Book Review: The Librarian of Crooked Lane

Book #51 of 2025: The Librarian of Crooked Lane by C.J. Archer, 2.5/5 ★
288 pages / published September 2022 / available here

Goodreads blurb: Librarian Sylvia Ashe knows nothing about her past, having grown up without a father and a mother who refused to discuss him. When she stumbles upon a diary that suggests she’s descended from magicians, she’s skeptical. After all, magicians are special, and she’s just an ordinary girl who loves books. She seeks the truth from a member of the most prominent family of magicians, but she quickly learns that finding the truth won’t be easy…. War hero Gabe is gifted with wealth, a loving family, and an incredible amount of luck that saw him survive four harrowing years of a brutal war without injury. But not all injuries are visible. Burying himself in his work as a consultant for Scotland Yard, Gabe is going through the motions as he investigates the theft of a magician-made painting. But his life changes when he unwittingly gets Sylvia dismissed from her job and places her in danger. After securing her new employment in a library housing the world’s greatest collection of books about magic, Gabe and Sylvia’s lives become intwined as they work together to find both the painting and the truth about Sylvia’s past before powerful people can stop them.

My review: Although it has a lot of fantastic elements to work with – alternative history, fine art, mystery, libraries, a bookish protagonist, magic – it failed to impress. The pacing was slow to the point of dull and while there’s a variety of characters to be intrigued by, the magic in this world is little more than window dressing, never demonstrated or really explored. The caricature of a “gritty American cowgirl” was painful and nicknaming a one-eyed character “Cyclops” was an abysmal choice that disrupted my reading flow every time it was used. I also found the writing stilted and awkward. I didn’t realize this is a spin-off of another series by the same author, but frankly, I don’t feel invested enough to continue. It had a lot of potential and maybe the author’s other works shine brighter, who knows.

CW (highlight to read): family loss prior to story, PTSD (war), near kidnapping, substance abuse, gunshot fired, assault