The Bad Book Affair: A Mobile Library Mystery

By Ian Sansom

“[Israel’s] fish-out-of-water dilemmas and encounters with kooky locals will resonate with Alexander McCall Smith fans.” —Publishers Weekly

 

Author Ian Sansom “clearly loves a good laugh” (Washington Post), as his delightful mystery series featuring rumpled, fish-out-of-water, Jewish vegetarian librarian Israel Armstrong indisputably proves. The Bad Book Affair is Israel’s fourth hilarious adventure as he tools around Ireland in a rattletrap bookmobile trying to solve the mystery of a missing teenage girl while trying to keep his mess of a personal life in order. Sansom’s Mobile Library Mystery series has made a big splash with critics on both sides of “the Pond.” The New York Times Book Review loves their “formidable reserves of insight and humor,” while the London Times calls Israel “one of the most original and exciting amateur sleuths around.”

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Jan 19, 2010
• ISBN: 9780061966040

Ian Sansom

Ian Sansom is the author of 10 books of fiction and non-fiction. He is a former Fellow of Emmanuel College, Cambridge and a former Writer-in-Residence at the Seamus Heaney Centre for Poetry in Belfast. He is currently a Professor in the Department of English and Comparative Literary Studies at the University of Warwick. He is a regular broadcaster on BBC Radio 4 and Radio 3 and he writes for The Guardian and The London Review of Books.

Reviews for The Bad Book Affair

[vivienner_3 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The protagonist, Israel Armstrong, is a very likeable character, harmless, except maybe to himself. There is plenty of local humour some of which may be a bit too close to the truth for comfort. Behind all the witty jabs there is a kernel of gravity. Sadly, I believe I have only one left unread in this series. In that one I hope Israel realizes that his landlady, George, is his perfect life partner. Sansom doesn't have a big following because it seems he writes for Northern Ireland readers. There are so many "local" connections, jokes, words, even mispronunciations, none of which are explained for anyone not in the know. Just knowing what they are talking about is a plus, and even this ex-pat didn't understand all the references. The story is a sort of satire, with an underlying serious message that is hard to pin down. I liked this one even more than the first one in the series.

[hardlyhardy · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

If "The Bad Book Affair," published in 2009, turns out to be the last of Ian Sansom's Mobile Library mysteries, it makes a terrific conclusion to a terrific series. As Sansom began a new series with the publication of "The Norfolk Mystery" in 2013, this probably is the series finale.Calling the four novels in the Mobile Library series mysteries seems a bit of an overstatement, for nobody is murdered in any of the books. Crimes, when there are any, prove minor. Still, Israel Armstrong, a book-loving young Jewish man from London stuck against his will in a job as a mobile librarian in Northern Ireland, gets a chance to play detective in each novel. In one, the library's books are missing. In another, the bookmobile itself is missing. In the other two, individuals go missing.In "The Bad Book Affair," it is a 14-year-old girl named Lyndsey Morris who disappears. Because this happens soon after Israel allows her to check out one of the Unshelved books, both the girl's father and Israel's boss blame him for the disappearance. The Unshelved are books, mostly respected works of literary fiction, considered too mature for young readers. Thus, they are kept under the counter until a patron asks to see them. Lyndsey borrows a novel by Philip Roth. Israel, who likes placing good books in the hands of young readers, sees nothing wrong with what he's done, but others do. He even gets pulled in for questioning by the police. Then he does some investigating on his own.Sansom's books are more comic novels than mysteries. The conversations -- and the stories consist mostly of conversations -- are priceless. Yet these novels, at their core, are really about literature and about the reading life. Most mystery fans won't like them, but most bibliophiles will.

[jkdavies · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

very light... amusing but insubstantial, which was what I needed at the time...

[mmoj_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I thought this was a clever, intriguing book that I enjoyed very much. Of course I didn't think so at first. In the beginning I thought the main character Israel Armstrong was nothing but a man who needed to get a life. But as I continued reading I changed my mind, for how else is a Jewish, English vegetarian supposed to feel after breaking up with his girlfriend in the northern-most of Northern Ireland? Now I have to buy the rest of the books in the series.

[janetf8 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this so much i read it in a weekend - and then read it again the next weekend ! The mystery isn't great - almost incidental. There are some very funny moments, and touching hints of a romance. It is about 'the glory and misery' of being human. You will probably enjoy it more if you read the other books in the series first and this one is darker than previous volumes - which I will now go back and re-read.

[clue_4 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the fourth in the Moblie Library Mystery series and while this isn't my favorite I still found it entertaining. This series features a very quirky main character, an English Jewish vegetarian mobile librarian in Northern Ireland who keeps finding himself involved in rather unusual circumstances. In this case, he lends a book from the mobile library (a Philip Roth) to a 14 year old girl who disappears a short time later. The plot is rather thin but it provides the reader with some laughs and gives Sansom the opportunity to feature a serious topic, the efforts to restrict the availability of certain books to the "impressionable".

[murdermysterymayhem · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Escape this summer's next big thriller - slip away from all the scintillating suspense and plucky police procedurals and settle down with Ian Sansom's cantankerous cozy, The Bad Book Affair. Why? Because nobody's life could be as bad as Israel Armstrong's, even a librarian's.Israel is a pathetic, morose, kvetching, displaced mobile librarian in the midst of a mid-life crisis on the north coast of Ireland when he gets in to a bit of a bother with the local police. It seems he was the last one to have seen the local politician's 14-year-old daughter who has now gone missing.And Israel didn't only see her but, unluckily, checked her out a book from the "unshelved," a category of books deemed morally inappropriate for Tumdrum's youth. This is not looking good for his six month review neither is the fact that he's missed a week's work because he was drunk, depressed, and wallowing in self pity. Ted, Israel's co-worker, and the other characters of this backwater town eventually save him despite himself. The mystery isn't complicated. Israel isn't a courageous hero. There are no incredibly evil villains and the climax is anti-climatic. Whew... what a relief!If you are a pushover for any book about books, libraries, or librarians you will laugh out loud, shake your head, and smile more than once - easily enough compensation for the missing mystery.

[willowone_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I wanted to like it, but I just couldn't. By the middle of the book I was skipping pages and pages of non-dialogue just to find out what would happen and how it would end. Prior to reading this I was planning on reading the other books in this series, but now I will not.

[madnessabides · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I’ll admit it, I am a sucker for books where books play a role in the story - even if it is just something small, like the main character being a librarian. This is sort of a hard review because even though I had high expectations when starting this book, and was ultimately a bit let down, The Bad Book Affair, as far as I am concerned, was a relatively enjoyable read - not a bad book (haha, bad pun intended), just not a great book either. I will be giving other books in the series a shot sometime in the future

[lindapanzo · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely love mysteries and I never ever stop reading a book before I finish it. This so-called "mystery" was an exception. I hated it from the start and kept thinking it was a waste of time for me.It is the fourth book in the mobile library series so someone must like these. I don't. The only good news is that it was an ER book so at least I didn't waste my money, just my time.

[bibliovermis · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I got this books for free at an ALA conference and I really enjoyed it. It's not a traditional mystery novel at all. However, I think I would have gotten much more out of it had I read the first four books in the series.

[lesliecp · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Israel Armstrong is a librarian who isn't entirely clear how he ended up running a mobile library in a tiny Irish town in the north of the north of Ireland. He is trying to cope with a nasty break-up and come to terms with an impending significant birthday. The health of his closest friend seems to be failing. And then, there are his strained relations with the local police and a missing girl who happened to borrow 'bad books' from the mobile library just prior to her disappearance.This was my favorite book in the series, so far. Israel's reactions to the townspeople are often hilarious and/or moving. As a plus, there was a lot of good book banter. A nice, light mystery.

[newsieq · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The world's favorite Jewish vegetarian mobile librarian is back again for another adventure. Well, not really an adventure, but a search for a missing 14-year-old girl. Somehow, officials in Tumdrum (Ireland) get it into their heads that Israel Armstrong had something to do with the disappearance of the daughter of a local politician. It seems Israel allowed her to check out an "unshelved book." one deemed noxious enough that it isn't displayed on the shelves, but has to be asked for. That puts him in hot water with his thoroughly unlikable (and business-cliche-spouting) boss. Although one of the book blurbs compares this book to Alexander McCall Smith's No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books, don't believe it for a minute. Although both authors deal with the mundane activities of life, Ian Sansom's character is dour, depressed, curmudgeonly (at age 29) and altogether unlikable ... while McCall Smith's Precious is a darling who's full of hope and good cheer. That's not to say Israel Armstrong isn't a great character, funny, with a delightful take on life and its inanities. (Those readers who dislike profanity should know that Ian Sansom always manages to get the f-word into his dialogue just so you know he's a serious writer. Ugh!)02/18/2010

[allenkl · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This is the only book I've read from the Mobile Library Mystery Series. Frankly, if it were not a LibraryThing Early Reviewers book I would not have finished it.There is no real mystery. The main character, Israel Armstrong, has some possibilities but unfortunately his character remains undeveloped until he eventually becomes a whiny, self-absorbed old man lamenting his approaching 30th birthday. Both Ted and Pearce were more interesting characters and at times made the book humorous.A small point but what is annoyingly distracting is the author's occasionally odd placement of type and use of white space for no apparent reason and with no effect on the atmosphere or development of the story. Also, about once every page of dialogue the author has Israel say "Erm" at the beginning of a sentence. Again, a pointless distraction.I was disappointed. The setting is charming, the characters have potential but sadly I was very glad when I read the last page.

[oreillynsf_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The mobile library series is hard to describe but oh so easy to read. A series of absurd mysteries with a highly likely protagonist -- a vegetarian Jewish mobile librarian living in a chicken coop in northernmost Northern Ireland. If that sentence puts a smile on yer face, get this book immediately. I recommend you start at the beginning of the series, though each book gives you enough in chapter one to get the laughs you most certainly will savor.

[somer_17 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I received The Bad Book Affair by Ian Sansom as a Library Thing Early Reviewer. This book is part of the Mobile Library Mystery series, but as a mystery it is very disappointing. I was more than 100 pages into the (368-page) book before the mystery appeared, and even then it didn't play a large part in the book. The book was more about the main character, Israel Armstrong's, depression over a break-up and turning 30. That said, the book made me chuckle more than once, and I did enjoy the characters. It just wasn't what I expected.

[tricoteuse_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

When it comes to books I tend to prefer a good plot over anything else, so in that respect I found this book a little disappointing. As mysteries go it wasn't very mysterious, and not much really happens in the book. That said, I found myself really connecting to the main character, which is why I enjoyed it as much as I did. Perhaps because I'm also a librarian and of a similar age to Israel, I liked him much more than I thought I would when I first started reading the story. I think a book about him, minus the pale attempts at detective work, would've been much more interesting.

[benjclark · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Israel Armstrong is turning 30, his girlfriend has dumped him without explanation, and he still doesn't enjoy living in sleepy Tumdrum. And life has worsened when the local law enforcement want to tie Israel to the disappearance of a local politician's teenage daughter and with the death of one of his only friends in Tumdrum. All in time for his six-month job review with his boss. This is my second outing w/ Israel Armstrong, and I enjoyed it, but I think it was more me than the book. I too am turning 30 shortly, have had many of the same feelings as Israel, personally and professionally. Then I frantically hope I am not like him, because he's pretty pathetic. The "mystery" part of the title can be omitted, as there is almost nothing at all about it, nor is it hard to figure out.The good: Sansom's writing has improved. Israel is pathetic, but not pitiful and comes off less whiny, which nearly caused me to not finish the first book. The characters are better, more clearly drawn than in the first book as well. Ted is wonderful, but I liked him in just the portion we got in this book.This book makes me wonder what I missed in between books 1 and 5. Honestly, the plot and story of book 5 dovetail very nicely w/ 1 so I feel like I haven't missed anything. I liked it and look forward to the next installment most importantly to learn the fate of a rather large, old private collection of books that is suddenly trying to find its way in the world. Until then, I think I'll check out the earlier books I skipped to see what I missed.

[eenerd · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Another in the Mobile Librarian series by Ian Sansom, starring the old-codger-before-his-time, Israel Armstrong. The citizens of Tumdrum are the best part of these books, and this one is enjoyably strong in that respect. Maybe in the next installment we can expect "Ted's Lexicon". Although there was some classic Tumdrumisms, this was a little more philosphical than the other books--like more about the man (Israel) than the mystery--the mystery part of it seemed more a means to an end, or even more an afterthought. Like Sansom got into this other vein and then remembered there was supposed to be a mystery in here too. Just a little different, but a good read nonetheless and a treat for those of us fans of Tumdrum and district in the north of the north of Ireland.

[cindysprocket · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

After reading [The Case of the Missing Books], I was hoping this one would be better. I was waiting for the mystery to happen. I just wouldn't classify this as a mystery. There were some humorous spots and I do enjoy the character Ted. I think Pearce should have had a bigger part in the book. Not sure if I would read any more of his books.

[icewoman96 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Israel sets out to discover the fate of the daughter of a local politician who goes missing after reading some of the Unshelved books in the mobile library. I was somewhat disappointed in this book as the term Mystery was very loosely applied to this book. If you are looking for your usual mystery story, you will not find it in this novel. I found it to be more of a novel about Israel's depression surrounding the break-up of his girlfriend Gloria, his upcoming thirtieth birthday, and his state over being 'just a librarian'. There were some funny moments in the novel and some quirky dialogue , but overall a disappointment.