly.
Zach looks into many things -- the premise of the new story, angry ex-husbands and possible enemies. He calls in help from his brilliant college friend Svet and his old colleague at the police station, Art.
The characters are very realistic and the movement is fast paced. Everyone has a secret which adds to the story nicely and the book is one which is hard to lay down.
Though this book took a long time to get to the top of my 'to read' pile, I am very glad it got there. I can't wait to the next adventure of this detective.
January 1, 2013
I have mixed feelings about this one. I liked the pace, I liked the way the characters developed, and I liked the suspense. A few scenes (including a rape scene) were a bit too intense for my taste, but overall it was good. The dialogue ran well and contained a number of humorous lines.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews